Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
O Nanak — they swim across with the True Name of the Lord, the King above all kings.
May I never forget the Name of the Lord! I have purchased this Jewel.
The manmukhs putrefy and drown in the terrifying world-ocean. The Gurmukhs cross over the bottomless sea.
Naanak tarsarani tarnaa, saachay naam paatisaahaa — O Nanak, they cross the bottomless (tarsarani — fathomless, without bottom) ocean with the True Name of the Lord, the King above kings (paatisaahaa — the Emperor). The closing returns to the terrifying ocean of the rahao (Pauri 1) with the answer completed: the Name of the One who is above all the emperors described in Pauri 6 — the One King who is not straw in any fire — is the crossing.
Naam na veesrai naavai, lainaa jewhar vaynaa — may I never forget the Name; I have purchased (lainaa) this Jewel (jewhar — precious stone, gem of highest value). The prayer of Pauri 8 echoes the closing prayer of Shabad 112 Pauri 9: may I never forget the Naam. But here it is paired with testimony: I have already purchased this Jewel. Not asking for something not yet received but praying to hold what has been given.
Manmukh dubaih bhavjal mah, gurmukh tarsarani tarai — the manmukhs sink and putrefy (dubaih — drown, sink; implies also rotting in the water) in the terrifying world-ocean; the Gurmukhs cross the fathomless ocean. The contrast is sharp and final: the same ocean, two outcomes. The manmukhs, oriented away from the Guru, from the Name — they sink. Not because the ocean is deeper for them, but because they have no means of crossing. The Gurmukhs, carrying the Jewel of the Name, swim across what is genuinely bottomless.
What is the one thing you are carrying that you know could actually get you through — and are you holding it tightly enough?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI