Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The Lord Himself — the Life of the World — is the Giver. He Himself forgives. He Himself unites us with Himself.
What can these poor creatures do? What can we speak or say on our own?
God Himself grants glory to the Gurmukhs and joins them to His Service.
Aapai daataa jag jee-van daataa, aapai bakhs milaa-ay — the Lord Himself is the Giver (daataa); He Himself forgives (bakhs) and unites (milaa-ay) us with Himself. The threefold action — giving, forgiving, uniting — all performed by the divine. Not as transactions but as expressions of the divine's own nature. The Giver gives because giving is what the divine does. The Forgiver forgives because forgiveness is what the divine is.
Ih jeea jant ki-aa vichaaray, ki-aa kaho ki-aa aakhee-ai — what can these poor beings and creatures figure out on their own? What can we speak, what can we say? Vichaaray (poor, helpless, pitiable — also meaning those who contemplate) — the creatures are placed in their actual position: they cannot give themselves what the Giver gives, cannot forgive themselves what the Forgiver forgives, cannot unite themselves with what the Uniter unites. The humility is not self-deprecation; it is accurate assessment.
Aapai gurmukh naam dayh prabh, aapai sev lagaa-ay — God Himself gives the Gurmukhs the Name, and He Himself puts them into His Service. The divine is the agent at every step — giving, assigning service, granting glory. The Gurmukh's role is receptivity: to be the one who receives what the divine is already giving, to be put into the service the divine is already directing.
When have you genuinely felt that something good that happened to you was given rather than earned — and what was that like?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI