Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
O mind — chant the Naam, the Name of the Lord, and find peace.
Praising the Perfect Guru, you shall easily meet with that God.
This line says: remember the Name and you will find peace. Praise the Guru and you will meet God, easily.
This is the rahaa-o line. Rahaa-o means "pause." It is the line you stop on, the center of the whole song.
Man ray naam japahu sukh ho-ay: "O mind, jap the Naam, and you will have peace." To jap is to repeat and remember. The Naam is the Name, God's living presence. Sukh is peace.
The opening line spoke about big things: God making Maya, God sending light through the Guru's Word. Now the song comes down to the simplest practice of all. Remember the Name.
Gur pooraa salaahee-ai: praise the pooraa Guru, the Guru who is full and complete, lacking nothing. Sahj milai prabh so-ay: and you will meet that God sahj, easily and naturally.
Sahj is a key word. The meeting is not a hard climb or a heroic feat. It comes the way sleep comes when you stop trying so hard, or the way a friend's face lights up when you walk in.
The two lines hold two moves. First inward: remember the Name and find peace. Then toward the Teacher: praise the Guru and meet God. Both are simple, and both lead to the same place.
What does chanting the Naam — or returning to the Name of the divine — feel like for you, and when do you most need it?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI