Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
O dear ones — without the Guru, intuitive balance is not obtained.
Through the Word of the Shabad, intuitive peace and poise wells up — and that True Lord is obtained.
Bhai-o bin gur sahj na ho-ay — O dear ones, without the Guru, sahj is not obtained. The rahao is the thesis statement of the entire 11-pauri composition: sahj is real, it is available, it is what everyone is looking for — and it comes only through the Guru. Without the Guru, no one finds it, no matter how hard they search or how correct their tradition.
Sabad guroo sahj uppjai, sachaa paa-ee-ai so-ay — through the Shabad of the Guru (sabad guroo), sahj wells up; the True Lord is obtained. The Shabad as the mechanism: not the Guru as a person but the Guru's Word — the living transmission of the teaching as Shabad. The Shabad creates the conditions in which sahj can emerge. Not by imposing a state from outside but by removing what prevents the state from being natural. Sahj is the soul's nature; the Shabad removes what is covering it.
This rahao will govern 10 more pauris, each exploring a different facet of what sahj is, what it produces, what it is not, and how to receive it. The whole composition is a meditation on this one word, circling it, approaching it from different angles, trying to convey through multiple descriptions something that is by nature beyond description.
What is your experience of the word 'sahaj' — effortless balance — and when in your life have you come closest to that state?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI