Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The Bani of Your Word is Ambrosial Nectar.
It permeates the hearts of Your devotees.
Serving You, peace is obtained. Granting Your Mercy, You bestow salvation.
Teri baan-ee amrit-u hai, bhagtaa-n mah vasiaa — Your Bani (baan-ee — the divine Word, the sacred poetry of the Gurus as revelation) is Amrit (Ambrosial Nectar, the immortalizing drink); it permeates (vasiaa — dwells within, inhabits) the hearts of the devotees. The Bani as medicine — not just beautiful language, not just inspiring teaching, but amrit: the substance that bestows immortality. It lives within the devotee's heart once truly received.
Sev keejai sukh-u paa-i-aa, kirpaa kar-ay mukh-u — serving (sev keejai) brings peace; granting His Mercy, He bestows liberation (mukh-u). The two gifts of service: sukh (peace, comfort, ease) and mukh (liberation, salvation, freedom from the cycle). The peace is available now, in this life. The liberation is the final destination. Both come from the same source: the divine's mercy responding to the soul's service.
Mukh-u — this is the word Guru Amar Das used when he said "without the True Guru, liberation is not obtained" (Shabad 124 Pauri7). Guru Nanak here says it is obtained through the Guru's Mercy and the Bani's dwelling within. The Bani and the Mercy are the same thing expressed differently: the Bani is the Mercy in verbal form.
Is there a text, a prayer, or a set of words that has genuinely lived in you — not just been read by you? What makes the difference between words that stay and words that pass through?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI