Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
I heard of the Guru, and so I went to Him.
He instilled within me the Naam, the goodness of charity, and the joy of true cleansing.
All the world is liberated, O Nanak, by embarking upon the Boat of Truth.
Sunin-i Gur-u aai-aa — hearing (sunin-i) of the Guru, I came (aai-aa — arrived, went to Him). The sequence: hearing → coming. The Guru's reputation drew the seeker. Not a vision, not a dramatic revelation — someone heard about the Guru and went. This simple beginning — hearing and going — is what Guru Arjan describes as the turning point.
Naam daan ishnaan dih-aa — He gave the Naam (naam), the charity (daan), and the cleansing (ishnaan). The three gifts of the Guru-meeting: the Name (the living divine presence), charity (the virtue of giving), and the spiritual cleansing that replaces ordinary ritual bathing. All three given as gifts by the Guru to the one who came.
Sach nahee (charhay) bhavsataar, Nanak — all the world is liberated (sach nahee — the truth is not obscured; charhay — embarked upon), O Nanak, by the Boat of Truth (bhavsataar — the world-ocean; the True Boat crossing it). The boat metaphor from the Mehl 3 ashtapadees (Shabad 124 Pauri6: "the True Guru is the Boat of Truth") carried forward: not just the speaker's liberation, but all the world liberated by boarding this Boat. The Guru's gift is not personal only — it extends to all who encounter it.
What is something you heard about — a teaching, a practice, a person — that made you go seek it out? What happened when you arrived?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI