Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
O mind — chant the Name of the Lord.
Hurry to the Guru's sanctuary, O soul. Everything you've done wrong will be taken away.
Sanctuary — sarnāī
Har gur sarnāī — "the Sanctuary of the Lord, the Guru." Sarnā or sarnā'ī is the concept of taking shelter, seeking refuge. In the political and spiritual world of Guru Ram Das's time, taking sanctuary meant coming under someone's protection — beyond the reach of those who would harm you.
The spiritual use of sanctuary is precisely this: to be beyond the reach of the consequences of the past. "All your sins shall be taken away" is the promise of the sanctuary. Not that the past didn't happen, but that under the Lord's protection, the past's claim on the soul is released.
Hurry
Dhāi chalahu — "hurry, run." The sense of urgency in the refrain. Not tomorrow, not when conditions are better. The merchant who dallies on the road loses trading time. The soul that dallies reaches the sanctuary late.
*When have you experienced genuine forgiveness — not just someone saying the words, but actually feeling released from something? What was that like?*
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI