Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Nobody wakes up one day and decides to fall in love with God. It doesn't work that way.
Kabir describes what happens when God turns His attention toward a soul: the doubt and confusion that were making everything murky — they clear. A calm settles in that you didn't generate yourself. Your intuition wakes up. You start to understand things without having to force them.
The key words are 'as it pleases Him.' This is not about effort. It is about His pleasure — His initiative. The Guru's Grace is the channel through which it comes.
This is why Kabir keeps pointing to the Guru, even though Kabir himself came from a completely different tradition. He has seen that this is where the grace flows.
This pauri presents the positive case — what happens when God turns toward a soul. The grammar of grace here is the Lord's initiative: jis no aape bhaae — 'to whomever it pleases Him.' Not effort, not technique, not the right prayer said correctly. His pleasure. But what happens in the person is experiential and specific: doubt disperses (bhramu bhayo), intuitive balance wells up (sahaj dhuni), and intellect wakens to wisdom. The Guru's Grace is the channel, which is why Kabir — institutionally outside the Sikh tradition — consistently points toward the Guru.
Have you ever had a moment of unexpected calm or clarity that you didn't bring about yourself? What did it feel like?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI