Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
O mind, swim across by keeping your attention on the Word.
Those who do not turn to the Guru do not understand the Name. They die and are born, coming and going again and again.
This is the pause line, the Rahao, the center of the shabad. It says: keep your mind on the Word, and it will carry you across.
Man ray sabad tarahu chit laa-ay means O mind, swim across by fixing your attention on the Shabad, the Guru's Word. Gurbani often pictures life as a huge, rough ocean the soul has to cross. Nobody can swim across an ocean by trying harder. The crossing happens because the Word carries you.
Think of a surfer. The surfer does not push the ocean. The surfer keeps their eyes on the wave and lets it carry them.
So the instruction is simple: keep your attention on the living Word. It is not about forcing thoughts away. It is not about putting the body through hard trials. It is not about showing off to others. It is one steady focus.
Jin gurmukh naam na boojhi-aa means those who do not face the Guru do not understand the Naam, the Name. They keep coming and going.
What happens when you try very hard to cross something difficult — a feeling, a problem — by force? What happens when you stop fighting it?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI