Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Praising the True One, I am forever satisfied.
The satisfaction does not come after the praise, as a reward. It comes in the praising itself.
The act of genuine praise is its own fulfillment — the way singing is the reward, not the preparation for one.
Sach saalaahi sadaa trigt — praising the True One, I am forever satisfied (trigt = free from thirst). The praise (saalaah) is its own fulfillment: you do not praise and then receive satisfaction. The genuine act of praise IS the satisfaction.
This is the aesthetic theology of Gurbani: the poetry of praise is not a technique for achieving something else. It is the thing itself. The Guru Granth Sahib is a treasury of praise that is also its own reward.
Is there something you do that is its own reward — where the doing is the point, not a means to something else? What is that for you?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI