Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The True Guru, the Primal Being, is the Pool of Ambrosial Nectar. The very fortunate ones come to bathe in it.
The filth of many incarnations is washed away. And the Immaculate Naam is implanted within.
Servant Nanak has obtained the most exalted state — lovingly attuned to the True Guru.
This one says the Guru is a pool of nectar, and bathing in it washes away old dirt.
Satgur purakh amrit sar — the True Guru is a pool of amrit, sweet, life-giving nectar. Here the pool is a name for the Guru. Bathing in it doesn't mean traveling somewhere. It means stepping into the Guru's teaching. There, janam janam kee mail — the dirt of many lifetimes — is washed off.
Think of jumping into a clear lake after a long, dusty hike. You come out feeling brand new.
There is also a piece of history. Guru Ram Das founded the town of Ramdaspur and had a pool dug there. The town later took the name Amritsar: Amrit (nectar) plus Sar (pool). His son, Guru Arjan Dev Ji, built the Harmandir Sahib, the Golden Temple, at its center. Sikhs have long felt the link between that pool and this picture. The verse itself names no place, though. The history is history, and the pool in the verse is the Guru.
Are there places — physical places, as well as inner places — where you feel genuinely cleansed or renewed? What is it about those places?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI