Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The Guru is the ladder. The Guru is the boat. The Guru is the raft that takes me to the Lord's Name.
The Guru is the ship that carries me across the world-ocean. The Guru is the holy place to visit. The Guru is the holy river.
If it pleases the One, I bathe in the Pool of Truth, and I come out shining and clean.
This verse answers the question from before: the Guru is the ladder, the boat, and the raft.
Gur pa-orhee bayrhee guroo means the Guru is the ladder, the Guru is the boat. The Guru is not a god to worship. The Guru is not a go-between standing in your way. The Guru is the very way the soul finds its path to the One.
Think of a bridge over a river. You do not stop to admire the bridge. You walk on it, and it gets you across.
Gur tirath daree-aa-o means the Guru is the holy place to visit and the holy river. You do not have to travel far to be made clean. Sat sar naavan jaa-o means I bathe in the Pool of Truth. The washing happens through the teaching.
Over time, Sikhs came to see the Guru as one light passed from teacher to teacher. In the end that light lives on in the Guru Granth Sahib, the living Guru. The Guru is that light, more than any one person.
Has someone's words — a teacher, a parent, a book — ever changed the direction your life was moving? What did they say?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI