Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
How can I praise the Guru, the all-powerful Cause of all causes?
Those whose foreheads the Guru has touched with His Hand stay steady and strong.
The Guru has given me the sweet Nectar of the Name to drink. He has freed me from the cycle of birth and death.
I serve the Guru, the Lord beyond all, who takes away fear. My suffering is gone.
This verse says the Guru is so great there are no words big enough, and that the Guru gives everything we once went looking for in many places.
Kit mukh gur salaahee-ai — with what mouth can I praise the Guru? Karan kaaran samrath — the Guru is the all-powerful Cause of everything. Say mathay nihchal rahay jin gur Dhaari-aa hath — those whose foreheads the Guru has touched stay steady.
In this song, the Guru is given many holy roles. The Guru is a tirath, a place of pilgrimage. The Guru is the kalpataru, the wish-granting tree from old Indian stories. The Guru is the naav, the boat that carries us across the ocean of life. And the Guru washes away the dirt of many lives.
In Guru Arjan's time, people traveled to many different holy places, each for a different blessing. Guru Arjan is not making fun of that. He is saying that whatever people were looking for in all those places, the Guru gives all of it.
Think of a backpack that holds everything you need for the whole day: lunch, books, a water bottle, a jacket. You don't need to run home for each thing. It is all with you. The holy places move inside, to wherever the Guru is.
Gur amrit naam pee-aali-aa — the Guru gave me the nectar of the Name to drink. Bhai bhanjan dukh lath — the Breaker of Fear took my suffering away.
Have you ever been to a place that felt sacred — genuinely charged with something? What was that like? And can you imagine carrying that quality of presence within you rather than only finding it in specific places?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI