Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The Teacher and the One are not two things — they are a single light, and that light is living inside everyone and everything.
The people who were always meant to find this are the ones who turn, quietly, toward the Name.
So I lean my whole weight on that One — the shelter that never dies, never leaves, never comes or goes. It is simply always here.
Guru Arjan ends his hymn by saying the Guru and the One are a single light, living inside everyone.
Gur parmaysar ayk hai means the Guru and the Supreme Lord are one. Sabh meh rahi-aa samaa-ay means that One is inside everyone and everything, with no one left out. After many hymns about the Name, longing, grace, and family life, it all comes to rest on this one quiet note.
The One is not far away on some distant throne. The One is the light inside all people and all creatures. So finding the One is less about going somewhere. It is more about turning your attention. Say-ee naam dhi-aa-ay means they keep the Name in mind. They turn toward what was here all along.
Naanak gur sarnaagatee means Nanak takes shelter with the Guru. Think of a child running to a parent. The parent is not hard to reach. The child runs there because the parent can be trusted.
Marai na aavai jaa-ay means the One does not die, and does not come and go. Everything else in life arrives and leaves. This alone stays. Guru Arjan ends by simply leaning there.
When you feel unsettled, where do you "take sanctuary" — and what would it be like to lean on something that never comes or goes?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI