Sikhism·So Dar·So Dar, Shabad 1
Verse 3 of 6

The Ocean of Excellence Has No Shore

ਵਡੇ ਮੇਰੇ ਸਾਹਿਬਾ ਗਹਿਰ ਗੰਭੀਰਾ ਗੁਣੀ ਗਹੀਰਾ ॥
vaday mayray saahibaa gahir gambheeraa gunee gaheeraa.
O my Great Lord and Master of Unfathomable Depth, You are the Ocean of Excellence.
ਕੋਇ ਨ ਜਾਣੈ ਤੇਰਾ ਕੇਤਾ ਕੇਵਡੁ ਚੀਰਾ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
ko-ay na jaanai tayraa kaytaa kayvad cheeraa. ||1|| rahaa-o.
No one knows the extent or the vastness of Your Expanse. ||1||Pause||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

You are the ocean. Not just any ocean — an ocean of everything good and true and beautiful, overflowing. No one has ever found where it ends. No one has ever found how deep it goes.

The deeper you look, the deeper it goes — and that is not a problem, it is the point.
The deeper layer

Brief but important. After the cosmic sweep of the first shabad, this pause says: even everything we just described was only a fraction. The unfathomable depth is not a problem — it is an invitation. Every tradition that has tried to describe the divine has run out of language. Guru Nanak is not troubled by this. He is delighted by it. The fact that it cannot be contained means it cannot be diminished.

A Question to Sit With

Have you ever looked at the night sky and felt very small in a way that felt *good* rather than scary? What do you think that feeling is?

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI

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