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

What Can We Do But Overflow With Gratitude?

ਆਖਣ ਵਾਲਾ ਕਿਆ ਵੇਚਾਰਾ ॥
aakhan vaalaa ki-aa vaychaaraa.
What can the poor helpless creatures do?
ਸਿਫਤੀ ਭਰੇ ਤੇਰੇ ਭੰਡਾਰਾ ॥
siftee bharay tayray bhandaaraa.
Your Praises are overflowing with Your Treasures.
ਜਿਸੁ ਤੂ ਦੇਹਿ ਤਿਸੈ ਕਿਆ ਚਾਰਾ ॥
jis too deh tisai ki-aa chaaraa.
Those, unto whom You give-how can they think of any other?
ਨਾਨਕ ਸਚੁ ਸਵਾਰਣਹਾਰਾ ॥੪॥੨॥
naanak sach savaaranhaaraa. ||4||2||
O Nanak, the True One embellishes and exalts. ||4||2||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

What can we do? We are small. His gifts are everywhere — more than we could ever count, overflowing with treasure.

And when something that generous, that vast, gives to you — how can you think of anything else? You can't. You just overflow.

The True One doesn't just sustain you. It lifts you up and makes you more than you were.

We are small — and what flows to us anyway is more than we could ever ask for.
The deeper layer

So Dar ends not with awe of the cosmic — it ends with something personal: a being receiving grace and being transformed by it. The poor helpless creature (which is each of us) cannot do much. But we don't need to. The source is overflowing. What we receive exceeds what we could ask for.

The last line — "the True One embellishes and exalts" — suggests the source does not just maintain you in your current state. It makes you more. Every sincere encounter with the oneness leaves you larger than you were.

A Question to Sit With

When someone gave you something you didn't earn and didn't expect — something that felt like pure generosity — how did it make you feel toward that person? Does that feeling give you any clues about how to feel toward the oneness?

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

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