Devotion Is a Treasure That Overflows

ਤੇਰੀ ਭਗਤਿ ਤੇਰੀ ਭਗਤਿ ਭੰਡਾਰ ਜੀ ਭਰੇ ਬਿਅੰਤ ਬੇਅੰਤਾ ॥

tayree bhagat tayree bhagat bhandaar jee bharay bi-ant bay-antaa.

Devotion to You, devotion to You, is a treasure overflowing, infinite and beyond measure.

ਤੇਰੇ ਭਗਤ ਤੇਰੇ ਭਗਤ ਸਲਾਹਨਿ ਤੁਧੁ ਜੀ ਹਰਿ ਅਨਿਕ ਅਨੇਕ ਅਨੰਤਾ ॥

tayray bhagat tayray bhagat salaahan tuDh jee har anik anayk anantaa.

Your devotees, Your devotees praise You, Dear Lord, in many and various and countless ways.

ਤੇਰੀ ਅਨਿਕ ਤੇਰੀ ਅਨਿਕ ਕਰਹਿ ਹਰਿ ਪੂਜਾ ਜੀ ਤਪੁ ਤਾਪਹਿ ਜਪਹਿ ਬੇਅੰਤਾ ॥

tayree anik tayree anik karahi har poojaa jee tap taapeh jaapeh bay-antaa.

For You, many, for You, so very many perform worship services, O Dear Infinite Lord; they practice disciplined meditation and chant endlessly.

ਤੇਰੇ ਅਨੇਕ ਤੇਰੇ ਅਨੇਕ ਪੜਹਿ ਬਹੁ ਸਿਮ੍ਰਿਤਿ ਸਾਸਤ ਜੀ ਕਰਿ ਕਿਰਿਆ ਖਟੁ ਕਰਮ ਕਰੰਤਾ ॥

tayray anayk tayray anayk parheh baho simrit saasat jee kar kiri-aa khat karam karantaa.

For You, many, for You, so very many read the various Simritees and Shaastras. They perform rituals and religious rites.

ਸੇ ਭਗਤ ਸੇ ਭਗਤ ਭਲੇ ਜਨ ਨਾਨਕ ਜੀ ਜੋ ਭਾਵਹਿ ਮੇਰੇ ਹਰਿ ਭਗਵੰਤਾ ॥੪॥

say bhagat say bhagat bhalay jan naanak jee jo bhaaveh mayray har bhagvantaa. ||4||

Those devotees, those devotees are sublime, O servant Nanak, who are pleasing to my Dear Lord God. ||4||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

Devotion to You is a treasure — not a fixed amount that can run out, but something that overflows without limit.

Your devotees praise You in countless ways — and there are so many of them, across so many traditions. Some worship. Some study. Some chant. Some simply sit in silence. All of them are pointing at the same source.

Those devotees who are pleasing to the Lord — they are the truly sublime ones.

Devotion takes countless forms — the source recognises genuine reaching, whatever shape it takes.

The deeper layer

Guru Ram Das is describing the infinite variety of devotional expression. Worship, study, meditation, chanting, ritual — these are not competing paths to the oneness. They are the countless ways that beings, across traditions and lifetimes, have tried to point at the same thing.

What makes a devotee "pleasing to the Lord"? Not the form of their practice but its authenticity. Are they genuinely reaching toward the oneness, or performing for an audience? The source, which is in every heart, recognises genuine recognition.

A Question to Sit With

Do you have a way of feeling connected to something larger than yourself — even if it doesn't look like traditional prayer? What does that look like for you?

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

← Verse 3 of 5 Those Who Meditate on You Dwell in Peace

Verse 5 of 5 →You Are the Primal Being — Nothing Has Ever Been Like You

Use ← → to navigate