Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
True at the very beginning. True through all the ages.
True right here, right now. And True forever.
Truth was there at the beginning, is here now, and will be here forever.
This salok, a short opening verse, echoes the verse Guru Nanak placed at the very start of Japji. Aad sach jugaad sach — True in the beginning, True through the ages. Hai bhe sach naanak hosee bhe sach — True here and now, and, says Nanak, True forever.
Sukhmani is made of asatpadees, songs of eight verses each. This is the seventeenth, and it opens by touching the foundation stone of the whole tradition.
There are four times here: the beginning, all of history, right now, and the future. The brave one is the third: hai bhe sach, True right now. The Truth is here in this ordinary moment, as fully as at the dawn of creation. It is like the sun. It is not only in old photos of sunrises. It is shining on you today.
The rest of this song shows what happens when that ever-present Truth meets a servant. Truth spreads through the servant's feet, worship, eyes and ears. And the Master Himself keeps the servant's honor safe.
It is easy to believe great things happened long ago or will happen someday. Can you believe something ultimate is true right now, this minute?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI