Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The True Guru tends the learner the way a gardener tends a favorite tree - merciful to the servant, always.
He rinses the grime of wrong thinking out of the learner's mind, and sets the Name on the learner's tongue.
He cuts the ropes the learner was tied with; after that, wrong deeds lose their pull. He hands over the wealth of the Name - what luck the learner has!
This world and the next - the Guru arranges both for him. With a whole heart, the True Guru mends His Sikh.
The Guru loves the learner first, and the change comes after.
Look at everything the True Guru does here, one thing after another. He cherishes. He shows mercy. He washes away durmat, the wrong thinking that muddies the mind. He teaches the Name. He cuts the ropes. He hands over the wealth of the Name. He arranges this world and the next. And last of all, savaarai: He mends. Earlier in Sukhmani, the One was called the Mender of what is broken. Now that same mending comes through the Guru.
Notice which way every gift flows: from the Guru to the learner. The learner does nothing here but receive. The only thing said about him is that he is vadbhaagee, very lucky.
That order matters. The next verse talks about the learner's side. But first comes this: the bond starts as a gift, not a deal. The washing comes before the good deeds. The ropes are cut before the good behavior shows up.
Think of a new puppy at home. You love it before it has learned a single trick, and it learns because it is loved. No one behaves their way into the Guru's love. They are loved into behaving well.
Which works better: getting cleaned up so someone will love you, or being loved so much you start to shine?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI