The Whole Teaching Is One Syllable, Struck Thirteen Times
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Meditate on the One. Worship the One. Remember the One, and let your longing point at the One.
Sing the endless praises of the One; with mind and body, hold the One.
The One Himself is the One and Only - filling everything, everywhere. All the many worlds poured out of the One. Adoring the One, the old stains dissolve.
Mind and body, dyed in the One. By wisdom's grace, the One is known.
This one says the whole teaching comes down to one word, rung like a bell: One.
The word is ayk, "One." It sounds through every line. ayko jap ayko saalaahi — remember the One, praise the One. ayk simar ayko man aahi — think of the One, long for the One. Sing the One. The One is the One and Only. Everything came from the One. Love the One. Be soaked in the One. Know the One.
Think of a bell rung again and again until its sound fills the whole room. After eighteen sections of checking, counting and advice, the summary is one word. It repeats until nothing else is left standing in the sentence. This is Ik Oankaar, "there is One," the first words of the Mool Mantar, the opening words of Gurbani. Here it is opened into ten lines, then packed back into one drumbeat.
anik bisthaar ayk tay bha-ay — the many worlds all came from the One. That one line holds the whole story of creation. man tan antar ayk parabh raataa — mind and body are dyed through with the One. That line holds the whole practice.
And the last word, as at every high point in Sukhmani, is grace: gur parsaad naanak ik jaataa — by the Guru's grace, the One is known. The door opens, as always, from the other side.
Try it for one minute: let every thought that comes be answered with a single word - One. What happens to the crowd in your head?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI