Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Why forget the One who never overlooks a single effort you make?
Why forget the One who acknowledges everything you do - who gave you everything you have - who is the very life inside the living?
Why forget the One who kept you safe in the fire of the womb - who lifts you out of the mud you fall into?
The long-separated - even lifetimes-long - are brought home again. Rare is the one who truly grasps this. It comes by the Guru's grace. The Perfect Guru made this truth clear. So the One's humble servants remember Him.
There is no reason to forget such a kind Giver, and no separation is too old to end.
The verse is built on one question, asked again and again. So ki-o bisrai — why forget Him? Each line makes the question heavier. So ki-o bisrai je ghaal na bhaanai — why forget the One who never wastes our effort? Ghaal means hard work. No good deed escapes the One, even when the world does not notice it.
The list goes on. The One sees what we do. The One gave us everything. The One is the life inside the living. So ki-o bisrai je agan meh raakhai — why forget the One who kept us safe in the fire of the womb? Ashtapadee 4 used the same picture to grow thankfulness. And the One lifts us out of what spoils us.
The question has no answer, and that is the point. There is no good reason to forget such a One. There is only a habit of forgetting, which Gurbani calls Maya, the pull of the passing world. Naming that habit breaks its spell. Think of forgetting to call a friend who has done everything for you. Once you notice, you pick up the phone.
Then the door opens as wide as it can go. Janam janam kaa tootaa gaadhai — the One joins back even those separated for lifetime after lifetime. No separation is too old to end. The viraha, the ache of being apart for ages, is answered in one meeting.
Someone remembers every good thing you have ever done, including the ones nobody saw. How does that change today?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI