Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Love and longing and a sweet ache have welled up in me - this is now the purpose in my body and mind:
to see Him with my own eyes and be at peace. My heart blossoms just washing the feet of the good.
His lovers are soaked through, mind and body, with His love - and rare is the luck of their company.
So show mercy: one request - by grace, let me keep the Name. His praise cannot be finished; He is contained in everyone.
Real longing for the One is not forced. It wells up by itself, like spring water.
Here we get to listen in on how devotion feels inside. Upjee pareet paraym ras chaa-o — love, affection, and the sweet taste of longing have welled up. Upjee, "welled up," is the key word. The longing is not made by hard effort. It rises like water from a spring, and that is itself a grace. A hymn in Raag Maajh says the same: the One plants the ache that draws the soul home.
What does the longing want? Something small and something total, both at once. Naytarahu paykh daras sukh ho-ay — to see Him with my eyes, and be at peace. Daras is the sight of the One. Man bigsai saadh charan dho-ay — my mind blossoms as I wash the feet of the good. That is Gurbani's humblest pose, from Ashtapadee 15. Here it is done with joy, not as a rule.
Ayk basat deejai kar ma-i-aa — in mercy, give me one thing. It is the beggar from the first verse again, now asking for a single gift: gur parsaad naam jap la-i-aa, by the Guru's grace, to remember the Name.
The verse ends on two facts that keep all this longing steady. Taa kee upmaa kahee na jaa-ay — His praise can never be fully spoken. Naanak rahi-aa sarab samaa-ay — He is present in all. The Beloved never runs out, and is never absent. Think of the sky. You can never see all of it, yet it is always right above you.
Have you ever ached for something so good the ache itself felt like a gift? What was it pulling you toward?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI