Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
By Grace you eat delicious food - so hold the Giver in your mind.
By Grace your body knows comfort and sweet scents - remembering the One, you rise to the highest place.
By Grace you live somewhere safe and calm. By Grace your family is around you in peace - so let thanks live on your tongue all day long.
By Grace you enjoy what you enjoy. Nanak says: remember, always, the One worth remembering.
Every good thing in your life comes from the One, so remember the Giver whenever you enjoy it.
Each pair of lines has the same beat: a gift is named, then a remembering is asked. Jih parsaad chhateeh amrit khaahi — by grace you eat the thirty-six delicacies. Thirty-six was the old way of counting a complete feast, so it stands for all good food. Then come scented oils, a peaceful home, and a family living together in comfort. It is a picture of ordinary happy home life.
Nothing here has to be given up. Sukhmani does not ask you to leave the feast, the home or the family. It asks you to add one ingredient: remembering where it all comes from. This is the grihast path, the life of a family person, at its warmest.
The table becomes a holy place, not by taking the food away, but by remembering the Giver over it. Think of saying a thank-you before dinner. These lines stretch that thank-you over a whole life.
Before you eat today, pause one moment: where did this come from, all the way back?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI