What Discipline Couldn't Force, the Sangat Grows
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
In the Sangat, you meet the One nobody can grasp alone, and you flourish - always.
In the Sangat, the five loud voices inside grow quiet, and you taste the sweetest taste there is.
In the Sangat, you become the dust of everyone's feet - happily small - and your words turn kind and drawing.
In the Sangat, the mind stops running away. It steadies. The glitter loses its grip. Nanak says: in the Sangat, the One is completely pleased.
In the Sangat, some of the hardest changes inside you start to happen almost on their own.
Saadh kai sang aavahi bas panchaa — in the Sangat, the five passions come to rest. The five are craving, anger, greed, clinging, and pride. They are not killed off. They are rested, like players sent to the bench to cool down. Another shabad in the Guru Granth Sahib says the same: the five are made thoughtful, not destroyed.
Today we might call this learning to steady your feelings. The wandering mind stops wandering. Saadhsang asthit man paavai — the mind becomes steady. Saadh kai sang maa-i-aa tay bhinn — you come loose from Maya, the glitter of the world that keeps pulling at us.
These are some of the hardest things a person can try to do. Earlier in Sukhmani, strict discipline and hard practices could not make them happen. Here they come almost as side effects of sitting in the Sangat.
Saadhsang ho-ay sabh kee rayn — you become the dust of everyone's feet. Here that is a gift, not a chore. Among truly good people, being small stops feeling like losing.
The last line changes what it means to please the One. Saadhsang naanak prabh suparsan — in the Sangat, the One is fully pleased. It is not about amazing feats. It is simply about sitting among the good.
When your mind is racing, what settles it faster - trying hard to calm down, or being near a calm person?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI