Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
In the Sangat, the mind stops wandering off and rests in a peace that lasts.
In the Sangat, you begin to hold what cannot be held, and bear what cannot be borne.
In the Sangat, you live from a higher place - you find the door to the Presence, and your footing in what is right becomes firm.
In the Sangat, you live with the One Himself, and the treasure of the Name is yours. Nanak says: to such companions I give myself entirely.
In the Sangat, you can hold what seems too big to hold, and carry what seems too heavy to carry.
Two surprises sit at the center of this verse. The first is saadhsang basat agochar lahai — in the Sangat, you grasp the One who cannot be grasped. No amount of book learning can catch the One. Earlier, Sukhmani searched through all the libraries of learning and came up empty. Among the Holy, the One is not caught as an idea. The One is felt as a presence.
The second surprise may matter even more in an ordinary life. Saadhoo kai sang ajar sahai — in the Sangat, you can bear what could not be borne. Grief, loss, fear: the Sangat does not make them vanish. It spreads out their weight. Think of moving a heavy sofa. Alone, you cannot lift it. With friends on every side, it moves. A sorrow carried among the good is carried by many hands.
Then the verse climbs higher and higher. Basai thaan oochai — you live in the highest place. Mahal pahoochai — you reach the mahal, the palace of the One's presence. Then you dwell with the Supreme One. This is not a ladder you climb after you die. It describes how a life feels, here and now, when you keep to the Sangat.
Have you ever carried something heavy - a sadness, a fear - that got lighter just because someone sat with you?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI