Where a Self Stood, the Helper's Hand Now Reaches
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Through such a being, the Maker keeps making the world - and such a person lives on and does not die.
From them comes the path to freedom; through them the Perfect One arranges what happens.
They are the helper of those no one helps - their hand reaches toward everyone.
All creation is theirs. They are themselves the Formless - their glory is theirs alone. Nanak says: the God-aware person is the master of all.
In the last pauri, the God-aware person and the One can no longer be told apart.
Lines that usually describe the One now describe the God-aware person. Maker of the whole world. Never dying. Giver of the way to freedom. The one who arranges all things. Barahm gi-aanee aap nirankaar — the God-aware person is the Formless One. Nirankaar means without form.
Read too fast, this could sound shocking. Read the way this whole song has taught, it makes sense. When nothing separate is left, the One's qualities are simply what is at work where a person used to stand.
The gentlest line sits among the huge ones. Barahm gi-aanee anaath kaa naath — the helper of the helpless. Anaath means someone with no one to look after them. An earlier salok of Sukhmani gave this same title to the One. Now it flows through a human being. The One's hand reaches the world through a person's hand, like a friend helping you up after you fall.
And owning comes by letting go. All creation belongs to the one who claims none of it. The picture ends the way all of Sukhmani teaches: master of all, by being the servant of all.
If someone owned nothing, feared nothing, and served everyone - what could the world do to such a person?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI