Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
If it pleases the One, a person is set free. If it pleases the One, stones float across the river.
If it pleases the One, the body lasts where no breath should keep it. If it pleases the One, a heart fills up with song.
If it pleases the One, even those who have done terrible wrong are carried home.
He does, and He watches what He does. Both worlds are His. He plays, He enjoys, He knows every heart from inside. What He wills gets done. Nanak says: I can see no other anywhere.
Grace answers to the One's love, not to a scorecard.
Every line starts the same way: parabh bhaavai, "if it pleases the One." Then comes something impossible. parabh bhaavai taa paathar taraavai — if it pleases the One, even stones float. parabh bhaavai bin saas tay raakhai — the body is kept even without breath.
The floating stone shows up often in Gurbani. A shabad in Raag Aasaa says mercy floats even a sinking stone. Nothing about the stone changes. What changes is who carries it.
The surprising line comes after the physical wonders: parabh bhaavai taa patit uDhaarai — if it pleases the One, even those who did wrong are saved. For someone keeping score, that is harder to accept than a floating rock. That is the point. Grace is not a paycheck with a bonus now and then. It is the Owner's own joy, and it does not answer to a scorecard. An earlier section pictured the One as a Banker. Here that Banker turns out to be endlessly kind.
One more line matters. Even singing the One's praises happens "if it pleases the One." The practice sits inside the gift. It is not a lever that makes the gift happen.
Is there anyone you think is too far gone to be saved? What would it mean if no one ever was?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI