When the Guru is Kind, Even Worry Softens
How does the heart learn to rest when life keeps offering new reasons to fear?
How does the heart learn to rest when life keeps offering new reasons to fear?
Many have felt it, if only for a moment. That gentle hush when the mind stops grasping, when an unseen Presence feels as close as breath. A quiet wonder that comes when the heart bows before sunrise, or when a sabad echoes so deeply it silences every doubt, if only for a heartbeat. These are not imagined comforts; they are hints of the companionship Guru Nanak Sahib lived in fully, and which the Gurus keep inviting into our days.
Guru Amar Das Sahib, the third light in this unbroken stream of grace, lived this nearness with a humility that still calls out across centuries. He poured himself into service, walking miles in the chill dawn to fetch water for Guru Angad Sahib - not as duty but as overflowing love. In this love, faith ripened into certainty, doubt softened into trust. His life shows how the mind learns to dwell in contentment: through serving, through singing, through living in the Guru’s wisdom.
Today, without a living human Guru among us, who is the Satguru? The Satguru remains: the Wisdom recorded as Bani in the Guru Granth Sahib, the living Word. This sabad and these verses are not ink on paper alone but the same radiant awareness that flowed through ten human forms, continuing now as timeless guidance. The Satguru is also the Sangat: the congregation that gathers around the Wisdom. Together, Sabad and Sangat are the living Guru, the Satguru that carries us inward, toward the One.
In Raag Maajh, on Ang 149, Guru Amar Das Sahib gives this pauri, this rung, to strengthen that trust which glimpses alone cannot sustain. Each line is a balm for the mind that worries, a reminder of how life tastes when the Guru’s kindness becomes the ground under every step.
ਪਉੜੀ ॥
Pauree.
Verse.
A step up the ladder of steady trust.
ਸਤਿਗੁਰੁ ਹੋਇ ਦਇਆਲੁ ਤ ਸਰਧਾ ਪੂਰੀਐ ॥
Satigur ho-i da-i-aal ta saradha pooree-ai.
When the True Guru is kind, faith is fulfilled.
When the Satguru’s compassion settles in the mind, wavering ceases. Faith blooms — not as blind belief but as a quiet certainty that whatever comes, it is held within the same Light.
ਸਤਿਗੁਰੁ ਹੋਇ ਦਇਆਲੁ ਨ ਕਬਹੂੰ ਝੂਰੀਐ ॥
Satigur ho-i da-i-aal na kabahooN jhooree-ai.
When the True Guru is kind, one never laments.
Regret turns into understanding. Instead of replaying old wounds, the mind learns to rest, trusting that all paths, even the rough ones, lead inward when the Guru’s gaze is kind.
ਸਤਿਗੁਰੁ ਹੋਇ ਦਇਆਲੁ ਤਾ ਦੁਖੁ ਨ ਜਾਣੀਐ ॥
Satigur ho-i da-i-aal taa dukh na jaanee-ai.
When the True Guru is kind, pain is not felt as pain.
Pain does not vanish from the world, but its sharpness dulls when one sits with the Guru’s loving glance. Suffering shifts shape — no longer an enemy but a teacher whose lessons hurt less because they are shared.
ਸਤਿਗੁਰੁ ਹੋਇ ਦਇਆਲੁ ਤਾ ਹਰਿ ਰੰਗੁ ਮਾਣੀਐ ॥
Satigur ho-i da-i-aal taa har rang maanee-ai.
When the True Guru is kind, the delight of the Divine is savoured.
The flavour of love seeps into ordinary living. Each breath, each glance, each word can carry the colour of closeness to the One — this is har rang, the true delight.
ਸਤਿਗੁਰੁ ਹੋਇ ਦਇਆਲੁ ਤਾ ਜਮ ਕਾ ਡਰੁ ਕੇਹਾ ॥
Satigur ho-i da-i-aal taa jam kaa dar kehaa.
When the True Guru is kind, what fear remains of death?
When the heart learns its own immortality, what dread can the end hold? The so-called death loses its fangs — it is but another passage, watched over by the same Compassionate Presence.
ਸਤਿਗੁਰੁ ਹੋਇ ਦਇਆਲੁ ਤਾ ਸਦ ਹੀ ਸੁਖੁ ਦੇਹਾ ॥
Satigur ho-i da-i-aal taa sad hee sukh dehaa.
When the True Guru is kind, the body remains ever in peace.
This does not promise an absence of sickness or aging. Rather, a deeper ease takes root. The body, once a site of worry and fear, becomes a resting place of contentment, a vessel honoured by the abiding serenity within.
ਸਤਿਗੁਰੁ ਹੋਇ ਦਇਆਲੁ ਤਾ ਨਵ ਨਿਧਿ ਪਾਈਐ ॥
Satigur ho-i da-i-aal taa nav nidh paa-ee-ai.
When the True Guru is kind, the nine treasures are attained.
The nav nidhi, the mythical nine treasures, represent abundance beyond measure — not of gold and gems, but of inner wealth: contentment, wisdom, humility, courage, patience, devotion, and the countless subtleties of grace that enrich life more than any coin. These fill the life that leans on the Satguru’s grace.
ਸਤਿਗੁਰੁ ਹੋਇ ਦਇਆਲੁ ਤ ਸਚਿ ਸਮਾਈਐ ॥੨੫॥
Satigur ho-i da-i-aal ta sach samaa-ee-ai. 25.
When the True Guru is kind, one is absorbed in Truth.
In the end, all these blessings point to one gift: merging with Truth Itself. The self that once clawed for security, trembled at shadows, and clutched at illusions finds home at last — dissolved into the steady vastness of the Real.
Some evenings, the mind gathers old worries like dusk gathers shadows — softly, persistently, filling quiet spaces with restless echoes. Even when no new grief appears, memory and imagination stir unease: the mind replays hurt, rehearses loss, invents troubles yet to come. In those moments, Guru Amar Das Sahib’s words remind: when the Guru is kind, worry loosens its grip, and trust takes root. This pauri is a gentle promise — that kindness brings the heart home to Truth.
Stay near the Sabad, rest in Sangat, and let trust grow. When old fears return, pause and remember: the Satguru is ever patient, ever present. In Sabad and Sangat, love breathes into doubt, ease calms worry, sweetness soothes sorrow. May this trust keep unfolding, touching each day with a quiet courage and a sweetness of love.
Listen to this sabad being sung by Bhai Harjinder Singh
Bhai Sarabjit Singh
Dr. Gurnam Singh