Sikh Aarti (Gagan Mai Thaal) — Word-by-Word Meaning

One Universal Creator God. By The Grace Of The True Guru: Dhanaasaree, First Mehl, Aartee: One Universal Creator God. By The Grace Of The True Guru: In the bowl of the sky, the sun and moon are the lamps; the stars in the constellations are the pearls. The fragrance of sandalwood is the incense, the wind is the fan, and all the vegetation are flowers in offering to You, O Luminous Lord. ||1|| What a beautiful lamp-lit worship service this is! O Destroyer of fear, this is Your Aartee, Your worship service. The sound current of the Shabad is the sounding of the temple drums. ||1||Pause|| Thousands are Your eyes, and yet You have no eyes. Thousands are Your forms, and yet You have not even one form. Thousands are Your lotus feet, and yet You have no feet. Without a nose, thousands are Your noses. I am enchanted with Your play! ||2|| The Divine Light is within everyone; You are that Light. Yours is that Light which shines within everyone. By the Guru's Teachings, this Divine Light is revealed. That which pleases the Lord is the true worship service. ||3|| My soul is enticed by the honey-sweet lotus feet of the Lord; night and day, I thirst for them. Bless Nanak, the thirsty song-bird, with the water of Your Mercy, that he may come to dwell in Your Name. ||4||1||7||9|| Your Name, Lord, is my adoration and cleansing bath. Without the Name of the Lord, all ostentatious displays are useless. ||1||Pause|| Your Name is my prayer mat, and Your Name is the stone to grind the sandalwood. Your Name is the saffron which I take and sprinkle in offering to You. Your Name is the water, and Your Name is the sandalwood. The chanting of Your Name is the grinding of the sandalwood. I take it and offer all this to You. ||1|| Your Name is the lamp, and Your Name is the wick. Your Name is the oil I pour into it. Your Name is the light applied to this lamp, which enlightens and illuminates the entire world. ||2|| Your Name is the thread, and Your Name is the garland of flowers. The eighteen loads of vegetation are all too impure to offer to You. Why should I offer to You, that which You Yourself created? Your Name is the fan, which I wave over You. ||3|| The whole world is engrossed in the eighteen Puraanas, the sixty-eight sacred shrines of pilgrimage, and the four sources of creation. Says Ravi Daas, Your Name is my Aartee, my lamp-lit worship-service. The True Name, Sat Naam, is the food which I offer to You. ||4||3|| Sri Sain: I am a sacrifice to the Lord of Lakshmi. ||1|| Hail to You, Lord, hail to You! Sublime is the lamp, and pure is the wick. You are immaculate and pure, O Brilliant Lord of Wealth! ||2|| Raamaanand knows the devotional worship of the Lord. He says that the Lord is all-pervading, the embodiment of supreme joy. ||3|| The Lord of the world, of wondrous form, has carried me across the terrifying world-ocean. Says Sain, remember the Lord, the embodiment of supreme joy! ||4||2|| Prabhaatee: Hear my prayer, Lord; You are the Divine Light of the Divine, the Primal, All-pervading Master. The Siddhas in Samaadhi have not found Your limits. They hold tight to the Protection of Your Sanctuary. ||1|| Worship and adoration of the Pure, Primal Lord comes by worshipping the True Guru, O Siblings of Destiny. Standing at His Door, Brahma studies the Vedas, but he cannot see the Unseen Lord. ||1||Pause|| With the oil of knowledge about the essence of reality, and the wick of the Naam, the Name of the Lord, this lamp illluminates my body. I have applied the Light of the Lord of the Universe, and lit this lamp. God the Knower knows. ||2|| The Unstruck Melody of the Panch Shabad, the Five Primal Sounds, vibrates and resounds. I dwell with the Lord of the World. Kabeer, Your slave, performs this Aartee, this lamp-lit worship service for You, O Formless Lord of Nirvaanaa. ||3||5|| Dhannaa: O Lord of the world, this is Your lamp-lit worship service. You are the Arranger of the affairs of those humble beings who perform Your devotional worship service. ||1||Pause|| Lentils, flour and ghee - these things, I beg of You. My mind shall ever be pleased. Shoes, fine clothes, A milk cow, and a water buffalo, I beg of You, and a fine Turkestani horse. A good wife to care for my home - Your humble servant Dhanna begs for these things, Lord. ||2||4||