Gobind Milan ki eh teri Bariya - Lyrics, Meanings and Notes on Saranjaam Laag



Lyrics Followed by Translation


ਭਈ ਪਰਾਪਤਿ ਮਾਨੁਖ ਦੇਹੁਰੀਆ ॥ 
ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਮਿਲਣ ਕੀ ਇਹ ਤੇਰੀ ਬਰੀਆ ॥ 
ਅਵਰਿ ਕਾਜ ਤੇਰੈ ਕਿਤੈ ਨ ਕਾਮ ॥ 
ਮਿਲੁ ਸਾਧਸੰਗਤਿ ਭਜੁ ਕੇਵਲ ਨਾਮ ॥੧॥ 

ਸਰੰਜਾਮਿ ਲਾਗੁ ਭਵਜਲ ਤਰਨ ਕੈ ॥ 
ਜਨਮੁ ਬ੍ਰਿਥਾ ਜਾਤ ਰੰਗਿ ਮਾਇਆ ਕੈ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥ 

ਜਪੁ ਤਪੁ ਸੰਜਮੁ ਧਰਮੁ ਨ ਕਮਾਇਆ ॥ 
ਸੇਵਾ ਸਾਧ ਨ ਜਾਨਿਆ ਹਰਿ ਰਾਇਆ ॥ 
ਕਹੁ ਨਾਨਕ ਹਮ ਨੀਚ ਕਰੰਮਾ ॥ 
ਸਰਣਿ ਪਰੇ ਕੀ ਰਾਖਹੁ ਸਰਮਾ ॥੨॥੪॥ 


आसा महला ५ ॥ 

भई परापति मानुख देहुरीआ ॥ 
गोबिंद मिलण की इह तेरी बरीआ ॥ 

अवरि काज तेरै कितै न काम ॥ 
मिलु साधसंगति भजु केवल नाम ॥१॥ 

सरंजामि लागु भवजल तरन कै ॥ 
जनमु ब्रिथा जात रंगि माइआ कै ॥१॥ रहाउ ॥ 

जपु तपु संजमु धरमु न कमाइआ ॥ 
सेवा साध न जानिआ हरि राइआ ॥ 
कहु नानक हम नीच करमा ॥ 
सरणि परे की राखहु सरमा ॥२॥४॥ 


Āsā mėhlā 5. 


Bẖaī parāpaṯ mānukẖ ḏehurīā. 
Gobinḏ milaṇ kī ih ṯerī barīā. 
Avar kāj ṯerai kiṯai na kām. 
Mil sāḏẖsangaṯ bẖaj keval nām. ||1|| 

Saraʼnjām lāg bẖavjal ṯaran kai. 
Janam baritha jāṯ rang māiā kai. ||1|| rahāo. 

Jap ṯap sanjam ḏẖaram na kamāiā. 
Sevā sāḏẖ na jāniā har rāiā. 
Kaho Nānak ham nīcẖ karammā. 
Saraṇ pare kī rākẖo sarmā. ||2||4|| 


Aasaa, Fifth Mehl: 

This human body has been given to you. 
This is your chance to meet the Lord of the Universe. 
Nothing else will work. Join the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy; 
vibrate and meditate on the Jewel of the Naam. ||1|| 

Make every effort to cross over this terrifying world-ocean. 
You are squandering this life uselessly in the love of Maya. ||1||Pause|| 

I have not practiced meditation, self-discipline, self-restraint or righteous living. 
I have not served the Holy; I have not acknowledged the Lord, my King. 
Says Nanak, my actions are contemptible! 
O Lord, I seek Your Sanctuary; please, preserve my honor! ||2||4|| 

Original Translation


More on "Saranjaam"

From Platt's dictionary: 
سرأنجام sar-anjām sar+anjām, qq.v.

P سرأنجام sar-anjām (sar+anjām, qq.v.), s.m. Conclusion, end, accomplishment; event; issue, termination, end; arrangement, preparation, provision; apparatus, utensils, furniture, goods and chattels; materials, requisites, ingredients, stores:—sar-anjām karnā (-kā and -ko), To make an end (of), to complete, accomplish, conclude; to arrange (for), make provision (for), provide (for), to prepare, to obtain or get together the requisites (for):—sar-anjām honā, v.n. To be accomplished, be brought to a termination, be completed; to be prepared, be arranged, be provided.

To me Sar-Anjam means literally "the end of the head" or conclusion.  


Usage of Saranjaam by Ghalib:

Har zarra-e-khaak-am ze to raqsaan ba-hawaa'e ast
Deewanagi-e-shauq sar anjaam na-daarad.

[Meri khaak ka har zarra tere ishq men raqsaan (naachtaa) hai.
Deewanagi-e-shauq ka sar anjaam (end) nahin hota.]


Usage of Saranjaam by Insha (Insha Allah Khan from Lucknow):

nādāñ kahāñ tarab kā sar-anjām aur ishq
kuchh bhī tujhe shu.ūr hai ārām aur ishq

Usage of Saranjaam by Mir Taqi Mir

जो ये दिल है तो क्या सर-अंजाम होगा
ता-ख़ाक भी ख़ाक आराम होगा

If such is the heart, how will this end?
Until ashes there will be no rest

More on this ghazal: Jo yeh dil hai to kya sar anjaam hoga

From the blog of Sandeep Bhatia ...

So why are we here? On this earth. Running around our daily affairs. Getting up in the morning, getting ready, going to work, arguing and laughing at the same time with our bosses, customers, colleagues, wife, family. Coming back, taking care of kids, doing chores around the house, taking care of the house, running on the weekend to the grocery store, to parties/movies/clubs, to Gurudwara/Temple/Church, eating, sleeping and everything in the whole 24/7/365 routine. So is it that we are born by accident (feel like making a funny comment here, but I will hold it for now) or is that we came here for a purpose?


I wont go deep into the whole accident phenomena of it is a whole other philosophical discussion, but would stick to the idea laid down in Gurbani, that we do have a purpose in life. So what is that purpose? Lets take look at what Guru Arjan Dev, the 5th Nanak has to say:




bha-ee paraapat maanukh dayhuree-aa

This human body has been given to you.

gobind milan kee ih tayree baree-aa.

This is your chance to meet the Lord of the Universe

avar kaaj tayrai kitai na kaam

Nothing else will work

mil saaDhsangat bhaj kayval naam

Join the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy; vibrate and meditate on the Jewel of the Naam

saraNjaam laag bhavjal taran kai

Make every effort to cross over this terrifying world-ocean

janam baritha jaat rang maa-i-aa kai

You are squandering this life uselessly in the love of Maya

Now there is a lot of masala (I say it more so with love towards the Bani, so lets not focus on its inappropriateness if you feel so) in the above verse and its very important to understand it correctly as this verse itself defines the purpose of our lives.

Guru Sahiban says that we have received this human body after a lot of hardships. We really had to work our way up , spiritually speaking, in order to attain this human birth:




ka-ee janam bha-ay keet patangaa.

In so many incarnations, you were a worm and an insect

ka-ee janam gaj meen kurangaa.

in so many incarnations, you were an elephant, a fish and a deer.

ka-ee janam pankhee sarap ho-i-o.

In so many incarnations, you were a bird and a snake.

ka-ee janam haivar barikh jo-i-o.

In so many incarnations, you were yoked as an ox and a horse. ||1||

mil jagdees milan kee baree-aa.

Meet the Lord of the Universe - now is the time to meet Him.

chirankaal ih dayh sanjaree-aa.

After so very long, this human body was fashioned for you.




So now that we have been given this human body, what should we do with it? Guru says use it to meet The Primal Being (whatever name you call it with). Gobind milan ki eh teri bariya. This is your time to meet God. Its not possible in any other form. Human birth is the only time where we have the wisdom to understand God and how He manifests in all forms of Beings.

Whatever else we do (without the above basic purpose in mind) would be of no use. So although doing our daily duties is important, its not the ultimate purpose we are here for. Remember Guru Sahib have never asked us to renounce our worldly duties. Instead they have taught us the phenomena of "Jeh Prasad" (Sukhmani Sahib). Jeh Prasad means that we acknowledge and thank the Creator for all that He has given us and enjoy the bounties of life with this feeling of thankfulness. The idea is to remember and see the Creator in everything/everyone and not be attached to the Creation.

So what are we supposed to do in order to achieve the ultimate purpose? Guruji says..."Mil sadh sangat bhaj keval Naam". This does not mean that we sit in Sangat the whole day, it means that whatever we do, we do it with constant remembrance and awareness and dedicate it to the Lord. Again, keep in mind the concept of Jeh Prasad. It also means that we need do amrit vela (will talk about it another post), do shabad vichaar (contemplation and leading a life of God's word). From the shabad vichaar we learn that we should lead a life of love for all and service to humanity (sounds pretty idealistic but dont seem to have much of a choice here. Will cover this aspect in a later post). This is also the saraNjaam laag bhavjal taran kai. Meaning this is also the effort that we have to put in, in order to obtain Naam. We will have to take out time and money to help others, to raise a family (with love and not with moh), to show small acts of love without expecting anything in return, to help those in need . This is the effort we need to put in.

When we do all this we wont be wasting our life just enjoying the fruits of it (janam baritha jaat rang maa-i-aa kai).

At this juncture after writing all this, a strong realization dawns upon me that I have wasted quite some time now. Gotta do some shabad vichaar and some mindless act of kindness right now...Bye for now.








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