गगन मै थालु रवि चंदु दीपक बने तारिका मंडल जनक मोती॥
धूपु मलआनलो पवणु चवरो करे सगल बनराइ फूलंत जोती॥१॥
कैसी आरती होइ भव खंडना तेरी आरती॥
अनहता सबद वाजंत भेरी॥१॥ रहाउ॥
सहस तव नैन नन नैन है तोहि कउ सहस मूरति नना एक तोही॥
सहस पद बिमल नन एक पद गंध बिनु सहस तव गंध इव चलत मोही॥२॥
सभ महि जोति जोति है सोइ॥
तिस कै चानणि सभ महि चानणु होइ॥
गुर साखी जोति परगटु होइ॥
जो तिसु भावै सु आरती होइ॥३॥
हरि चरण कमल मकरंद लोभित मनो अनदिनो मोहि आही पिआसा॥
क्रिपा जलु देहि नानक सारिंग कउ होइ जा ते तेरै नामि वासा॥४॥१॥७॥९॥
Gagan mai thalu ravi chandu dipak bane tarika mandal janak moti,
dhupu malaanalo pavanu chavaro kare sagal banrai phulant joti.
Kaisi arati hoi bhav khandana teri arati,
anahata sabad vajant bheri. Rahau.
Sahas tav nain nan nain hai tohi kau sahas murati nana ek tohi,
sahas pad bimal nan ek pad gandh binu sahas tav gandh iv chalat mohi.
Sabh mahi joti joti hai soi,
tis kai chanani sabh mahi chananu hoi,
gur sakhi joti paragatu hoi,
jo tisu bhavai su arati hoi.
Hari charan kamal makarand lobhit mano anadino mohi ahi piasa,
kripa jalu dehi Nanak sarang kau hoi ja te terai nami vasa.
Meaning
The sky is the plate, the sun and moon are the lamps, the circles of stars are the pearls. The fragrant wind from the sandal hills is the incense, the wind waves the whisk, and all the forests are flowers offered to you, O Light.
What a wonderful aarti this is! O destroyer of fear, this is your aarti. The unstruck sound is the temple drum.
You have thousands of eyes, yet you have no eyes; thousands of forms, yet not one form; thousands of pure feet, yet not one foot; no nose, yet thousands of noses. This play of yours has charmed me.
In all is the Light, and that Light is you. By that Light, light shines in all. Through the guru’s teaching the Light is revealed. Whatever pleases him is the true aarti.
My mind longs for the honey of Hari’s lotus feet; day and night I thirst for it. Give the water of your grace to Nanak, the thirsty sparrow-hawk, so that he may dwell in your Name.
About this bhajan
Sikh tradition, in the Janamsakhis, tells that Guru Nanak Dev ji was at Jagannath Puri when the evening aarti was being performed, and that he sang this shabad there: an aarti in which the whole sky is the plate and the stars are its pearls. It is recited in gurdwaras every night as part of Sohila, and it is the closing hymn of many Hindu satsangs as well. Rabindranath Tagore admired it greatly. It is given here as a Dharmic sibling’s song of the one Light.
Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Raag Dhanasari, Mahala 1, Aarti, ang 663 (Devanagari transliteration via BaniDB; the original is in Gurmukhi)
