The Only Thread Worth Wearing Never Breaks

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

This is one of the most famous moments in Sikh history and scripture. As a boy, Guru Nanak was to be given the janeu — the sacred thread worn over the shoulder to mark caste status. He refused the ordinary cotton string and asked instead for a thread made of virtues: compassion the cotton, contentment the thread, modesty the knot, truth the twist. If you have that thread, he says, then go ahead and put it on me. And its qualities are everything a real virtue is: it does not break, cannot be soiled, cannot burn, and is never lost. An ordinary string is bought for a few shells and falls away when the body dies — but a thread woven of compassion and truth stays with the soul forever. For a child, this is the heart of it: what makes you good is not a symbol you wear on the outside, but the qualities woven through your character.