Trade the Little Crown of Me-First for the Priceless

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

Har aap amulak hai — the One is amulak, priceless. Some things are cheap, and some are expensive. Priceless means no pile of anything could ever equal it. Mul na paa-i-aa jaa-ay — no one can put a price on it.

Rahay lok villaa-ay — people have worn themselves out trying. It is the same tiredness as the people in an earlier verse who wore themselves out with rituals. Trying to measure the One, like trying to wash the heart from outside, ends in being tired, not in success. Japji Sahib says the same: no one can measure how great the Giver is.

So what can we do? Tis no sir sa-upee-ai — offer your head to such a True Guru. Vichahu aap jaa-ay — and the me-first self leaves from inside. The head stands for self-will, pride, and the clever, calculating mind that just failed to price the Priceless. Offering your head is one of the strongest pictures in the Sikh tradition. It was lived out at Anandpur in 1699, when the Khalsa began and five people stepped forward, ready to give their whole selves to the Guru. What cannot be bought can only be joined. And joining costs you your pride, not your money.

Jis daa jee-o tis mil rahai — your soul belongs to the One anyway. Stay joined with the One, and har vasai man aa-ay, the One comes to live in your mind. So giving yourself is not losing. It is like a wave returning to the ocean it never left. Bhagat Kabir asks it this way: if I give back what is already Yours, what have I lost?

The last line is a blessing. Bhaag tinaa kay naankaa jin har palai paa-ay — how lucky are those who hold the One in their palai. The palai is the fold of a scarf or shawl where people tied up treasure. It gets us ready for the next verse, about a trader whose only treasure is the One.