Salok Sehskritee, Salok 3 — One Word for Everyone
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
For the yogi, the Word is the way of yoga. For the seeker, the Word is wisdom. For the Brahmin, the scholar, the Word is the Vedas, the old holy books.
For the Kshatriya, the warrior, the Word is courage. For the Shudra, the worker, the Word is serving others.
The Word for everyone is the one Word of the One, for whoever knows this secret.
Nanak says: I am the servant of that person, who is like the pure One itself.
There is one Word of the One, and it belongs to every person, whatever work they do or family they are born into.
In Guru Nanak's time, people were sorted by birth into ranks: the Brahmin who studied, the Kshatriya who fought, the Shudra who served. Each rank was told it had its own duty and its own holy word. Sarab sabdan ta ayk sabdan: the Word of all of them is one Word. The ranks fall away. No one is above it and no one beneath it.
Naanak taa ko daas hai: Nanak calls himself the servant of the one who knows this secret. Such a person is niranjan dayv, like the pure One.
Have you ever seen someone treated as if they counted less? What would it look like to treat everyone as belonging to the same One?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI