Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
And in this city there is no unfair tax at all. No one is charged extra for being different. No fines, no toll to pay even at the end of your life. The goods here carry the oldest, truest seal of all — and no one can question them.
This is the hymn's most quietly radical verse, and it carries real history. Jejeeaa is the jizya — a tax that ruling powers of the time levied specifically on non-believers, on people for holding the 'wrong' faith. Guru Arjan imagines a kingdom where that tax does not exist: jejeeaa dann ko lae na jagaat — no tax on the different, no fine, no toll even at death. Instead the goods bear dhur kee chhaap, the seal of the Primal One — an authority older and higher than any king's stamp. For children this is a vision of the fairest city imaginable: a place where you are never punished for who you are, and where the only stamp of approval that matters is the oldest and truest one. (For the historical weight of the jizya, see the Deeper Layer note in the Commentary.)
What would a truly fair place feel like — where no one is charged extra for being who they are?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI