Sikhism·Raag Aasaa·Shabad 39
Verse 5 of 5

Let the Name Be Your Rank; None Can Take It

ਹਮਰੀ ਜਾਤਿ ਪਤਿ ਸਚੁ ਨਾਉ ॥
hamree jaat pat sach naa-o.
The True Name is my social status and honor.
ਕਰਮ ਧਰਮ ਸੰਜਮੁ ਸਤ ਭਾਉ ॥
karam Dharam sanjam sat bhaa-o.
The love of the Truth is my karma and Dharma - my faith and my actions, and my self-control.
ਨਾਨਕ ਬਖਸੇ ਪੂਛ ਨ ਹੋਇ ॥
naanak bakhsay poochh na ho-ay.
O Nanak, one who is forgiven by the Lord is not called to account.
ਦੂਜਾ ਮੇਟੇ ਏਕੋ ਸੋਇ ॥੪॥੧੪॥
doojaa maytay ayko so-ay. ||4||14||
The One Lord erases duality. ||4||14||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

The True Name is my rank and my honor.

The love of Truth is my whole code of action and faith and self-control.

Says Nanak: the one the One forgives is never called to account — the One erases the sense of being separate.

Let the Name be your rank — a dignity no one can grant you or take away.
The deeper layer

The boldest line: "the True Name is my social status and honor" — Nanak replaces the entire caste system with a single dignity available to all. One's jaat (rank) is now simply the Name. And the closing returns to grace: the forgiven are "not called to account," and the One "erases duality" — dissolving the very separateness that made rank seem to matter.

A Question to Sit With

Where do you get your sense of worth — and is it something anyone could take from you?

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI

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