Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
There is only One. And the One is found by the True Guru's grace — a gift that is always here, waiting for an open heart.
This is my wealth: the Naam of the One.
I don't tie it up in a knot to hide it away, and I don't sell it to buy my food.
The Naam is a wealth you neither hide away nor sell.
This is the rahaa-o, the "pause" line, the centre of the shabad, the still point the whole hymn circles back to. It opens the songs of the Bhagats, the holy poets whose words sit beside the Gurus' own, with Kabir the weaver naming his one possession.
Dhan means wealth; gaanth na baadhau means “I do not tie it in a knot” — the way a merchant knots coins into a cloth. Baych na khaau — “I do not sell it to eat.” The Naam is a wealth that grows by being lived and shared.
What is something valuable in your life that is worth more because you share it?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI