Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Power, youth, the length of a life, everything the world shows off — all of it fades away in time.
But the treasure of the Name is forever fresh and forever pure. That is the real wealth worth gathering.
The closing contrast: raaj joban avadh — kingship/power, youth, lifespan — jo deesai sabh kichh jug meh ghaati-aa, everything visible in the world diminishes over time. Against this: naam nidhaan sad navtan nirmal — the treasure of the Name is ever-new (navtan) and immaculate (nirmal); it never grows stale or worn. Ih har dhan khaati-aa — this is the wealth worth earning. The shabad that praised the God-loving ends by naming why their lives are enviable: they invested in the one treasure that never fades.
If everything you own eventually wears out, what's something you could 'own' that only gets brighter?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI