Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Do you want to know the one thing worth learning in a lifetime? Learn how to live from the truth. A real teacher makes it clear, until suddenly you understand.
And here is the best part: when you keep the Name close — the living presence of the One in everything — it stays with you. Here, now, and everywhere you ever go, it walks beside you like a friend who never leaves.
The one thing most worth learning is how to live from the truth, and the Name stays with you always.
This is the opening of an Ashtapadee, a song of eight verses, by Guru Amar Das, the third Guru. It opens his songs of this kind in Raag Gauree. Is jug kaa dharam parhahu tum bhaa-ee — learn the dharam of this age, brothers and sisters. Dharam here means the way of living that truly fits how things are. It is not a long list of outer duties. It is keeping the Name, the living presence of the One, close.
Poorai gur sabh sojhee paa-ee — all understanding comes from the Perfect Guru. Sojhee is clear understanding, the moment it finally clicks.
Then comes a tender promise. Aithai agai har naam sakhaa-ee — here and hereafter, the Name is our companion. Think of moving to a new town. You leave your room, your school, even your street behind. A true friend is the one who comes along. The Name is that friend. It is the one thing that does not stay behind when everything else does.
What is something you carry with you everywhere, that no one could ever take away?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI