Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The big, powerful, important people of the world -- they cannot help with what your heart truly needs, dear one.
But someone who loves the One may be born to the humblest family, and the world may think they are nobody. Keep their company, and in a single moment you are lifted.
Big, powerful people cannot help your soul, but a humble lover of the One can.
Vaday vaday jo dunee-aadaar — the great and powerful people of the world. For what matters most, they are kaahoo kaaj naahee, of no help at all. Then Guru Arjan turns the picture upside down. Har kaa daas neech kul suneh — a servant of the One may be born into a family the world calls low. In those days, many people ranked each other by the family they were born into. This verse knocks that ladder over. Keep company with such a person, and you are lifted khin meh, in a single moment.
Think of a school where everyone wants to sit with the popular kids. Yet the quiet kid in the corner may be the one who helps you most. Money and fame do not reach the soul. Love for the One does, whoever carries it.
Have you ever learned something deep from someone the world overlooked?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI