Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The true profit in this world is earned by those who carry the wealth of the One's Name.
They do not get lost in the pull of feeling separate; their hope rests in what is real.
They hold to the one unshakable thing and let go of the rest.
A breath spent forgetting the Source feels empty — but the One draws a devoted heart close and keeps it safe. Nanak says: I would give my whole self for that One.
An accountant's Pauri, redeeming the word "profit." Laahaa jag meh se khateh — "they earn the gain in the world" who hold har dhan raas, the One's Name as their capital. What they refuse is dutee-aa bhaa-o — "the love of duality," the feeling of being cut off — and what they rest in is sachay dee aas, "hope in the real." They keep nihchal ayk, "the one unshakable thing," and let the rest go. Tis birthaa saas ("useless is his breath") is heard as a breath that feels empty, never a curse. The close is the tenderest image in the Pauri: kanth laa-ay jan rakhi-aa — the One "draws close to the throat," embraces and protects. Not a distant paymaster; a holding.
What do you own that no one could ever take from you? Is that the kind of thing worth building your life on?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI