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.
Keep the One's Name close and the fog of doubt lifts — this is the highest and simplest way to live.
The Name wipes away every label the world stamps on you: your class, your family rank, all of it dissolves.
The One is the walking stick that steadies anyone who cannot see the path.
This opening (with its mangal, the sacred opening formula) states the shabad's heart at once. Jaat kul haree — holding the Name erases caste (jaat) and inherited pedigree (kul). For Namdev, a saint the world ranked as low-born, this is not abstract theology; it is his own dignity. And andhulay kee laakree, the blind person's walking stick, is a tender picture of the One as steady support for anyone lost. Caste-leveling and gentleness stand side by side.
What labels do people get stuck with — and what would it feel like to have them dissolve?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI