Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The one who serves the true teaching is honored by all.
Of every effort, the highest is reaching the One's name. Peace settles in the mind; meditating in the heart, a lasting calm comes. The nectar is their food, the nectar their clothing; through the Name, greatness is found.
The Shalok crowns one effort above all: "the supreme effort is the attainment of the Lord's Name." Among all the things a person could strive for, this is the highest yield. And the imagery is intimate provision — the nectar as "food" and "clothes," the two basics of life relocated to the sacred (as in Shabad 19). A life fed and clothed by the Name lacks nothing essential.
If you ranked your efforts by what they truly yield, what would rise to the top?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI