Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The One is my real treasure, my real wealth, my real power — everything the whole world chases after, I have in it. The gift of being alive is itself a deep and precious thing. Hundreds of thousands, millions of joys are tasted by the person who simply bows down at the teacher's feet. That one humble bow opens everything.
This Rahao reframes wealth itself. It lists the three things the world most desperately pursues: nidh (treasures, riches), sidh (the siddhis, supernatural powers that yogis seek), and ridh (prosperity, success, magical abundance). These were the great prizes of Guru Arjan's world — money, power, and special abilities. And the verse says: nidh sidh ridh har har har merai — "[all of] treasure, power, and prosperity — the One is mine." The seeker has them all, because she has the One. When you possess the source of everything, you possess everything; the individual prizes become unnecessary.
Janam padaarath gahir gambheerai — "the padaarath (precious gift/commodity) of janam (this human birth/life) is itself gahir gambheer (deep and profound)." Before any treasure is sought, life itself is already the deep treasure. To be alive, aware, capable of turning toward the One — this is the padaarath, the priceless thing, often squandered chasing lesser prizes.
And how is all this obtained? Not by striving for the sidh and ridh directly, but: jo gur laagaa paaee — "the one who laagaa paaee — falls at the Guru's feet." That single act of humble bowing unlocks laakh kot khuseeaa rang — "hundreds of thousands, millions of joys and rang (delights)." Here is the great inversion: the world climbs and grasps to seize wealth and power; the seeker bows and receives millions of joys. The powers the yogis strain for, the riches the world hoards — all of it flows to the one who simply kneels at the Guru's feet. The Rahao sets the shabad's theme: the One is the treasure that contains all treasures, and the way to it is not climbing but bowing.
The world chases money, power, and success. The verse says one humble bow brings more joy than all of them. Why might bowing open more than grasping ever could?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI