Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The kind One, all on its own, poured out kindness on me. And just like that, the grime of my ego — the poison I had been carrying — was washed completely away. Your own body is like a busy marketplace, full of shops. And those who turn toward the light walk through it and buy the one thing worth buying: the living Name.
This last verse says the Kind One washes away the ego, and then we can shop for the one thing worth buying.
It begins with grace. "Aap da-i-aal da-i-aa parabh Dhaaree" — the Merciful One, all on His own, poured out mercy. The word da-i-aa, kindness, comes twice. The seeker didn't earn it. The cleaning starts from the One's side. And what gets cleaned? "Mal ha-umai bikhi-aa" — the dirt of ha-umai, the "me first" self, called bikhi-aa, poison. Ego isn't just a small mistake. It's like something toxic in the body, and grace is what flushes it out.
Then comes a fresh picture. The body is a hat patan, a market town full of shops. Think of a huge mall, with bright stores on every side. The gurmukh, the one turned toward the Guru, is the wise shopper. With all those shiny things around, they buy only "har sa-udaa," the goods of the Name. Everything else on the shelves is kachaa, it fades or breaks. The Name keeps its value forever. Guru Ram Das lived among traders, so the picture fits his world. Our senses offer endless things to buy. A wise heart spends its one life on the one thing that lasts.
So the song comes full circle. First the overflowing taste. Then asking the saints for the story. Then the gift given to the one turned toward the Guru and missed by the one turned toward the self. And now the ego-poison is washed away, and the soul makes the one purchase worth making. The verse is signed "Naanak," the name every Guru used.
If your day were a marketplace, where do you spend most of your attention and energy? Is it on things that last, or things that fade?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI