Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
When you really sit with the Word and let it work on you, you step outside the endless tit-for-tat of **karma** — the chain where every action drags its consequence behind it.
Quiet the ego, and you discover the deepest wisdom was inside you the whole time. That's the true treasure — worth more than every treasure the world can name. And rising above the three threads everything is woven from, you melt right into the One.
This verse maps the inner journey in four quick steps. It all starts with sitting with the Word until the ego goes quiet.
First: so nihkarmee jo sabad beechaaray — those who reflect on the Shabad, the Word, are beyond karma. Karma is the chain of action and result, where every deed sets up the next consequence, like dominoes knocking each other down. Nihkarmee means free of that chain. Living with the Word opens a door that the karma machine has no key to.
Second: antar tat gi-aan ha-umai maaray — they quiet the ego and find the essence of wisdom deep within. Tat gi-aan means wisdom about what is truly essential. It isn't brought in from outside. It is uncovered — found already there once the ego's noise dies down. Gurbani says this again and again. What you're searching for isn't far away. It's buried under the very self that is doing the searching.
Third: naam padaarath na-o niDh paa-ay — they gain the nine treasures of the wealth of the Name. In old stories, the na-o niDh, the nine legendary treasures, were the greatest riches of all. Guru Amar Das says the real nine treasures are the Naam, the Name, itself — all true wealth folded into one.
Fourth, the destination: tarai gun mayt samaavani-aa — rising above the three qualities, they merge into the One. The three gun are the three threads that, in Indian thought, everything in nature is woven from: restlessness, heaviness and calm goodness. The soul doesn't climb from one thread to a better one. It rises clear of all three, to what the tradition calls the fourth state, and merges. The whole journey — leaving karma behind, finding wisdom, gaining the treasure, merging — begins with one thing. Sit with the Word until the ego goes quiet.
What might you discover is already within you, if the noise in your head got quiet enough?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI