Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
My people's work is cutting leather, and every day I carry dead cattle out around Banaras.
Now the leading Brahmins of the city bow down before me. Ravidas says: I, Your servant, have taken shelter in Your Naam.
Taking shelter in the Naam lifts a person, whatever work their family does.
Ravidas names his labor without flinching — cutting leather, hauling away dead cattle around Banaras. The reversal: ab bipr pardhaan (now the leading Brahmins) bow in full prostration before him. The cause is stated plainly: tere naam sarnaa-ay ravidaas daasaa — Ravidas took shelter in the Name. The shabad completes the argument of the two verses before it: as water joined to the river, as humble paper carrying holy words, so a "low"-born man who holds the Name becomes one before whom the proud bow. His labor is honest work, and society was wrong to shame it.
What makes a person worthy of respect?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI