Everyone spends their one life on something. The saints spend theirs on the Naam, and no one is the fool.
The Arc
Look at how people spend their days. Some chase fun and good looks. Some are wrapped up in family, some in power and business. Some argue about holy books, chase tastes or romance. Some gamble, drink, or steal. Some do yoga; some are caught in sickness and worry. Some travel, fight, teach, perform, rule by fear, give advice or serve. The saints spend the same days on the Naam, singing praise. Wherever the One places a heart, it takes hold there. No one is the fool and no one the clever one. Bow to those given the Naam by grace. At the centre, the Rahao: the world is the True One's making, and the One is Master of all.
Key Vocabulary
Kaahoo bihaavai — some pass their lives; the surveying refrain.
Rachnaa saach banee — the creation is the work of the True One (the Rahao).
Har ras peevat — drinking the essence of the One; the deepest nourishment.
Naa ko moorh nahee ko siaanaa — no one foolish, no one wise; the closing leveling.
Themes and Cross-Connections
The hymn quietly refuses to rank people: since every attachment flows from where the One has placed a heart, judgment dissolves. Receiving the Naam is grace, never a prize. This is Ik Onkar as compassion. It rhymes with the nearby Raamkalee hymn that sets a humble trust beside every path, and with the Third Guru's vision of givers and askers alike arranged by one hand.
For Raag Raamkalee
The seeker's raag here becomes a mirror held up to a whole society: look how many ways a life can be spent. The teaching scorns none of them; it invites you to spend the days on what lasts.
Hukumnama
Subject: The True One is Master of all Preview: pleasure and family, gambling and drink, yoga and battle, actors and rulers, and saints singing praise.
Today: Look at how people spend their days. Some chase fun and good looks. Some are wrapped up in family, some in power and business. Some argue about holy books, chase tastes or romance. Some gamble, drink, or steal. Some do yoga; some are caught in sickness and worry. Some travel, fight, teach, perform, rule by fear, give advice or serve. The saints spend the same days on the Naam, singing praise. Wherever the One places a heart, it takes hold there. No one is the fool and no one the clever one. Bow to those given the Naam by grace.
The True One made this world and is Master of all.
For today: Find someone whose day looks very different from yours, and treat them with the same respect.
Everyone spends their one life on something. The saints spend theirs on the Naam, and no one is the fool.
The Arc
Look at how people spend their days. Some chase fun and good looks. Some are wrapped up in family, some in power and business. Some argue about holy books, chase tastes or romance. Some gamble, drink, or steal. Some do yoga; some are caught in sickness and worry. Some travel, fight, teach, perform, rule by fear, give advice or serve. The saints spend the same days on the Naam, singing praise. Wherever the One places a heart, it takes hold there. No one is the fool and no one the clever one. Bow to those given the Naam by grace. At the centre, the Rahao: the world is the True One's making, and the One is Master of all.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
The hymn quietly refuses to rank people: since every attachment flows from where the One has placed a heart, judgment dissolves. Receiving the Naam is grace, never a prize. This is Ik Onkar as compassion. It rhymes with the nearby Raamkalee hymn that sets a humble trust beside every path, and with the Third Guru's vision of givers and askers alike arranged by one hand.
For Raag Raamkalee
The seeker's raag here becomes a mirror held up to a whole society: look how many ways a life can be spent. The teaching scorns none of them; it invites you to spend the days on what lasts.
Hukumnama
Subject: The True One is Master of all Preview: pleasure and family, gambling and drink, yoga and battle, actors and rulers, and saints singing praise.
Today: Look at how people spend their days. Some chase fun and good looks. Some are wrapped up in family, some in power and business. Some argue about holy books, chase tastes or romance. Some gamble, drink, or steal. Some do yoga; some are caught in sickness and worry. Some travel, fight, teach, perform, rule by fear, give advice or serve. The saints spend the same days on the Naam, singing praise. Wherever the One places a heart, it takes hold there. No one is the fool and no one the clever one. Bow to those given the Naam by grace.
The True One made this world and is Master of all.
For today: Find someone whose day looks very different from yours, and treat them with the same respect.