There is one wealth that fire cannot burn, water cannot wash, and no thief or death can take — the wealth of the Name, banked by the One and never running low.
The Arc
A six-stanza hymn on har Dhan, the wealth of the Name. It opens by locating the One wherever it is remembered (not in any single shrine), then the Rahao names the task: har Dhan sanchee-ai bhaa-ee — gather the one wealth that stays your friend now and always. The wealth is earned only in true company, not bought with empty words; it is sown in the Amrit Vela and multiplies as it is shared; it is fearless and beyond loss. By contrast, wealth gathered by harm slips through the fingers and leaves the heart restless. The close names the One as the saahu, the banker who both owns and entrusts the treasure that never falls short.
Key Vocabulary
har Dhan: the wealth of the Name, the shabad’s central image
sat sangat: the true company where the wealth is earned
amrit vela: the ambrosial pre-dawn hour, the time to sow remembrance
nikhutai naahee: it is never exhausted — the paradox of giving
saakat: one turned from the Source
saahu: the banker, financier — here, the One
Themes and Cross-Connections
The merchant-and-jewel imagery is a Gurbani staple, and Guru Ram Das presses it into a full economics of the spirit: real jewels versus glass, a harvest that grows by being spent, a treasure immune to fire, flood, theft, and death. The Amrit Vela verse ties the wealth to daily practice; the saakat verse shows the counter-economy of harm, which cannot travel with its owner.
For Raag Soohee
The love-coloured raag turns the language of trade toward the heart: the only wealth worth accumulating is the one dyed in devotion, and it is the one wealth that never leaves.
Translation Notes
Pauri 4’s death-imagery (jam, the death-collector) is turned toward reassurance — the treasure is beyond loss — rather than terror. Pauri 5’s saakat is handled without contempt (influence-wisdom, not condemnation), and the source-text’s “no shelter in the Court” is bent toward the natural restlessness of a life built on harm.
There is one wealth that fire cannot burn, water cannot wash, and no thief or death can take — the wealth of the Name, banked by the One and never running low.
The Arc
A six-stanza hymn on har Dhan, the wealth of the Name. It opens by locating the One wherever it is remembered (not in any single shrine), then the Rahao names the task: har Dhan sanchee-ai bhaa-ee — gather the one wealth that stays your friend now and always. The wealth is earned only in true company, not bought with empty words; it is sown in the Amrit Vela and multiplies as it is shared; it is fearless and beyond loss. By contrast, wealth gathered by harm slips through the fingers and leaves the heart restless. The close names the One as the saahu, the banker who both owns and entrusts the treasure that never falls short.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
The merchant-and-jewel imagery is a Gurbani staple, and Guru Ram Das presses it into a full economics of the spirit: real jewels versus glass, a harvest that grows by being spent, a treasure immune to fire, flood, theft, and death. The Amrit Vela verse ties the wealth to daily practice; the saakat verse shows the counter-economy of harm, which cannot travel with its owner.
For Raag Soohee
The love-coloured raag turns the language of trade toward the heart: the only wealth worth accumulating is the one dyed in devotion, and it is the one wealth that never leaves.
Translation Notes
Pauri 4’s death-imagery (jam, the death-collector) is turned toward reassurance — the treasure is beyond loss — rather than terror. Pauri 5’s saakat is handled without contempt (influence-wisdom, not condemnation), and the source-text’s “no shelter in the Court” is bent toward the natural restlessness of a life built on harm.