The Richest Thing You Can Store Up Is Love

ਹਮ ਸੰਤਨ ਸਿਉ ਬਣਿ ਆਈ ॥

ham santan si-o ban aa-ee.

I am hand and glove with the Saints.

ਪੂਰਬਿ ਲਿਖਿਆ ਪਾਈ ॥

poorab likhi-aa paa-ee.

I have realized my pre-ordained destiny.

ਇਹੁ ਮਨੁ ਤੇਰਾ ਭਾਈ ॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥

ih man tayraa bhaa-ee. rahaa-o.

This mind is yours, O Siblings of Destiny. ||Pause||

ਸੰਤਨ ਸਿਉ ਮੇਰੀ ਲੇਵਾ ਦੇਵੀ ਸੰਤਨ ਸਿਉ ਬਿਉਹਾਰਾ ॥

santan si-o mayree layvaa dayvee santan si-o bi-uhaaraa.

My dealings are with the Saints, and my business is with the Saints.

ਸੰਤਨ ਸਿਉ ਹਮ ਲਾਹਾ ਖਾਟਿਆ ਹਰਿ ਭਗਤਿ ਭਰੇ ਭੰਡਾਰਾ ॥੨॥

santan si-o ham laahaa khaati-aa har bhagat bharay bhandaaraa. ||2||

I have earned the profit with the Saints, and the treasure filled to over-flowing with devotion to the Lord. ||2||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

I have found my people, the ones who love You — it feels like something long meant for me has finally arrived.

Everything I share I share with them, all my dealings are with them, and being among them, my heart fills right up with love.

The richest thing you can store up is love.

The deeper layer

The Pause is warm and plain: ham santan si-o ban aa-ee — the friendship has clicked; ih man tayraa bhaa-ee — this heart is yours, friends. The verse borrows the language of business — layvaa dayvee, bi-uhaaraa, laahaa (dealings, trade, profit) — to say something un-businesslike: the real profit of a life is the love it stores up. Bharay bhandaaraa — the storehouse overflowing.

A Question to Sit With

What are you quietly collecting in your life — and is it something that lasts?

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI

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