The Most Valuable Thing to Spend a Life On Is Goodness
ਵਡਹੰਸੁ ਮਹਲਾ ੩ ॥
vad-hans mehlaa 3.
Wadahans, Third Mehl:
ਸਚਾ ਸਉਦਾ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਹੈ ਸਚਾ ਵਾਪਾਰਾ ਰਾਮ ॥
sachaa sa-udaa har naam hai sachaa vaapaaraa raam.
The True merchandise is the Lord's Name. This is the true trade.
ਗੁਰਮਤੀ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਵਣਜੀਐ ਅਤਿ ਮੋਲੁ ਅਫਾਰਾ ਰਾਮ ॥
gurmatee har naam vanjee-ai at mol afaaraa raam.
Under Guru's Instruction, we trade in the Lord's Name; its value is very great.
ਅਤਿ ਮੋਲੁ ਅਫਾਰਾ ਸਚ ਵਾਪਾਰਾ ਸਚਿ ਵਾਪਾਰਿ ਲਗੇ ਵਡਭਾਗੀ ॥
at mol afaaraa sach vaapaaraa sach vaapaar lagay vadbhaagee.
The value of this true trade is very great; those who are engaged in the true trade are very fortunate.
ਅੰਤਰਿ ਬਾਹਰਿ ਭਗਤੀ ਰਾਤੇ ਸਚਿ ਨਾਮਿ ਲਿਵ ਲਾਗੀ ॥
antar baahar bhagtee raatay sach naam liv laagee.
Inwardly and outwardly, they are imbued with devotion, and they enshrine love for the True Name.
ਨਦਰਿ ਕਰੇ ਸੋਈ ਸਚੁ ਪਾਏ ਗੁਰ ਕੈ ਸਬਦਿ ਵੀਚਾਰਾ ॥
nadar karay so-ee sach paa-ay gur kai sabad veechaaraa.
One who is blessed with the Lord's Favor, obtains Truth, and reflects upon the Word of the Guru's Shabad.
ਨਾਨਕ ਨਾਮਿ ਰਤੇ ਤਿਨ ਹੀ ਸੁਖੁ ਪਾਇਆ ਸਾਚੈ ਕੇ ਵਾਪਾਰਾ ॥੧॥
naanak naam ratay tin hee sukh paa-i-aa saachai kay vaapaaraa. ||1||
O Nanak, those who are imbued with the Name find peace; they deal only in the True Name. ||1||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
In plain words
The truest thing to deal in is goodness itself — it's worth more than anything.
People who trade in it, inside and out, are lucky indeed.
Soaked in that love, warm through and through, they find real peace.
The most valuable thing you can spend your life on is goodness itself — it's worth more than anything.
The deeper layer
Guru Amar Das: "the True merchandise is the Lord's Name; this is the true trade." Of everything you could spend your life 'dealing in,' goodness is the one with real value — "its value is very great." Those "imbued with devotion inwardly and outwardly" (no gap between inside and out) "find peace." For a child: the most valuable thing you can spend your life on is goodness itself.
A Question to Sit With
If your days were a kind of 'shop,' what good thing would you most want to deal in?
