Without Capital, the Trader Looks Around in All Four Directions
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Without capital, the trader looks around in all four directions.
He does not understand his own origins. The merchandise remains within the door of his own house.
Without this commodity, there is great pain. The false are ruined by falsehood.
This one says the treasure we keep searching for is already inside us.
Vin raasee vapaaree-aa takay kundaa chaar: a trader with no money to trade looks around in all four directions. He is like a seeker who hasn't found the treasure inside. So he searches everywhere outside.
The sad, funny twist is this: vasat rahee ghar baar, "the goods were at the door of his own house the whole time." He looks outside for what is inside. It's like hunting all over the house for your glasses while they sit on your head.
This is one of Guru Nanak's clearest sayings that the One lives within us. The treasure you are hunting for in every direction is already in you. Searching is not wrong. Only the direction is.
Vin vakhar dukh aglaa: without this treasure, there is great pain. Koorh muthee koorhi-aar: the false are robbed by their own falseness.
Is there something you've been seeking outside yourself that you wonder might already be present within you? What keeps you looking outside?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI