Who Read Everything Concluded: None Equals the Name

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

A very learned person's verdict: I read everything, and nothing equals the Naam.

The salok is the short verse that opens the song. In it, Guru Arjan speaks like a scholar telling the plain truth. He was a deeply learned man. He gathered the Adi Granth, the book that became the Guru Granth Sahib. He says he has read and searched the Shaastras and Simritees. These were the great books of law and religious learning of his day. Poojas naahee har haray naanak naam amol — none of them equals the priceless Name of the One.

This is not against learning. It is what someone says after finishing the whole library. Think of reading every cookbook in the world, and then tasting one real meal made with love.

The song that follows goes further. It weighs practices, not only books. Hard discipline, pilgrimages, giving things up, big ritual efforts. Each one is set on a scale against one loving remembrance of the Name.