Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Comfort, peace, calm, wealth and the nine treasures; wisdom, knowledge, every wondrous power;
learning, discipline, deep meditation and union; the finest understanding; the truest cleansing bath;
all four of life's great blessings; the heart opening like a lotus; steadiness in the middle of everything without being owned by any of it; beauty, clear thinking, the grasp of what is real;
and the sight that looks on all with equal kindness and sees only the One - all of it comes to the one who chants the Name with the mouth, and hears the Word with the ears.
This one says everything people have ever searched for comes through two simple things: a mouth that says the Name, and an ear that hears it.
First comes a long list. Comfort, peace, calm, wealth, and the nav niDh, the nine treasures that stand for every kind of riches. Wisdom, and special powers. Learning, hard discipline, yoga, and meditation. The best wisdom and the purest bath. The four great blessings of life: doing right, earning well, a happy life, and freedom. The heart opening like a lotus flower. Living in the middle of everything without being owned by any of it. Beauty, clear thinking, and seeing what is real. Looking at everyone with the same kind eye, and seeing only the One.
These are the things many faiths, thinkers, and paths have each chased, one by one.
Then comes the price, and it is the whole of the Guru's teaching in one line. All of it comes to the one who says the Name with the mouth and hears the Word with the ears. Ih fal tis jan kai mukh bhanay — these fruits come to the one who speaks it.
A mouth and an ear. That is all. There is no test of family, schooling, money, being a boy or a girl, or rank. The door is wide open for everyone. Every tower in that list can be reached by a staircase a child could climb this afternoon.
The last words, "through Guru Nanak," close the verse like a signature. Guru Arjan, the fifth Guru, signs the whole treasure over to the house of the first Guru.
The greatest things turn out to need no money, no rank, no degrees - just saying and hearing. What does that change for who can have them?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI