The Wealth of Naam
Saints realize Naam or Shabd and become one with the Lord. They earn the wealth of Naam, which they share with true seekers without accepting anything in return. Kabir says that Saints do not acquire worldly assets and amass riches; they do not lean on friends and relatives; they do not involve themselves in the affairs of the world. Naam is their property and possession, Naam is their friend and companion; absorbed in Naam, they live in the world, but live completely detached from it. Kabir, identifying himself with a devotee, says that he will surrender himself to such a Saint and become his slave.
The Lord's Name is my wealth;
I neither hoard it for myself
Nor sell it for a living.
Naam is my farm, Naam my orchard;
Thy slave worships Thy Name
And seeks Thy shelter.
Naam is my asset, Naam my capital.
Other than Thee, O Lord,
I know of no riches.
I neither hoard Thy Name
Nor sell it for a living.
Naam is my kinsman, Naam my brother;
Naam is my companion
Who will be my succor
At the hour of death.
I neither hoard it
Nor sell it for a living.
Whom the Lord keeps in the world
Yet keeps detached from it,
Of such a one Kabir is a slave.
My wealth is the Lord's Name;
I hoard it not for myself,
I sell it not for a living.
A.G., Bhairau, p. 1157
Eh dhan mere hari ko nāu
Saints identify Naam with God, and so does Kabir in this poem. Describing God as the protector and sustainer of all, he says that those who have realized God in their heart do not become a prey to the negative power, and Yama or the messenger of the negative power cannot put his chains around them. In other words, the Name of God — Naam, Shabd or Word — protects the disciple at the time of his death. It is the real wealth of a devotee, his true friend, the only treasure in this world that goes with him at death.
What fire cannot consume,
What air cannot evaporate,
What thieves cannot approach,
Amass that wealth of God's Name,
A wealth that will last forever.
My wealth is the Supreme Lord —
The protector of the forlorn,
The sustainer of the entire world;
He indeed is my real wealth.
The joy of serving my beloved Lord
Cannot be found even on the throne of kings.
Shiva and Brahma's four sons
Labored and searched for this wealth,
But failure dampened their spirits.
He in whose heart is God,
On whose tongue is God,
Will never fall into the noose of Yama.
He who receives from the Master
His wealth of devotion
And divine knowledge,
His mind becomes pure
And turns towards the Lord.
This wealth is water
For those burning with cravings;
This wealth is a pillar
That holds steady the wavering mind;
This wealth unties the knot of delusion
And drives away all fear.
Says Kabir: O man
Intoxicated with wealth,
Reflect within your own heart:
In your mansions are millions
Of horses and elephants,
In mine is only my Lord.
A.G., Gauri, p. 336
Agan na dahai
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