When someone of “low” social class chants Your Nam, they obtain the state of highest dignity.
Go and ask Bidar, the son of a maid;
Krishan himself stayed in his house. || 1 ||
Listen to the unspoken speech of the Creator; it removes all anxiety, pain and hunger. || 1 || Reflect||
Ravidas, the leather-worker, sang Your praises in each and every instant.
Although he was of ‘low’ social status, he was exalted and elevated; people of all four castes came and bowed at his feet. ||2 ||
Namdev loved You; the people called him a lowly fabric dyer.
You turned Your back on the ‘high-class’ Khastriyas and Brahmins; and showed Your face to Namdev. || 3 ||
All Your devotees have the tilak, the ceremonial mark, applied to their foreheads at the sixty-eight sacred shrines of pilgrimage.
Being Nanak shall touch their feet night and day if You grant Your grace. || 4 || 1 || 8 ||

Guru Ramdas Sahib in Rag Suhi  | Guru Granth Sahib 733
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ਸੂਹੀ ਮਹਲਾ ੪ ਘਰੁ ੬
ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥
ਨੀਚ ਜਾਤਿ ਹਰਿ ਜਪਤਿਆ ਉਤਮ ਪਦਵੀ ਪਾਇ ॥
ਪੂਛਹੁ ਬਿਦਰ ਦਾਸੀ ਸੁਤੈ ਕਿਸਨੁ ਉਤਰਿਆ ਘਰਿ ਜਿਸੁ ਜਾਇ ॥੧॥
ਹਰਿ ਕੀ ਅਕਥ ਕਥਾ ਸੁਨਹੁ ਜਨ ਭਾਈ ਜਿਤੁ ਸਹਸਾ ਦੂਖ ਭੂਖ ਸਭ ਲਹਿ ਜਾਇ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
ਰਵਿਦਾਸੁ ਚਮਾਰੁ ਉਸਤਤਿ ਕਰੇ ਹਰਿ ਕੀਰਤਿ ਨਿਮਖ ਇਕ ਗਾਇ ॥
ਪਤਿਤ ਜਾਤਿ ਉਤਮੁ ਭਇਆ ਚਾਰਿ ਵਰਨ ਪਏ ਪਗਿ ਆਇ ॥੨॥
ਨਾਮਦੇਅ ਪ੍ਰੀਤਿ ਲਗੀ ਹਰਿ ਸੇਤੀ ਲੋਕੁ ਛੀਪਾ ਕਹੈ ਬੁਲਾਇ ॥
ਖਤ੍ਰੀ ਬ੍ਰਾਹਮਣ ਪਿਠਿ ਦੇ ਛੋਡੇ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮਦੇਉ ਲੀਆ ਮੁਖਿ ਲਾਇ ॥੩॥
ਜਿਤਨੇ ਭਗਤ ਹਰਿ ਸੇਵਕਾ ਮੁਖਿ ਅਠਸਠਿ ਤੀਰਥ ਤਿਨ ਤਿਲਕੁ ਕਢਾਇ ॥
ਜਨੁ ਨਾਨਕੁ ਤਿਨ ਕਉ ਅਨਦਿਨੁ ਪਰਸੇ ਜੇ ਕ੍ਰਿਪਾ ਕਰੇ ਹਰਿ ਰਾਇ ॥੪॥੧॥੮॥

Reflection

Today’s Hukam is thought-provoking.

As the world continues to argue over caste, color, and countless divisions, Guru speaks.

I listen.

Guru reminds us: that those considered "low" by birth found liberation—not through status, but through living Nam, Divine-Identification.

Look no further than Bidar, born to a slave mother. All his life, he was taunted about his lineage. Yet when Krishan came to visit, it wasn’t the palace he chose—it was Bidar’s home. Bidar’s love received Krishan’s highest honor.

Ravidas worked with rawhide. He remembered the Divine with every breath. His consciousness was dyed in Nam. Though society labeled him ‘low,’ he rose so high that eventually, all four social castes bowed before him.

Namdev was seen as a lowly fabric dyer. Brahmins and Kshatriyas rejected him, refusing him entry into the temple. They threw him out. But love overturns rituals—the temple itself turned its back on the Brahmins and faced Namdev. Such was the power of his devotion.

The proverbial sixty-eight places of pilgrimage bow at the feet of such devotees.

Another interpretation? A glimpse of such devotees is equal to visiting all sixty-eight pilgrimage sites.

Their foreheads shine with a light that outshines all worldly brilliance.

So listen to their unnarratable narrative. Contemplate on it. Doubt and pain will fall away.

Says Nanak: May I be graced to sit at the feet of such devotees, day and night.

My Ardas: Unite me with those immersed in Nam. May their presence raise my consciousness. May I see the One in all.

About the Series

Sabad is Infinite; we are very finite. This is our understanding at the moment, which was different yesterday and may evolve tomorrow, as we deepen our relationship with the Sabad. In this trans-creation, we have chosen to keep the repeating words in the Sabad same. We aspire to learn and retain the Divine attribute as used in the original Sabad and avoid terms like God or Lord.