ਨ ਚ ਦੁਰਲਭੰ ਧਨੰ ਰੂਪੰ ਨ ਚ ਦੁਰਲਭੰ ਸ੍ਵਰਗ ਰਾਜਨਹ ॥
ਨ ਚ ਦੁਰਲਭੰ ਭੋਜਨੰ ਬਿੰਜਨੰ ਨ ਚ ਦੁਰਲਭੰ ਸ੍ਵਛ ਅੰਬਰਹ ॥
ਨ ਚ ਦੁਰਲਭੰ ਸੁਤ ਮਿਤ੍ਰ ਭ੍ਰਾਤ ਬਾਂਧਵ ਨ ਚ ਦੁਰਲਭੰ ਬਨਿਤਾ ਬਿਲਾਸਹ ॥
ਨ ਚ ਦੁਰਲਭੰ ਬਿਦਿਆ ਪ੍ਰਬੀਣੰ ਨ ਚ ਦੁਰਲਭੰ ਚਤੁਰ ਚੰਚਲਹ ॥
ਦੁਰਲਭੰ ਏਕ ਭਗਵਾਨ ਨਾਮਹ ਨਾਨਕ ਲਬਧ੍ਹਿੰ ਸਾਧਸੰਗਿ ਕ੍ਰਿਪਾ ਪ੍ਰਭੰ ॥35॥


Many Paathis pronounce ਨ ਚ as ਨਚ but that's not correct. ਨ means "no" and ਚ means "and" and they should be pronounced separately.

ਦੁਰਲਭੰ - rare;
ਧਨੰ - wealth;
ਰੂਪੰ - beauty;
ਸ੍ਵਰਗ ਰਾਜਨਹ - kingdom of heaven.
ਭੋਜਨੰ ਬਿੰਜਨੰ - delicious foods;
ਸ੍ਵਛ ਅੰਬਰਹ - good and clean clothes.
ਸੁਤ - sons,
ਭ੍ਰਾਤ - brothers,
ਬਾਂਧਵ - friends,
ਬਨਿਤਾ ਬਿਲਾਸਹ - love of wife or woman
ਬਿਦਿਆ ਪ੍ਰਬੀਣੰ - Fluent in Education
ਚਤੁਰ ਚੰਚਲਹ - intelligent.

The above salok is from Sehaskriti baani of Siri Guru Arjun Dev jee. The language used in this baani is not Sanskrit as many non-Sikh scholars have thought it to be. The language used is called Sehaskriti or Gaatha and this language is a mixture of Prakriti (an off shoot of Sanskrit), Paali (a beautiful language used for Buddhist scriptures and Buddha himself used to converse in it) and Sanskrit. Sehaskriti (or Gaatha) language is a beautiful language that Siri Guru Arjun Dev jee Maharaaj has preserved forever by writing baani in it. Siri Guru Nanak Dev jee had only 4 saloks and Siri Guru Pancham Patshah has written 67 saloks in this language. I believe this language would have totally vanished, if Guru Sahib had not written Gurbani in it. If Pali has been preserved by Buddhists by writing their scriptures in it, then Sehaskriti and several other languages have been preserved by Guru Sahibaan by writing Gurbani in them.

Some great Gurmat principles have been preserved these Saloks of Sehaskriti. Below is the translation of the aforementioned Salok:

Wealth and beauty are not rare, nor is rare the kingdom of heaven (Raja Inder’s position). Delicious foods are not rare nor are rare beautiful and clean clothes. Having many sons, brothers and friends is not rare nor is rare to have the love of a good wife. To be an expert in many skills and educations is not rare, nor is rare to be extremely intelligent. The one Naam of Bhagwan (God) is rare and is found in Saadhsangat, by the grace of Prabhu (God).

For many wealth, beauty, kingdoms, delicious foods, good clothes, sons, brothers, friends, and good wife are a rare commodity but Siri Guru jee has written that in reality the rarest thing is Naam. If you look at the whole universe and realize how huge it is, the human form itself is very rare. The count of microorganisms in one room would probably be more than the entire human race. If we were to get a percentage of souls (jeev-aatma) that get human form out of the total souls the percentage would be probably 0.0000000000000000000000001% (i.e. very rare).

Once one gets the human form, to become a Sikh of Siri Guru Nanak Dev jee is a rare thing and then to attain the Sidhi of Naam i.e. to reach the state of “Raam Naam Pargaas” is an extremely rare occurrence. Siri Guru jee has written that out of many millions, there is one person in whose heart Narayan Vaheguru resides.

We run after non-rare commodities like wealth, beauty, foods, clothes, houses etc but if we were to make such effort for the jewel Naam, then all other things would come to us anyway plus we would get the Sidhi of Naam i.e. japp japp ke Naam sidh ho jaavega. But again, as the Salok above makes it clear, one can indulge in Naam only by " ਕ੍ਰਿਪਾ ਪ੍ਰਭੰ". May Guru Sahib do Kirpa on us, so that we may indulge in Naam, day and night, every breath, and all the time.

Daas,
Kulbir Singh