Fine Things Get Left Behind; Only Actions Travel
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
All the fine clothes and lovely things get left behind in the end — we take only what we did.
You can boss others around now, but that power doesn't follow you; only your actions do.
The Pauree is a plain memento-mori: abandoning beauty and beautiful clothes, one must depart — the pretty things and the power to issue commands all stay behind, and you take the rewards of your good and bad deeds. The source's darker imagery is best heard for children as its clear core: the stuff and the status don't travel; your actions do. And the regret it names — he regrets the sins he committed — is offered not to frighten but to nudge: it's far better to do the good now than to wish, later, that you had. Live so there's nothing to regret. The compass is simple: since only your deeds go with you, make them kind.
If only your actions travel with you, what would you want to have spent your time doing?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI