Salok Bhagat Kabir, Salok 144 — shell by shell, and nothing to take along

ਕਬੀਰ ਕਉਡੀ ਕਉਡੀ ਜੋਰਿ ਕੈ ਜੋਰੇ ਲਾਖ ਕਰੋਰਿ ॥

kabeer ka-udee ka-udee jor kai joray laakh karor.

Kabir, the mortal gathers wealth, shell by shell, accumulating thousands and millions.

ਚਲਤੀ ਬਾਰ ਨ ਕਛੁ ਮਿਲਿਓ ਲਈ ਲੰਗੋਟੀ ਤੋਰਿ ॥੧੪੪॥

chaltee baar na kachh mili-o la-ee langotee tor. ||144||

But when the time of his departure comes, he takes nothing at all with him. He is even stripped of his loin-cloth. ||144||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

Kabir says: shell by shell, a person gathers wealth, piling up thousands and millions.

But at the time of leaving, nothing goes along. Even the last loincloth is pulled away.

What we pile up stays behind when we go.

The deeper layer

All the wealth we gather stays behind when we leave this life.

Ka-udee ka-udee jor kai: adding shell to shell. Small shells called cowries were once used as money. Joray laakh karor: gathering lakhs and crores, hundreds of thousands and tens of millions.

Chaltee baar na kachh mili-o: at the time of going, nothing came along. La-ee langotee tor: even the small cloth around the waist was taken. Kabir's picture is plain: we leave as empty-handed as we came.

A Question to Sit With

What treasure are you building that no one can take away?

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI

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