Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The body wears away; one knot comes loose and it falls apart.
Look: day by day the world wears down, and one day it will be gone.
The one who can meet sunshine and shade the same way — good days and hard days alike — slips free of every chain and comes home.
Maya is an empty shadow, and it has fooled the world; this is written by what each one has done before.
Youth wears away; old age and death stand over every head. The body falls apart, like algae on the water.
Everything here passes: the body, youth, the world itself. Dhoop chhaav sam — meeting sunshine and shade the same (sahj, a steady heart) is what frees. Chhaa-i-aa chhoochhee — Maya as an empty shadow. Aging is kept as natural passing, the body like sibaal (algae) on water.
What helps you stay steady whether the day goes well or badly?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI