ਆਸਾ ਮਹਲਾ ੫ ਇਕਤੁਕੇ ੨ ॥
aasaa mehlaa 5 iktukay 2.
Aasaa, Fifth Mehl, Ik-Tukas 2:
ਜੀਵਤ ਦੀਸੈ ਤਿਸੁ ਸਰਪਰ ਮਰਣਾ ॥
jeevat deesai tis sarpar marnaa.
One who is seen to be alive, shall surely die.
ਮੁਆ ਹੋਵੈ ਤਿਸੁ ਨਿਹਚਲੁ ਰਹਣਾ ॥੧॥
mu-aa hovai tis nihchal rahnaa. ||1||
But he who is dead shall remain ever-lasting. ||1||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The one who looks alive is the one who will surely die.
But the one who is already dead — that one lives forever.
The self that struts as if it will last is the one that dies; the one who has died to ego lives on.
The shabad's governing paradox in two lines: the apparently alive (the ego-driven self) "shall surely die," while the one already dead (to the ego) "shall remain ever-lasting." This is jeevat marnaa stated as a riddle — the death that looks like loss is the doorway to what cannot die.
A Question to Sit With
What might it mean to be "already dead" in a way that lets you truly live?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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