ਜੀਵਤ ਮੁਏ ਮੁਏ ਸੇ ਜੀਵੇ ॥
jeevat mu-ay mu-ay say jeevay.
Those who die while yet alive, shall through this death, live on.
ਹਰਿ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਅਵਖਧੁ ਮੁਖਿ ਪਾਇਆ ਗੁਰ ਸਬਦੀ ਰਸੁ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤੁ ਪੀਵੇ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
har har naam avkhaDh mukh paa-i-aa gur sabdee ras amrit peevay. ||1|| rahaa-o.
They place the Name of the Lord, Har, Har, as medicine in their mouths, and through the Word of the Guru's Shabad, they drink in the Ambrosial Nectar. ||1||Pause||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Those who die while still alive truly live on through that death.
They keep the Name in their mouths like medicine, and through the Guru's Word they drink the Nectar.
Dying to the ego isn't grim — it's taking the medicine that lets you truly live.
The Pause makes the riddle practical: the ego's death is itself the source of life — "through this death, live on." And the Name is medicine held in the mouth, the Nectar drunk through the Shabad. Dying to self is not grim; it is taking the cure.
A Question to Sit With
What is something that feels like a loss at first but turns out to be healing?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
Use ← → to navigate