Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
From childhood to old age,
a person may never reach what he was really meant for. In the end, he is left with regret.
It is possible to live a whole life and miss what it was for.
Baal bivasthaa tay birDhaanaa — from childhood to old age. All those years pass. And yet the person never reaches the goal that mattered. In the end, there is only regret.
Think of a school trip to a big museum. You spend the whole day in the gift shop and the snack bar. Then the bus is leaving, and you never saw the one room you came for. The warning here is gentle, but it is real. Do not let the years run out on what matters most. Another shabad in Raag Aasaa says the same about youth slipping by.
What is the thing you most don't want to look back on having missed?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI