Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
If the departing soul could take its wealth along —
then by all means, go ahead and gather wealth! Look at this, reflect on it, and understand.
Again the mock permission, now aimed at the vault: if the dead take their money, then hoard away. The verse dares you to name one exception in all of history — one caravan that ever carried a coin past the border. None has. Guru Nanak then adds the three verbs that turn a proverb into a practice: see, reflect, understand. Not believe-because-told — look at the evidence yourself. The empirical style of the Babar-vani appears here in miniature: reality itself is the scripture; read it.
What are you saving up that death cannot audit — kindness, wisdom, love? How is that account doing?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI