Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Wake up, traveler — your journey is calling; why keep dawdling over things that don't last?
The stuff we pile up, the busy years — none of it comes with us. Only the kindness or harm we did stays with us.
The shabad opens with a gentle shake: rise up, traveler, why delay? — picturing life as a journey with a departure time, and the soul as a traveler who keeps getting distracted by falsehood (things that won't last). It's honest that wealth and youth must be left behind — you leave without food or clothing. But the line that matters most is the last: only your actions go with you. Not your things, not your looks — the good and harm you did is the one thing you carry onward. For a child, that's a clear and steadying compass: since only your deeds travel with you, make them kind ones.
If only your actions traveled with you, what kind would you most want to fill your days with?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI