Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Kabir says: in the end, you carry none of your stuff with you.
When the call comes, you leave the riches and the houses behind — so treasure what actually lasts.
Kabir seals the shabad with the plainest truth: you shall not take any other wealth with you — when the summons comes, you depart, leaving behind your wealth and mansions. It's the memento-mori of the whole raag in one clean line: the stuff stays; you go. But by now, after the whole shabad, this doesn't land as gloom — it lands as freedom and clear priorities. If none of the hoarded things come with you, then you can stop the anxious grasping now and pour your one precious life into what actually matters and actually lasts: love, kindness, and the One. Kabir's gift to a child is exactly this early clarity — spend your life on what you get to keep forever, not on what you'll leave at the door.
If you could only 'keep' things that aren't stuff, what would you most want to fill your life with?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI