Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The eyes go blind, the tongue stops tasting, the ears hear nothing.
He walks only when someone holds him up — such is the harvest of a life that never served the One.
This one says a life needs to grow something inside, the way a field needs seeds, or there is nothing to harvest.
Guru Nanak paints a picture of a very old person. Akhee andh jeebh ras naahee means "the eyes go dark, the tongue loses its taste." The ears stop hearing. The feet walk only with someone holding them up.
Then he calls this a harvest: vin sayvaa fal laagay, "such are the fruits without service." Sayvaa means serving the One by serving others with love.
Everyone's body grows old one day. The question the verse asks is about the inside. What have you grown by then? Think of a garden. If you plant seeds in spring, there is something to pick in autumn. If you plant nothing, the ground stays bare. A life of kindness and remembering the One is the planting. The next line of the shabad picks up this farming picture.
What are you planting now that you hope to harvest later in life?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI