Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Even big, impressive things we build won't come with us in the end.
We'll have to part from them one day, and clinging too tight just brings an ache.
Chasing a kind of pretend-city can leave us feeling wobbly and unsure.
When we forget what matters most, even a whole life can feel like it slipped by.
Grabbing and grasping never quite fills us — the wanting just keeps going.
So don't let the precious days pass without the one thing that lasts.
The verse deepens the memento mori with the striking image of the maya nagaree / sapan — the "phantom city," the dream-town. What we build and chase can be like a city seen in a dream: convincing while it lasts, gone when we wake. This isn't nihilism — it's a plea to hold lightly and to not stake our whole stability on things that shift. The honest observation about craving — "indulging in egotistical actions, your thirst is not quenched" — is a psychological truth a child can feel: getting the wanted thing doesn't end the wanting; a new want arrives. The qMonk voice keeps every line pointed toward the remedy ("don't let the precious days pass without the one thing that lasts") rather than dwelling on loss. For a child: chasing more and more never fills you up, because the wanting just starts again — real fullness comes from something that doesn't shift.
Have you noticed how getting a thing you really wanted can make you start wanting the next thing? What actually fills you up?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI