Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
People can spend their whole lives grabbing for more and more stuff to spend.
But when the journey ends, none of it comes along — we arrive with nothing and we leave with nothing. What we carry is who we became, not what we piled up.
When the journey ends, the stuff stays behind.
Kar kar paap darab kee-aa — doing wrong again and again, people pile up money to spend. Darab means wealth.
Maatee si-o maatee ralee — dust mixes back into dust. The body returns to the earth. We leave just as we came, with empty hands.
Think of a board game. At the end, all the play money goes back in the box. What stays with you is how you played and who you played with. The verse keeps this truth in view so we can spend our days on what lasts. What we carry is who we became, not what we piled up.
If you could not keep any of your things forever, what would you want to have become?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI