Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The things you're sure you truly need — most of them won't travel even an inch of the road with you.
You arrived with nothing in your hands, and you will leave the same way. You go round and round, coming and going. In the end, time carries you off.
This one says that we come with empty hands, so it is worth gathering what stays.
Jo jaaneh tooN apunay kaajai — the things you think are for your own good. So sang na chaalai tayrai tasoo-aa — will not go with you even a tasoo, a finger's width.
Naago aa-i-o naag sidhaasee — you came empty-handed, and you will leave empty-handed. The verse then speaks of going round and round the cycle of birth and death, until time swallows you up.
This is the old reminder that our things are only borrowed. Think of a rented bike at the park. You can ride it all day, but it stays behind when you go home.
The point is not to fear dying. The verse gently points us toward gathering the inner riches that last: the Name, which is the One's presence, along with love and goodness.
If you could only keep things that are inside you — not things you own — what would you want to have?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI