Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Common folk and rulers, headmen and chiefs — not one of them stays in the world forever. Change comes for everyone alike; what it clears away most surely is anything false and hollow.
This one says that change clears away whatever was never real.
The list widens. Ra-yat means ordinary people. Mahar, mukdam, sikdaarai are headmen, leaders, and chiefs. High and low stand side by side, all equal before change. Time plays no favorites. That quietly sweeps away caste, the old idea that some people are born higher than others.
Nihchal ko-ay na disai sansaarai — no one in the world is seen to stay forever. Nihchal means unmoving, lasting.
Afri-o kaal koorh sir maarai — death cannot be stopped, and it strikes the false. This is not a threat. It is clarity. What is koorh, hollow and unreal, cannot last. Build your life on it, and you end up empty-handed, like a house built on sand. The invitation is to build on what is real instead.
What is something "real" in your life that you would want to build on, rather than something that just looks good?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI