Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
With every single breath, sing the praises of the One who holds the whole universe; keep that One in mind, always. Don’t lean your whole weight on this body as if it will last — and don’t put it off, friend.
The truth is simple: no one, at any age — young or grown or old — stays here forever, and no one knows their own last day. Even the great scholars and the clever and the deep meditators do not get to stay.
So it makes gentle sense to hold on to the One thing that stays, instead of clinging only to what everyone eventually lets go of. When a heart turns to remember the One, blessed and full of meaning is the whole journey of that life.
Gagga is one of the Bavan Akhri's strongest memento-mori Paurees, and it required careful handling. The source has the jam kee phaas — Death's noose — that "shall come and fall on you," and calls the one who clings to the transient a moorakh (fool). Per the wellbeing rules, the Death-messenger terror is dropped: instead of a noose falling, the verse says plainly no one knows their own last day — sober, not frightening. And moorakh is softened out of insult into it makes gentle sense to hold on to the One thing that stays — a kind invitation rather than a scolding. What's kept is the core urgency (saas saas simrahu — remember with every breath, maa tul — don't delay) and the levelling truth that even scholars and meditators don't get to stay. The closing dhan dhan tay jan becomes the warm note the whole Pauri is aiming at: a life turned toward the One is blessed and full of meaning.
If you really took in that every breath is a gift, what is one thing you’d want to spend more of your breaths on?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI