Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Those who hold on to the One do not get lost in the fear of coming and going.
Alive and awake, singing the One's praises, their lives shine and are counted true.
Those who find the Sangat are very fortunate.
To forget the Name is to live thin and frayed, like a worn thread coming apart. But Nanak says: the dust of the feet of holy people is more cleansing than a million sacred baths.
Jaman maran na tinh ka-u jo har larh laagay — "no birth-and-death fear for those who grasp the larh, the hem of the One's robe." The image of holding a robe's edge is a child's image of trust: you hold the hem and you cannot get lost in the crowd. Jeevat say parvaan — their lives count while alive, "awake to keertan" (the shared song of praise). Then the great social note of this Vaar: saadhsang jin paa-i-aa se-ee vadbhaagay — those who find saadhsang, the Sangat, are "very fortunate." Dhrig jeevnaa ("cursed life") becomes living thin and frayed, tootay kach dhaagay, "like broken weak threads." And the closing image levels every ritual: the humble dust of good feet outshines lakh kot pilgrimage-baths — the Sangat over outer ceremony, in any tradition.
Who are the people whose company makes you braver and better? How could you spend more time with them?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI