Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Why puff yourself up over this body or this pile of things? None of it walks with you into what comes next. So why let it become the whole of who you think you are?
Why be proud of things that cannot come with us?
This is the Rahao, the "pause" line at the center of the shabad. Is tan dhan kee kavan badaa-ee — what is there to be proud of in this body or this wealth? Tan is the body. Dhan is money and things.
Dharan parai urvaar na jaa-ee — they stay lying on the ground and do not go on with you.
Kabir gently lets the air out of pride. Body and wealth are not bad. They are simply friends who walk with us only for a while. Think of a sandcastle at the beach. It is fun to build, but you cannot take it home.
The pause asks the shabad's real question. If these things do not travel with you, what does?
If your things could not come with you, what would you most want to have carried in your heart instead?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI