Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Choose such a Guru that you never need to look for another. Rest in such a state that you never need any other. Hold such a stillness that you never lose it. And let the small separate self settle so completely that it never has to unsettle again.
This one says: do the real thing so fully that it never needs doing again.
The verse has a beautiful beat. Four lines each end the same way. So gur karahu je bahur na karnaa — take such a Guru that you never need another. Then rest in such a state, and hold such a meditation, that you never need any other.
Last comes aisay marahu je bahur na marnaa — die in such a way that you never have to die again. This is the idea of jeevat mooaa, "dying while alive." It does not mean the body dying. It means the proud, separate "me" settling down, once and for all.
Think of learning to ride a bike. Once you truly learn it, you never have to learn it again. Kabir asks for that kind of once-and-for-all.
What is something worth doing so completely that you never have to redo it?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI