Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Do this, and the harm you carry washes off. Keeping the One in mind, there is nothing to dread at the end.
The stern accountings people fear cannot reach you, and the pull of grasping cannot rope you in.
Guru Arjan says a mind that remembers the One has nothing to dread.
Ih kaaraj tayray jaahi bikaar — by doing this, the wrongs you carry wash away. Simrat raam naahee jam maar — remembering the One, the jam, the messenger of death, cannot strike you. The verse also names the doot, the messengers of Dharam Raai, the judge of the dead in old stories. People in Guru Arjan's time were very afraid of these figures.
The teaching is about freedom from that fear. There is no dread at the end, and no harsh punishment waiting. A mind held by the One is not haunted by guilt.
And maa-i-aa magan na kachhoo-ai mohai — the pull of maya, the passing show of the world, cannot rope you in at all. Think of a child holding a parent's hand in a busy crowd. The noise is still there, but the fear is gone.
What is a worry that gets smaller the moment you remember you are cared for?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI