Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Chasing land and piling up wealth, a person's very breath runs out.
All the armies and helpers must be left behind; they rise up and depart, empty.
A sober memento-mori, but aimed precisely at acquisitive over-reach. The one so busy grabbing land and gold that "his breath escapes him" — worked to the last breath for things that cannot follow. "Armies, assistants, servants" — even the powerful leave with nothing. The verse does not condemn work or provision; it condemns the endless grabbing that mistakes accumulation for security and spends a whole life on what stays behind.
What are you tempted to over-accumulate, as if enough of it would finally make you safe?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI