ਜਾ ਤੇ ਘਾਲ ਨ ਬਿਰਥੀ ਜਾਈਐ ॥
jaa tay ghaal na birthee jaa-ee-ai.
His works do not go in vain.
ਆਠ ਪਹਰ ਸਿਮਰਹੁ ਪ੍ਰਭੁ ਅਪਨਾ ਮਨਿ ਤਨਿ ਸਦਾ ਧਿਆਈਐ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
aath pahar simrahu parabh apnaa man tan sadaa Dhi-aa-ee-ai. ||1|| rahaa-o.
Twenty-four hours a day, remember your God in meditation; meditate on Him continually in your mind and body. ||1||Pause||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Such a person's efforts never go to waste.
Around the clock, hold your God in mind; keep the remembering alive in body and mind.
A life oriented toward what matters is never wasted motion — a low, constant current of attention makes the effort count.
The Pause line offers a quiet reassurance that answers a common fear: that our efforts are pointless. "His works do not go in vain." A life oriented toward the One is not wasted motion; it counts. And the instruction is steady, continuous remembrance — "twenty-four hours a day." Not a frantic push but a low, constant current of attention running under everything, which is what makes the efforts fruitful rather than scattered.
A Question to Sit With
What would it feel like to trust that your sincere efforts, even the unseen ones, are not wasted?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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