Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Those who never remember the One while alive mix back into dust when they die.
Nanak says: the foolish, closed-off cynic spends a whole life lost in the world.
A sober Shalok, the dark half of a pair with P55. To live without ever remembering is to "mix with the dust" — a life that leaves no lasting trace of what it was for. "Foolish and filthy faithless cynic" is strong language, but read as the tragedy of a life "engrossed in the world" and never awake to more — not a curse, but a lament over wasted years. Its whole purpose is to make the bright alternative of P55 land.
What would you want your life to have been 'awake to,' beyond just getting through the world?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI