Verse 4 of 5

The Saddest Poverty Is Never Tasting the One Thing

ਜਿਨ੍ਹ੍ਹ ਹਰਿ ਹਰਿ ਹਰਿ ਰਸੁ ਨਾਮੁ ਨ ਪਾਇਆ ਤੇ ਭਾਗਹੀਣ ਜਮ ਪਾਸਿ ॥

jin^H har har har ras naam na paa-i-aa tay bhaagheen jam paas.

Those who have not obtained the essence of the Name of the Lord, Har, Har, are most unfortunate; they are taken away by the Messenger of Death.

ਜੋ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਸਰਣਿ ਸੰਗਤਿ ਨਹੀ ਆਏ ਧ੍ਰਿਗੁ ਜੀਵੇ ਧ੍ਰਿਗੁ ਜੀਵਾਸਿ ॥੩॥

jo satgur saran sangat nahee aa-ay Dharig jeevay Dharig jeevaas. ||3||

Those who have not sought the Sanctuary of the True Guru and the Company of the Holy - cursed are their lives, and cursed are their hopes of life. ||3||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

The ones who never taste the One's name are the truly poor — time carries them off still empty.

Never having sought shelter with the teaching or with good company — those lives, and those hopes, run to waste.

The saddest poverty is a life that runs out still never having tasted the one thing that fills.

The deeper layer

The dark mirror of P2, and Ram Das states it plainly. "Most unfortunate" and "taken away by the Messenger of Death" name not a punishment but a loss — a life that passed without ever tasting the one thing, hopes that came to nothing because they were pinned on the wrong things. "Cursed" again means wasted. The verse is a lament more than a verdict, and its remedy is right there in the sorrow: seek the sanctuary and the company that P2 praised.

A Question to Sit With

What do you not want to reach the end of your day — or your life — still having never really tasted?

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI

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