Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Elephants, chariots, horses swift as the wind, wealth, land, and armies of every kind:
none of it goes with you. You must rise up and leave, empty-handed.
This part says that even the most powerful people leave this world with nothing in their hands.
The third false friend is power. Hasat rath asav — elephants, chariots, horses as fast as the wind. Add land, wealth and great armies, the whole show of a king's might. Then comes the leveling picture. Ooth siDhaa-i-o naangaa — he must get up and leave, bare. We arrive with nothing and leave with nothing. All the power stays behind.
This truth, that everyone is equal at the end, comes up again and again in the scripture. Raag Gauree has its beggar and king. Kabir asks where the great king Raavan's palace is now.
It isn't said to be cruel. It is said to be clear. Think of a board game: however much play money you win, it all goes back in the box. If even emperors leave empty-handed, power can't be the friend that lasts. Everything you can command is exactly what you can't keep.
If the most powerful people in history left with nothing, what does that tell you about where to put your deepest trust?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI