Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Death is like a tax-collector who comes for those caught up in "the second thing." It brings hard consequences to those who forgot the Name. Every hour, every minute is added up; everything is weighed out to the last tiny grain — nothing slips past the reckoning.
This verse pictures death as a toll-collector. The point is to wake us up: our time is precious, so spend it on what lasts.
Jam jaagaatee doojai bhaa-ay kar laa-ay — death, the jaagaatee (toll-collector), charges a tax on those caught in doojai bhaa-ay, the love of "a second thing." Think of a toll booth on a bridge. You must pay before you can cross. Guru Amar Das pictures death this way.
There is a clear logic here. Suppose you spend your whole life holding tight to things that pass away. Being important, owning stuff, puffing up the "me." At death's bridge, you must hand all of it over. None of it can cross with you. That loss is the "tax."
The counting is very exact. Gharhee muhat kaa laykhaa layvai — an account is taken of every hour and every moment. Ratee-ahu maasaa tol kadhaavani-aa — everything is weighed down to the tiniest grain. A ratee and a maasaa were the smallest weights on a jeweler's scale. Nothing is rounded off or missed.
This is not meant to frighten us. It is meant to show us how valuable time is. Every hour counts. So ask yourself: how am I spending the grains of my life? On things that get taken away at the bridge? Or on the Name, which crosses over freely?
Now read closely, because there is kindness hidden here. The toll-collector comes for those who are naavhu bhoolay, those who forgot the Name. Earlier shabads say the same gentle thing. The problem is forgetting. And the way to cross free is simple: remember the Name.
The rest of this song shows how. Keep the pure Name in your heart, as the pause line says. Find the beautiful inner room and meet the Beloved there. Then you reach the bridge with nothing to be taxed on. You spent your life on the One, who crosses with you. Another shabad says death cannot even spot a person like this.
So this strong verse, set in the middle of a song about the Beloved within, is really a loving nudge. Your time is weighed to the last grain. Spend it remembering the One, the only thing that lasts.
If every hour of your life were being "weighed," what would you want to be spending those hours on — and what might you stop wasting them on?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI