Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
They are born, and they die, and never once come to understand the One; day and night they wander, in love with 'two-ness.'
A life turned only on itself runs out empty — and at the very end comes regret.
This verse gently warns that a whole life can pass without finding what it was for, so it is good to turn toward the One now.
It shows, plainly and sadly, the cost of a life spent in split reading, a restless mind and showing off. Upjai pachai har boojhai naahee means "they are born and they pass away, but never understand the One." The whole road of a life, start to finish, goes by. And the one thing it was for, understanding the One, never happens.
An-din doojai bhaa-ay firaa-ee means "day and night they wander, in love with two-ness." The wandering never stops. Love of "the second," the world apart from the One, fills every hour. So the soul circles its whole life without ever heading home.
The next line is gentle in tone but honest. Manmukh janam ga-i-aa hai birthaa means "the self-centered one's life has gone to waste." A manmukh faces their own ego instead of the light. Birthaa means in vain. Not because the person did nothing, but because all the doing missed the point. Like running a whole race in the wrong direction.
And the ending is regret. Ant ga-i-aa pachhutaavani-aa means "at the end they go, full of regret." They see too late what the whole life was for. This isn't punishment from outside. It is the natural, aching result of a life that wandered in love with the world and never turned to understand the One.
This is said not to condemn anyone, but to warn. It puts that regret in plain view now, while there is still plenty of time to turn. The whole reason to name the regret is so we never have to feel it.
If you imagine looking back at the end, what would you most regret not having understood or turned toward — and could you start now?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI