The visit is short, so remember the One and be kind while there is time; in the Sangat, you are carried across.
The Arc
Your mind keeps saying: later. I will remember the One later. But the visit here is short, and today or tomorrow every one of us gets up and goes. Greed can eat a whole life. Money and being young feel solid now. They crumble like dry paper left out in the rain. One day nothing will be in your hands. What counts then is whether you remembered the One, sang to the One, and were kind. When the account is asked for, what face will you show? Here is the answer. Stay close to the Sangat, and you will be carried across. At the centre, the Rahao: remember the One, O mind, before today or tomorrow you must leave.
Key Vocabulary
Raam simar remember the One — the first counsel (refrain)
Kaagad jiu gal jaahigaa 'you crumble like dry paper' — an image of how fast wealth and youth go (Pauri 1)
Simran... daiaa remembrance and compassion — what counts on the last day (Pauri 2)
Dharam Raa-ay the Judge of Dharma who asks for the account (Pauri 3)
Saadhsangat tar jaanhigaa 'in the Sangat you are carried across' — the closing promise (Pauri 3)
Themes and Cross-Connections
The shortness of life as a call to remember now; kindness (daiaa) and remembrance as what counts on the last day; and the Sangat as the boat across.
For Raag Maaroo
This is Maaroo's death-song in full: greed, crumbling paper, death's grip and the account asked for, and the last word given to the Sangat that carries a person across.
Hukumnama
Subject: Remember the One now, while there is time Preview: greed, dry paper crumbling in the rain, a day with nothing in your hands, and an account asked for.
Today: Your mind keeps saying: later. I will remember the One later. But the visit here is short, and today or tomorrow every one of us gets up and goes. Greed can eat a whole life. Money and being young feel solid now. They crumble like dry paper left out in the rain. One day nothing will be in your hands. What counts then is whether you remembered the One, sang to the One, and were kind. When the account is asked for, what face will you show? Here is the answer. Stay close to the Sangat, and you will be carried across.
Remember the One now, while there is time.
For today: Do one kind thing today without being asked, and say the Naam as you do it.
The visit is short, so remember the One and be kind while there is time; in the Sangat, you are carried across.
The Arc
Your mind keeps saying: later. I will remember the One later. But the visit here is short, and today or tomorrow every one of us gets up and goes. Greed can eat a whole life. Money and being young feel solid now. They crumble like dry paper left out in the rain. One day nothing will be in your hands. What counts then is whether you remembered the One, sang to the One, and were kind. When the account is asked for, what face will you show? Here is the answer. Stay close to the Sangat, and you will be carried across. At the centre, the Rahao: remember the One, O mind, before today or tomorrow you must leave.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
The shortness of life as a call to remember now; kindness (daiaa) and remembrance as what counts on the last day; and the Sangat as the boat across.
For Raag Maaroo
This is Maaroo's death-song in full: greed, crumbling paper, death's grip and the account asked for, and the last word given to the Sangat that carries a person across.
Hukumnama
Subject: Remember the One now, while there is time Preview: greed, dry paper crumbling in the rain, a day with nothing in your hands, and an account asked for.
Today: Your mind keeps saying: later. I will remember the One later. But the visit here is short, and today or tomorrow every one of us gets up and goes. Greed can eat a whole life. Money and being young feel solid now. They crumble like dry paper left out in the rain. One day nothing will be in your hands. What counts then is whether you remembered the One, sang to the One, and were kind. When the account is asked for, what face will you show? Here is the answer. Stay close to the Sangat, and you will be carried across.
Remember the One now, while there is time.
For today: Do one kind thing today without being asked, and say the Naam as you do it.