What Is Real Stays, The Rest Washes Away
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
A person gets wrapped up in a wife, in house and home, in land and country,
in the mind's pleasures and in fine clothes to wear.
But when the call comes, no one can put it off.
Nanak says: in the end, what is false turns out to be false.
Whatever is false fades away in the end, and what is true stays.
The verse lists the things everyone gets wrapped up in: family, home, land, country, the mind's pleasures and fine clothes. These are the ordinary ties all people share.
Jaa saday taa dhil na paa-ay: when the call comes, there is no putting it off. That call is the natural end of a life. Every life has one, the way every school year has a last day.
Koorh koorho ho-ay jaa-ay: what was koorh, false and only for show, turns out false in the end. It washes off like cheap dye. What is true stays. This is the last verse of Guru Nanak's first shabad in Raag Parbhaatee.
What is something true in your life that you know will last?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI