We are here for one short night — spend it on the right treasure.
The Arc
Imagine getting rich by making other people's lives harder. That money is no use to you. It ends up with someone else, and pride makes you walk around as if blind. What you do to others follows you, even past death. Look at a whole life. A little child cannot see yet. A young person chases wrongs that leave a bad smell. Then come the money years, and in old age you leave it all behind with regret. This human life is rare, given after a very long time. Without the Naam, it turns to dust. So ask the One, who is always kind, to loosen the knots. At the centre, the Rahao: let go of envy, because you are only here for one night.
Key Vocabulary
sincheh darab — gather wealth; taat — envy; supnaa — dream; durlabh dayh — the hard-won body; deen da-i-aal — merciful to the meek; jam — death-messenger.
Themes and Cross-Connections
Ethical wealth (not gained by harm); life's brevity as perspective, not despair; the preciousness of human life; the turn from warning to prayer.
For Raag Raamkalee
Raamkalee, a dawn raag of disciplined awakening, suits a shabad that shakes the sleeper awake.
Hukumnama
Subject: Let go of envy, life is short Preview: money piled up by hurting others, one night's stay, a dream, and the four seasons of a life.
Today: Imagine getting rich by making other people's lives harder. That money is no use to you. It ends up with someone else, and pride makes you walk around as if blind. What you do to others follows you, even past death. Look at a whole life. A little child cannot see yet. A young person chases wrongs that leave a bad smell. Then come the money years, and in old age you leave it all behind with regret. This human life is rare, given after a very long time. Without the Naam, it turns to dust. So ask the One, who is always kind, to loosen the knots.
Let go of envy: you are only here for one night.
For today: When you feel envy today, say one kind thing about that person instead.
We are here for one short night — spend it on the right treasure.
The Arc
Imagine getting rich by making other people's lives harder. That money is no use to you. It ends up with someone else, and pride makes you walk around as if blind. What you do to others follows you, even past death. Look at a whole life. A little child cannot see yet. A young person chases wrongs that leave a bad smell. Then come the money years, and in old age you leave it all behind with regret. This human life is rare, given after a very long time. Without the Naam, it turns to dust. So ask the One, who is always kind, to loosen the knots. At the centre, the Rahao: let go of envy, because you are only here for one night.
Key Vocabulary
sincheh darab — gather wealth; taat — envy; supnaa — dream; durlabh dayh — the hard-won body; deen da-i-aal — merciful to the meek; jam — death-messenger.
Themes and Cross-Connections
Ethical wealth (not gained by harm); life's brevity as perspective, not despair; the preciousness of human life; the turn from warning to prayer.
For Raag Raamkalee
Raamkalee, a dawn raag of disciplined awakening, suits a shabad that shakes the sleeper awake.
Hukumnama
Subject: Let go of envy, life is short Preview: money piled up by hurting others, one night's stay, a dream, and the four seasons of a life.
Today: Imagine getting rich by making other people's lives harder. That money is no use to you. It ends up with someone else, and pride makes you walk around as if blind. What you do to others follows you, even past death. Look at a whole life. A little child cannot see yet. A young person chases wrongs that leave a bad smell. Then come the money years, and in old age you leave it all behind with regret. This human life is rare, given after a very long time. Without the Naam, it turns to dust. So ask the One, who is always kind, to loosen the knots.
Let go of envy: you are only here for one night.
For today: When you feel envy today, say one kind thing about that person instead.