ਕਾਲੁ ਬਿਕਾਲੁ ਕਹੇ ਕਹਿ ਬਪੁਰੇ ਜੀਵਤ ਮੂਆ ਮਨੁ ਮਾਰੀ ॥੧੧॥
kaal bikaal kahay kahi bapuray jeevat moo-aa man maaree. ||11||
What can poor death or birth say to him? Conquering his mind, he remains dead while yet alive. ||11||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
What can poor death or birth say to such a person?
They have mastered the restless mind; while still alive, the grasping self in them has died away.
You can be so fully at peace that even big fears lose their voice.
Master the mind, and death and birth have nothing left to say to you.
Kaal bikaal — death and birth; jeevat moo-aa man maaree — "dead while alive," with the mind mastered. It means being so free of the ego's grip that the fear of dying loses its voice. Nothing here is about wanting to die: it is about the grasping "me first" self going quiet, so that a person can live wholly and freely.
A Question to Sit With
What fear would grow quieter if you felt completely at peace inside?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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