What Washes Away and What Stays

ਮਹਲਾ ੧ ॥

mehlaa 1.

First Mehl:

ਨਾਨਕ ਦੁਨੀਆ ਭਸੁ ਰੰਗੁ ਭਸੂ ਹੂ ਭਸੁ ਖੇਹ ॥

naanak dunee-aa bhas rang bhasoo hoo bhas khayh.

O Nanak, worldly pleasures are nothing more than dust. They are the dust of the dust of ashes.

ਭਸੋ ਭਸੁ ਕਮਾਵਣੀ ਭੀ ਭਸੁ ਭਰੀਐ ਦੇਹ ॥

bhaso bhas kamaavnee bhee bhas bharee-ai dayh.

The mortal earns only the dust of the dust; his body is covered with dust.

ਜਾ ਜੀਉ ਵਿਚਹੁ ਕਢੀਐ ਭਸੂ ਭਰਿਆ ਜਾਇ ॥

jaa jee-o vichahu kadhee-ai bhasoo bhari-aa jaa-ay.

When the soul is taken out of the body, it too is covered with dust.

ਅਗੈ ਲੇਖੈ ਮੰਗਿਐ ਹੋਰ ਦਸੂਣੀ ਪਾਇ ॥੨॥

agai laykhai mangi-ai hor dasoonee paa-ay. ||2||

And when one's account is called for in the world hereafter, he receives only ten times more dust. ||2||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

Nanak says: so many of the things the world runs after are as light as dust — here for a moment, then blown away and gone. Chase only those, and you gather handfuls of dust that slip right through your fingers.

When you fill your days with nothing but that, you are left holding what cannot last, even when the account of a life is added up. So reach past the dust for the Naam, which stays with you, and your hands will hold something that does not blow away.

Most of what the world chases blows away like dust; reach for what stays.

The deeper layer

First Mehl. Worldly pleasures as dust and ashes (bhas, khayh) name their impermanence: dust earned, dust covering the body, and only more dust when the account is called. The Name is what endures — sach, Truth, set against what washes off.

A Question to Sit With

What is something you once wanted badly that turned out not to matter at all?

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI

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