Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Even the most powerful people can spend their whole lives piling up more and more, treating riches like something precious when it can quietly poison the heart. The more they gather, the more they cling, and sometimes they stop trusting even the people closest to them.
But things that are only about having more slip away right in front of your eyes, and then comes the regret. When you build your life only on getting and keeping, something important is lost along the way. Nanak says all of it unfolds within the One's will. So hold your things lightly, and hold people close.
Piling up riches cannot give what the heart needs.
Bhoopat raajay rang raa-ay sancheh bikh maa-i-aa — kings and rulers enjoy their pleasures and pile up the poison of Maya, the pull of wealth and things. They grab more and more, even taking what belongs to others, and they stop trusting their own children and partners. Vaykhdi-aa hee maa-i-aa dhuhi ga-ee — while they watch, it all slips away, and regret comes. The old words picture a stern reckoning at the end. Power and grabbing still leave a person empty-handed.
What matters more to you than anything you could buy?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI