ਬਹੁਤੁ ਪ੍ਰਤਾਪੁ ਗਾਂਉ ਸਉ ਪਾਏ ਦੁਇ ਲਖ ਟਕਾ ਬਰਾਤ ॥
bahut partaap gaaN-o sa-o paa-ay du-ay lakh takaa baraat.
With great pomp and ceremony, you control a hundred villages, with an income of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
ਦਿਵਸ ਚਾਰਿ ਕੀ ਕਰਹੁ ਸਾਹਿਬੀ ਜੈਸੇ ਬਨ ਹਰ ਪਾਤ ॥੧॥
divas chaar kee karahu saahibee jaisay ban har paat. ||1||
The power you exert will last for only a few days, like the green leaves of the forest. ||1||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Even if you ran a hundred towns and money kept pouring in, that power is like the green leaves on a tree.
Leaves are alive and beautiful, but only for a season. Then they let go and fall.
Even great power lasts only a season.
Green leaves (har paat) are alive and lovely, but only for a season. Worldly power is like that: lovely and brief. Even command over a hundred villages is a summer of greenery.
A Question to Sit With
What have you seen fade that once looked like it would last forever?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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