Everything fades but love for the One — and love is the part of you that lasts.
The Arc
An Ashtapadee-flavored shabad in the Lalit mode. It opens on aging bodies and untiring desire (Pauri0), sounds its keynote as a warm nudge not to let the years slip by unnoticed (Pauri1, rahaao), and then rises to its comforting heart: love for the One does not die with the body (verse 2). It closes with the chaupar (dice-and-board) metaphor — understanding the flow of existence, one plays every move wisely and never loses (verses 3-4).
Key Vocabulary
bhaa-o — love; the verse's promise that it does not die when the body goes.
hukam — the flow of existence; grasping it is how one plays life's game well.
chaupar / paasaa — an old dice-and-board game; conquering one's own restless mind is the true win.
abigat — the Imperishable, changeless One.
Themes and Cross-Connections
Love enduring beyond the body (verse 2) is the tenderest death-comfort in the block, kin to Kabir's Todee teaching that we cannot be far from the water we swim in. The game-of-chaupar metaphor links understanding Hukam to mastery over the mind.
For Raag Soohee
The raag of love finds here its clearest promise: the love the bride grows for the Beloved is the one thing that outlasts everything else.
Translation Notes
baavraa is rendered as bewildered or distracted, not mad. The harsh wasted-life phrasing (birthaa janam) is softened to a warm nudge. Aging is kept natural and unfrightening.
Everything fades but love for the One — and love is the part of you that lasts.
The Arc
An Ashtapadee-flavored shabad in the Lalit mode. It opens on aging bodies and untiring desire (Pauri0), sounds its keynote as a warm nudge not to let the years slip by unnoticed (Pauri1, rahaao), and then rises to its comforting heart: love for the One does not die with the body (verse 2). It closes with the chaupar (dice-and-board) metaphor — understanding the flow of existence, one plays every move wisely and never loses (verses 3-4).
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
Love enduring beyond the body (verse 2) is the tenderest death-comfort in the block, kin to Kabir's Todee teaching that we cannot be far from the water we swim in. The game-of-chaupar metaphor links understanding Hukam to mastery over the mind.
For Raag Soohee
The raag of love finds here its clearest promise: the love the bride grows for the Beloved is the one thing that outlasts everything else.
Translation Notes
baavraa is rendered as bewildered or distracted, not mad. The harsh wasted-life phrasing (birthaa janam) is softened to a warm nudge. Aging is kept natural and unfrightening.
Last updated: 2026-07-08