Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
When a life ends, loved ones walk with it as far as they can. Family and friends come to the very edge of goodbye.
And then the soul, like a white swan lifting into the sky, travels on by itself, carrying only what it truly became inside.
Kabir says that when a life ends, loved ones walk with the soul as far as they can, and then it goes on alone.
Dayhuree la-o baree naar: the wife comes as far as the doorway. Aagai sajan suhaylaa: friends come a little further. Marghat la-o sabh log kutamb: all the family and people come as far as the place where the body is cremated.
Then comes a very gentle picture. Aagai hans akaylaa: after that, the hans, the white swan, flies on alone. The swan is the soul. Gurbani uses this lovely image in other places too, like Raag Wadahans.
Think of a school trip. Your family walks you to the bus and waves. Then you climb aboard with only your backpack. What is in that backpack is who you have become inside: your kindness, your love, your trust in the One.
This is told as a gentle truth, not something to fear.
If your soul is like a swan carrying only what you became, what would you most want to be carrying?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI