Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Some chew betel nut and betel leaf, and color their lips.
But they never once think of the One, Har, Har. When the end comes, they are taken away.
This one says: looking nice on the outside can't carry you through the last door.
Paan supaaree khaatee-aa — they chew betel leaf and betel nut. In Guru Ram Das's time, chewing paan and coloring the lips were signs of a fancy, well-groomed person. Har har kaday na chayti-o — but they never once remembered the One. Har is a name for the One. Then jam, the messenger of death, takes them away.
That harsh picture is best heard as a plain fact: all the finery gets left behind at the end. Grooming isn't wrong. Think of a beautifully wrapped box with nothing inside. The wrapping gets torn off and thrown away.
A life spent only on the surface has nothing to carry it through the one door that surfaces can't cross.
Where do you tend the surface more than the depth? What would tending the depth look like?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI