Ask for the One Thing You Can Carry With You

ਟੋਡੀ ਮਹਲਾ ੫ ਘਰੁ ੨ ਦੁਪਦੇ

todee mehlaa 5 ghar 2 dupday

Todee, Fifth Mehl, Second House, Du-Padas:

ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥

ik-o^Nkaar satgur parsaad.

One Universal Creator God. By The Grace Of The True Guru:

ਮਾਗਉ ਦਾਨੁ ਠਾਕੁਰ ਨਾਮ ॥

maaga-o daan thaakur naam.

I beg for the Gift of Your Name, O my Lord and Master.

ਅਵਰੁ ਕਛੂ ਮੇਰੈ ਸੰਗਿ ਨ ਚਾਲੈ ਮਿਲੈ ਕ੍ਰਿਪਾ ਗੁਣ ਗਾਮ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥

avar kachhoo mayrai sang na chaalai milai kirpaa gun gaam. ||1|| rahaa-o.

Nothing else shall go along with me in the end; by Your Grace, please allow me to sing Your Glorious Praises. ||1||Pause||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

More than anything, I ask You for one gift: Your Name.

Nothing else comes with me when it's all over — so please, let me spend this life singing what's true.

Ask for the one thing you can actually carry with you: the connection itself.

The deeper layer

A whole shabad compressed into a refrain: of all the things a person could beg for, Guru Arjan begs for the one thing that lasts. "Nothing else shall go along with me in the end" is the memento-mori that runs through all of Todee — not morbid, but clarifying: hold your possessions loosely, because you'll set them all down. What you can carry across is the connection itself (the Name) and the way of living it makes possible (singing praises). The request is not for a reward after death but for a way to spend the life you have now.

A Question to Sit With

If you could only keep one thing from your whole life, what would you want it to be?

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI

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