Sikhism·Siree Raag·Ashtapadee 4
Verse 3 of 9

The Whole World Is Bound by Death

ਸਭੁ ਜਗੁ ਬਾਧੋ ਕਾਲ ਕੋ ਬਿਨੁ ਗੁਰ ਕਾਲੁ ਅਫਾਰੁ ॥
sabh jag baaDho kaal ko bin gur kaal afaar.
The whole world is bound by death; without the Guru, death cannot be avoided.
ਸਚਿ ਰਤੇ ਸੇ ਉਬਰੇ ਦੁਬਿਧਾ ਛੋਡਿ ਵਿਕਾਰ ॥
sach ratay say ubray dubiDhaa chhod vikaar.
Those who are attuned to Truth are saved; they renounce duality and corruption.
ਹਉ ਤਿਨ ਕੈ ਬਲਿਹਾਰਣੈ ਦਰਿ ਸਚੈ ਸਚਿਆਰ ॥੨॥
ha-o tin kai balihaarnai dar sachai sachiaar. ||2||
I am a sacrifice to those who are found to be Truthful in the True Court. ||2||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

The whole world is bound by death. Without the Guru, death cannot be avoided.

Those who are attuned to Truth are saved. They renounce duality and corruption.

I am a sacrifice to those who are found to be Truthful in the True Court.

All are bound by death — the differentiation is between those attuned to Truth and those not, not between those who die and those who don't.
The deeper layer

The universal condition: jagat mahi sabh muaa — in the world, all are bound by death. Not some, not the unprepared, not the wicked. All. The differentiation is not between those who will die and those who won't — it is between those attuned to Truth (sat meh ratiaa) who are saved from the death-cycle, and those who are not.

The saving is not from biological death but from the cycle — the aavanaa jaanaa of reincarnation that death without the Naam perpetuates.

A Question to Sit With

What is your current relationship to your own mortality? Is it something you think about? How has thinking about it — or avoiding thinking about it — affected how you live?

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

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