Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Those who have not served the True Guru — why did they even bother to come into this world?
They are bound and gagged and beaten at Death's door. But no one hears their shrieks and cries.
They waste their lives uselessly. They die and are reincarnated, over and over again.
Jin satgur na seviiaa, tin kaa jamm-naa birthaa — those who did not serve the True Guru (jin satgur na seviiaa) — for them, coming into the world (jamm-naa — being born) was birthaa (useless, in vain, wasted). The human birth is rare and precious in the GGS framework — not because humans are superior but because the human birth is the one in which liberation is accessible. Not to use it for Guru-service is to have squandered the one opportunity. Birthaa — the same word used in Shabad 123 Pauri4 for the manmukh who wanders through 8.4 million lifetimes. Born in vain.
Jam dar bandh khotaihai, kitai na suniiaa arthaa — at the Messenger of Death's door, they are bound (bandh), beaten (khotaihai), shackled; no one hears (kitai na suniiaa) their cries (arthaa). The image of the door of Death: the soul who did not serve the Guru arrives bound. No intercessor. No one who hears. The cries that were not turned toward the Lord in life cannot be heard at death. The time for Guru-service was the life being lived — not the moment of departure.
Birthaa janam gavaa-i-aa, phir phir aavan jaan-aa — they waste away their life in vain (birthaa janam gavaa-i-aa); again and again (phir phir) they come and go (aavan jaan-aa). The phir phir — the relentlessness of it. The cycle that does not end because the exit door was not used. The exit door is the Guru.
If you imagined looking back at your life from the moment of death — what would you most regret not having given more time and attention to?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI