Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Baynee's refrain is blunt. He calls the sleeping soul a fool — not to be cruel, but because only a real word might wake someone up.
'Why are you engrossed in evil-mindedness and skepticism? Convincing yourself nothing matters? Wandering around uncontrolled? You're going to regret this.'
The warning is simple: remember the Lord now, or find yourself walking toward the City of Death — the domain of the Messenger — not because of punishment, but because that's where the unready mind goes. It simply ends up there.
This is the refrain that echoes through all six watches. Every time the poem pauses, it comes back to this: remember. Now. While you still can.
The rahao here is sharp in the tradition of Kabir's directness — Baynee does not soften his address. Moorakh (fool) in the GGS context is not an insult but a diagnosis: the condition of the soul that does not see its own situation clearly. Aavan jaavan (coming and going, wandering without direction) is the standard image for souls caught in the cycle of reincarnation. The 'City of Death' (jam puri) is the domain of the Messenger of Death — but in the spiritual reading, it is also the state of a mind dominated by the fear of mortality rather than the love of the Lord.
Is there anything in your life that you're doing on autopilot, that you might later regret not paying attention to?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI