Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Everything that is born comes to an end. Life and death come for all who arrive here.
Death sits and examines the accounts, in that place where no one goes along with anyone.
Those who weep and wail might as well be tying up bundles of straw.
This one says, calmly, that every life has an end. It says it as a plain fact, not as a threat.
Jeevan marnaa jaa-ay kai aythai khaajai kaal: "Life and death come to all who are born; here, time eats everything." Then the verse pictures a sitting where each life's account is looked at. Japji Sahib uses the same picture. In the end, what was real becomes clear.
Rovan vaalay jayt-rhay sabh baneh pand paraal: "All those who weep might as well tie up bundles of straw." Straw is light and empty. It weighs nothing.
Being sad when someone dies is natural and okay. The verse isn't asking us to hide our tears. It is saying that fighting what must happen is like pushing against a river. It wears you out and changes nothing.
The way through is acceptance. In Gurmat, the Guru's way, this is called raza: trusting the One's order, even when it is hard. It is like a hug that says, "This is how things are, and you are held inside it."
When someone you love is gone, does knowing it was always going to happen make it easier or harder? Why?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI