Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The first watch of the night passes away in worthless affairs. The second passes in deep sleep.
In the third, people babble nonsense. When the fourth watch comes — the day of death has arrived.
And through it all, the thought of the One who gave body and soul never enters the mind.
This one compares a whole life to a night that slips by without once thinking of the Giver.
The night was split into four watches, or pahar, of about three hours each. Here they stand for the stages of life.
Pahilaa pahar DhanDhai ga-i-aa — the first watch goes in busy, empty work: youth spent on things that don't last. Doojai bhar so-i-aa — the second in deep sleep: grown-up years spent in comfort. Teejai jhaakh jhakhaa-i-aa — the third in chatter: old age spent in empty talk. And in the fourth, morning breaks, and death arrives. The whole night of life is gone.
Kad hee chit na aa-i-o jin jee-o pind dee-aa — the One who gave body and soul never once came to mind.
Think of a birthday party where you open every present and never look up to see who gave them. The Guru points to this forgetting: we are given everything, and the Giver goes unremembered.
When you think about what you've been given — your body, your capacity to think and feel, the people in your life — how often do you feel genuine gratitude for it? What would more gratitude actually look like?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI