You Arrived Empty-Handed; Why Cry About the Menu?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Foolish dear mind, why all this crying and thrashing? What is truly yours is already on its way to you.
Pain and pleasure come from the same giving hand - so let go of the middlemen and deal with the Source alone.
Whatever He does - lean back into it. Why wander in circles? Ask yourself honestly: what did you bring here with you? And yet you cling to the sweets like a greedy moth at a flame.
Keep the Name in your heart instead - and you will walk home with honor.
When your mind is crying and grabbing, remember that you came with empty hands.
The pauri speaks to the mind the way you would calm an upset child. Man moorakh kaahay billaa-ee-ai — silly mind, why all this crying? Then it gives three comforts.
First: purab likhay kaa likhi-aa paa-ee-ai — what is written for you will reach you. No one can grab away what is truly yours. So much worry is spent guarding things that were never in danger.
Second: dookh sookh parabh dayvanhaar — pain and joy come from the same Giver. One hand sends both. So there is no need to thank one power for the sweet and blame another for the bitter.
Third, a question everyone meets someday. Ka-un basat aa-ee tayrai sang — what did you bring with you? The answer is nothing. You arrived with empty hands. Everything since has been a gift, like food served at a party.
Then comes the moth. Lapat rahi-o ras lobhee patang — you cling to pleasures like a greedy moth, a patang, at a flame. The flame is not cruel. That is just what flames do to moths that think they have found home. The cure is the Name in the heart. With it, naanak pat saytee ghar jaahi — you go home with honor, to the home that does not burn.
Make the list honestly: what did you bring into this world - and what will you take out? What does that leave you free to enjoy lightly?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI