Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The money will not make the crossing with you - so why the death-grip on it, dear fool?
Children, friends, family, beloved - which of them can walk that road beside you?
Power, pleasure, the whole spread of glitter - name one person it ever let go of. Horses, elephants, parades - a show, and the show ends.
And the fool never once acknowledges the One who gave it all. Forgetting the Name - that is the one regret that waits at the end.
This one says the show of wealth is real, but it does not last.
The questions come straight at us, and we should let them land. sang na chaalas tayrai Dhanaa — your wealth will not go with you. So why cling to it?
sut meet kutamb ar banitaa — children, friends, family and spouse. Which of them can go along with you? Notice the question. It is not "which of them loves you?" They do love you. It is "which of them can walk the last road with you?" None can. Loving and going along are different things. An earlier section taught this about the lonely road.
raaj rang maa-i-aa bisthaar — power, pleasure and the wide spread of Maya, the world's glitter. Who has ever escaped them? This flips the question of who owns what. People think they hold power and pleasure. Really, power and pleasure hold them.
jhoothaa damf jhooth paasaaree — horses, elephants and chariots are a false show. Think of a parade. The parade is real. What it seems to promise, that it will last forever, is not.
The closing regret is chosen carefully. It is not money not made, or prizes missed. naam bisaar naanak pachhutaanaa — forgetting the Name is what brings regret in the end. Of all the things a life can leave out, only that one was the real cargo.
Old people rarely regret missing more money or fame. What do they regret - and what does that tell you now?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI