Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Passing: this body, this money, and even the family around you. Passing: the me-first feeling, the mine-mine feeling, all the glitter.
Passing: power, youth, riches, land. Passing: burning wants and wild anger.
Passing: fancy cars, big animals, expensive clothes; the thrill of piling up wealth and staring at the pile. Passing: tricks, clinging, arrogance, self-importance.
What stays: loving devotion, and the shelter of the holy. That is what Nanak lives on - remembering, remembering at the Feet of the One.
Almost everything you could build a life on passes away, except love for the One.
The word repeated all through this verse is mithi-aa, often translated "false." It does not mean the thing does not exist. It does not mean it is wicked. It means it will not last and cannot keep its promises. Sach, the real, is what holds.
The list is meant to be complete. Body, wealth, family. Ego, possessiveness, and maya, the glittering world. Power, youth, riches. Burning desire and wild anger. Chariots, elephants, horses, and fine clothes, the grand rides of the Mughal age. Piling up wealth and gazing at it. Tricks, clinging, and pride. Everything a person might build who they are on is counted and stamped: passing.
Then one line survives the check. Asthir bhagat saadh kee saran — what stays is loving devotion, and the shelter of the holy ones. Asthir means lasting. Bhagat is loving devotion. The saadh are the holy ones, the Guru's people, who keep love alive.
Just two things are left: love for the One, and the friends who help you keep it. Think of moving house and packing one small box of what matters most. In Sukhmani, that box holds only these two things.
If everything you own and even your body are temporary, what part of your life is the permanent part?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI