cintā tā kī kījīai jo anhonī hoi.
ihu māragu sansār ko nānak thiru nahī koi.51.
-Guru Granth Sahib 1428
Guru Teghbahadar Sahib reminds beings of the purpose of life, which is to remember and reflect on the virtues of IkOankar (the Divine). The saloks describe how life is wasted in the entanglements of familial and material attachments distracting from the purpose of life. They inspire seekers to search for deeper meaning beyond the attachment to family and temporary material things and develop a relationship with IkOankar. These saloks gently nudge seekers to live in awareness of IkOankar and see the entire world from that place of realization.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
In the fifty-first stanza, Guru Teghbahadar says, one should worry about an occurrence if that occurrence happens differently from others or may not happen to others. This is the way of the world that everyone who comes here is impermanent; no one lasts forever; so, why worry about death?
The Guru tells us that we ought to only worry about unexpected things, not the things that are universally experienced and inevitable. We know that all of us will die. All of us will go, all of us will leave behind all we have accumulated in this life. This is the way of the world, so why are we worrying about it? Why are we anxious about it? If death were a thing that only happened to a few people and not to everyone, then maybe it would make sense to worry about it. But death is not discriminatory, and it definitely is not unheard of. It is the great equalizer. It is written on our foreheads, in our “destinies,” in the Command. Maybe it is just that we are unable to read it.
So why worry about death? Why not instead be concerned about life? Why not instead think deeply about what we are doing here and now? Why not transcend living with the worry of death? Why not confront and address death so that we know how to live?
The Guru tells us that we ought to only worry about unexpected things, not the things that are universally experienced and inevitable. We know that all of us will die. All of us will go, all of us will leave behind all we have accumulated in this life. This is the way of the world, so why are we worrying about it? Why are we anxious about it? If death were a thing that only happened to a few people and not to everyone, then maybe it would make sense to worry about it. But death is not discriminatory, and it definitely is not unheard of. It is the great equalizer. It is written on our foreheads, in our “destinies,” in the Command. Maybe it is just that we are unable to read it.
So why worry about death? Why not instead be concerned about life? Why not instead think deeply about what we are doing here and now? Why not transcend living with the worry of death? Why not confront and address death so that we know how to live?
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