caüthai paharai raiṇi kai vaṇjāriā mitrā lāvī āiā khetu.
jā jami pakaṛi calāiā vaṇjāriā mitrā kisai na miliā bhetu.
bhetu cetu hari kisai na milio jā jami pakaṛi calāiā.
jhūṭhā rudanu hoā duoālai khin mahi bhaïā parāiā.
sāī vastu parāpati hoī jisu siu lāiā hetu.
kahu nānak prāṇī caüthai paharai lāvī luṇiā khetu.4.1.
-Guru Granth Sahib 75
Guru Nanak Sahib compares the night’s quarters to a life divided into four parts: infancy, youth, adulthood, and old age. These stages explain how beings come to visit this world, only metaphorical traders. Thus, instead of wasting life, individuals are advised to try to make life successful by remembering IkOankar (the Divine). This Sabad encourages seekers to develop the lifestyle to receive the honor at the court of IkOankar.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
O trader-friend, in the fourth quarter of the night, as the thought of departing this world dawns on you, you start trading your money and time on frantically planning your last rites. In this final stage of life, the thought of having to separate from those things that you traded your time, energy, and investment for, is overwhelming. You become fixated on thinking about who will take care of those life assets that you have accumulated. Everything you claimed to have lived or worked for will be instantly gone when death comes. Your relatives will mourn you, but eventually, you will also become a distant memory. We reflect that when the time comes to look back on our life journey, will we regret our actions and try to figure out how to make amends or fret over lost opportunities? Will we mourn the loss of life or reflect on the opportunities we had to build our connection with our Creator-Provider? Consider how some of us may only begin reflecting on our life journey at this late stage of life. Imagine someone contemplating what they would have done differently to pursue happiness, freedom, contentment, and harmony. O trader-friend, in the fourth stage of life, will we realize what was ours?
Imagine periodically reviewing our intentions on what we trade for at each stage of our life. The capacity to shift our attention, to be able to focus on what we choose to trade in, is entirely possible. If we invest in realigning our actions towards living more principled, we could be more conscious about how we trade and its purpose. For example, volunteering our time and efforts to do things beyond our need to fulfill ourselves could help us become more attuned to serving the needs of others for their betterment which doesn’t always result in one-way transactions for ourselves. Maybe this is how we can learn to become more present in our connection with the Creator-Provider. How will we trade our time and energy for good actions and deeds and remember the eternal connection with our Creator-Provider? In the end, what will help us realize what was worthy of our time and attachments?
Imagine periodically reviewing our intentions on what we trade for at each stage of our life. The capacity to shift our attention, to be able to focus on what we choose to trade in, is entirely possible. If we invest in realigning our actions towards living more principled, we could be more conscious about how we trade and its purpose. For example, volunteering our time and efforts to do things beyond our need to fulfill ourselves could help us become more attuned to serving the needs of others for their betterment which doesn’t always result in one-way transactions for ourselves. Maybe this is how we can learn to become more present in our connection with the Creator-Provider. How will we trade our time and energy for good actions and deeds and remember the eternal connection with our Creator-Provider? In the end, what will help us realize what was worthy of our time and attachments?
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