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1Neither body, nor house, nor love last forever. You are intoxicated with Maya; how long will you be proud of them?

2Neither crown, nor canopy, nor servants last forever. You do not consider in your heart that your life is passing away.

3Neither chariots, nor horses, nor elephants or royal thrones shall last forever. In an instant, you will have to leave them, and depart naked.

4Neither warrior, nor hero, nor king or ruler last forever; see this with your eyes.

5Neither fortress, nor shelter, nor treasure will save you; doing evil deeds, you shall depart empty-handed.

6Friends, children, spouses and friends - none of them last forever; they change like the shade of a tree.

7God is the Perfect Primal Being, Merciful to the meek; each and every instant, meditate in remembrance on Him, the Inaccessible and Infinite.

8O Great Lord and Master, servant Nanak seeks Your Sanctuary; please shower him with Your Mercy, and carry him across. ||5||

9I have used up my breath of life, sold my self-respect, begged for charity, committed highway robbery, and dedicated my consciousness to the love and pursuit of acquiring wealth.

10I have kept it secretly hidden from my friends, relatives, companions, children and siblings.

11I ran around practicing falsehood, burning up my body and growing old.

12I gave up good deeds, righteousness and Dharma, self-discipline, purity, religious vows and all good ways; I associated with the fickle Maya.

13Beasts and birds, trees and mountains - in so many ways, I wandered lost in reincarnation.

14I did not remember the Naam, the Name of the Lord, for a moment, or even an instant. He is the Master of the meek, the Lord of all life.

15The food and drink, and the sweet and tasty dishes became totally bitter at the last moment.

16O Nanak, I was saved in the Society of the Saints, at their feet; the others, intoxicated with Maya, have gone, leaving everything behind. ||6||

17Brahma, Shiva, the Vedas and the silent sages sing the Glorious Praises of their Lord and Master with love and delight.

18Indra, Vishnu and Gorakh, who come to earth and then go to heaven again, seek the Lord.

19The Siddhas, human beings, gods and demons cannot find even a tiny bit of His Mystery.

20The Lord's humble servants are imbued with love and affection for God their Beloved; in the delight of devotional worship, they are absorbed in the Blessed Vision of His Darshan.

21But those who forsake Him, and beg from another, shall see their mouths, teeth and tongues wear away.

22O my foolish mind, meditate in remembrance on the Lord, the Giver of peace. Slave Nanak imparts these teachings. ||7||

23The pleasures of Maya shall fade away. In doubt, the mortal falls into the deep dark pit of emotional attachment.

24He is so proud, even the sky cannot contain him. His belly is filled with manure, bones and worms.

25He runs around in the ten directions, for the sake of the great poison of corruption. He steals the wealth of others, and in the end, he is destroyed by his own ignorance.

26His youth passes away, the illnesses of old age seize him, and the Messenger of Death punishes him; such is the death he dies.

27He suffers the agony of hell in countless incarnations; he rots away in the pit of pain and condemnation.

28O Nanak, those whom the Saint mercifully takes as his own, are carried across by their loving devotional worship. ||8||

29All virtues are obtained, all fruits and rewards, and the desires of the mind; my hopes have been totally fulfilled.

30The Medicine, the Mantra, the Magic Charm, will cure all illnesses and totally take away all pain.