“Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring, and integrity,
they think of you.”
— H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
Sant Kabir’s couplet –
जब हम जग में पग धर्यो, सब हँसे हम रोये।
कबीरा अब ऐसी कर चलो, पाछे हँसी न होये॥
Transliteration –
Jab ham jag meṁ pag dharyō, sab haṁse ham roye,
Kabīrā ab aisī kar chalo, pāchhe haṁsī na hoye.
Translation –
"When we were born into this world, all around us laughed while we cried.
Kabir says — now live in such a way that when you leave, all may cry, but not with ridicule."
My Understanding
This doha is a soul-stirring reflection on the arc of life and the legacy we leave behind. Kabir starts with the common image of birth — the newborn cries, and the people around rejoice. But then he pivots — and offers a challenge to the listener: live your life with such depth, grace, and goodness that when you depart, the world weeps not in mockery or relief, but in reverence and love.
This is a call to live consciously — with purpose, compassion, and inner truth. It’s not about acquiring fame, wealth, or applause — but about becoming a presence that mattered, that made others better, that walked through life lightly, yet left behind deep footprints of kindness and wisdom.
In this doha, Kabir also subtly critiques the kind of life that ends in emptiness — where people smile at the funeral not out of joy, but perhaps out of indifference or relief. He reminds us that such an end comes when one lives without self-reflection, without integrity, without giving.
This message pairs beautifully with modern reflections on legacy and intention. We spend so much time chasing outcomes, but Kabir redirects us inward: “Let your life be the teaching. Let your departure leave meaning.”
It’s a reminder that every day is an opportunity to become someone whose memory invokes gratitude, not gossip. Someone who, in the quiet corners of people's hearts, leaves behind the warmth of presence and the echo of compassion.
We don’t control how we arrive.
But we absolutely shape how we depart.
And what we leave behind is not our possessions —
but the space we created for others while we lived.
So let us live in such a way that when our time comes, the world doesn’t just remember our name —
it remembers our love.