This composition is based on the Panjabi folk poetic form Alahania related to death. In the first stanza, it is stated that death is inevitable and is as per the command of IkOankar (the Divine). The being is, therefore, advised to connect with IkOankar. In the second stanza, unlike the worldly understanding, death is considered good. For a dignified death, the being is encouraged to lead a truthful life in the remembrance of IkOankar. The third stanza conveys that the death of such beings is honorable, and it advises all beings to live in humility. In the fourth stanza, these ideas are summed up by affirming the temporariness of the world. It reminds us that every being who has come to this world has to leave it in the end. IkOankar alone knows the workings of this world. Therefore, instead of crying over death, live in the remembrance of IkOankar.
nānak kis no bābā roīai bājī hai ihu sansāro.
kītā vekhai sāhibu āpaṇā kudrati kare bīcāro.
kudrati bīcāre dhāraṇ dhāre jini kīā so jāṇai.
āpe vekhai āpe būjhai āpe hukamu pachāṇai.
jini kichu kīā soī jāṇai tā kā rūpu apāro.
nānak kis no bābā roīai bājī hai ihu sansāro.4.2.
-Guru Granth Sahib 580
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
In the fourth stanza, Guru Nanak addresses all of us, saying, O Baba! O wise ones! For whom should one cry? This world is a play. The Master watches what has been created by Own-Self and does deliberation on creation. Here, Baba refers to those who manifest, express, and embody the Wisdom. It refers to all of us and the wisdom within us—the potential we have to embody the Wisdom. The Guru emphasizes this element of play, enactment, and a show. All of the visible and invisible expanse is part of this play of the IkOankar (One Creative and Pervasive Force, 1Force, the One). That One, the Sovereign, deliberates on creation, establishes the expanses of creation, and knows creation intimately. That One is not detached from this play but is instead operating within it, supporting it, and taking care of it! That One by Own-Self watches, by Own-Self understands, by Own-Self knows Own Command. The Sovereign is all-pervasive, is the Inner-Knower, and understands the ways and methods of the Command that prevails in this world. The Guru continues by emphasizing that this One is boundless, unfathomable, beyond our comprehension. What can we do? The Guru repeats, O Baba! O wise ones! For whom should one cry? This world is a play. The Master watches what has been created by Own-Self and does deliberation on creation.
In this stanza, The Guru again appeals to the Wisdom within us and around us and emphasizes the idea of apai, or ‘Own-Self.’ We are urged toward an understanding that everything is of the One, the Sovereign. Everything that happens in the visible and invisible expanse is happening in accordance with that Sovereign’s command. All that we experience is part of that One’s play! If we can begin to understand death as part of the play, if we can begin to see the passing away of our loved ones (and our eventual passing) as part of that enactment, it will not feel so painful. The focus shifts from the deceased to the One—from the one who has died to the One orchestrating this play. We spend so much time focused on finite forms, the material world, and material relationships—even when we know that all things that come must go. We know this is the movement of the Sovereign’s play, and still, we are pained when what has always been inevitable eventually comes to be. If we cultivate a relationship with the Sovereign and begin to understand the play of that vast and infinite One, we will come to be in a state of perpetual bliss!
Will we remind ourselves of the vastness of the One even in times of great sorrow and grief? Will we walk through the world with an understanding of the Sovereign’s play? Will we cultivate a relationship with that boundless and unfathomable One? Will we become the wise ones who play the real play and cry the real cry?
SUMMARY
In these stanzas, the Guru asks us to understand death as only a small part of the larger story or play of the One, to recognize the path we are all on, and to work toward making our time here fruitful. Once someone has died, their path and deeds are already complete. The need for those who remain is to sit in one another’s company and Identify with the Sovereign. Who are we in the community with? The need is to learn how to truly die, how to Identify with the all-capable IkOankar, which is the only thing that will bring us bravery and honor in the Court. Do we know how to die? If we can understand that everything is a play and that people will come and go within that play, we will no longer be so sad at the temporariness of this world. We will celebrate it and the One who created it. Is our crying of worldly loss or of separation from the Beloved? Did we embody bravery as the Guru defines it? Did we take care of the Sovereign within? Have we worked on resolving death for ourselves?
