sadṛe āe tinā jānīā hukami sace kartāro.
nārī purakh vichunniā vichuṛiā melaṇhāro.
rūpu na jāṇai sohaṇīai hukami badhī siri kāro.
bālak biradhi na jāṇanī toṛani hetu piāro.4.
-Guru Granth Sahib 580
This composition is based on the Panjabi folk poetic form Alahania related to death. In the first and second stanzas, the glory of IkOankar (the Divine) is described. In the third, the state of a being trapped in vices is portrayed. In the fourth, the being is consoled by showing death to be occurring under the command of IkOankar. In the fifth and sixth, the state of a being in this world and in the Court after death is described. In the seventh, by depicting the regret of a being who has spent their life in vain, there is advice to reflect and remember IkOankar. In the eighth, a happy and pleasant state of the being connected with the Wisdom (Guru) is presented.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
In the fourth stanza, Guru Nanak says, under the command of the true Creator, summons have come to those beloveds. We begin with a truth about existence and death within the Command. Under this Command, our beloveds, our loved ones, are summoned to depart. Everyone must heed this call. Women and men are separated, loved ones are separated from loved ones, and the Creator alone is the One who unites those separated ones with the Creator. There is a play here on the idea of physical separation versus internal separation. When we die, we are physically separated from the ones we love, but the greatest and most painful separation of all is that of all humans, all seekers, from IkOankar. The Guru goes on to talk about the ways in which this part of the Command is implemented. Death does not consider the form of the person it is taking away. Our constructions of beauty and ugliness are not considered. Youth and old age are not considered. This part of the Command does not discriminate. When the time comes, death breaks the bonds between people and separates them.
The Guru locates death within this larger universal creation. It is something we are all familiar with. So many people we know and love have been summoned to depart. But we still struggle to understand the Creator’s command. This is the governing force that we are all subject to. Under this governance or Command, death does not look at form, beauty, or age. This is an observable thing! We have seen people die and have said, how could they have died? They were so young? Or we have seen people die and said she was too beautiful to be taken away. We observe that death does not discriminate, but we still spend our time classifying certain deaths as right or wrong. This is not because we do not know that death does not discriminate. It is because we have a hard time accepting this fact. The starkness of this stanza is because we still do not understand or fully accept the Command—we tell ourselves that certain things will not happen in our lifetimes or to the people we love. And when they do, we think something must be wrong with the system. There must have been a mistake. This is a human response. In this call, spouses get separated. This is also the Command. In this call, those separated from the Divine are united. This is also the Command. In this call, the young depart. The beautiful depart. This is also the Command.
Will we see death as just one small part of what it means to be in creation, experiencing life, and being subject to the governance of the Creator? How are we preparing to receive the call of our own death? Will we work toward acceptance of that Command?
The Guru locates death within this larger universal creation. It is something we are all familiar with. So many people we know and love have been summoned to depart. But we still struggle to understand the Creator’s command. This is the governing force that we are all subject to. Under this governance or Command, death does not look at form, beauty, or age. This is an observable thing! We have seen people die and have said, how could they have died? They were so young? Or we have seen people die and said she was too beautiful to be taken away. We observe that death does not discriminate, but we still spend our time classifying certain deaths as right or wrong. This is not because we do not know that death does not discriminate. It is because we have a hard time accepting this fact. The starkness of this stanza is because we still do not understand or fully accept the Command—we tell ourselves that certain things will not happen in our lifetimes or to the people we love. And when they do, we think something must be wrong with the system. There must have been a mistake. This is a human response. In this call, spouses get separated. This is also the Command. In this call, those separated from the Divine are united. This is also the Command. In this call, the young depart. The beautiful depart. This is also the Command.
Will we see death as just one small part of what it means to be in creation, experiencing life, and being subject to the governance of the Creator? How are we preparing to receive the call of our own death? Will we work toward acceptance of that Command?
