bābā nāṁgaṛā āiā jag mahi dukhu sukhu lekhu likhāiā.
likhiaṛā sāhā nā ṭalai jehaṛā purabi kamāiā.
bahi sācai likhiā ammritu bikhiā jitu lāiā titu lāgā.
kāmaṇiārī kāmaṇ pāe bahu raṅgī gali tāgā.
hochī mati bhaïā manu hochā guṛu sā makhī khāiā.
nāmarjādu āiā kali bhītari nāṁgo bandhi calāiā.3.
-Guru Granth Sahib 582
This composition is based on the Panjabi folk poetic form Alahania, related to death. This is the fifth and last Alahani revealed by Guru Nanak Sahib. The first stanza, while describing the temporary nature of the world, guides the being to contemplate Nam of the eternal Creator. The second stanza encourages the seekers to wish for each other’s union with the Creator. The third stanza states that comfort and suffering in life are as per the will of the Creator. The fourth stanza mentions that the time of the being’s departure from the world is inevitable. All will depart one day. No one dies with the dead. Those who grieve in remembrance of the Creator are the wisest.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
In the third stanza, Guru Nanak says, O Baba! O wise ones! The being has come into the world naked. The Writ of suffering and comfort has already been written. The Guru reminds us that we did not come here with anything, and we will not leave here with anything, either. The only thing we come with is the writ of suffering and comfort that has been written from the Origin, and our time of wedding or union with IkOankar (One Creative and Pervasive Force, 1Force, the One) – our time of departure. We are here doing our deeds as has been written, so why don’t we do them? Even if we are walking the path of Maya, of the allure of material things and relationships, that is part of the Writ too. That net of Maya is very much here, very much a part of the Creator’s creation—and being caught up in that net is very much part of being here, being in creation. The Eternal One is writing, the Writ, deliberating, thinking, operating, knowing, and watching. The One has written nectar and poison for all of us. Wherever we have been caused to engage, that is where we are engaged!
The Guru says the sorceress casts a spell and puts a multicolored thread around the neck. Maya, or the allure of material things and relationships, is playing its magic in myriad colors and myriad forms. The Guru references people who do magic or partake in the occult in the context in which this was uttered. These people usually have various threads of many colors that are used to resolve certain things. Particular colors are associated with particular benefits, and these strings are tied around themselves, others, or objects with the promise that the thread will fix whatever is ailing us. This, too, is Maya’s game. The Guru says we are following ‘bad’ thinking and shallow intellect, creating a ‘bad’ mind, shallow mind! Our minds are eating the jaggery-like illusions of Maya like a fly. We have not thought about the fact that we are stuck—or that we may gorge ourselves on it, that we are being strangled by it. We are so caught up in the tastes and pleasures of this illusory world that we have not remembered what it is doing to us. Our indulgence and behaviors must change. The Guru reminds us that we are coming and going with nothing. We cannot take the material with us. We can only work to become free from the illusions of this world so that we do not carry the burdens of our indulgences and forgetfulness into the next. We are in an age of ignorance with no understanding of the world’s ways. We create our own systems and engage in those. We are urged to introspect.
The Guru makes us aware of the plays of IkOankar and guides us toward self-reflection so that we may live within this play, be aware, and make efforts to disentangle ourselves from the magic of Maya. Will we make that effort? Will our shallow thinking depart? Will we accept the nectar and the poison and work to be free of that which ails us? Will we become wise ones engaging all of the Writ?
The Guru says the sorceress casts a spell and puts a multicolored thread around the neck. Maya, or the allure of material things and relationships, is playing its magic in myriad colors and myriad forms. The Guru references people who do magic or partake in the occult in the context in which this was uttered. These people usually have various threads of many colors that are used to resolve certain things. Particular colors are associated with particular benefits, and these strings are tied around themselves, others, or objects with the promise that the thread will fix whatever is ailing us. This, too, is Maya’s game. The Guru says we are following ‘bad’ thinking and shallow intellect, creating a ‘bad’ mind, shallow mind! Our minds are eating the jaggery-like illusions of Maya like a fly. We have not thought about the fact that we are stuck—or that we may gorge ourselves on it, that we are being strangled by it. We are so caught up in the tastes and pleasures of this illusory world that we have not remembered what it is doing to us. Our indulgence and behaviors must change. The Guru reminds us that we are coming and going with nothing. We cannot take the material with us. We can only work to become free from the illusions of this world so that we do not carry the burdens of our indulgences and forgetfulness into the next. We are in an age of ignorance with no understanding of the world’s ways. We create our own systems and engage in those. We are urged to introspect.
The Guru makes us aware of the plays of IkOankar and guides us toward self-reflection so that we may live within this play, be aware, and make efforts to disentangle ourselves from the magic of Maya. Will we make that effort? Will our shallow thinking depart? Will we accept the nectar and the poison and work to be free of that which ails us? Will we become wise ones engaging all of the Writ?
