sacṛā sāhibu sabadi pachāṇīai āpe lae milāe.
sādhan pria kai raṅgi ratī vicahu āpu gavāe.
vicahu āpu gavāe phiri kālu na khāe gurmukhi eko jātā.
kāmaṇi ich punnī antari bhinnī miliā jagjīvanu dātā.
sabad raṅgi rātī jobani mātī pir kai aṅki samāe.
sacṛā sāhibu sabadi pachāṇīai āpe lae milāe.2.
-Guru Granth Sahib 582
The first stanza of this Alahani encourages the being to sing praises of the eternal Creator, who is all-capable and is the cause of all causes. The second stanza states that the Beloved can be experienced through the Wisdom (Guru). The third stanza describes the seeker who has experienced the Beloved through deep love and teachings of the Wisdom. The fourth stanza inspires the separated seeker to unite with the Beloved by connecting with the Wisdom.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
In the second stanza, Guru Amardas says, the eternal Sovereign is recognized through the Sabad (hymn-like stanza that exemplifies the word-sound of the Infinite Wisdom). The eternal Sovereign is experienced through a relationship with the Wisdom. IkOankar (One Creative and Pervasive Force, 1Force, the One) is the One whose Own-Self causes the being to unite with Own-Self. When this happens, the seeker, as the human-bride of the Beloved, becomes drenched in the color of the love of the Beloved. The feminine-being, the seeker, loses their sense of self from within, their sense of ego.
The Guru repeats that the seeker loses their sense of self from within. In this stanza, the Guru plays with this idea of ap, or self. There is an interplay of the selfhood of the seeker and the Selfhood of the One. We lose our ‘self’ through the One Own-Self, uniting us with Own-Self. When we can that ego, when we overcome the sense of individuality apart from or removed from the larger collective creation. When we understand that we are no different from the One, from the eternal Self with a capital ‘S,’ we begin to understand that nothing is ours, that nothing is ours to keep or to lose. It is in this understanding that the fear of death cannot devour us any longer. We are no longer engulfed by our own anxieties around loss — of things, of power, of reputation, of relationships. We become Wisdom-oriented, we walk on the path of the One, and we come to know that One. We are imbued in the love of the beloved. This imbuing is not a drenching that happens in one fell swoop. It is a slow and beautiful immersion, like dew on a blade of grass. Dew forms slowly, but by morning, that blade of grass is saturated. This is how we are saturated with the love of the Beloved. There is a deep desire in this relationship; there is excitement and youthfulness! The seeker who is saturated in love and has met the Life-Giver of the world has experienced the fulfillment of that desire. They are Imbued in the color of the love of the Sabad, intoxicated in love in youthfulness, absorbed in the embrace of the Spouse, in the lap of that Beloved.
The Guru continues to explore the condition of the feminine-seeker, who is virtuous because they really understand the Sabad, because they are in love with the Sabad, because they have cultivated a relationship with the Wisdom. That One can be experienced through the Wisdom and is experienced by the seeker who, in their youthfulness, in waves of love, remains drenched and colored in the love of the One. This can happen to us, too! We can lose our sense of self from within. We can overcome our fear of death. We can recognize the One by becoming Wisdom-oriented! Will we walk that path of the One? Will we become imbued with love slowly, saturated in it? Will we recognize the eternal Sovereign?
The Guru repeats that the seeker loses their sense of self from within. In this stanza, the Guru plays with this idea of ap, or self. There is an interplay of the selfhood of the seeker and the Selfhood of the One. We lose our ‘self’ through the One Own-Self, uniting us with Own-Self. When we can that ego, when we overcome the sense of individuality apart from or removed from the larger collective creation. When we understand that we are no different from the One, from the eternal Self with a capital ‘S,’ we begin to understand that nothing is ours, that nothing is ours to keep or to lose. It is in this understanding that the fear of death cannot devour us any longer. We are no longer engulfed by our own anxieties around loss — of things, of power, of reputation, of relationships. We become Wisdom-oriented, we walk on the path of the One, and we come to know that One. We are imbued in the love of the beloved. This imbuing is not a drenching that happens in one fell swoop. It is a slow and beautiful immersion, like dew on a blade of grass. Dew forms slowly, but by morning, that blade of grass is saturated. This is how we are saturated with the love of the Beloved. There is a deep desire in this relationship; there is excitement and youthfulness! The seeker who is saturated in love and has met the Life-Giver of the world has experienced the fulfillment of that desire. They are Imbued in the color of the love of the Sabad, intoxicated in love in youthfulness, absorbed in the embrace of the Spouse, in the lap of that Beloved.
The Guru continues to explore the condition of the feminine-seeker, who is virtuous because they really understand the Sabad, because they are in love with the Sabad, because they have cultivated a relationship with the Wisdom. That One can be experienced through the Wisdom and is experienced by the seeker who, in their youthfulness, in waves of love, remains drenched and colored in the love of the One. This can happen to us, too! We can lose our sense of self from within. We can overcome our fear of death. We can recognize the One by becoming Wisdom-oriented! Will we walk that path of the One? Will we become imbued with love slowly, saturated in it? Will we recognize the eternal Sovereign?
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