pirahu vichunnīā bhī milah je satigur lāgah sāce pāe.
satiguru sadā daïālu hai avguṇ sabadi jalāe.
aüguṇ sabadi jalāe dūjā bhāu gavāe sace hī saci rātī.
sacai sabadi sadā sukhu pāiā haümai gaī bharātī.
piru nirmāilu sadā sukhdātā nānak sabadi milāe.
pirahu vichunnīā bhī milah je satigur lāgah sāce pāe.4.1.
-Guru Granth Sahib 583
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 fourth stanza, Guru Amardas says even we, the separated ones from the Spouse, can meet the Spouse if we bow at the feet of the eternal Wisdom. What does it mean to bow at the feet? This is a humble submission, a reverence, a willingness to learn from and be guided by the eternal Wisdom. That eternal Wisdom is always compassionate and kind. It burns the non-virtues from within us through the Sabad (hymn-like stanza that exemplifies the word-sound of the Infinite Wisdom). Through the Sabad, our non-virtues are burned away, we are caused to lose our love for other things, and we remain imbued in the Eternal and the Eternal One alone. We become drenched in the Eternal and the eternal joy! It is through the eternal Sabad that we find lasting and constant comfort, and through the eternal Sabad, we are rid of our egos and our wandering.
The elimination of ego is what helps us find comfort because it is the ego that causes doubts, stubbornness, duality, other love, and our constant wandering and finding a quick fix for our pain and discomfort. It is important to note that the first line does something incredible regarding the separated ones. The separated ones are still understood in the context of their relationship with the Divine-Husband. This is not an oxymoron or a contradiction. The Guru is saying that even those of us who feel widowed and separated are still in a relationship with the One from whom we feel separated because that separation is an illusion! The One is still our Spouse; the One has never left us, and that relationship never ended. We are just having a hard time feeling the presence of the One, the Spouse, IkOankar. This is a hopeful and revolutionary understanding of all seekers in relationship to the Divine. We can always access that relationship — whether or not we feel it, whether or not we intimately know the Spouse, is about how we engage in that relationship.
The Guru ends by reminding us that IkOankar, the Spouse, is immaculate, filth-free, and the greatest Giver of joy and comfort. The Spouse is the one who causes us to meet with the Spouse. This happens through the Wisdom; this happens through the Sabad. We are shown that we can even meet the Spouse who seems far away. We are shown that we, too, exist in a relationship with that Spouse. We are asked to humbly submit to the eternal Wisdom in pursuit of connection with the Spouse. Will we take the guidance of the eternal Wisdom? Will we feel empowered to seek the experience of connection even when we feel the illusion of being separated? Will we live in a relationship with the Sabad and burn away our egos and non-virtues? Will we rid ourselves of our wandering?
SUMMARY
The Guru shows us in the first and second stanzas what it means to be Wisdom-oriented, as exemplified by the virtuous seeker who is colored in the Beloved, who is in constant remembrance, who is a feminine-being, who is the human-bride of the Divine-Husband, IkOankar. We are shown the effects on that excited seeker and that it is possible for us to experience what the virtuous seekers are experiencing, too. We can become virtuous through our remembrance of the Spouse. We can eliminate the pain of separation. In the third stanza, the Guru shows us how to experience that union and connection. We can ask those saintly beings, wisdom-oriented seekers, and truth-exemplars who live in the truth — who have experienced connection and exhibited this in their behavior and virtuousness. In the fourth stanza, we are shown that even if we are separated, we can still eventually have that meeting with the Spouse. We can humbly submit ourselves to the guidance of the eternal Wisdom that is always compassionate. We can rid ourselves of non-virtues and other love. We can become graced with the virtues and feel the presence of the Beloved.
The elimination of ego is what helps us find comfort because it is the ego that causes doubts, stubbornness, duality, other love, and our constant wandering and finding a quick fix for our pain and discomfort. It is important to note that the first line does something incredible regarding the separated ones. The separated ones are still understood in the context of their relationship with the Divine-Husband. This is not an oxymoron or a contradiction. The Guru is saying that even those of us who feel widowed and separated are still in a relationship with the One from whom we feel separated because that separation is an illusion! The One is still our Spouse; the One has never left us, and that relationship never ended. We are just having a hard time feeling the presence of the One, the Spouse, IkOankar. This is a hopeful and revolutionary understanding of all seekers in relationship to the Divine. We can always access that relationship — whether or not we feel it, whether or not we intimately know the Spouse, is about how we engage in that relationship.
The Guru ends by reminding us that IkOankar, the Spouse, is immaculate, filth-free, and the greatest Giver of joy and comfort. The Spouse is the one who causes us to meet with the Spouse. This happens through the Wisdom; this happens through the Sabad. We are shown that we can even meet the Spouse who seems far away. We are shown that we, too, exist in a relationship with that Spouse. We are asked to humbly submit to the eternal Wisdom in pursuit of connection with the Spouse. Will we take the guidance of the eternal Wisdom? Will we feel empowered to seek the experience of connection even when we feel the illusion of being separated? Will we live in a relationship with the Sabad and burn away our egos and non-virtues? Will we rid ourselves of our wandering?
SUMMARY
The Guru shows us in the first and second stanzas what it means to be Wisdom-oriented, as exemplified by the virtuous seeker who is colored in the Beloved, who is in constant remembrance, who is a feminine-being, who is the human-bride of the Divine-Husband, IkOankar. We are shown the effects on that excited seeker and that it is possible for us to experience what the virtuous seekers are experiencing, too. We can become virtuous through our remembrance of the Spouse. We can eliminate the pain of separation. In the third stanza, the Guru shows us how to experience that union and connection. We can ask those saintly beings, wisdom-oriented seekers, and truth-exemplars who live in the truth — who have experienced connection and exhibited this in their behavior and virtuousness. In the fourth stanza, we are shown that even if we are separated, we can still eventually have that meeting with the Spouse. We can humbly submit ourselves to the guidance of the eternal Wisdom that is always compassionate. We can rid ourselves of non-virtues and other love. We can become graced with the virtues and feel the presence of the Beloved.
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