so piru sacā sad hī sācā hai nā ohu marai na jāe.
bhūlī phirai dhan iāṇīā ranḍ baiṭhī dūjai bhāe.
ranḍ baiṭhī dūjai bhāe māiā mohi dukhu pāe āv ghaṭai tanu chījai.
jo kichu āiā sabhu kichu jāsī dukhu lāgā bhāi dūjai.
jamkālu na sūjhai māiā jagu lūjhai labi lobhi citu lāe.
so piru sācā sad hī sācā nā ohu marai na jāe.3.
-Guru Granth Sahib 583
In the first stanza of this Alahani, the being is encouraged to reflect on the virtues of IkOankar (the Divine) through the Wisdom (Guru). In the second stanza, it is stated that IkOankar, by Own-Self, has created this transient world, and by Own-Self, has deluded the beings in the attachment of material things. The third stanza conveys that the being suffers due to material attachment. The fourth stanza mentions that the being who remembers IkOankar always feels the presence of IkOankar, but the self-centered being considers IkOankar to be far away.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
In the third stanza, Guru Amardas says, that Divine-Husband, that Spouse, IkOankar (One Creative and Pervasive Force, 1Force, the One), is true and eternal, is the only eternal. The ignorant human-bride, the ignorant seeker, wanders, having forgotten IkOankar. When the ignorant seeker is not wandering in doubt and delusion, they are sitting, feeling like a widow due to their duality – their other love, their attachment to the material and temporary. Due to this other love, the seeker sits, having become like a widow. Due to the influence of Maya (the allure of material things and worldly relationships), we endure only pain. Our lives decrease, and our bodies become frail. The Guru again emphasizes that whatever has come must also go and that our suffering has afflicted us due to this other love, our love for the material and the temporary, even when we know that all things must go.
We are so focused on our own mortality as human beings, so worried about how much time we have left and when we will go, what we will leave, and what we will lose. But the Guru urges us to remember that the only eternal is IkOankar, Who does not die or take birth. So why don’t we focus on that immortal One? We are so focused on our relationships and worried and insecure about keeping them. We worry about being abandoned. We worry about things ending. In the cultural and social context of the Guru’s time, much of that worry was of brides hoping that their husbands would stay with them, that they would not be left, or that their spouses would not die. In our trans-worldly relationship with IkOankar as the Spouse and all of us as feminine-beings or seekers, we are ignorant of the power of this relationship with the ever-present One. We wander and forget the One. We live in duality and do not do anything. We do not fight to eliminate our feelings of separateness. We fight instead for Maya, which only makes us feel even more separated. We fight instead for all kinds of other loves — wealth, power, relationships, desires — which only makes us more forgetful. It is in these conditions that we are described as widows. Not because we actually are, not because IkOankar has actually left us, but because this is how we are operating. It is our behavior that makes the Guru refer to us as widows. It is due to our wasted opportunity, our ignorance, due to the fact that death does not even come to mind, that we are acting as widows in the world.
The Guru asks us to think about our temporariness. To understand that it is inevitable, that we will go, that it is on the horizon, and that we ought to pursue some insights into this reality. We are urged to extricate ourselves from Maya, to pull ourselves out of our deep immersion in greed. We do this by remembering the One and cultivating a relationship with the true and eternal IkOankar. This is what helps us change our behaviors. This is how we stop operating as widows in the world and instead feel the constant presence of the Divine. Will we address our temporariness, our widowness? Will we remember the Eternal? Will we make use of this time?
We are so focused on our own mortality as human beings, so worried about how much time we have left and when we will go, what we will leave, and what we will lose. But the Guru urges us to remember that the only eternal is IkOankar, Who does not die or take birth. So why don’t we focus on that immortal One? We are so focused on our relationships and worried and insecure about keeping them. We worry about being abandoned. We worry about things ending. In the cultural and social context of the Guru’s time, much of that worry was of brides hoping that their husbands would stay with them, that they would not be left, or that their spouses would not die. In our trans-worldly relationship with IkOankar as the Spouse and all of us as feminine-beings or seekers, we are ignorant of the power of this relationship with the ever-present One. We wander and forget the One. We live in duality and do not do anything. We do not fight to eliminate our feelings of separateness. We fight instead for Maya, which only makes us feel even more separated. We fight instead for all kinds of other loves — wealth, power, relationships, desires — which only makes us more forgetful. It is in these conditions that we are described as widows. Not because we actually are, not because IkOankar has actually left us, but because this is how we are operating. It is our behavior that makes the Guru refer to us as widows. It is due to our wasted opportunity, our ignorance, due to the fact that death does not even come to mind, that we are acting as widows in the world.
The Guru asks us to think about our temporariness. To understand that it is inevitable, that we will go, that it is on the horizon, and that we ought to pursue some insights into this reality. We are urged to extricate ourselves from Maya, to pull ourselves out of our deep immersion in greed. We do this by remembering the One and cultivating a relationship with the true and eternal IkOankar. This is what helps us change our behaviors. This is how we stop operating as widows in the world and instead feel the constant presence of the Divine. Will we address our temporariness, our widowness? Will we remember the Eternal? Will we make use of this time?
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