deh pāvaü jīnu bujhi caṅgā rām.
caṛi laṅghā jī bikhamu bhuiaṅgā rām.
bikhamu bhuiaṅgā anat taraṅgā gurmukhi pāri laṅghāe.
hari bohithi caṛi vaḍbhāgī laṅghai guru khevaṭu sabadi tarāe.
andinu hari raṅgi hari guṇ gāvai hari raṅgī hari raṅgā.
jan nānak nirbāṇ padu pāiā hari utamu hari padu caṅgā.2.
-Guru Granth Sahib 575
This chant equates the occasion of marriage with human life. For a seeker, human life is also an occasion of joy and enthusiasm because the connection with IkOankar (the Divine) is possible only during one’s lifetime. Guru Ramdas Sahib inspires the seeker to connect with IkOankar. Depicting the human body as a mare, the Guru reveals that the seeker can unite with IkOankar by putting the saddle of Wisdom (Guru) on their body.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
In the second stanza, Guru Ramdas answers the question of how we might use these bodies, given that we know their purpose and potential. How do we purpose these bodies to experience IkOankar (One Universal Integrative Force, 1Force, the One)? The Guru says I place a saddle of Wisdom on this mare-like body to make this body capable. Having mounted this mare, I get across the difficult snake-like world-ocean. These bodies are to be ridden and are vessels for a purpose. If we want to experience union with the One, we must seek out the guidance of the Wisdom. Through the guidance of the Wisdom, we can gracefully ride these bodies through life and get through the difficult and tumultuous poisonous waters of this world-ocean. This happens through Wisdom-orientedness.
The Guru says that it is through the Wisdom that the 1-Light causes us to cross over the difficult snake-like world-ocean. Life is full of difficulties, turbulence, and endless waves of vices that cause us to go every which way. The Wisdom helps us understand the One, helps us connect with the One, and helps us cultivate Nam within, even as we navigate these waters. And we do not have to navigate these waters alone. The boat of the One is our support. The Nam of the One is our support. The Wisdom is our boatman, ferrying us across through the Word-Sound. This is how we are able to fulfill our potential – to become beautiful and pleasant and make our lives fruitful.
The Guru says that those who sing the virtues of the 1-Light become of the color of the 1-Light through the color of the 1-Light. If we sing these virtues day and night and practice remembrance, we will become imbued in the color of love, adorned with the virtues we sing of through the love of IkOankar. This is how we become like the One we love; this is how we find the state of freedom, the state of the 1-Light, the state where the being has become the Being.
The Guru shows us how to color ourselves in love, how to seek the state of the 1-Light, and how to ride these bodies and become so vast that we are able to board the boat of the One. This is how we find the state of the One, even in this tumultuous world full of snake-like movements. We can do more than survive these lives – we can make them fruitful, beautiful, and full of Remembrance. We can find a state of union; we can become vice-free; we can exist in an exalted state where nothing causes us to waver. Will we place the saddle of Wisdom on our bodies? Will we become Wisdom-oriented?
The Guru says that it is through the Wisdom that the 1-Light causes us to cross over the difficult snake-like world-ocean. Life is full of difficulties, turbulence, and endless waves of vices that cause us to go every which way. The Wisdom helps us understand the One, helps us connect with the One, and helps us cultivate Nam within, even as we navigate these waters. And we do not have to navigate these waters alone. The boat of the One is our support. The Nam of the One is our support. The Wisdom is our boatman, ferrying us across through the Word-Sound. This is how we are able to fulfill our potential – to become beautiful and pleasant and make our lives fruitful.
The Guru says that those who sing the virtues of the 1-Light become of the color of the 1-Light through the color of the 1-Light. If we sing these virtues day and night and practice remembrance, we will become imbued in the color of love, adorned with the virtues we sing of through the love of IkOankar. This is how we become like the One we love; this is how we find the state of freedom, the state of the 1-Light, the state where the being has become the Being.
The Guru shows us how to color ourselves in love, how to seek the state of the 1-Light, and how to ride these bodies and become so vast that we are able to board the boat of the One. This is how we find the state of the One, even in this tumultuous world full of snake-like movements. We can do more than survive these lives – we can make them fruitful, beautiful, and full of Remembrance. We can find a state of union; we can become vice-free; we can exist in an exalted state where nothing causes us to waver. Will we place the saddle of Wisdom on our bodies? Will we become Wisdom-oriented?
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