deh kancan jīnu suvinā rām.
jaṛi hari hari nāmu ratannā rām.
jaṛi nām ratanu govind pāiā hari mile hari guṇ sukh ghaṇe.
gur sabadu pāiā hari nāmu dhiāiā vaḍbhāgī hari raṅg hari baṇe.
hari mile suāmī antarjāmī hari navtan hari nav raṅgīā.
nānaku vakhāṇai nāmu jāṇai hari nāmu hari prabh maṅgīā.2.
-Guru Granth Sahib 576
This chant states that this body becomes precious like gold through Wisdom and is ever-newly colored like IkOankar. The mind is reined in. The seeker experiences and enjoys the bliss of the presence of IkOankar.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
In the second stanza, Guru Ramdas again points to the value of these human bodies: this mare-like body is as precious as gold, and its saddle is also of gold. How do we make these bodies golden? There is work to be done. Making these bodies beautiful requires great effort; external beautification is not the end goal. Making these bodies beautiful requires an inculcation of virtues. We adorn ourselves with these virtues. We can begin to make these mare-like bodies beautiful and disciplined if we stud the jewel-like Nam (Identification with IkOankar) onto our saddles of Wisdom. If Wisdom guides us, if we remain devoted and in a state of Remembrance and Identification, we can become beautiful like the Beautiful One.
The Guru says that when we stud this jewel-like Identification onto the body and adorn ourselves in the virtues of the One, we are able to connect with and experience IkOankar, the Earth-Knower. When we sing the virtues of the 1-Light, we are able to connect with and experience the dearest 1-Light. When we sing any of the virtues of the One, we connect with that virtue — we bring that virtue within us, and we become more IkOankar-like. We receive the Word of the Wisdom, the teachings of the Wisdom, and we live in Remembrance. When we pursue this relationship with the One with great effort and devotion, we find comfort. Through this process, through this discipline, through this devotion, we create our own good fortune, and through our love for the One, we become like the One.
This is how the dearest 1-Light, the Owner, the Inner-Knower, is met. This is how the dearest 1-Light is ever-new, always of a new color. This is how we come to know the Suami. Suami literally means ‘Master,’ but it can also be interpreted as Owner. This is not a relationship of positionality or fear, which would not allow for closeness. We see glimpses of this in our worldly relationships – when we say that a person ‘owns’ us or that we ‘belong’ to someone, it is because this is something we have allowed for. This is a relationship of reverence, deep love, and the freedom to give over one’s submission rather than have it taken. Suami invokes a deeply intimate and personal relationship with the One.
The Guru ends by saying those who come to realize the greatness of Nam seek only the Nam from IkOankar. Once we experience Identification for ourselves, once we feel it change us from the inside out, beautifying us with the virtues, connecting us to the One, it is all we come to want. This is how the “created” beautiful body becomes perpetually beautiful. This is how the love for the One becomes ever-exciting, ever-new, and ever-fresh. Will we adorn ourselves with the virtues? Will we become like the One?
The Guru says that when we stud this jewel-like Identification onto the body and adorn ourselves in the virtues of the One, we are able to connect with and experience IkOankar, the Earth-Knower. When we sing the virtues of the 1-Light, we are able to connect with and experience the dearest 1-Light. When we sing any of the virtues of the One, we connect with that virtue — we bring that virtue within us, and we become more IkOankar-like. We receive the Word of the Wisdom, the teachings of the Wisdom, and we live in Remembrance. When we pursue this relationship with the One with great effort and devotion, we find comfort. Through this process, through this discipline, through this devotion, we create our own good fortune, and through our love for the One, we become like the One.
This is how the dearest 1-Light, the Owner, the Inner-Knower, is met. This is how the dearest 1-Light is ever-new, always of a new color. This is how we come to know the Suami. Suami literally means ‘Master,’ but it can also be interpreted as Owner. This is not a relationship of positionality or fear, which would not allow for closeness. We see glimpses of this in our worldly relationships – when we say that a person ‘owns’ us or that we ‘belong’ to someone, it is because this is something we have allowed for. This is a relationship of reverence, deep love, and the freedom to give over one’s submission rather than have it taken. Suami invokes a deeply intimate and personal relationship with the One.
The Guru ends by saying those who come to realize the greatness of Nam seek only the Nam from IkOankar. Once we experience Identification for ourselves, once we feel it change us from the inside out, beautifying us with the virtues, connecting us to the One, it is all we come to want. This is how the “created” beautiful body becomes perpetually beautiful. This is how the love for the One becomes ever-exciting, ever-new, and ever-fresh. Will we adorn ourselves with the virtues? Will we become like the One?
