Mundavani

Guru Amardas Sahib, Guru Arjan Sahib

This salok (verse) revealed by Guru Amardas is recorded without a rag (musical mode). Saloks typically appear as couplets with exceptions, and are used to offer words of praise. This verse, popularly associated with the title Mundavani, invokes the globally recognizable poetic form of the riddle to illustrate another way of engaging with IkOankar (One Creative and Pervasive Force, 1Force, the One). Throughout history and across cultures, seals have been used to signify authenticity and protection. While etymological interpretations may vary, culturally, the word mundavani evokes a sense of concealment—sealed with the intention of being discovered or revealed. Much like a riddle, this verse suggests that what is sealed contains deeper insight, waiting to be uncovered by those willing to engage with it. Once resolved, what was hidden becomes clear, personal, and transformative. Here, a Panjabi wedding tradition provides further context for these metaphors, wherein a bride’s family offers the groom’s family a platter of select dishes which may only be consumed upon solving a riddle. At the age of 60, Guru Amardas had spent many years in spiritual study and practice. Yet to come to his own resolution of this riddle, then Baba Amardas met Guru Angad, who bestowed him a small book of previously recorded Bani (utterance of the Wisdom-Guru)—a platter of ambrosial food in its own right. The Guru Granth Sahib is not just an expansive and timeless manuscript; it is a platter of nourishment for a meaningful life. Through its metaphors and mysteries, this verse sets forth a riddle—one that calls us to engage with the greater enigma: the mystery of our very being.

Guru Amardas sets the stage for the riddle: In the platter, three things are placed, the supreme immortalizing food of Hari. Within this platter—the Guru Granth Sahib—there are three dishes, composing the supreme ambrosial nourishment of Hari, the all-pervasive One, an epithet for IkOankar. This platter of immortalizing nourishment is offered freely to all of us through the eternal Wisdom-Guru. When we consider global narratives surrounding the immortalization of substances, we conceive of them as rare, expensive, or only harvested from the most remote and inaccessible parts of the world. There are tendencies among all cultures to hold certain substances in high regard as precious, life-giving, or even containing magical or healing properties. Here, the cultural narratives around preciousness and inaccessibility are turned on their head. We know that this sustenance is available to all, but we are not yet guided in solving the riddle. We do not yet know what this sustenance even is. We do not know these dishes or how to consume them, but we do know that upon imbibing this immortalizing nourishment, we will finally be satiated and find an internal sense of freedom. Savoring and relishing these select dishes, we are filled with contentment. Though we are accustomed to seeking temporary satiety, an eternally quenching substance exists. Our mind wanders no longer for another temporarily relieving morsel, or for a so-called liberating substance which is inaccessible.

Guru Amardas offers a clue and highlights the importance of engaging with this riddle: This food is hard to find, saintly beings! We are addressed as saints, literally Sants meaning ‘people who embody the truth.’ Addressing us as saints overturns prevailing hierarchical ideas of sainthood by dignifying all people who seek to resolve this riddle for themselves and embody truth. We cultivate curiosity and a longing to savor the supreme food of the divine banquet. While available to all, the supreme sustenance—the answer to the riddle, which we imbibe—is difficult to find. We are clued in on how we may one day relish this sustenance: one of these three dishes is a reflection upon the Wisdom-Guru. In spending time intentionally engaging with the eternal Wisdom-Guru, we are open to discovery, realization, and resolution. Fittingly, we are then rhetorically asked: Why would we disregard such an opportunity? Many of us have doubts. We doubt this path; we doubt if there is a resolution to the riddle. The questions surrounding this riddle are vast and existential. Unable to reconcile, we often distract ourselves from these questions and try to remove them from our minds. Refreshingly, we are invited to be present with this riddle, enshrine it within our hearts, before and upon resolving it. Engaging with the mystery and seeking is valuable in and of itself. Where else will we find resolution if not within?

Guru Amardas unfolds the riddle for us more. The common questions of who finds the answer and what ultimately determines that are addressed: The true Guru has posed this riddle; the Sikhs of the Guru, having searched, have found its answer. We are encouraged to resolve the riddle by following the Wisdom-Guru, the teachings of the Guru Granth Sahib. This riddle inherent to our lives has been placed by the Satguru, the Eternal Wisdom, an epithet for IkOankar. It is only through searching that we can find a resolution. Here, an emphasis is placed on intention and effort. Through a commitment to imbibing the elements that together feed us the ambrosial sustenance, we come to solve the riddle. Those who forgo nourishment through the reflection on the Wisdom-Guru may never know this resolution. Common questions and themes surrounding who receives the Grace, and why some people are preferred while others are cast aside, are addressed in light of this. While we are offered no promises around timeline, process, or results, we understand that the Grace is paramount. Much of our own outcome lies in our efforts to be students of the Wisdom-Guru, to embrace that this nonlinear process requires consistency, constant chiseling, and immense humility.

Many things may not seem appealing at first, yet they are essential for truly nourishing our lives—much like eating vegetables for their health benefits or committing to a much-needed new routine. We may struggle to find motivation, but when we begin to experience the benefits of these things, we develop a real desire to have them in our lives. This riddle may not be solved immediately. We can explore different aspects of the riddle at various times in our lives through contemplation and reflection. It is this progress that keeps us in reflection and drives us to come to an understanding of this riddle for ourselves. Will we find reason enough to make that effort? Will we come to recognize the different dishes that together create that sublimely satiating nourishment? Will we enshrine within our hearts what we glean from the riddle? Will we cherish the all-pervasive One bestowing both the riddle and the chance to resolve the riddle, instead of foregoing the opportunity?