jajai jānu maṅgat janu jācai lakh caürāsīh bhīkh bhaviā.
eko levai eko devai avaru na dūjā mai suṇiā.11.
-Guru Granth Sahib 433
The Patti composition revealed by Guru Nanak Sahib consists of thirty-five stanzas, each containing two lines. This composition is based on the thirty-five letters of the alphabet prevalent at that time. In this composition the Guru has established a foundational system based on letters. In the rahau line, by addressing his own mind, the Guru provides insights, saying, “O fool! Why do you remain forgetful? You will be considered truly educated only when you are able to settle the account of your deeds in IkOankar’s (the Divine) court.” The Guru goes on to explain the mystery of the letters, enlightening that the limits of IkOankar, the Creator, cannot be known. All beings are under IkOankar’s command, and no one else can exercise authority over them. All-pervading IkOankar is the cause of everything in the creation. An arrogant being who forgets IkOankar and is engrossed in worldly matters continues to suffer. However, if a being recognizes the eternal IkOankar through the Wisdom (Guru), they are freed from suffering. The being who understands the mystery explained through these thirty-five letters becomes one with IkOankar.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
O mind! Why do you forget, O foolish mind? You will be considered learned only when you give the account of your deeds, O sibling! In the eleventh couplet, Guru Nanak delivers a message through the letter ਜ (‘jajjā,’ #13) and says that the seeker, the devotee, seeks wisdom. The devotee has been wandering through lifetime after lifetime for this gift. IkOankar (One Creative and Pervasive Force, 1Force), the One, alone takes. The One alone gives. The Guru says I have not heard of any other. The word used for seeker is ‘jācai,’ popularly ‘jaachai,’ which denotes an element of curiosity. But unlike the worldly scholars or intellectuals who are driven by a curiosity to know, the seeker is driven by a curiosity about the wisdom that allows one to experience and feel the presence of IkOankar – who takes and gives. For this gift, for this wisdom, beings wander through life after life, cycling through births and deaths. This can be understood in the classical sense of reincarnation and in the sense of living many lives in the span of a day, a week, or a month of a year, living and dying and being reborn in our identities, pursuits, knowledges, and perspectives. At some point, after all this wandering and all of its pains, the seeker realizes the question to be asking is how to receive the gift of the wisdom and understands that the only one who can give this gift is IkOankar. The Guru, just like in the ninth couplet, again offers a radical statement on the unity of all things by saying that the only giver is IkOankar and also that the only receiver is IkOankar. The seeker understands that it is the ‘You,’ the Being inside of the being, IkOankar, who also receives the gift of the wisdom. There is no complaint about not having access – unlike much of the scholarly or intellectual traditions in the world, this is a wisdom that is accessible to all of us. The seeker is asking for it and discarding all other learning systems and paradigms that purport to teach us about the Divine. They have come to the realization that if we want to learn about the Divine, we ought to discover that the One is within and without, pervasive and transcendent. Will we find a new kind of curiosity, a new kind of seeking, a new kind of pursuit? Will we come to ask for the wisdom from the only Giver? Will we understand that Giver to be the Receiver, pervading every body and every place?
Tags
