phaphai phāhī sabhu jagu phāsā jam kai saṅgali bandhi laïā.
gur parsādī se nar ubre ji hari sarṇāgati bhaji païā.25.
-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 twenty-fifth couplet, Guru Nanak delivers a message through the letter ਫ (‘phaphā,’ #27) and says the whole world is entangled in the noose. The chain of the fear of death has bound the entire world. The worldly beings remain entangled in the ‘phāhī,’ popularly ‘phaahii,’ in the noose of Maya (the attachment to transient things and relationships). Because of this entanglement, because we are caught up in the temporary and in fear of losing it, we live in deep fear of death. We are afraid of death because we have not cultivated a relationship with the only eternal One – IkOankar (One Creative and Pervasive Force, 1Force, the One). The Guru uses the imagery of the messengers of death coming for us and tying us up because this is classically understood religious imagery that people of the time are familiar with. There is great urgency to this couplet. We have all these pains, and our time is coming! How do we save ourselves from our ailments? How do we resolve this fear of death? The Guru guides us and says this happens through the grace of the Wisdom’s instruction and the refuge of the Divine. If we come to the refuge of IkOankar through the Wisdom, we will be freed from our attachment to temporary material things and relationships and the suffering they cause. We are urged to run to that refuge, to fall in it in humility and submission and devotion, to ask IkOankar for help, and to feel the nearness of IkOankar. The Guru shows us how to seek protection, guidance, and help — how to make a habit out of a relationship with the Wisdom such that it becomes internalized and ongoing rather than something we go through the motions of on occasion. Will we cultivate a relationship with the Wisdom? Will we seek the sanctuary of the One? Will we experience freedom from our entanglements and our suffering?
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