gaüṛī mahalā 9.
sādho gobind ke gun gāvaü.
mānas janamu amolaku pāio birthā kāhi gavāvaü.1. rahāu.
patit punīt dīnbandh hari sarani tāhi tum āvaü.
gaj ko trāsu miṭio jih simrat tum kāhe bisrāvaü.1.
taji abhimān moh māiā phuni bhajan rām citu lāvaü.
nānak kahat mukati panth ihu gurmukhi hoi tum pāvaü.2.5.
-Guru Granth Sahib 219
Guru Teghbahadar Sahib reminds seekers of their precious and limited life and to reflect on the virtues of IkOankar (the Divine). Connecting with IkOankar and renouncing material attachments and pride allows seekers to become emancipated.
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Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
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GAURI 5
In the fifth composition, Guru Teghbahadar says, O wise ones! Sing the virtues of the Earth-Knower. You have received this precious human life; why waste it in vain? The Guru asks us to reflect on the virtues of the Earth-Knower, IkOankar (One Universal Integrative Force, 1Force, the One). We have been given the great gift of this human life, in which we are capable of that kind of reflection and living of the virtues, so why miss the opportunity to do just that?
O wise ones! Sing the virtues of the Earth-Knower. The Guru says that the 1-Light, the Remover of suffering, the fear-Eliminator, is the Friend or Relative or Support of the poor and the purifier of those who have transgressed. We have so many classically religious ideas of ‘sin’ or transgression, how it accumulates, and its consequences. In some belief systems, it results in punishment in the form of hell or purgatory. In some belief systems, it results in punishment in the form of de-purifying or soiling of the self that has consequences in the next lifetime. But what is possible in this life while we are alive? The Guru says that we can go from fallen or impure or ‘sinful’ to purified of those transgressions, freed from our bad deeds because this is part of the nature of IkOankar. We are encouraged to come into the refuge of that One. The Guru invokes the story from popular Hindu mythology of a Gandharva (a singer in the court of the deities) who was a sage, cursed to become an elephant. As an elephant, he was aware of himself and his life as a sage, and the fact that he had been cursed caused him great pain. He was attacked by a crocodile, but in this moment of struggle, he remembered IkOankar. And it was through this remembrance that the Remover of suffering, the Friend of the poor, gave him the gift of fearlessness. We are all some version of this elephant — we may look like a lot of things or behave in animalistic ways, but we know that we ought to remember. We know that in our animalistic tendencies, we have ‘sinned’ or transgressed, but we are constantly figuring out how to come out of it to become human again. The Guru asks us to remember the nature of the Remover of suffering, to see the grace of the One who purifies us of our transgressions and those animalistic tendencies.
O wise ones! Sing the virtues of the Earth-Knower. The Guru says that we ought to get rid of our pride and attachment to Maya, or attachment to the material and our relationships, and instead attach our consciousness to the praise of the Beautiful. This is the path of freedom, and it is by becoming Wisdom-centered that we will find it. Suppose we can get rid of our pride and stubbornness about our conditions. In that case, we can recognize the invaluable opportunity of this human life and begin to sing the virtues of the Earth-Knower, contemplating the virtues and living them.
The Guru shows us that the path to freedom is found through contemplation and inculcation of the virtues of the Earth-Knower. It is found through remembrance of the Friend of the poor, the One who purifies us of our transgressions. It is found through Wisdom-centeredness, through taking the refuge of the One and continuing to reflect on the virtues of the Beautiful so that our attachment to our relationships and the material world leave us, and we instead attach our consciousness to the One. Will we take refuge in the Friend of the poor? Will we sing the virtues of the Earth-Knower? Will we walk the path of freedom?
In the fifth composition, Guru Teghbahadar says, O wise ones! Sing the virtues of the Earth-Knower. You have received this precious human life; why waste it in vain? The Guru asks us to reflect on the virtues of the Earth-Knower, IkOankar (One Universal Integrative Force, 1Force, the One). We have been given the great gift of this human life, in which we are capable of that kind of reflection and living of the virtues, so why miss the opportunity to do just that?
O wise ones! Sing the virtues of the Earth-Knower. The Guru says that the 1-Light, the Remover of suffering, the fear-Eliminator, is the Friend or Relative or Support of the poor and the purifier of those who have transgressed. We have so many classically religious ideas of ‘sin’ or transgression, how it accumulates, and its consequences. In some belief systems, it results in punishment in the form of hell or purgatory. In some belief systems, it results in punishment in the form of de-purifying or soiling of the self that has consequences in the next lifetime. But what is possible in this life while we are alive? The Guru says that we can go from fallen or impure or ‘sinful’ to purified of those transgressions, freed from our bad deeds because this is part of the nature of IkOankar. We are encouraged to come into the refuge of that One. The Guru invokes the story from popular Hindu mythology of a Gandharva (a singer in the court of the deities) who was a sage, cursed to become an elephant. As an elephant, he was aware of himself and his life as a sage, and the fact that he had been cursed caused him great pain. He was attacked by a crocodile, but in this moment of struggle, he remembered IkOankar. And it was through this remembrance that the Remover of suffering, the Friend of the poor, gave him the gift of fearlessness. We are all some version of this elephant — we may look like a lot of things or behave in animalistic ways, but we know that we ought to remember. We know that in our animalistic tendencies, we have ‘sinned’ or transgressed, but we are constantly figuring out how to come out of it to become human again. The Guru asks us to remember the nature of the Remover of suffering, to see the grace of the One who purifies us of our transgressions and those animalistic tendencies.
O wise ones! Sing the virtues of the Earth-Knower. The Guru says that we ought to get rid of our pride and attachment to Maya, or attachment to the material and our relationships, and instead attach our consciousness to the praise of the Beautiful. This is the path of freedom, and it is by becoming Wisdom-centered that we will find it. Suppose we can get rid of our pride and stubbornness about our conditions. In that case, we can recognize the invaluable opportunity of this human life and begin to sing the virtues of the Earth-Knower, contemplating the virtues and living them.
The Guru shows us that the path to freedom is found through contemplation and inculcation of the virtues of the Earth-Knower. It is found through remembrance of the Friend of the poor, the One who purifies us of our transgressions. It is found through Wisdom-centeredness, through taking the refuge of the One and continuing to reflect on the virtues of the Beautiful so that our attachment to our relationships and the material world leave us, and we instead attach our consciousness to the One. Will we take refuge in the Friend of the poor? Will we sing the virtues of the Earth-Knower? Will we walk the path of freedom?
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