horiṁo gaṅg vahāīai duniāī ākhai ki kionu.
nānak īsari jagnāthi ucahadī vaiṇu virikionu.
mādhāṇā parbatu kari netri bāsaku sabadi riṛkionu.
caüdah ratan nikālianu kari āvāgaüṇu cilkionu.
kudrati ahi vekhālīanu jiṇi aivaḍ piḍ ṭhiṇkionu.
lahṇe dharionu chatru siri asmāni kiāṛā chikionu.
joti samāṇī joti māhi āpu āpai setī mikionu.
sikhāṁ putrāṁ ghokhi kai sabh umati vekhahu ji kionu.
jāṁ sudhosu tāṁ lahṇā ṭikionu.4.
-Guru Granth Sahib 967
Rai Balvand Ji and Sata Dum Ji explain the reaction of the public to the transfer of Guruship by Guru Nanak Sahib to Bhai Lahina Ji over his sons Baba Sri Chand or Lakhmi Das. Guru Nanak Sahib defied the earthly tradition of primogeniture. The pauri (stanza) uses the example of a mythological story to explain how the Guru made wisdom the ‘churn,’ mind the ‘rope,’ to churn his body, and adorned the world by extracting the gems of divine qualities. When Bhai Lahina Ji became adorned with these qualities, he was given the Guruship.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
In the fourth stanza, Satta and Balvand refer to the Guru Nanak bowing in front of Bhai Lahina, becoming Guru Angad, and the public’s response to this anointing to the Guruship. They say it is as if Guru Nanak made the Ganga River flow in the opposite direction, and the world is amazed, asking what he has done. Nanak, the owner, the sovereign of the world, has uttered the word of the highest order. What is the mystery in this succession that makes the world think it is as if Guru Nanak has disrupted the inherent natural flow of things? He has reversed the way things are done, and these precedents seemed unchangeable akin to the flow of the Ganga, the purest and holiest river in the Indic worldview. The people are looking at this from their small lenses and worldly logic and understandings, as we all tend to do. They see an average Sikh named Lahina, who has now become the Guru named Angad, who now has become one whose wisdom is just like that of the Divine. We find it uncomfortable when we see just the physical elements of Guru Angad. But Guru Nanak sees the jot, the light within, the perfection in Lahina. The Guru is saluting the Wisdom, which is the Divine itself. That is the larger principle — that the jot is getting transferred, and the jot is living out the practice of following the command fully and with devotion. The mystery is to see that jot, and the mystery is to develop that jot.
The Bards then reference a well-known story of the gods churning the ocean to extract fourteen gems in Hindu mythology, which include the wish-fullfilling tree, the bow and arrow, the conch shell, liquor, the elephant, the moon, the horse, the nectar, and poison. Guru Nanak’s vastness is emphasized through their reframing. Guru Nanak made Sabad the churn, inner strength the stick, his mind the Vasuki-snake rope, and churned his own body. Guru Nanak is the one who transcended the world’s limits. He extracted fourteen gems, but these gems are different from those of the gods. These gems are the divine virtues, and they are for everyone. This nectar of Sabad is for everyone. Through this, the Guru brightened the world of birth and death, the world of coming and going. In the original story, it took an entire team of gods and demons working together to extract the fourteen gems. In this reframing, Guru Nanak did all this on his own, just through the vastness of his own body, mind, and power, as the world’s sovereign. He established a play and established Lahina as his successor. Guru Nanak is the one who tested even the body of Lahina, physically, mentally, and emotionally, put him through great discipline and service, tested and examined. Then naturally, it was clear that Lahina was the one over whose head the canopy of the Guruship would be placed.
Guru Nanak established Lahina’s authority as the next Guru. In other traditions, this might happen after a hopeful successor proves some great power or gift by making miracles happen, putting on a show of ability that makes one worthy of this title. For Lahina, the test was about cultivating the virtues and becoming Divine-like. It was about serving in devotion; it was about following the command. When Guru Nanak placed the canopy over Lahina, the Light of Guru Nanak merged into the light, merging his own self with the self of Lahina. And lest there still be those who questioned this succession, the Bards once again emphasize that Guru Nanak tested all the disciples, all the Sikhs, all the sons, and the entire collective. The collective was made up of all sorts of people, Sikhs of the Guru, sons of the Guru, and the community of the Guru. Not everyone was a Sikh — there were all sorts of people in the community of Guru Nanak or the court of Guru Nanak. But this entire collective was tested, and Lahina emerged as the one who would take on the Guruship. When Guru Nanak refined Lahina and through his own testing knew that Lahina would be the next Guru, he established Lahina as Guru Angad, marking him as the Guru. These four stanzas thus far have been about establishing the vastness, power, and authority of Guru Nanak and the authority of Guru Angad as his successor. We are also inspired to ask ourselves a few questions. What are we working toward? How do we serve? How do we inculcate the virtues?
The Bards then reference a well-known story of the gods churning the ocean to extract fourteen gems in Hindu mythology, which include the wish-fullfilling tree, the bow and arrow, the conch shell, liquor, the elephant, the moon, the horse, the nectar, and poison. Guru Nanak’s vastness is emphasized through their reframing. Guru Nanak made Sabad the churn, inner strength the stick, his mind the Vasuki-snake rope, and churned his own body. Guru Nanak is the one who transcended the world’s limits. He extracted fourteen gems, but these gems are different from those of the gods. These gems are the divine virtues, and they are for everyone. This nectar of Sabad is for everyone. Through this, the Guru brightened the world of birth and death, the world of coming and going. In the original story, it took an entire team of gods and demons working together to extract the fourteen gems. In this reframing, Guru Nanak did all this on his own, just through the vastness of his own body, mind, and power, as the world’s sovereign. He established a play and established Lahina as his successor. Guru Nanak is the one who tested even the body of Lahina, physically, mentally, and emotionally, put him through great discipline and service, tested and examined. Then naturally, it was clear that Lahina was the one over whose head the canopy of the Guruship would be placed.
Guru Nanak established Lahina’s authority as the next Guru. In other traditions, this might happen after a hopeful successor proves some great power or gift by making miracles happen, putting on a show of ability that makes one worthy of this title. For Lahina, the test was about cultivating the virtues and becoming Divine-like. It was about serving in devotion; it was about following the command. When Guru Nanak placed the canopy over Lahina, the Light of Guru Nanak merged into the light, merging his own self with the self of Lahina. And lest there still be those who questioned this succession, the Bards once again emphasize that Guru Nanak tested all the disciples, all the Sikhs, all the sons, and the entire collective. The collective was made up of all sorts of people, Sikhs of the Guru, sons of the Guru, and the community of the Guru. Not everyone was a Sikh — there were all sorts of people in the community of Guru Nanak or the court of Guru Nanak. But this entire collective was tested, and Lahina emerged as the one who would take on the Guruship. When Guru Nanak refined Lahina and through his own testing knew that Lahina would be the next Guru, he established Lahina as Guru Angad, marking him as the Guru. These four stanzas thus far have been about establishing the vastness, power, and authority of Guru Nanak and the authority of Guru Angad as his successor. We are also inspired to ask ourselves a few questions. What are we working toward? How do we serve? How do we inculcate the virtues?
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