cāre jāge cahu jugī pancāiṇu āpe hoā.
āpīn̖ai āpu sājionu āpe hī thamm̖i khaloā.
āpe paṭī kalam āpi āpi likhaṇhārā hoā.
sabh umati āvaṇ jāvaṇī āpe hī navā niroā.
takhati baiṭhā arjan gurū satigur kā khivai candoā.
ugvaṇahu tai āthvaṇahu cahu cakī kīanu loā.
jin̖ī gurū na sevio manmukhā païā moā.
dūṇī caüṇī karāmāti sace kā sacā ḍhoā.
cāre jāge cahu jugī pancāiṇu āpe hoā.8.1.
-Guru Granth Sahib 968
Rai Balvand Ji and Sata Dum Ji praise the first five Gurus while describing Guru Arjan Sahib as the successor and, likewise, liberator of humanity. The radiance of Guru Arjan Sahib spreads far and wide like the preceding five Gurus. Creation is eternally illuminated with the light of Wisdom (Guru). The glory of Guru Arjan Sahib increases manifold day and night through the eternal Nam (Identification with IkOankar) received from the eternal IkOankar (the Divine).
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
In the eighth composition, Satta and Balvand praise the authority of Guru Arjan by helping us understand that the source is the same. Giving authority to Guru Arjan - the source is the same. The liberators of the four ages, the four Gurus, awoke. The Source of the five elements, IkOankar (One Universal Integrative Force, 1Force, the One), by Own-Self has manifested as the fifth embodiment, Guru Arjan. The Self, the One, created Guru Arjan and decorated or beautified Guru Arjan. That Source by That Source alone has created Itself, by Self alone is standing, having supported creation. IkOankar is described as the One who is immovable. The One is the slate, the One is the pen, and the One is the writer. Knowing the history of Guru Arjan, this is a line that is of note, as Guru Arjan was the one compiling the Adi Granth, the first recension of the Guru Granth Sahib. Guru Arjan is using slate and pen and acting as the writer, so there is some clear historicism here. Satta and Balvand are seeing this while writing Ramkali Ki Var and situating that process of compilation in the larger context of the One as the slate, pen, and writer.
The entire nation or community is subject to coming and going. Everyone is subject to coming and going, birth and death. That Source, IkOankar, by Own-Self alone, is ever-new and diseaseless. This entire nation or community started with Guru Nanak, and within that community, people come and go, live and die. IkOankar is the only constant. In this community or nation, Guru Arjan is sitting on the throne! The Guru’s canopy has been established on his head. He is next in line. From the rising of the sun to the setting of the sun, he has spread light in all four directions. Guru Arjan has spread illumination far and wide, and this is part of that complete miracle that the Bards refer to in the earlier lines. That miracle is being doubled and quadrupled, and so on, exponentially. Guru Arjan has already gone through various tests and is driven by his connection to the One. Without it, he is in separation. Without serving the Guru, we are self-centered beings fearful of death. We live our small lives and do not connect with the vastness of the One through the service of the Guru. We spend our time worrying about only the things in front of us, and we lack the perspective that the illumination of the Guru gives us.
The miracle of the passing of the Guruship is twofold and fourfold, as Guru Arjan begins the process of compiling the Guru Granth Sahib with the compilation of the Adi Granth. The sangat (collective) is increasing, and they need more access to Sabad outside of coming to see and hear from the Guru physically. Guru Arjan is developing multiple sarovars (pools), baolis (wells with steps leading down to the surface of the water), and wells, along with the city of Amritsar and Tarn Taran. And he is starting this all at the age of eighteen because, by this time, he has already established to Guru Ramdas that he is in longing and driven by longing. The miracle is multiplying because what Guru Ramdas started has now been transferred to Guru Arjan! The work that began with Guru Nanak is being multiplied and multiplied. The liberators of the four ages awoke, and the source of the five elements, IkOankar, has by Own-Self manifested as the fifth embodiment, Guru Arjan, who is next in Command and next in the rule of Guru Nanak’s Raj. Guru Arjan continued the Raj started by Guru Nanak. The miracle has multiplied. Do we feel that miracle? Do we feel the illumination of the Guru spread far and wide? Will we serve the Guru in order to get to that feeling?
Ramkali Ki Var Summary:
In Ramkali Ki Var, Satta, and Balvand take us through a history of the passing down of Guruship from Guru Nanak to Guru Arjan. Each Guru is praised for their commitment to the Guru, their devotion and dedication, their service, and their acceptance of the command of the Guru. Guru Nanak established a new system of protege becoming mentor, and with each Guru, norms were broken, systems of power were challenged, and the community of Sikhs and nation of the Guru was strengthened. Guru Nanak came to start a Raj, a new form of governance and rule, to establish Sikh Sovereignty rooted in the One. We spend our time trying to depoliticize his mission. Satta and Balvand remind us that the revolution of the Guru, the Raj of the Guru, has been deeply political from the very start. They remind us that those who received the Guruship understood the system and the governance of Guru Nanak’s Raj, were made capable and virtuous, and followed the command. They show us that the Gurus offered reframings of what it meant to be devoted, serve, and participate in Langar (community kitchen) rooted in the Sabad. They emphasize that the Gurus saw the world as a whole and that those who doubted the transfer of Guruship after Guru Nanak could not see past their worldly metrics. Guru Arjan continued the Raj started by Guru Nanak. The miracle has multiplied twofold, fourfold, and multifold.
The entire nation or community is subject to coming and going. Everyone is subject to coming and going, birth and death. That Source, IkOankar, by Own-Self alone, is ever-new and diseaseless. This entire nation or community started with Guru Nanak, and within that community, people come and go, live and die. IkOankar is the only constant. In this community or nation, Guru Arjan is sitting on the throne! The Guru’s canopy has been established on his head. He is next in line. From the rising of the sun to the setting of the sun, he has spread light in all four directions. Guru Arjan has spread illumination far and wide, and this is part of that complete miracle that the Bards refer to in the earlier lines. That miracle is being doubled and quadrupled, and so on, exponentially. Guru Arjan has already gone through various tests and is driven by his connection to the One. Without it, he is in separation. Without serving the Guru, we are self-centered beings fearful of death. We live our small lives and do not connect with the vastness of the One through the service of the Guru. We spend our time worrying about only the things in front of us, and we lack the perspective that the illumination of the Guru gives us.
The miracle of the passing of the Guruship is twofold and fourfold, as Guru Arjan begins the process of compiling the Guru Granth Sahib with the compilation of the Adi Granth. The sangat (collective) is increasing, and they need more access to Sabad outside of coming to see and hear from the Guru physically. Guru Arjan is developing multiple sarovars (pools), baolis (wells with steps leading down to the surface of the water), and wells, along with the city of Amritsar and Tarn Taran. And he is starting this all at the age of eighteen because, by this time, he has already established to Guru Ramdas that he is in longing and driven by longing. The miracle is multiplying because what Guru Ramdas started has now been transferred to Guru Arjan! The work that began with Guru Nanak is being multiplied and multiplied. The liberators of the four ages awoke, and the source of the five elements, IkOankar, has by Own-Self manifested as the fifth embodiment, Guru Arjan, who is next in Command and next in the rule of Guru Nanak’s Raj. Guru Arjan continued the Raj started by Guru Nanak. The miracle has multiplied. Do we feel that miracle? Do we feel the illumination of the Guru spread far and wide? Will we serve the Guru in order to get to that feeling?
Ramkali Ki Var Summary:
In Ramkali Ki Var, Satta, and Balvand take us through a history of the passing down of Guruship from Guru Nanak to Guru Arjan. Each Guru is praised for their commitment to the Guru, their devotion and dedication, their service, and their acceptance of the command of the Guru. Guru Nanak established a new system of protege becoming mentor, and with each Guru, norms were broken, systems of power were challenged, and the community of Sikhs and nation of the Guru was strengthened. Guru Nanak came to start a Raj, a new form of governance and rule, to establish Sikh Sovereignty rooted in the One. We spend our time trying to depoliticize his mission. Satta and Balvand remind us that the revolution of the Guru, the Raj of the Guru, has been deeply political from the very start. They remind us that those who received the Guruship understood the system and the governance of Guru Nanak’s Raj, were made capable and virtuous, and followed the command. They show us that the Gurus offered reframings of what it meant to be devoted, serve, and participate in Langar (community kitchen) rooted in the Sabad. They emphasize that the Gurus saw the world as a whole and that those who doubted the transfer of Guruship after Guru Nanak could not see past their worldly metrics. Guru Arjan continued the Raj started by Guru Nanak. The miracle has multiplied twofold, fourfold, and multifold.
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