The
saloks of Sheikh Farid
Ji guide the seeker towards life’s true purpose, the devotion to the one absolute Divine, IkOankar. In these saloks, he reminds us that our time in this world is finite; therefore, one must turn to IkOankar without delay. Yet, attachment to transient possessions and relationships causes many to forget this truth, becoming entangled in vices that lead to restlessness and inner turmoil. In contrast, those who cultivate virtues such as love, humility, patience, contentment, selfless service, and righteousness experience the bliss of connection with IkOankar even while living a householder’s life. Their life becomes serene and suffused with inner joy.
tanu na tapāi tanūr jiu bālaṇu haḍ na bāli.
siri pairī kiā pheṛiā andari pirī nihāli.120.
-Guru Granth Sahib 1384
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
In the one hundred and twentieth stanza, Guru Nanak expands on Sheikh Farid’s previous stanza, where he expressed a willingness to do whatever it takes, even enduring physical pain and exhaustion, if it means he will meet beloved IkOankar (One Creative and Pervasive Force, 1Force, the One). Guru Nanak responds, Do not heat up the body like an oven, do not burn the bones like firewood. What harm have the head and feet caused? Behold the Beloved within. Although we can appreciate the sentiment of Sheikh Farid’s stark language, we might misread and misinterpret the previous stanza, thinking that we have to put our bodies through extreme circumstances to ‘prove’ our devotion to IkOankar. Guru Nanak says we do not need to put ourselves through pain and suffering in order to ‘meet’ or connect with IkOankar. We need not commit ourselves to harsh Yogic practices or asceticism, thinking this is the only way to connect. Guru Nanak offers a gentle rethinking: what harm have these bodies and bones and heads and feet caused? What is the reason we are punishing them?
In Guru Nanak’s stanza, we see a kind of commentary on Sheikh Farid’s stanza. Though Sheikh Farid is communicating a readiness to do whatever it takes to experience union or connection with IkOankar, the mention of physical hardships might be taken the wrong way, making some believe that the way to the Divine is through severity and austerity—that union can only come through suffering. We might misunderstand Sheikh Farid’s words as an endorsement of bodily harm or discipline or harshness being used to prove devotion. This too can become a kind of performance, feeding pretense and rather than genuineness. What can we do to feel the Presence of the One? We need only to look within ourselves, to know that the beloved One dwells within us, to experience that beloved One within the very core of our beings. Will we abandon prescription and bodily hardship in favor of genuine love and devotion? Will we take care of the internal to experience the bliss of this presence? Will we take care of the beloved One within?
