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.
sāhurai ḍhoī nā lahai peīai nāhī thāu.
piru vātaṛī na puchaī dhan sohāgaṇi nāu.31.
-Guru Granth Sahib 1379
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
In the thirty-first stanza, Sheikh Farid continues with the extended metaphor of the bride and says, She neither finds support at her in-laws’ house, nor is there a place in her parents’ house. In the previous stanza, Sheikh Farid speaks to the duhagan, the unfortunate bride, a metaphor for the disconnected seeker. Here, it is as if Sheikh Farid is responding to the question of who the suhagan—the fortunate bride, who represents the connected seeker—might be. This stanza is satirical and humorous. Sheikh Farid tells us about a duhagan who may call herself a suhagan, but the reality is that there is very little connection between her and her husband. We might ask, who is that virtuous one? We might say that the happily married woman finds support at her in-laws’ house. She finds comfort there. She feels at home. When we don’t feel at home at our in-laws’ house, we tend to go home to our parents, knowing we will find support there. Sheikh Farid’s humor shines through here as he says that the duhagan, who is called a suhagan, does not find support at her in-laws’ house or at her parents’ house. In a transworldly sense, this is about the parents’ house as the world, and the in-laws’ house as the hereafter, or the house of IkOankar (One Creative and Pervasive Force, 1Force, the One) as the Divine-Husband.
Sheikh Farid says, The Husband does not ask for any word of her, but the title of the woman is suhagan. How can it be that one is a fortunate bride, a connected seeker, when they are not being asked after anywhere? What is it that makes one married? It is not just the fact of having gone through the ceremony. It is about the relationship between the spouses—the care, the love, the affection, the connection. The seeker cannot simply claim to be connected when there is no connection. Where we live does not determine whether we are happily married or fortunate. It is whether we are being valued, thought of, cared for—it is how we operate in our relationship with the Divine-Husband. Sheikh Farid is urging us to reflect on our relationship with the beloved One, IkOankar, and whether it is full of pretense. Are we suhagans in name alone? Or is there genuine care, devotion, and affection there? Will we be devotees rather than posturing as devotees? Will we find out what true connection feels like?
