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.
nātī dhotī sambahī sutī āi nacindu.
pharīdā rahī su beṛī hiṅṅu dī gaī kathūrī gandhu.33.
-Guru Granth Sahib 1379
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
In the thirty-third stanza, Sheikh Farid says, the woman bathed and cleansed and adorned herself, but fell asleep carelessly. O Farid, She remained smeared with asafoetida, while the fragrance of musk went away. Asafoetida, or hing, is a pungent spice used as an additive when mixing fragrance. The hing alone does not have a pleasant smell, but when it is mixed with fragrance, it makes the fragrance last longer. Sheikh Farid speaks of the woman who cleans and adorns herself in hopes of uniting with her husband. She is excited about the prospect of this meeting, but she falls asleep before it can happen.
In a transworldly sense, this is about all of us as feminine beings, as seekers who do what we can to decorate ourselves in hopes of experiencing union with IkOankar (One Creative and Pervasive Force, 1Force, the One) as the beloved One. What do we decorate ourselves in? Particular rituals, particular practices, particular deeds, particular garbs. We adorn ourselves in physical and nonphysical markers of piety or devotion that are ultimately surface-level. When we do this kind of adorning from the outside or the surface level, it is as if we are wearing musk whose fragrance has quickly gone. When we do not practice remembrance, when we go through the motions of religiosity with none of the emotional presence or discipline, we end up posturing as something we are not. We are asleep instead of awake, careless instead of aware. Sheikh Farid is not denouncing the effort itself, but instead urging us to think more about what effort we are making—whether it is deep and internal, or whether it is steeped in temporality and a more instant sense of gratification. Will we cleanse ourselves from the inside out? Will we adorn ourselves in a more lasting fragrance?
