The
saloks of Sheikh Farid
Ji guide the seeker toward the devotion of the one absolute IkOankar (the Divine), which is the true purpose of life. In these saloks, Farid Ji shares that our time in this world is finite, and thus, one should immediately turn to the devotion of IkOankar without delay. However, due to attachment to transient things and relationships, many forget this truth and become entangled in vices, leading to a perpetually restless and uneasy life. However, the being who embraces virtues such as remembrance of IkOankar, love, humility, tolerance, patience, contentment, selfless service, and righteous living, experiences the bliss of connection with IkOankar even while leading a householder’s life. Their life becomes comfortable and peaceful.
pharīdā je tū akali latīphu kāle likhu na lekh.
āpanṛe girīvān mahi siru nīṁvāṁ kari dekhu.6.
-Guru Granth Sahib 1378
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
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?
