Sadd

Baba Sundar Ji

This Bani (composition) describes the witnessing of Baba Sundar, the great-grandson of Guru Amardas, during his departure from the earthly realm. These compositions, containing historical accounts and larger messages on grieving, death, and remembrance, were corrected and verified by Guru Arjan at the time of the compilation of the Guru Granth Sahib. This composition is assigned rag Ramkali, a musical mode used to evoke feelings of triumph regardless of circumstance. In the larger Indic musical tradition, Ramkali encompasses two moods—madhur (sweet) and chakat (startled). There is a level of sweetness and startling expressed in these compositions. Traditionally, Ramkali illustrates a disciplined and wise teacher explaining something to a disciplined and wise student. Both acknowledge the pain, yet they understand that it is necessary. The struggle they endure adds a unique sweetness to the eventual triumph. Sadd refers to a call, invitation, invocation, or even a loud call to a loved one. It is a Panjabi cultural poetic form associated with death and a call to marriage. These six stanzas direct these nuanced “calls” in different ways, revealing at every turn a deep love of the One and the sangat (congregation) on the part of Guru Amardas as it reflects complex themes and emotions, urging us toward devotion to the One at every stage.

In the first stanza, Baba Sundar records his account of Guru Amardas’ message to the family and sangat gathered around him. In experiencing death and grieving, people do particular things based on popular culture and societal norms. But we tend to get lost in these popular ceremonies. We fixate, argue, and create conflicts about whether we have ‘honored’ the dead properly through various rituals and ceremonies. Here, the Guru urges us toward wisdom-orientedness instead. This is not a prescriptive composition in which we are told not to do something. Rather, we are guided toward reflection and behavioral changes. The Guru says IkOankar (One Creative and Pervasive Force, 1Force, the One) is the Giver in this world. That One is the Lover of those devotees who practice devotion in all three realms—in every part of the universe, dearest! People seek fulfillment in numerous ways. We come here with hopes, desires, and expectations, which shift, grow, and change as they are met. The Guru reminds us that IkOankar is the only ‘wish-fulfiller,’ the only Giver. The devotion to this Giver happens in all of creation—even in the parts of creations we cannot conceive of or know. The devotees who practice devotion to that Giver, praise, remember, and Identify with the One are loved by the One. Baba Sundar continues, Guru Amardas is immersing in that One through the Sabad (hymn-like stanza that exemplifies the word-sound of the Infinite Wisdom). He does not know anyone else, dearest! Both lines end with jiu imparting the love and care needed when the message and instruction are difficult. We have interpreted this term in the commentary as ‘dearest.’ Here, the Guru shows us how to speak with tenderness and love, while this piece revolves around shedding our pretenses, asking us to reflect on our relationship with death, grieving, and the One. Baba Sundar explains that Guru Amardas is completely submerged in the Sabad, in the utterances that impart the teachings of the Wisdom-Guru. This connection to the Sabad of the Wisdom-Guru means that Guru Amardas does not know anyone else. This is not about renunciation, aloofness, or apathy towards the world. It is instead a statement about what happens when we immerse ourselves in the Sabad of the Wisdom-Guru, in the teachings of the Wisdom-Guru. We come to change. We cease to know anyone else. We cease to see anything else. All we see is the One, everywhere, permeating. It is the Sabad that Guru Amardas is committed to.

Baba Sundar continues, Guru Amardas does not know any other. Through the Word of the Wisdom, he is meditating upon one Nam (Identification with IkOankar). Through the grace of Guru Nanak and Guru Angad, Guru Amardas is attaining the highest state. It is the immersion in Sabad that ends all animosities and brings us into a deep relationship with the One, with Nam, and with the Wisdom. There is nothing else for Guru Amardas. There is nothing but the Divine. Through the grace of the Wisdom-Guru, through the embodiment of the Sabad started by Guru Nanak, that Guru Angad was graced with, Guru Amardas has also experienced this grace. All authority comes from Sabad and Nam. If the Divine is the one who cannot be measured or moved, then the devotee, too, becomes like that One. The Guru, against the backdrop of his own earthly departure, urges us towards reflection. This is not the time to be lost in death, grief, and ceremony. It is the time to continue to immerse ourselves in the Wisdom-Guru, orient ourselves as best as we can around that Wisdom-Guru, and make an effort towards devotion even when it is difficult. 

Baba Sundar ends the first stanza by saying the call for departing has come. Guru Amardas is immersed in the Identification of the 1-Light, of the Beautiful. Through devotion, Guru Amardas has found that 1-Light, who is immortal, immovable, un-weighable–the Master in the world. Guru Amardas received the call from the Court of IkOankar for eternal union. Even at this end, Guru Amardas remains absorbed in Identifying with IkOankar, in devotion to IkOankar, in connection with IkOankar. The Gurus were given this connection from the Origin, from the Court. It is not the physical meeting that is important, but the meeting that occurs before death. This connection happens through great effort while we are alive through identification with IkOankar and constant connection with the Nam. Guru Amardas experienced the One, found the One, and was freed by the One. This is why he is beyond death—because of his relationship with the One who is always present, who cannot be measured or understood other than through devotion. 

Baba Sundar’s witnessing in the first stanza shows us the beginnings of the process of Guru Amardas’ departure from the earthly realm. We are urged toward reflection, devotion, Wisdom-centeredness, and a change in understanding and behavior. We are shown what is said to the family and the sangat, and we understand that the Wisdom-Guru and the Sabad matter most. The authority of Nam, Sabad, and Guru are dwelled on, and the continuity of the embodied Gurus, from Guru Nanak to Guru Amardas, is invoked, establishing and re-emphasizing the authority and legitimacy of Guru Amardas, who also achieved a high state like Guru Nanak and Guru Angad. Will we try to immerse ourselves in the authoritative Sabad of the Wisdom-Guru? Will we make an effort towards devotion? Will we become single-mindedly committed to the Sabad?