Sadd

Baba Sundar Ji

In the fifth stanza, Baba Sundar describes Guru Amardas’ instructions on celebrating his departure. The Guru says when I leave the earthly realm, sing the praises of IkOankar (One Creative and Pervasive Force, 1Force, the One), which bestow liberation, dearest! Call the pandits of Keso and Gopal, who may read the narrative of the 1-Light as the Purana, dearest! The story of the 1-Light ought to be read, the Nam of the 1-Light ought to be listened to, and the love of the 1-Light is the bier. This is pleasing to the Guru. The Guru asks his loved ones for steadiness in their consciousness so they can sing the glory of the One. Steadiness can be quite difficult when we are grieving. Still, the Guru asks us to celebrate, even in mourning, by praising the One with unadulterated glorification—the kind that frees and enlightens us. In the second line, the Guru plays on common rituals in the phrase “pandits of Keso and Gopal.” Popularly, people would call particular pandits to recite particular Puranas (Hindu religious texts) and scriptures in honor of the dead. Keso refers to the one with beautiful long hair and is another name for Vishnu in Hindu mythology. But in the Guru Granth Sahib, Keso refers to IkOankar. In Hindu mythology, while Gopal is used as a name for Krishna, here it refers to IkOankar as the Nourisher or Sustainer of the world. The Guru is asking his loved ones to bring those who have insights on the Divine, who know the One intimately enough, to praise the One, who can tell the story of the One. The Guru asks for these insightful fellow travelers, ‘pandits’ who have the experience and not just the knowledge, so they can come and sing of the Beautiful One. That One takes care of the downtrodden. That One is the Source of wisdom. In the company of these ‘pandits,’ we are guided in remembering that One. This narrative, this remembrance, will function as the reading of the Purana, commonly done after death. There is no need to read the Purana. The Guru urges us to contemplate the Nam (Identification with IkOankar), to listen to the Nam, and to sing praises in deep devotion. Nam alone functions as the bier on which the body is carried to be cremated. This is the only thing the Guru wants to carry his body, Nam and devotion. Rather than getting into prescriptions about rituals, the Guru urges us to glorify the Divine rather than the one who has died. The Guru asks us to remember the One, reflect on the One, and continue cultivating devotion even in death. This is what pleases the Guru. 

The Guru mentions various elements of death ceremony rituals: the ball of rice, the leaves platter, the lamp, the flowers, or the ashes. These reference massive ceremonies and calculations about which temple to go to, at what time, where to scatter the remains, and how to light a lamp in honor of ancestors. The Guru places all of these things into the pool of the 1-Light. This is a play on where to scatter the remains of the departed—in which body of water and at what time, with whom, and with what recitations. The Guru shatters all of these prescriptions and says scatter me in the pool of the 1-Light. These rituals and ceremonies do not mean anything; they serve no purpose. Instead, we are asked to come into the sangat (congregation) and focus on the Wisdom-Guru in this company. Singing praises of IkOankar in the company of virtuous beings, the Wisdom illuminates us. In this illumination, we become bright and unblemished. Baba Sundar says whatever the 1-Light found pleasing, that is what the true Guru uttered. The 1-Light, the all-knowing Being, has met Guru Amardas, dearest! The word jiu in this line evokes a level of love, care, and tenderness needed when the message and instruction are difficult. We have interpreted this term in the commentary as ‘dearest,’ as the Guru shows us how to speak with tenderness and love. Guru Amardas found IkOankar and entrusted the responsibility of Guruship to Guru Ramdas by bestowing Sabad (the hymn-like stanza that exemplifies the word-sound of the Infinite Wisdom) as the eternal mark of the Wisdom-Guru. This stanza is not about physical markings or paraphernalia; it is about a continuation of the Wisdom-Guru through the Sabad. Guru Ramdas is now the embodiment of the Sabad of the Wisdom-Guru and anointed with the authority, legitimacy, and responsibility of continuing the Raj or rule of the Guru.

Baba Sundar’s witnessing in the fifth stanza establishes the legitimacy of Guru Ramdas and shows us how to celebrate the departure of our loved ones. We are urged toward remembrance and praise and glorification of the One rather than glorification of the departed. Death can be a source of great conflict and fixation for us when we are planning funerals and memorials—how are we ‘honoring’ the dead? What elements of this ceremony and ritual are about honoring the dead, and what elements are really about the comfort of the living? Which elements easily become a performance of intimacy, closeness, and grief? What fights do we have about rituals and protocols, about what things feel more auspicious or more honoring of the dead? The Guru is asking us to cast all of that aside in favor of devotion to the 1-Light, in favor of Identification with the One, in favor of being in the company of the virtuous beings who bring us toward illumination with the Wisdom. This is what is beautiful and pleasing to the Guru. Will we single-mindedly focus on devotion, praise, Identification, and remembrance? Will we remain steady in the face of ‘auspiciousness’ ritual and protocol questions? Will we glorify the Divine even in the face of death? Will we invite the expert-pandits who are elite outsiders or those with experiential insights from amongst us?