sukhu dukhu jih parsai nahī lobhu mohu abhimānu.
kahu nānak sunu re manā so mūrati bhagvān.13.
-Guru Granth Sahib 1426
Guru Teghbahadar Sahib reminds beings of the purpose of life, which is to remember and reflect on the virtues of IkOankar (the Divine). The saloks describe how life is wasted in the entanglements of familial and material attachments distracting from the purpose of life. They inspire seekers to search for deeper meaning beyond the attachment to family and temporary material things and develop a relationship with IkOankar. These saloks gently nudge seekers to live in awareness of IkOankar and see the entire world from that place of realization.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
In the thirteenth stanza, Guru Teghbahadar says, The one who happiness and sorrow do not touch, who is not driven by greed, attachment, and pride is the embodiment of the adorable One.
The Guru builds on the last stanza, saying that if we are able to recognize that presence of the 1-Light, then we will become people who are not touched by comfort or pain, happiness or sorrow. Whatever that pain is for us, whatever that joy is for us; we will remain indifferent because we realize it is not about the body. This is not to say that we do not feel emotions. We do! And we are affected by them. But we are not driven by them because we have understood that they are two sides of the same coin, and so regardless of what emotion might be affecting us in a moment, we do not waver. It does not change our agenda. Experiencing these temporary emotions does not deter us.
If we have practiced remembrance with these bodies, if we have recognized the presence of the 1-Light within us, it is then that we can be without vices. It is then that our bodies themselves can become the embodiment of the adorable One, the One who is adored. The Guru tells us that if we really want to see the One, we ought to figure out these virtues within us. We need not go anywhere else. If we want to see a personification of the adorable One, we can go through this internal change and become untouched by the extremities of life, without greed or attachment, or pride. That is what the One looks like. The One is not a stone idol; the One is not in specific faraway places. The One is a collection of these virtues. And those who inculcate those virtues and feel the effects of that inculcation are able to defeat the attachments and entanglements of this world. They become the One. They become alive while they are dead because the body does not matter to them anymore. They understand their purpose, and they understand the presence.
The Guru builds on the last stanza, saying that if we are able to recognize that presence of the 1-Light, then we will become people who are not touched by comfort or pain, happiness or sorrow. Whatever that pain is for us, whatever that joy is for us; we will remain indifferent because we realize it is not about the body. This is not to say that we do not feel emotions. We do! And we are affected by them. But we are not driven by them because we have understood that they are two sides of the same coin, and so regardless of what emotion might be affecting us in a moment, we do not waver. It does not change our agenda. Experiencing these temporary emotions does not deter us.
If we have practiced remembrance with these bodies, if we have recognized the presence of the 1-Light within us, it is then that we can be without vices. It is then that our bodies themselves can become the embodiment of the adorable One, the One who is adored. The Guru tells us that if we really want to see the One, we ought to figure out these virtues within us. We need not go anywhere else. If we want to see a personification of the adorable One, we can go through this internal change and become untouched by the extremities of life, without greed or attachment, or pride. That is what the One looks like. The One is not a stone idol; the One is not in specific faraway places. The One is a collection of these virtues. And those who inculcate those virtues and feel the effects of that inculcation are able to defeat the attachments and entanglements of this world. They become the One. They become alive while they are dead because the body does not matter to them anymore. They understand their purpose, and they understand the presence.
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