sukh mai bahu saṅgī bhae dukh mai saṅgi na koi.
kahu nānak hari bhaju manā anti sahāī hoi.32.
-Guru Granth Sahib 1427
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
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In the thirty-second stanza, Guru Teghbahadar says, In happiness you will have many companions around you, but no one comes near you in sorrow. O mind! Sing praises of 1-Light, who becomes your only support in the end.
Here, “the end” implies both physical death and also the eventuality of any particular situation while we are living. “The end” could refer to the end of a struggle, the end of a bad day, the end of a problem, or the end of our lives. When we are comfortable and happy, and things are going well, people are drawn to that, and we make friends or are around people who base their presence in our lives around attachment to our attachment. But what happens when we lose what we are attached to, when things are more challenging, when we are suffering? Those same people who attach themselves to us due to our temporary situations and our temporary things are suddenly nowhere to be found. So the Guru is not saying that we ought not to have any companions at all. Instead, this is a warning that we cannot take anyone with us when we go and that we ought to think about what kinds of people we want to be around us while we are here. We need our companions; we lean on our companions for support in hard times. But what is the foundation of our companionship? Is it intoxication? Or is it something more profound and more lasting than that? No one who became our companions because of attachment is going to stay with us in pain.
Will the people with whom we are surrounding ourselves help us deal with our pain? Will they help us to remember and praise the 1-Light? In any situation, eventually, there is no one other than praise of the 1-Light. The 1-Light is our only eternal support. Here with us now and here with us later.
Here, “the end” implies both physical death and also the eventuality of any particular situation while we are living. “The end” could refer to the end of a struggle, the end of a bad day, the end of a problem, or the end of our lives. When we are comfortable and happy, and things are going well, people are drawn to that, and we make friends or are around people who base their presence in our lives around attachment to our attachment. But what happens when we lose what we are attached to, when things are more challenging, when we are suffering? Those same people who attach themselves to us due to our temporary situations and our temporary things are suddenly nowhere to be found. So the Guru is not saying that we ought not to have any companions at all. Instead, this is a warning that we cannot take anyone with us when we go and that we ought to think about what kinds of people we want to be around us while we are here. We need our companions; we lean on our companions for support in hard times. But what is the foundation of our companionship? Is it intoxication? Or is it something more profound and more lasting than that? No one who became our companions because of attachment is going to stay with us in pain.
Will the people with whom we are surrounding ourselves help us deal with our pain? Will they help us to remember and praise the 1-Light? In any situation, eventually, there is no one other than praise of the 1-Light. The 1-Light is our only eternal support. Here with us now and here with us later.
