biradhi bhaïo sūjhai nahī kālu pahūcio āni.
kahu nānak nar bāvare kiu na bhajai bhagvānu.4.
-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 fourth stanza, Guru Teghbahadar says that old age has arrived. The body has become old, and still, we do not understand that our time has come. We have known about this! The Guru reminded us in the three stanzas that this was coming! And now it has happened. The Guru says, you still did not figure things out, O mad one, O crazy person! Why did you not remember the Adorable One, the One who is meant to be adored?
The shift is now on the individual instead of the mind. The mind is where we get our reminders. And now, we have been reminded enough. Because we still have not understood this urging, the Guru moves into addressing the person. Death is inching closer to us with each passing day. And yet, we still have not remembered that now is the time for remembrance. The Guru urges us to release ourselves from our entanglements now that we have become older. Maybe we did things because of people in our lives, indulged in certain things, maybe told little lies, committed small deceits, maybe we did it for our relationships, for our successes, for our families. But now, those things have accumulated. The Guru lovingly calls us mad or crazy because we are still, after all of this urging, unable to see the bigger picture, our larger purposes.
But there is still time to change the way we have been living. There is hope. Remember, the Guru-centered are never old if they have consciousness and Wisdom within them.
The shift is now on the individual instead of the mind. The mind is where we get our reminders. And now, we have been reminded enough. Because we still have not understood this urging, the Guru moves into addressing the person. Death is inching closer to us with each passing day. And yet, we still have not remembered that now is the time for remembrance. The Guru urges us to release ourselves from our entanglements now that we have become older. Maybe we did things because of people in our lives, indulged in certain things, maybe told little lies, committed small deceits, maybe we did it for our relationships, for our successes, for our families. But now, those things have accumulated. The Guru lovingly calls us mad or crazy because we are still, after all of this urging, unable to see the bigger picture, our larger purposes.
But there is still time to change the way we have been living. There is hope. Remember, the Guru-centered are never old if they have consciousness and Wisdom within them.
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