paüṛī.
koī gāvai ko suṇai koī karai bīcāru.
ko updesai ko driṛai tis kā hoi udhāru.
kilbikh kāṭai hoi nirmalā janam janam malu jāi.
halati palati mukhu ūjalā nah pohai tisu māi.
so surtā so baisano so giānī dhanvantu.
so sūrā kulvantu soi jini bhajiā bhagvantu.
khatrī brāhamaṇu sūdu baisu udhrai simari canḍāl.
jini jānio prabhu āpanā nānak tisahi ravāl.17.
-Guru Granth Sahib 300
Guru Arjan Sahib states that by taking refuge and singing the virtues of IkOankar (the Divine), the fear of death vanishes, sufferings are removed, and the mind-desired fruit is found. Corresponding to the fifteen-day lunar calendar and each pauri (stanza) correlates to each day formed by the waxing and waning of the moon. The seventeenth pauri states that only that being is courageous, of higher consciousness, high moral character, and noble lineage, who sings and inculcates the virtues of IkOankar within. Everyone, be they of high or low social status, can find this state.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
In the seventeenth pauri (stanza), the Guru says that anyone who sings, anyone who listens, anyone who does contemplation, and anyone who grasps, all find freedom. We do not necessarily need to partake in each practice. Some might choose one or two of these different avenues or ways of connecting with IkOankar (One Universal Integrative Force, 1Force, the One). What matters is that we find this freedom and connection regardless of what “method” we choose. If we can do this, we can cut away at our “sins” or transgressions — the very things people worry about, the things that motivate ritual cleansing and pilgrimage visits in hopes of forgiveness. We can become filth-free in this life and remove the filth of a day or a year, or multiple lifetimes so that today and tomorrow, in this world and the next, our faces become radiant, and Maya, or attachment to the material world and temporary relationships, cannot touch us.
Those who are able to do this — who are devoted, who have remembered Bhagvant, the adorable Divine — are warriors of high lineage. They are the contemplators, the insightful ones, the wealthy, and the brave. All the fears we might have about lineage and our deeds and consequences when these lives are over are being subverted here. The only lineage that matters is of our own actions and behaviors and the lineage of remembrance of the One, of conquering the mind, of transforming our minds and bodies.
The Guru then lists the major caste categories in the caste system to show us that one’s lineage or background does not matter; if one engages in Remembrance, one is liberated. The final advice we are given is that we ought to become the dust of those beings who have known their Prabhu, their IkOankar. If our goal is to have this kind of intimate relationship with IkOankar, to feel the presence of IkOankar in all spaces and places and times, to remove our fears and anxieties and find contentment, we ought to seek out those who have been able to do this. We ought to find those who live in such an intimate relationship with IkOankar that they know IkOankar as their own. Will we go beyond caste or status categories?
The Guru takes us through the physical movement of the moon and the paradigms associated with its different days of waxing and waning, pointing out the fear-based and transactional paradigms we are operating within. We are given guidance on how to get out of our entanglements in vices and doubts, in our constant pursuit of knowledge, in our doubts and fears and anxieties, in our fevers, and in our negative thinking. We have tried many things as quick remedies — working with a particular date or time, ritual, or physical cleansing. But all of this only further entangles us. We do not need to see a middleman or an astrologer or seek guidance on engaging in the right ritual or cleansing at the right time. The Guru’s guidance is for all of us, for all times. We are shown how to engage in an internal cleansing, an internal transformation in thinking, and an external transformation in behavior. We are shown that those who are free are in the sanctuary of the Sovereign, the only Complete One, who can remove our doubts and pains. We can find connection through the Wisdom, which can help us live in Remembrance and Identification with the One whose presence we seek to feel. We can free ourselves and our loved ones this way. We can experience what it feels like to know IkOankar as our own.
Those who are able to do this — who are devoted, who have remembered Bhagvant, the adorable Divine — are warriors of high lineage. They are the contemplators, the insightful ones, the wealthy, and the brave. All the fears we might have about lineage and our deeds and consequences when these lives are over are being subverted here. The only lineage that matters is of our own actions and behaviors and the lineage of remembrance of the One, of conquering the mind, of transforming our minds and bodies.
The Guru then lists the major caste categories in the caste system to show us that one’s lineage or background does not matter; if one engages in Remembrance, one is liberated. The final advice we are given is that we ought to become the dust of those beings who have known their Prabhu, their IkOankar. If our goal is to have this kind of intimate relationship with IkOankar, to feel the presence of IkOankar in all spaces and places and times, to remove our fears and anxieties and find contentment, we ought to seek out those who have been able to do this. We ought to find those who live in such an intimate relationship with IkOankar that they know IkOankar as their own. Will we go beyond caste or status categories?
The Guru takes us through the physical movement of the moon and the paradigms associated with its different days of waxing and waning, pointing out the fear-based and transactional paradigms we are operating within. We are given guidance on how to get out of our entanglements in vices and doubts, in our constant pursuit of knowledge, in our doubts and fears and anxieties, in our fevers, and in our negative thinking. We have tried many things as quick remedies — working with a particular date or time, ritual, or physical cleansing. But all of this only further entangles us. We do not need to see a middleman or an astrologer or seek guidance on engaging in the right ritual or cleansing at the right time. The Guru’s guidance is for all of us, for all times. We are shown how to engage in an internal cleansing, an internal transformation in thinking, and an external transformation in behavior. We are shown that those who are free are in the sanctuary of the Sovereign, the only Complete One, who can remove our doubts and pains. We can find connection through the Wisdom, which can help us live in Remembrance and Identification with the One whose presence we seek to feel. We can free ourselves and our loved ones this way. We can experience what it feels like to know IkOankar as our own.
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