paüṛī.
dutīā durmati dūri kari gur sevā kari nīt.
rām ratanu mani tani basai taji kāmu krodhu lobhu mīt.
maraṇu miṭai jīvanu milai binsahi sagal kales.
āpu tajahu gobind bhajahu bhāu bhagati parves.
lābhu milai toṭā hirai hari dargah pativant.
rām nām dhanu sancavai sāc sāh bhagvant.
ūṭhat baiṭhat hari bhajahu sādhū saṅgi parīti.
nānak durmati chuṭi gaī pārbraham base cīti.2.
-Guru Granth Sahib 296-297
Guru Arjan Sahib describes removing the duality and wandering in the company of virtuous beings. Sorrows and conflicts are destroyed by doing so, and the being leads a virtuous life. 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 second pauri (stanza) advises the individual to remove lust, anger, greed, and false thinking and instead inculcate the teachings of the Wisdom (Guru). The beings who remove ego and enshrine Nam (Identification with IkOankar) within attain honor everywhere.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
In the second pauri (stanza), the Guru shows us how to get rid of our false thinking. The dualities and doubts of the mind can be understood as negative thinking or bad understanding, and this lack of understanding produces vices like lust and anger. To get rid of our false thinking, we ought to engage in the service of the Wisdom daily. If we serve the Wisdom with love and devotion, the jewel of Identification with the Beautiful Charming One dwells in our minds and bodies. We are constantly able to Identify with the One, and it is through that Identification that our fear of death is erased, a fruitful life is lived, and all conflicts or troubles are destroyed. We learn how to live here and now. The Guru tells us that if we can renounce our senses of self, our self-centered I-ness, and sing praises of the Earth-Knower, this is how devotion and love enter, and vices leave, 1-ness enters.
When we are full of devotion for the One, we only gain. We stop losing, and we stop being afraid of losing. This is not a material gain or loss – that paradigm is no longer relevant to us. This is about gaining in the intangible, in virtues, in our relationships with the One. Through this devotion, we become honorable in the court of the 1-Light. It is this wealth, the wealth of the Identification with the Beautiful Charming One, that makes us truly fortunate. And so, the Guru says, we ought to sing praises of the 1-Light, practice remembrance at all times, and constantly develop this love with the One. If we make this effort, if we live in a place of constant devotion, remembrance, and Identification with the One, we will find that our false thinking or negative understandings leave us. The Transcendent Being dwells in the consciousness.
This composition began in the salok with I salute the One many times. Salutation is not just a formal sign of respect or humility, but it is also personal when we do it every day. When we do it every day, we are not doing it as a public gesture in a formal setting. We are doing it for ourselves and our relationship with the One. When we do it every day, it is because we are motivated to do it by our love and devotion to the One. We do it because it is our relationship with IkOankar, our service of the Wisdom, and our Identification with IkOankar, that rids us of our false thinking, negative understanding, negative deeds, and sense of separation from IkOankar. Suppose we can rid ourselves of our negative understandings. In that case, we will be motivated only by devotion rather than by a constant calculation of what to do in which moment and in what space to rack up some spiritual points in a complicated transaction system with the Divine. Will we engage in that discipline, that devotion that has no particular day assigned to it? Will we remove ourselves from our comfortable transactional relationships with IkOankar and instead do something that requires more effort, devotion, and discipline? Will we develop unconditional love with the One?
When we are full of devotion for the One, we only gain. We stop losing, and we stop being afraid of losing. This is not a material gain or loss – that paradigm is no longer relevant to us. This is about gaining in the intangible, in virtues, in our relationships with the One. Through this devotion, we become honorable in the court of the 1-Light. It is this wealth, the wealth of the Identification with the Beautiful Charming One, that makes us truly fortunate. And so, the Guru says, we ought to sing praises of the 1-Light, practice remembrance at all times, and constantly develop this love with the One. If we make this effort, if we live in a place of constant devotion, remembrance, and Identification with the One, we will find that our false thinking or negative understandings leave us. The Transcendent Being dwells in the consciousness.
This composition began in the salok with I salute the One many times. Salutation is not just a formal sign of respect or humility, but it is also personal when we do it every day. When we do it every day, we are not doing it as a public gesture in a formal setting. We are doing it for ourselves and our relationship with the One. When we do it every day, it is because we are motivated to do it by our love and devotion to the One. We do it because it is our relationship with IkOankar, our service of the Wisdom, and our Identification with IkOankar, that rids us of our false thinking, negative understanding, negative deeds, and sense of separation from IkOankar. Suppose we can rid ourselves of our negative understandings. In that case, we will be motivated only by devotion rather than by a constant calculation of what to do in which moment and in what space to rack up some spiritual points in a complicated transaction system with the Divine. Will we engage in that discipline, that devotion that has no particular day assigned to it? Will we remove ourselves from our comfortable transactional relationships with IkOankar and instead do something that requires more effort, devotion, and discipline? Will we develop unconditional love with the One?
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