dūjai bhāi lage pachutāṇe.
jam dari bādhe āvaṇ jāṇe.
kiā lai āvahi kiā le jāhi.
siri jamkālu si coṭā khāhi.
binu gur sabad na chūṭasi koi.
pākhanḍi kīn̖ai mukati na hoi.2.
-Guru Granth Sahib 839
This composition is based on fifteen lunar dates. Through the first lunar day, IkOankar (the Divine) is praised as unique, emphasizing the importance of Wisdom (Guru). Through the second, the plight of a being engrossed in the material world and relationships is described. Through the third and fourth, the creative power of IkOankar is highlighted. Through the fifth, while describing the destructive influence of attachment to the material world and relationships, the significance of Wisdom in life is explained. Through the sixth, the eternal Nam of IkOankar is elucidated in the context of the six Indic religious orders. Through the seventh and eighth, the importance of Wisdom and the contemplation of Nam are stressed. Through the ninth, IkOankar is praised. Through the tenth, again, the contemplation of Nam is encouraged. Through the eleventh, the being is advised to observe a fast of abstinence from vices. Through the twelfth, the way of life of a seeker is eulogized. Through the thirteenth, while highlighting the transient nature of life, the being is inspired to live in reverence of IkOankar and attain an exalted state. Through the fourteenth, the way to achieve the fourth state, which is beyond the influence of attachment to the material world and relationships and union with IkOankar, is described. Through the fifteenth lunar day, the all-pervading IkOankar is praised.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
What recitation might I recite other than the Nam of Jagdish? In the second stanza, through the second lunar day, Guru Nanak says, that the beings attached in other love, in duality, only experience regret. They remain bound at the door of death. They come and go. Whenever we are in love with something else, we are distracted from our love of IkOankar (One Creative and Pervasive Force, 1Force, the One). When we are in love with something else, we get caught up in our fear of death because we fixate on the temporary. We fixate on temporary relationships and temporary material things, worrying about losing them. We forget that the only One who is eternal is the Owner of the world. And in this state, we come to repent because we have become so bound by this idea of death and this fear of loss. We are bound by the futility of the way we spend our time on earth. And we come and go. In a classically religious understanding, this is about coming and going in cycles of birth and death, having not used our time here wisely. In a less traditionalist understanding, this is about coming and going within the span of a lifetime, within years, months, days, hours, or minutes. We become unmoored and unsteady by our own duality, fear, and forgetfulness.
Guru Nanak continues with a question: what do they bring when they come, and what do they take when they go? We are being invited to reflect as seekers what it is we bring here, what we cultivate in our time, and what it is that we will take with us when we go. None of these temporary relationships or material objects will go with us. Neither will our engagement in particular systems of auspiciousness and inauspiciousness, the things we think will bring us spiritual currency that we believe will free us in the end. Those same things that we have engaged in through various schools of thought or religious systems actually feed our fear of death and our duality. Guru Nanak says death is overhead! If we do not reflect on why we are here, what we are bringing, and what we are leaving with, we will continue to suffer in temporariness and in fear of death.
Guru Nanak ends by reminding us that without the Sabad (hymn-like stanza that exemplifies the word-sound of the Infinite Wisdom), we cannot experience freedom. Without cultivating a relationship with the Wisdom-Guru through the Sabad, we will continue to be caught up in austerities, auspiciousness and inauspiciousness, rituals, and pilgrimages that all further entangle us in the temporary and take us away from feeling the presence of the One. Guru Nanak reminds us that if we operate in hypocrisy, living in pretense and only doing external things in hopes that it will relieve us of having to do any internal work, we will not experience the freedom we seek. Will we reflect on what it is we are dedicating our time, effort, minds, and hearts to? Will we stop engaging in the temporary and instead cultivate a relationship with the Wisdom in the Sabad? Will we eliminate our fear of death and get out of our own pretense?
Guru Nanak continues with a question: what do they bring when they come, and what do they take when they go? We are being invited to reflect as seekers what it is we bring here, what we cultivate in our time, and what it is that we will take with us when we go. None of these temporary relationships or material objects will go with us. Neither will our engagement in particular systems of auspiciousness and inauspiciousness, the things we think will bring us spiritual currency that we believe will free us in the end. Those same things that we have engaged in through various schools of thought or religious systems actually feed our fear of death and our duality. Guru Nanak says death is overhead! If we do not reflect on why we are here, what we are bringing, and what we are leaving with, we will continue to suffer in temporariness and in fear of death.
Guru Nanak ends by reminding us that without the Sabad (hymn-like stanza that exemplifies the word-sound of the Infinite Wisdom), we cannot experience freedom. Without cultivating a relationship with the Wisdom-Guru through the Sabad, we will continue to be caught up in austerities, auspiciousness and inauspiciousness, rituals, and pilgrimages that all further entangle us in the temporary and take us away from feeling the presence of the One. Guru Nanak reminds us that if we operate in hypocrisy, living in pretense and only doing external things in hopes that it will relieve us of having to do any internal work, we will not experience the freedom we seek. Will we reflect on what it is we are dedicating our time, effort, minds, and hearts to? Will we stop engaging in the temporary and instead cultivate a relationship with the Wisdom in the Sabad? Will we eliminate our fear of death and get out of our own pretense?
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