somvāri sasi ammritu jharai.
cākhat begi sagal bikh harai.
bāṇī rokiā rahai duār.
taü manu matvāro pīvanhār.2.
-Guru Granth Sahib 344
This composition is based on the seven days of the week. The days of the week are often associated with the notions of good and bad. However, Bhagat Kabir Ji encourages us to focus on connecting with the Nam of IkOankar (the Divine) rather than believing in such notions. He imparts a distinct teaching for each day of the week. The message through Sunday is to practice devotion. Through Monday is to partake Nam from the Wisdom (Guru). Through Tuesday is to understand the true nature of the vices. Through Wednesday is to develop intellect within. Through Thursday is to rid our minds of the overpowering influence of Maya. Through Friday is to remain unaffected by the pride and prestige gained through good deeds. Finally, the message through Saturday is to keep one’s wandering mind steady and stable.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
If one sings the virtues of the 1-Light again and again, having approached the Wisdom (Guru), that being finds the secret of the 1-Light. In the second stanza, through Monday, Bhagat Kabir says when amrit trickles down from the moon, then just by tasting it, it quickly removes all poisons. Monday is associated with the Moon, representing the heart (whereas the Sun, associated with Sunday, is about wisdom and intellect). The term for Monday is also associated with ‘soma,’ a plant popularly understood in Indologies as immortalizing. The Soma plant is said to grow its leaves as the moon waxes and drop its leaves as the moon wanes. These leaves were used to create the soma drink, which was believed to immortalize its drinkers. People can understand this as yet another ‘mystery’ of the Divine, yet another unattainable thing to seek—immortality. It is as if his audience has asked, “What can I do to experience immortality?”
Bhagat Kabir takes this and subverts it to talk about the real immortalizing nectar: Nam (Identification with IkOankar). The seeker imbibes the essence of the ambrosial Nam through the moon-like Wisdom. Through a relationship with and guidance from the Wisdom (Guru), we begin to Identify with IkOankar (One Creative and Pervasive Force, 1Force, the One). What is so special about this amrit? It removes our poisons from within. We are free from the vices that ail us. Experiencing its taste creates a filth-free mind. How do we taste this nectar? Bhagat Kabir says it is only when the seeker’s mind, through the Wisdom, becomes stable and no longer distracted by the senses that the seeker can become intoxicated in this way, capable of partaking in the essence of the ambrosial Nam. We must, through the Wisdom, work on our wandering minds. We must work through our greed and restrain and steady ourselves from within. This is how we can drink the amrit. Through the guidance of the Wisdom, the mind restrains its wandering toward the nine doors of the sensory organs. We are no longer driven by our senses and what they desire. We become intoxicated with this amrit, with this Nam, and we can finally taste the sweetness we were seeking. Will we steady our minds so that we can savor this nectar? Will we rid ourselves of the poisons that ail us? Will sweetness pervade?
Bhagat Kabir takes this and subverts it to talk about the real immortalizing nectar: Nam (Identification with IkOankar). The seeker imbibes the essence of the ambrosial Nam through the moon-like Wisdom. Through a relationship with and guidance from the Wisdom (Guru), we begin to Identify with IkOankar (One Creative and Pervasive Force, 1Force, the One). What is so special about this amrit? It removes our poisons from within. We are free from the vices that ail us. Experiencing its taste creates a filth-free mind. How do we taste this nectar? Bhagat Kabir says it is only when the seeker’s mind, through the Wisdom, becomes stable and no longer distracted by the senses that the seeker can become intoxicated in this way, capable of partaking in the essence of the ambrosial Nam. We must, through the Wisdom, work on our wandering minds. We must work through our greed and restrain and steady ourselves from within. This is how we can drink the amrit. Through the guidance of the Wisdom, the mind restrains its wandering toward the nine doors of the sensory organs. We are no longer driven by our senses and what they desire. We become intoxicated with this amrit, with this Nam, and we can finally taste the sweetness we were seeking. Will we steady our minds so that we can savor this nectar? Will we rid ourselves of the poisons that ail us? Will sweetness pervade?
Tags
