brihaspati bikhiā dei bahāi.
tīni dev ek saṅgi lāi.
tīni nadī tah trikuṭī māhi.
ahinisi kasmal dhovahi nāhi.5.
-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 fifth stanza, through Thursday, Bhagat Kabir says a seeker ought to spill away the poison within. We ought to wash from within the things that cause us pain and cause us to act negatively in the world. We ought to clean from within the influence of attachment to temporary things and transient relationships and wash it all away through the praise of IkOankar (One Creative and Pervasive Force, 1Force, the One). Everything starts from the One! In Indic and Yogic systems, that starting point turns into many systems of threes: three deities (Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh), three rivers (Ganga, Saraswati, Yamuna), and three ‘channels’ of energy (Ida, Pingala, Sukhmana). We complicate things for ourselves, creating systems and categories in an attempt to understand the One better or better connect with the One, which causes us to move away from the One in forgetfulness.
Bhagat Kabir urges us to go towards the One–to stop trying to figure out the ‘mystery’ of these Indic and Yogic systems of threes. Instead of the three deities, we ought to engage our minds with the One–the Doer and the Cause. Through this connection with IkOankar, we will understand that the three rivers come together within our bodies and in our consciousness, and we do not need to seek out pilgrimage sites to bathe in or spiritual disciplines to commit to. We can effortlessly experience all the fruits of these practices without doing them, but by channeling our energies to cultivate love and devotion for IkOankar and contemplating Nam (Identification with IkOankar). This is how we free ourselves, cleanse ourselves internally, change how we think, and change our behavior. Will we get out of these systems of three and move towards the only One? Will we experience inner cleansing?
Bhagat Kabir urges us to go towards the One–to stop trying to figure out the ‘mystery’ of these Indic and Yogic systems of threes. Instead of the three deities, we ought to engage our minds with the One–the Doer and the Cause. Through this connection with IkOankar, we will understand that the three rivers come together within our bodies and in our consciousness, and we do not need to seek out pilgrimage sites to bathe in or spiritual disciplines to commit to. We can effortlessly experience all the fruits of these practices without doing them, but by channeling our energies to cultivate love and devotion for IkOankar and contemplating Nam (Identification with IkOankar). This is how we free ourselves, cleanse ourselves internally, change how we think, and change our behavior. Will we get out of these systems of three and move towards the only One? Will we experience inner cleansing?
Tags
