chanicharvāri saüṇ sāsat bīcāru.
haümai merā bharmai sansāru.
manmukhu andhā dūjai bhāi.
jam dari bādhā coṭā khāi.
gur parsādī sadā sukhu pāe.
sacu karṇī sāci liv lāe.8.
-Guru Granth Sahib 841
This composition, revealed by Guru Amardas Sahib (1479-1574 CE), is based on the seven days of the week. In it, the Guru imparts a distinct teaching for each day of the week. Through Sunday, the being is inspired to recite the Nam of IkOankar (the Divine). Through Monday, it is conveyed that Nam is received through the Wisdom (Guru), and it is through Nam that the being experiences IkOankar. Through Tuesday, it is expressed that IkOankar Own-Self creates worldly attachment, and Own-Self bestows awareness to the being. Through Wednesday, it is informed that the being receives honor by immersing in the Nam. Through Thursday, it is stated that all beings are created and supported by IkOankar. Through Friday, it is explained that without remembering the Nam, all ritual practices like observance of fasts lead to worldly attachment. Through Saturday, it is conveyed that self-centered beings deliberate on “auspicious” and “inauspicious” deeds and continue to live in illusion. At the end, it is concluded that only the beings who reflect on the eternal Wisdom are imbued with the love of IkOankar.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
Recite the Treasure of virtues within the heart. This alone is the rosary. Through Saturday, the seventh day of the week, Guru Amardas invites us to reflect on the world’s musing on ‘auspiciousness’ and ‘inauspiciousness.’ In many faiths, certain days, times, and seasons demand particular deeds or acts. Per many global religious texts, even though they contemplate these dualities, they continue to wander in ego and i-ness. Whether they are ideas of the ‘sacred’ and ‘profane,’ good and bad omens or timings, astrology, purity, and pollution, we all contemplate some complicated systems that we think will earn us spiritual currency. But this thinking only entangles us, feeds our egos, and makes us self-centered and mind-directed.
Recite the Treasure of virtues within the heart. This alone is the rosary. Guru Amardas reminds us that almost all of us are self-centered and disoriented in our ignorance. Instead of practicing devotion to IkOankar (One Creative and Pervasive Force, 1Force, the One), we entangle ourselves in Maya (the attachment to transient things and relationships). We are engrossed in other loves, duality, and things that cause us to forget the One. And we suffer due to this forgetfulness, our obsession with the temporary. We become caught up in fear of death and fear of losing what we have—reputation, honor, and material wealth. We get caught up in fear about what is going to happen to us when we die—who will come for us, who will punish us, and what will our punishment be?
At the end of the stanza, we are reminded of our seemingly primal fear of death. How do we come out of it? We can come out of it through feeling the grace of the Wisdom (Guru). If we feel the grace of the Wisdom, we will always find comfort. If we feel the grace, we know what the truthful or eternal deed is and practice truth. We attach a loving connection with the eternal One. Religious and cultural traditions that divide time, space, and existence according to ‘auspiciousness’ or ‘inauspiciousness’ create and feed a kind of wandering. These things take us away from connecting with the One. We become entangled in our egos and are steeped in pain because our trust and centering are not on the One. Those who are Wisdom-oriented do not worry about any of this. They do not worry about punishment or temporariness or death and its messengers. The urging for all of us is to remain connected to the One. This is the deed worth doing! Will we become Wisdom-oriented instead of mind-centered? Will we stop our wandering? Will we lovingly attach ourselves to the One?
Recite the Treasure of virtues within the heart. This alone is the rosary. Guru Amardas reminds us that almost all of us are self-centered and disoriented in our ignorance. Instead of practicing devotion to IkOankar (One Creative and Pervasive Force, 1Force, the One), we entangle ourselves in Maya (the attachment to transient things and relationships). We are engrossed in other loves, duality, and things that cause us to forget the One. And we suffer due to this forgetfulness, our obsession with the temporary. We become caught up in fear of death and fear of losing what we have—reputation, honor, and material wealth. We get caught up in fear about what is going to happen to us when we die—who will come for us, who will punish us, and what will our punishment be?
At the end of the stanza, we are reminded of our seemingly primal fear of death. How do we come out of it? We can come out of it through feeling the grace of the Wisdom (Guru). If we feel the grace of the Wisdom, we will always find comfort. If we feel the grace, we know what the truthful or eternal deed is and practice truth. We attach a loving connection with the eternal One. Religious and cultural traditions that divide time, space, and existence according to ‘auspiciousness’ or ‘inauspiciousness’ create and feed a kind of wandering. These things take us away from connecting with the One. We become entangled in our egos and are steeped in pain because our trust and centering are not on the One. Those who are Wisdom-oriented do not worry about any of this. They do not worry about punishment or temporariness or death and its messengers. The urging for all of us is to remain connected to the One. This is the deed worth doing! Will we become Wisdom-oriented instead of mind-centered? Will we stop our wandering? Will we lovingly attach ourselves to the One?
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