sant janā viṇu bhāīā hari kinai na pāiā nāu.
vici haümai karam kamāvade jiu vesuā putu nināu.
pitā jāti tā hoīai guru tuṭhā kare pasāu.
vaḍbhāgī guru pāiā hari ahinisi lagā bhāu.
jan nānaki brahamu pachāṇiā hari kīrati karam kamāu.2.
mani hari hari lagā cāu.
guri pūrai nāmu driṛāiā hari miliā hari prabh nāu.1. rahāu.
-Guru Granth Sahib 82
In this stanza, both the greatness of the Wisdom (Guru) and the company of the truth-oriented beings have been described. Through the Wisdom, the Nam of IkOankar (the Divine) is received, and through Nam, union with IkOankar is experienced. One may become a child of the Divine only through the Wisdom and the company of truth-oriented beings.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
In the second stanza, Guru Ramdas says, The joy of Hari, of Hari, has welled up in my mind. The complete Wisdom has affirmed the Nam of Hari. The Nam of Hari, of Prabhu, has been received. Hari has been found. Nam is the Identification with IkOankar and much more. Hari is synonymous with IkOankar (One Creative and Pervasive Force, 1Force, the One) and can be understood as the 1-Light, the all-Pervasive, the Remover of Suffering, and the Fear-Eliminator. Prabhu is another divine name that invokes the royalty and benevolence of IkOankar, whose nature is to fulfill the role of goodness and compassion. We may wonder: how do we receive the Nam of Hari? How did this happen for the Guru? The Guru tells us that it happens within the mind. A desire, an excitement, a habit was born in the mind, and it welled up. The imagery of welling up is important — this is not something that happens overnight or something that can be willed into happening. The joy of Hari, we learn, grows organically, slowly filling the mind. It may even happen without us noticing at first. This excitement comes from great fortune when we find the Wisdom and the company of truth-oriented beings. In this company, with the guidance of the Wisdom, an endless love for IkOankar wells in the mind and is undiminishable. With determination, one perfects their practice of Identifying with IkOankar. And it is with the affirmation of the complete Wisdom that we keep it.
The joy of Hari, of Hari has welled up in my mind. The Guru continues by reminding us that those who have found the Nam of the One are few and far between. Without the guidance of those with a relationship with the Wisdom, we will not be able to Identify with IkOankar ourselves. Those of us who earn our deeds in ego, without the company of the truth-oriented beings, who cannot extricate ourselves from our self-centeredness, remain devoid of Identification with IkOankar. We are unclaimed, unspoken for, without lineage or identity. We do not recognize the One from Whom we come. It was, and still is, widely believed that those who were unclaimed by their fathers were of inferior lineage. For those who were unclaimed by their father, their humanity was severely and unjustly diminished by society. This simile is not a value judgment on being of so-called “illegitimate birth,” instead, it is representative of a pre-existing and pervasive cultural norm as a means to relate the feeling of separation with lived experiences. The Guru ends by saying that if, through great fortune, we can be guided by the Wisdom and the company of truth-oriented beings. We will find that love for IkOankar has attached itself to us in every moment, day and night. It is through this that Guru Ramdas recognized the Supreme Being, IkOankar. It is in this recognition that the votary Guru Ramdas earns deeds of IkOankar’s praise — that we can all practice those deeds which themselves function as praise of IkOankar.
As humans, we constantly search for a sense of belonging, for identity. We are always looking to place others within a lineage of belonging. We ask about caste and last names, national origin, and family history to see what ‘tribes’ or ‘clans’ people belong to and who their fathers and ancestors are. But what would it look like to become “of the father” — of IkOankar, the Parent? We can find in the belonging of the Divine if the Wisdom graces us. We can become devoted children of IkOankar through the guidance of the Wisdom and the company of truth-oriented beings. Worldly identities are shed through the Wisdom, through Identification with the One. This is a potential we all have, and it happens through understanding IkOankar through a relationship with the Wisdom and through Identification with IkOankar. Will we experience that welling up in the mind? Will we develop excitement about experiencing IkOankar’s presence? Will we come to recognize the One, such that our every deed becomes praise of that One?
The joy of Hari, of Hari has welled up in my mind. The Guru continues by reminding us that those who have found the Nam of the One are few and far between. Without the guidance of those with a relationship with the Wisdom, we will not be able to Identify with IkOankar ourselves. Those of us who earn our deeds in ego, without the company of the truth-oriented beings, who cannot extricate ourselves from our self-centeredness, remain devoid of Identification with IkOankar. We are unclaimed, unspoken for, without lineage or identity. We do not recognize the One from Whom we come. It was, and still is, widely believed that those who were unclaimed by their fathers were of inferior lineage. For those who were unclaimed by their father, their humanity was severely and unjustly diminished by society. This simile is not a value judgment on being of so-called “illegitimate birth,” instead, it is representative of a pre-existing and pervasive cultural norm as a means to relate the feeling of separation with lived experiences. The Guru ends by saying that if, through great fortune, we can be guided by the Wisdom and the company of truth-oriented beings. We will find that love for IkOankar has attached itself to us in every moment, day and night. It is through this that Guru Ramdas recognized the Supreme Being, IkOankar. It is in this recognition that the votary Guru Ramdas earns deeds of IkOankar’s praise — that we can all practice those deeds which themselves function as praise of IkOankar.
As humans, we constantly search for a sense of belonging, for identity. We are always looking to place others within a lineage of belonging. We ask about caste and last names, national origin, and family history to see what ‘tribes’ or ‘clans’ people belong to and who their fathers and ancestors are. But what would it look like to become “of the father” — of IkOankar, the Parent? We can find in the belonging of the Divine if the Wisdom graces us. We can become devoted children of IkOankar through the guidance of the Wisdom and the company of truth-oriented beings. Worldly identities are shed through the Wisdom, through Identification with the One. This is a potential we all have, and it happens through understanding IkOankar through a relationship with the Wisdom and through Identification with IkOankar. Will we experience that welling up in the mind? Will we develop excitement about experiencing IkOankar’s presence? Will we come to recognize the One, such that our every deed becomes praise of that One?
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