My understanding of 7th pauri
jy jug cwry Awrjw hor dsUxI hoie ]
If one lengthens life span by yoga to ages four, Or even succeeds in stretching the span by tenfold.
nvw KMfw ivic jwxIAY nwil clY sBu koie ]
And his fame in nine regions flows is followed ‘with homage’ wherever he goes.
cMgw nwau rKwie kY jsu kIriq jig lyie ]
Should he obtain such a great good name, which cause him universal honor and fame?jy iqsu ndir n AwveI q vwq n puCY ky ]
With all that, if he gets not God’s Grace, In ‘Aftermath’ none will own him or save,kItw AMdir kItu kir dosI dosu Dry ]
Lowly turned he, be known a worm among vermin, Shall be accused and condemned even by sinner, for all his sin.nwnk inrguix guxu kry guxvMiqAw guxu dy ]
Nanak! By His Grace blesses virtues to the non-virtuous, Bestows virtues on those who already pious.qyhw koie n suJeI ij iqsu guxu koie kry ]7]
(But) None to my mind comes virtuous so, As on the God can one excellence bestow.In order to become truthful, Guru Nanak in this stanza explains his audience the futility of Yogas and also basic aspiration of mankind. During the ministry of Guru Nanak, the Rajas and common people, all were under the spell of Yogis. Due to their occult powers the Yogis (Naths) had immense sway. They had long ages, more than two hundred years in some cases, and they performed miracles. They extended their ages with yoga and acquired the power to perform miracles. As such the high and low respected them. They frightened the people with miracles. Guru Nanak denounced them and preached seeking Grace of God. He said that a Yogi might acquire long age equivalent to the age of four Yugas, which runs into millions of years. Rather they can extend it further by ten times. Due to this they may have honor in the nine continents as leaders of the humanity.
He says yoga exercises do not lead to God realization, per se. Most of the time they result in an obsession with the body and its functions, because they are self-directed, without submission to the Guru. We may take another angle that people may earn name, fame and all round praise by becoming industrialist, great scientist, I.T. expert, Doctors, politician, Engineers etc. Guru Nanak says, yet they are rated low and insignificant without the Grace of God. They would be considered just ordinary worms. Gurbani reiterates with this verse, “jai seo chhandah ughvai sooraj chadai hazaar, eitai chanan hondia gur bin gor aandhar - if one possess hundred of skills and in return he gets hundreds of pleasure to satisfy his mind but even with such light, there would still be pitch darkness without the Spiritual Knowledge.” - Guru Granth ang.463.1.
He tells in this precious human life the aim is to unite with the Creator. If it is not achieved then accursed is the food, clothing, sleep and body itself. The egoistic way of living with pomp and show is hindrance to achieve this aim. It keeps the mind wandering and astray, rather than to concentrate on the remembrance of God the Almighty.” - Guru Granth ang.796.10.
What is today called as Nanak Matta, it is said was earlier called the Gorakh Matta. When Guru Nanak with Mardana and other reached in Gorakhmatta, yogis welcomed him and the chief yogi Lohari-Pa Nath offered him a rose. Mardana pointed out and enquired from Guru Ji whether yogis have changed their behaviors as earlier whenever they used to come to their place, yogis used to argue for hours, but now are offering rose with pleasure. Guru Nanak replied this flower is not offered as welcome, instead they have risen a question through it “that ‘yog mat’ is like a rose flower”. It has fragrance of Ridhi and Sidhi (magical techniques). It has beauty of worldly worship, fame and has softness of communion (Samadhi). And they are enquiring why until today I have not adopted ‘yog mat.’ Guru Nanak returned that flower back to yogis and said this flower is beautiful, soft and has fragrance, but he is not worshipper of that flower which does not yield fruit.
He said they were only after acquiring powers, with different yogic assans and meditations on some mantras and would get those powers too. But these will in no way connect them with the God. People thought that was perhaps the best achievement in human life, because they did not know that ultimate bliss is achieved by connecting with Naam and hence connects with God. Guru Nanak realized the truth through Naam. He humbly suggested them not to waste this blessed birth in mantras, worshipping of deities and yogic assans. He says these does not connect one with the God; hence the whole process is useless. It is only the Naam through which one will get united with God. He does not want Ridhi Sidhi, worshiping of world and fame. Guru Nanak is looking for fruit of Naam. He said, “Without the Naam, cursed is such spirituality, cursed is such miracles.”- Guru Granth ang.650.6. I consider root of life only Naam. Hence I do not require this flower, which does not have essence of Naam. Therefore he advised them to perform only those deeds, which yield Spiritual Knowledge, and told them any deeds, which have no relation with ‘dharam’, are hypocrisy.
In sixth line he reassures that sinners are not lost forever and, “keedhah thaaph dai patshahi – By His Grace a worm is appointed as king.” - Guru Granth ang.144-11. Likewise God can make a non-virtuous person to be virtuous. He bestows more and more blessings on the virtuous. But, Guru Nanak says, there is none in the universe who could conceive competence to possess such virtues to confer excellence upon God. In other words Guru Nanak is telling us that ‘the Absolute’ is the ultimate and not any Devi devta.
Guru Nanak’s concept of winning God’s pleasure is wide and all-inclusive. It is not restricted to spheres of human endeavor of a strictly religious nature, it impinges on every aspect of life and Guru Nanak believed that life could not be compartmentalized. Then Guru Nanak says “only one thing is of any account, which is His Holy Name; everything else is useless babbling and idle talk in ego.” - Guru Granth ang.467.15. Hence instead of ‘Yogas exercises’ for long age, name and fame we should concentrate on meditation on Name of God to ensure His Grace. He says there is no substitute for His Divine Grace.
Sandalwood tree is so good that Guru Nanak has compared it with Guru. It has three qualities: first it is humble (only 52” in height). Second unlike other flowers and fruits, it does not limit its fragrance within itself but imparts unto roots and branches of the tree that are the source of its fragrance. Third not only it imparts its fragrance to its branches and roots, it confers its fragrance to the trees nearby, no matter how bitter they are. In similar way the symbol of virtuous person is that he bestows his virtues to others. And in the world of Gurmat, it is virtues, which has importance.
Let me take the privileges to mention about other superstitions and hypocratic action, which are hindrance towards spirituality. The system of donation as one of the virtue was initiated by priestly class of that time, but at one time it inclined to such an extent that priestly class in addition to gold, land, horses, elephant started demanding donation of wife on golden bed which is referred in Gurbani this way, “Someone may give away horses, elephants, or women adorned with jewelry on their golden beds, or lands: he may give such gifts over and over again, but none of these is equal to the worship of God’s Name.” - Guru Granth ang.973.14. Guru Nanak didn’t agree with this type of donation and demand.
Thus a Sikh does not donate wealth, but offers. The difference between donation and offerings is, one is done with compassion whereas the other is with devotion. As per Sikh vision if someone appeals, then he appeal from God to donate virtues to those who do not have. In regular joint prayers a Sikh prays to possess “Sikhi Dan”, “Bharosa Dan”, Dana Seer Dan, “Naam Dan” (each Sikh may be given the strength to remain steadfast in his faith in Sikhism up to his last breath on this earth with his sacred hair and symbols unmolested (which our Guru himself possessed and demanded us to keep). These are the virtues, a Sikh prayer to possess. In similar manner Gurmat focuses on "anand", rather than "shanti". In fact, "shanti" can hardly be found. "Anand" means happiness and is central to Sikh teachings. All Sikh ceremonies closes with Anand Sahib - whether Daily Sukhasan, Akhand or Sehej Paaths, or Nitnem. "Happiness" is a positive state of activity with people working in harmony. "Shanti" or peace is simply the absence of conflict. But Gurbani tells us that conflict is inevitable as people have free will. They have to make choices and there is a conflict between Gurmat - Love-oriented choices, and munmat - self-centered choices. Then, of course, there are conflicts with choices others have made.
In the end, this stanza points out the worthlessness of name and fame divorced from devotion and Divine Grace. Guru Nanak says one without Naam, however, importance is no better than a crawling worm. How could one become a virtuous person or qualify His Grace? It is explained in the next set of stanzas No.8-15. (7).
Regards Sahni Mohinder
