Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki fateh.
Our Paavan Satgurus chose the medium of KAVITA ( POETRY) to write Ilahi Gurbani...because in many ways POETRY is a much better medium to express one's thoughts than VAARTAK ( Essay type of Composition)
Also poetry gives the writer something called "poetic License" to express ideas in alangkaars, mystical flavours, use similies and metaphors, use "exaggerations" etc etc...something whcich is not alolowed in dramatic or other forms of writing. The heights to which apoet can fly are always higher than any other writing style... Guur Ji have made Gurbani "interesting", in many ways...Gurbani is to be "memorised by heart", Gurbani is meant to be "lessons of life", Gurbani is meant to be "instructive, constructive" as well as Enjoyable to read for hours on end.
The most important thing about GURBANI is however that it is Never meant to be LITERALLY INTERPRETED...that is Word for Word interpretation..
Example:
When Satguur Ji says: Sir Dhar tali gali meri aao...YOU are NOT expected to PHYSICALLY cut off your HEAD, Place it on Your PALM and walk towards the GURU JI.... The intended meaning is : GIVE UP YOUR MANMATT ( your HEAD ) If you want to Walk my Path ( Accept GURUMATT)
Many beleive that the Original PANJ PIYARE literally Gave their HEADS. ( Physically CUT Off by GURU JI and then REJOINED BY GURU JI ) I will NOT go into that part of History as I also beleive in GURU KIAN GURU JANEH...BUT I will Hold on to my Solid Belief that OUR BELOVED SATGURU, GURU GOBIND SINGH JI GAVE us, the KHALSA 100% of WHATEVER HE HAD.... WE the KHALSA are HIS KHAAS ROOP, We the KHALSA are property of WAHEGURU just as GURU JI is the Sut Tohe NIVAJA Son of Waheguru...The KHALSA today is 100% GURU GOBIND SINGH JI...THEN WHY may I ask are we SIKHS not expected to get our heads PHYSICALLY REMOVED at Amrit Sanchaar. Literally hundreds of thousands of Amrti sanchaars have taken place all around the World since Vasakhi 1699..has there been even one case of a Sikh's HEAD BEING "PHYSICALLY CUT OFF" and then REJOINED to his Body after Amrit. IF we say THAT was GURU GOBIND SINGH JI and THIS is the Modern KHALSA..then we are not being TRUE KHALSA as GURU JI has Given us HIS ALL - He has NOT kept anything however small BACK .
WHY do I say this. Look at our History..GURU NANAK ji showed the way ( by refusing to treat the Gurgadhi as a personal property ) and GURU Angad Ji followed suit. GURU ARJUN JI showed us the way by sitting Calmly and Peacefully In Bhaaana on a Hot plate, Boiled alive...and Sikhs like Bhai Dyala got boiled alive in Bhaana .. sitting calmly and peacefully in a pot of boiling water reciting Japji, Bhai Mati dass ji got sawed alive in TWO calm and peaceful serenly reciting Japji....Bhai Sati dass gets Burned ALIVE reciting Japji without a single word of anger or maiyuusee on his lips... Guur Teg Bahadur Ji sat in Chnadni Chowk and gave His Head for Freedom of religion....literally hundreds of thousands of SIKHS did exactly the SAME, in the SAME unflinching manner.... Guur Gobind Singh ji happily sacrificed His FOUR SONS....Baba banda Singh ji followed suit by happily swallowing the beating heart of his infant son reciting Japji...Bhai mani Singh had his limbs cut joint by joint...even reminding the jalaad to do his job properly..The Chhoteh Sahibzadeh showed the way and Five Year Old Harkirat Singh followeed suit..jumping for JOY at Shahedeee and even telling his mother off for trying to "save him".. THAT is mY POINT. Our SATGURUS loved us so much that they MADE us LIKE THEM..our satguuru is the ONLY TRUE PARAS that makes us NOT "GOLD" BUT another PARAS like Himself.
Now we proceed to the main topic of this mail... that is why GURBANI should NOT be literally translated.
The Word Charandhoor has been mentioned many many times in Gurbani....and the FAKE SANTS ( those of you heavily into SANTISM...will groan and say..there he goes again sant bashing....sant hater...mahamoorakh.... BUT please bear with me and read through before making up your mind )..have grabbed hold of these TUKS to translate that Charandhoor is LITERAL DUST of their FEET that the sangat MUST EAT/SWALLOW for Salvation. I just received a sealed plastic package from a famous Sant dera that contains" Holy Charan Dhoor" which on being put in water and drunk will remove all my diseases, make me successful etc. This comes Hot on the heels of the HOLY MUD packages that people took home from the MUD that was cleaned out of harmandir sahib Sarovar during Kaar sewa some time ago. Devout Gursikhs keep thsoe plastic packages of "holy mud" wrapped under RUMALLAHS and treat it with reverence as it came from the House of Guru Raamdass.
And then I came across a picture of Harmandir sahib and I saw a Signboard placed prominently at Har Ki pauri which says: Amrit ke chuli Parranh door hatke lao ji.... and I also saw the photo of a BERI TREE that is supposed to REMOVE all "DUKH" ( Dukh Bhanjani Beri).... Never mind that all this while I thought that GURBANI is theat which is supposed to REMOVE DUKH and not trees.... and AMRIT is GURBANI and not water in a sarovar ( that needs to be CLEANED periodically which DIRECTLY CLASHES with the meaning of AMRIT - soemthing that is ever clean and pure and never needs cleaning but cleans !!! ) Never mind never mind....thats the way things are.
Back to Charandhoor. Lets see what GURBANI says. Charandhoor is the ULTIMATE "description" of HUMILITY. That is the meaning Satguru Ji want to give us. Satgur Ji says: Kar ishnaan simar prabh aapna, Mann TANN bhaiyeh AAROGA (611). Guur Ji is very very clear - Physical Bathing is to Clean the TANN ( for a Healthy body) and SIMRAN is for the healthy MANN. How can anyone in his right mind advocate "drinking water polluted with Charandhoor...dust...bodily gand mand.." and say that is HEALTHY. but it is a FACT that many many SANTS give such water - Body bath water, water from washed kachherras, water they have dipped their feet in.. to their chelas..FOR SPIRITUAL CLEANLINESS !!! In the New tetament JESUS is shown WASHING the FEET of his disciples... as a sign of HUMILITY and humbleness...BUT he doesnt DRINK that water !!! The SANTS are mixing their JHOOTH into Langgars for the sangat...and people are happy to lap it all up..when an AMRITDHAREE is ORDERED NOT to take the JHOOTh of ANY ONE ELSE..no matter HOW HOLY !!!
Mann jhooth hai, Tann jhooth hai, jihba jhoothee hoi, MUKH JHoothe JHHOOTH bolana, kio kar soocha hoi ??BIN abh SHABAD na manjeeyeh... Sacheh te sach hoi. (55) Our Mann is JHOOTHa, tan is Jhootha Mann is jhootha because it is full of VIKAAR, the tann is jhootha because we use it ot tell lies ( jeebh tongue), hands to steal , eyes to look at others property, lust after it, legs to walk towards kaam situations bad places, etc. so HOW do we CLEAN all this RUBBISH out? Guur Ji says only SHABAD can wash us CLEAN.... So do we beleive in SHABAD or.... drink water given by so and so as "holy" ???
Here is another example of Humility shown By saguru Ji: Mein badhi sach dharanmsal hai, gursikhaan laendhaah bhaal Ke, PAER DHOVAAN, PAKHA FERDAAN. TIS niv niv lagaan pai jeeo .( 73) IS this to be taken literally... do we expect SATGURU JI to wash our feet, serve us hand and foot ?? Satguru Ji also calls Himslef NEECh, KOOKAR, NIMANA, PAAPII, MOORAKH, KEET etc.. Are we to tehn say YES GURU JI IS all that ?? NO of course NOt. Every Sikh Knows that SATGURU JI is Mahaan, the Ocean of GYAN, the Ganga of humility, calm, peace, all things Good and Pure The Sun of Akaash ganga..BUT in His HEART SATGURU JI is so humble that he is the slave of the Sangat !!! Gursikhs who are ever ready to give their life blood if Satguur Ji even asks us for our SWEAT..WILL NEVER in their wildest dreams even think of asking SATGURU JI to do "sewa" of washing our feet, pakhaan ferean !!! is that imaginable?? Bhai lehna Ji once accidentally ( before he knew Guur nanak ji) sat on his horse and let GURU NANAK ji walk before him holding the reins of his horse...BUT when he found out who had held his horse and walked before him while he rode..Bhai lehna Ji was full of REMORSE at the ghor paap he had unwittingly committed. Can any Gursikh "knowingly" committ such a paap even though satguur Ji is humble enough to serve him .
Our satguur Ji's took on 10 jamaas, served humanity selflessly for 250 years, did such KAARNAMEH that even today are shining examples - model villages, towns, baolis, khoos, sarovars, schools... AND best of all the SHINING PATH oferred by GURBANI...but sadly Sikhs today have taken the village footpath of "charandhoor", charanpahul, Jall amrit, sarovar amrit, kumbh jall, chubacha amrit etc way of BHARAM and Naash of Jeewan instead of Jeewan muktee given BY GURBANI. Satguur Ji declares fearlessly: Nanak AMRIT EK HAI...DOOJAH AMRIT NAHEHN ( 1238)....There is ONLY ONE AMRIT and NO OTHER. This One and ONLY AMRIT is GURBANI-NAAM-....
Our Paavan Satgurus chose the medium of KAVITA ( POETRY) to write Ilahi Gurbani...because in many ways POETRY is a much better medium to express one's thoughts than VAARTAK ( Essay type of Composition)
Also poetry gives the writer something called "poetic License" to express ideas in alangkaars, mystical flavours, use similies and metaphors, use "exaggerations" etc etc...something whcich is not alolowed in dramatic or other forms of writing. The heights to which apoet can fly are always higher than any other writing style... Guur Ji have made Gurbani "interesting", in many ways...Gurbani is to be "memorised by heart", Gurbani is meant to be "lessons of life", Gurbani is meant to be "instructive, constructive" as well as Enjoyable to read for hours on end.
The most important thing about GURBANI is however that it is Never meant to be LITERALLY INTERPRETED...that is Word for Word interpretation..
Example:
When Satguur Ji says: Sir Dhar tali gali meri aao...YOU are NOT expected to PHYSICALLY cut off your HEAD, Place it on Your PALM and walk towards the GURU JI.... The intended meaning is : GIVE UP YOUR MANMATT ( your HEAD ) If you want to Walk my Path ( Accept GURUMATT)
Many beleive that the Original PANJ PIYARE literally Gave their HEADS. ( Physically CUT Off by GURU JI and then REJOINED BY GURU JI ) I will NOT go into that part of History as I also beleive in GURU KIAN GURU JANEH...BUT I will Hold on to my Solid Belief that OUR BELOVED SATGURU, GURU GOBIND SINGH JI GAVE us, the KHALSA 100% of WHATEVER HE HAD.... WE the KHALSA are HIS KHAAS ROOP, We the KHALSA are property of WAHEGURU just as GURU JI is the Sut Tohe NIVAJA Son of Waheguru...The KHALSA today is 100% GURU GOBIND SINGH JI...THEN WHY may I ask are we SIKHS not expected to get our heads PHYSICALLY REMOVED at Amrit Sanchaar. Literally hundreds of thousands of Amrti sanchaars have taken place all around the World since Vasakhi 1699..has there been even one case of a Sikh's HEAD BEING "PHYSICALLY CUT OFF" and then REJOINED to his Body after Amrit. IF we say THAT was GURU GOBIND SINGH JI and THIS is the Modern KHALSA..then we are not being TRUE KHALSA as GURU JI has Given us HIS ALL - He has NOT kept anything however small BACK .
WHY do I say this. Look at our History..GURU NANAK ji showed the way ( by refusing to treat the Gurgadhi as a personal property ) and GURU Angad Ji followed suit. GURU ARJUN JI showed us the way by sitting Calmly and Peacefully In Bhaaana on a Hot plate, Boiled alive...and Sikhs like Bhai Dyala got boiled alive in Bhaana .. sitting calmly and peacefully in a pot of boiling water reciting Japji, Bhai Mati dass ji got sawed alive in TWO calm and peaceful serenly reciting Japji....Bhai Sati dass gets Burned ALIVE reciting Japji without a single word of anger or maiyuusee on his lips... Guur Teg Bahadur Ji sat in Chnadni Chowk and gave His Head for Freedom of religion....literally hundreds of thousands of SIKHS did exactly the SAME, in the SAME unflinching manner.... Guur Gobind Singh ji happily sacrificed His FOUR SONS....Baba banda Singh ji followed suit by happily swallowing the beating heart of his infant son reciting Japji...Bhai mani Singh had his limbs cut joint by joint...even reminding the jalaad to do his job properly..The Chhoteh Sahibzadeh showed the way and Five Year Old Harkirat Singh followeed suit..jumping for JOY at Shahedeee and even telling his mother off for trying to "save him".. THAT is mY POINT. Our SATGURUS loved us so much that they MADE us LIKE THEM..our satguuru is the ONLY TRUE PARAS that makes us NOT "GOLD" BUT another PARAS like Himself.
Now we proceed to the main topic of this mail... that is why GURBANI should NOT be literally translated.
The Word Charandhoor has been mentioned many many times in Gurbani....and the FAKE SANTS ( those of you heavily into SANTISM...will groan and say..there he goes again sant bashing....sant hater...mahamoorakh.... BUT please bear with me and read through before making up your mind )..have grabbed hold of these TUKS to translate that Charandhoor is LITERAL DUST of their FEET that the sangat MUST EAT/SWALLOW for Salvation. I just received a sealed plastic package from a famous Sant dera that contains" Holy Charan Dhoor" which on being put in water and drunk will remove all my diseases, make me successful etc. This comes Hot on the heels of the HOLY MUD packages that people took home from the MUD that was cleaned out of harmandir sahib Sarovar during Kaar sewa some time ago. Devout Gursikhs keep thsoe plastic packages of "holy mud" wrapped under RUMALLAHS and treat it with reverence as it came from the House of Guru Raamdass.
And then I came across a picture of Harmandir sahib and I saw a Signboard placed prominently at Har Ki pauri which says: Amrit ke chuli Parranh door hatke lao ji.... and I also saw the photo of a BERI TREE that is supposed to REMOVE all "DUKH" ( Dukh Bhanjani Beri).... Never mind that all this while I thought that GURBANI is theat which is supposed to REMOVE DUKH and not trees.... and AMRIT is GURBANI and not water in a sarovar ( that needs to be CLEANED periodically which DIRECTLY CLASHES with the meaning of AMRIT - soemthing that is ever clean and pure and never needs cleaning but cleans !!! ) Never mind never mind....thats the way things are.
Back to Charandhoor. Lets see what GURBANI says. Charandhoor is the ULTIMATE "description" of HUMILITY. That is the meaning Satguru Ji want to give us. Satgur Ji says: Kar ishnaan simar prabh aapna, Mann TANN bhaiyeh AAROGA (611). Guur Ji is very very clear - Physical Bathing is to Clean the TANN ( for a Healthy body) and SIMRAN is for the healthy MANN. How can anyone in his right mind advocate "drinking water polluted with Charandhoor...dust...bodily gand mand.." and say that is HEALTHY. but it is a FACT that many many SANTS give such water - Body bath water, water from washed kachherras, water they have dipped their feet in.. to their chelas..FOR SPIRITUAL CLEANLINESS !!! In the New tetament JESUS is shown WASHING the FEET of his disciples... as a sign of HUMILITY and humbleness...BUT he doesnt DRINK that water !!! The SANTS are mixing their JHOOTH into Langgars for the sangat...and people are happy to lap it all up..when an AMRITDHAREE is ORDERED NOT to take the JHOOTh of ANY ONE ELSE..no matter HOW HOLY !!!
Mann jhooth hai, Tann jhooth hai, jihba jhoothee hoi, MUKH JHoothe JHHOOTH bolana, kio kar soocha hoi ??BIN abh SHABAD na manjeeyeh... Sacheh te sach hoi. (55) Our Mann is JHOOTHa, tan is Jhootha Mann is jhootha because it is full of VIKAAR, the tann is jhootha because we use it ot tell lies ( jeebh tongue), hands to steal , eyes to look at others property, lust after it, legs to walk towards kaam situations bad places, etc. so HOW do we CLEAN all this RUBBISH out? Guur Ji says only SHABAD can wash us CLEAN.... So do we beleive in SHABAD or.... drink water given by so and so as "holy" ???
Here is another example of Humility shown By saguru Ji: Mein badhi sach dharanmsal hai, gursikhaan laendhaah bhaal Ke, PAER DHOVAAN, PAKHA FERDAAN. TIS niv niv lagaan pai jeeo .( 73) IS this to be taken literally... do we expect SATGURU JI to wash our feet, serve us hand and foot ?? Satguru Ji also calls Himslef NEECh, KOOKAR, NIMANA, PAAPII, MOORAKH, KEET etc.. Are we to tehn say YES GURU JI IS all that ?? NO of course NOt. Every Sikh Knows that SATGURU JI is Mahaan, the Ocean of GYAN, the Ganga of humility, calm, peace, all things Good and Pure The Sun of Akaash ganga..BUT in His HEART SATGURU JI is so humble that he is the slave of the Sangat !!! Gursikhs who are ever ready to give their life blood if Satguur Ji even asks us for our SWEAT..WILL NEVER in their wildest dreams even think of asking SATGURU JI to do "sewa" of washing our feet, pakhaan ferean !!! is that imaginable?? Bhai lehna Ji once accidentally ( before he knew Guur nanak ji) sat on his horse and let GURU NANAK ji walk before him holding the reins of his horse...BUT when he found out who had held his horse and walked before him while he rode..Bhai lehna Ji was full of REMORSE at the ghor paap he had unwittingly committed. Can any Gursikh "knowingly" committ such a paap even though satguur Ji is humble enough to serve him .
Our satguur Ji's took on 10 jamaas, served humanity selflessly for 250 years, did such KAARNAMEH that even today are shining examples - model villages, towns, baolis, khoos, sarovars, schools... AND best of all the SHINING PATH oferred by GURBANI...but sadly Sikhs today have taken the village footpath of "charandhoor", charanpahul, Jall amrit, sarovar amrit, kumbh jall, chubacha amrit etc way of BHARAM and Naash of Jeewan instead of Jeewan muktee given BY GURBANI. Satguur Ji declares fearlessly: Nanak AMRIT EK HAI...DOOJAH AMRIT NAHEHN ( 1238)....There is ONLY ONE AMRIT and NO OTHER. This One and ONLY AMRIT is GURBANI-NAAM-....
