Dear Khalsa Ji,
In this post I share with you my understanding of the 1st Pauri of the 4th Ashtapadee of Sukhmani Sahib.
In the Shalok preceding this Ashtapadee Guru Sahib has asked his Sikhs to always have the remembrance of ‘The Sat’ who has created us. In this Ashtapadee, Guru Sahib elaborates on this aspect.
In this Pauri Guru Sahib draw the attentions of his audience to all that ‘The Sat’ has done for them. This, as I understand, Guru Sahib is asking to drive the truth into the minds of the people in his audience, to help them to get over their sense of ‘I-ness’ i.e. ‘Ahamkara’.
1. rmeIAw ky gun cyiq prwnI ] rama-ee-aa kay gun chayt paraanee.
O’ Being, recollect the attribute of ‘The Sat’.
2. kvn mUl qy kvn idRstwnI ] kavan mool tay kavan daristaanee.
From which source they have come and how they got this form (human)?
My Understanding:
Guru Sahib asks the individuals in his audience to focus their thought process on the attributes of ‘The Sat’.
Guru Sahib starts from gross level. Guru Sahib asks them to think of the source from where they have come and how they got this form. Naturally, the individuals, pondering over this question will realize that they are not the force behind their taking birth in human form. The source of their birth in this form is other than the individuals themselves. Guru Sahib tells that the individual is only an effect of the entity behind their birth; the individuals have no role to play. This way Guru Sahib prepares them to appreciate better what he is going to ask them as he gets into details.
3. ijin qUM swij svwir sIgwirAw ] jin tooN saaj savaar seegaari-aa.
Who is the entity that organized your body and equipped it functionally?
4. grB Agin mih ijnih aubwirAw ] garabh agan meh jineh ubaari-aa.
Who is the entity that enabled your development in the womb?
My Understanding:
Again Guru Sahib is making his audience think as to how the process of development within the womb got organized to create the baby in the form it is born and what ensured that all the organs developed in proper manner in proper place in the body and at proper time which enabled the individual to be what she or he is now. This conveys that the individual had no role to play in this process.
One can say that the birth is the result of natural processes. In my understanding these processes are tools of ‘The Sat’, because I perceive ‘The Sat’ as ‘Cosmic Intelligence’. It is intelligence that creates systems; it is the ‘Cosmic Intelligence’ that has created natural processes. Natural processes are subordinate to the ‘Cosmic Intelligence’ that is ‘The Sat’- the Fundamental, Absolute entity.
5. bwr ibvsQw quJih ipAwrY dUD ] baar bivasthaa tujheh pi-aarai dooDh.
On being born, the nourishment as milk is provided.
6. Bir jobn Bojn suK sUD ] bhar joban bhojan sukh sooDh.
As one grows to youth hood, food is provided, joy of living and intelligence grows.
7. ibriD BieAw aUpir swk sYn ] muiK AipAwau bYT kau dYn ] biraDh bha-i-aa oopar saak sain. mukh api-aa-o baith ka-o dain.
When the person becomes old, family and friends are there to feed as one rests.
My Understanding:
Guru Sahib in these two sentences draws the attention of his Sikhs to a very important aspect which I discuss below:
In the womb the developing fetus was part of the mother; it was getting the nourishment through mother’s blood in a similar way as the mother’s body itself was getting with the grace of ‘The Sat’. Once the baby comes to this world there is no organic or nervous link between the mother and the baby, yet the mother’s body knows that the new born needs nourishment outside the womb also and of a different kind. The mother feeds the baby with her milk. How the mother’s body knows exactly the need of nourishment of the baby, which is no longer her organic part, is the point to ponder over. Some agency other than mother or her baby has done this to support life. As Guru Sahib says in the first sentence mentioned above, ‘The Sat’ is the cause that ensured that the baby outside the womb also gets the needed nourishment through the mother. Guru Sahib wants his audience to realize that they grow only because at the source ‘The Sat’ is caring for them, for this we all must be grateful to ‘The Sat’.
As the baby grows, the type of nourishment needed changes. This too ‘The Sat’ has provided in the nature of the individual to consume. ‘The Sat’ provides in the world all that is the basis for living a life full of joy. As the baby grows into an adult, the brain too develops. This developed brain creates the necessary mental capabilities that provide the potential to understand all that we call creation and living. Individual is incapable of doing all this on its own. Some agency was at work to give the individual this potential. Guru Sahib makes it clear that this agency is ‘The Sat’. But for ‘The Sat’ giving us this potential we will not be what we are. It is necessary for us to keep remembering our source ‘The Sat’ who has made us what we are.
As the old age comes and one is not able to provide for oneself, the children of the person and the friends help the person. This happens because the individual who is old now has cared for them earlier and this the family and friends remember. ‘The Sat has cared for us all along, from the beginning of ones life till the end. This way Guru Sahib tells that we should remember our source that has cared for us all along.
8. iehu inrgunu gunu kCU n bUJY ] ih nirgun gun kachhoo na boojhai.
This the individuals devoid of virtues do not realize.
9. bKis lyhu qau nwnk sIJY ]1] bakhas layho ta-o naanak seejhai. ||1||
Only if ‘The Sat’ forgives them, O’Nanak, then only they will be saved.
My Understanding:
Guru Sahib says that as the individual grows, the ‘I-ness’ takes roots in the individual’s being. The individual then fail to see beyond her or his ‘I-ness’. Though, what the individual is, is because of ‘The Sat’, the person consider herself or himself as a self made entity, the individual detaches itself from the source. The individual’s condition in this world (Samsara) becomes similar to that of a kite in the sky that gets detached from its thread (source). Guru Sahib is referring to such individuals, only if ‘The Sat’ forgive them then only they can be saved.
In this Pauri Guru Sahib, using the various stages of physical growth of the individual has emphasized to his followers to keep ‘The Sat’ in their remembrance and be grateful for all that ‘The Sat’ has done for them to grow physically and mentally.
With this I close the post.
With love and respect for all.
Amarpal Singh
In this post I share with you my understanding of the 1st Pauri of the 4th Ashtapadee of Sukhmani Sahib.
In the Shalok preceding this Ashtapadee Guru Sahib has asked his Sikhs to always have the remembrance of ‘The Sat’ who has created us. In this Ashtapadee, Guru Sahib elaborates on this aspect.
In this Pauri Guru Sahib draw the attentions of his audience to all that ‘The Sat’ has done for them. This, as I understand, Guru Sahib is asking to drive the truth into the minds of the people in his audience, to help them to get over their sense of ‘I-ness’ i.e. ‘Ahamkara’.
1. rmeIAw ky gun cyiq prwnI ] rama-ee-aa kay gun chayt paraanee.
O’ Being, recollect the attribute of ‘The Sat’.
2. kvn mUl qy kvn idRstwnI ] kavan mool tay kavan daristaanee.
From which source they have come and how they got this form (human)?
My Understanding:
Guru Sahib asks the individuals in his audience to focus their thought process on the attributes of ‘The Sat’.
Guru Sahib starts from gross level. Guru Sahib asks them to think of the source from where they have come and how they got this form. Naturally, the individuals, pondering over this question will realize that they are not the force behind their taking birth in human form. The source of their birth in this form is other than the individuals themselves. Guru Sahib tells that the individual is only an effect of the entity behind their birth; the individuals have no role to play. This way Guru Sahib prepares them to appreciate better what he is going to ask them as he gets into details.
3. ijin qUM swij svwir sIgwirAw ] jin tooN saaj savaar seegaari-aa.
Who is the entity that organized your body and equipped it functionally?
4. grB Agin mih ijnih aubwirAw ] garabh agan meh jineh ubaari-aa.
Who is the entity that enabled your development in the womb?
My Understanding:
Again Guru Sahib is making his audience think as to how the process of development within the womb got organized to create the baby in the form it is born and what ensured that all the organs developed in proper manner in proper place in the body and at proper time which enabled the individual to be what she or he is now. This conveys that the individual had no role to play in this process.
One can say that the birth is the result of natural processes. In my understanding these processes are tools of ‘The Sat’, because I perceive ‘The Sat’ as ‘Cosmic Intelligence’. It is intelligence that creates systems; it is the ‘Cosmic Intelligence’ that has created natural processes. Natural processes are subordinate to the ‘Cosmic Intelligence’ that is ‘The Sat’- the Fundamental, Absolute entity.
5. bwr ibvsQw quJih ipAwrY dUD ] baar bivasthaa tujheh pi-aarai dooDh.
On being born, the nourishment as milk is provided.
6. Bir jobn Bojn suK sUD ] bhar joban bhojan sukh sooDh.
As one grows to youth hood, food is provided, joy of living and intelligence grows.
7. ibriD BieAw aUpir swk sYn ] muiK AipAwau bYT kau dYn ] biraDh bha-i-aa oopar saak sain. mukh api-aa-o baith ka-o dain.
When the person becomes old, family and friends are there to feed as one rests.
My Understanding:
Guru Sahib in these two sentences draws the attention of his Sikhs to a very important aspect which I discuss below:
In the womb the developing fetus was part of the mother; it was getting the nourishment through mother’s blood in a similar way as the mother’s body itself was getting with the grace of ‘The Sat’. Once the baby comes to this world there is no organic or nervous link between the mother and the baby, yet the mother’s body knows that the new born needs nourishment outside the womb also and of a different kind. The mother feeds the baby with her milk. How the mother’s body knows exactly the need of nourishment of the baby, which is no longer her organic part, is the point to ponder over. Some agency other than mother or her baby has done this to support life. As Guru Sahib says in the first sentence mentioned above, ‘The Sat’ is the cause that ensured that the baby outside the womb also gets the needed nourishment through the mother. Guru Sahib wants his audience to realize that they grow only because at the source ‘The Sat’ is caring for them, for this we all must be grateful to ‘The Sat’.
As the baby grows, the type of nourishment needed changes. This too ‘The Sat’ has provided in the nature of the individual to consume. ‘The Sat’ provides in the world all that is the basis for living a life full of joy. As the baby grows into an adult, the brain too develops. This developed brain creates the necessary mental capabilities that provide the potential to understand all that we call creation and living. Individual is incapable of doing all this on its own. Some agency was at work to give the individual this potential. Guru Sahib makes it clear that this agency is ‘The Sat’. But for ‘The Sat’ giving us this potential we will not be what we are. It is necessary for us to keep remembering our source ‘The Sat’ who has made us what we are.
As the old age comes and one is not able to provide for oneself, the children of the person and the friends help the person. This happens because the individual who is old now has cared for them earlier and this the family and friends remember. ‘The Sat has cared for us all along, from the beginning of ones life till the end. This way Guru Sahib tells that we should remember our source that has cared for us all along.
8. iehu inrgunu gunu kCU n bUJY ] ih nirgun gun kachhoo na boojhai.
This the individuals devoid of virtues do not realize.
9. bKis lyhu qau nwnk sIJY ]1] bakhas layho ta-o naanak seejhai. ||1||
Only if ‘The Sat’ forgives them, O’Nanak, then only they will be saved.
My Understanding:
Guru Sahib says that as the individual grows, the ‘I-ness’ takes roots in the individual’s being. The individual then fail to see beyond her or his ‘I-ness’. Though, what the individual is, is because of ‘The Sat’, the person consider herself or himself as a self made entity, the individual detaches itself from the source. The individual’s condition in this world (Samsara) becomes similar to that of a kite in the sky that gets detached from its thread (source). Guru Sahib is referring to such individuals, only if ‘The Sat’ forgive them then only they can be saved.
In this Pauri Guru Sahib, using the various stages of physical growth of the individual has emphasized to his followers to keep ‘The Sat’ in their remembrance and be grateful for all that ‘The Sat’ has done for them to grow physically and mentally.
With this I close the post.
With love and respect for all.
Amarpal Singh
