Dear Khalsa Ji,
We have now reached the 6th Pauri of the 3rd Ashtapadee of Sukhmani Sahib. What I understand from it I share with you.
1. sgl purK mih purKu pRDwnu ] sagal purakh meh purakh parDhaan.
Among all the individuals, the individual is the first i.e. ahead or in the lead.
2. swDsMig jw kw imtY AiBmwnu ] saaDhsang jaa kaa mitai abhimaan.
Who is able to dissolve her or his ego i.e. ‘Ahamkara’.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib, in the earlier Pauris, that the individual should shed her or his ego. Guru Sahib has suggested that the company of spiritually evolved persons is the right environment to achieve this end. The same Guru Sahib has again repeated to emphasize the importance of doing so.
3. Awps kau jo jwxY nIcw ] aapas ka-o jo jaanai neechaa.
The person who considers herself or himself to be lower i.e. humbler compared to the others around.
4. soaU gnIAY sB qy aUcw ] so-oo ganee-ai sabh tay oochaa.
That person is counted to be the highest than others.
My understanding:
Here the word ‘Neechaa’ needs to be understood. Literally it means low. Here it does not mean that this person is a repository of all the evil and vices and what one ethically and morally considers bad. There is no sense of deliberate personal debasement; this person has shed its ego. This person is now free from likes and dislikes, attraction and aversion. This person sees the truth as it is. This person is mission oriented. Birth in human form has given this individual an opportunity to become and instrument of the will of ‘The Sat’. This person lives in ‘Hukam’. For this mission of life this person does what right and truthful in a given situation. For example, for the mission – ‘Sewa’ – the person sweeps the floor of ‘Harmandar Sahib’ when needed, serves in langar when needed, does the sewa of shoes of the devotees when needed, and even cleans the filth, if any, when needed. All this the person does with the same sense of purpose and dedication; no work is lowly or superior for this person. Such dualities have got totally dissolved in the mind of this person. In short Guru Sahib is telling his Sikhs that this person has no sense of superiority complex. Such person will never say that women are not eligible to certain kinds of Sewa in Harmandar Sahib; saying so will amount to calling some one else i.e. women ‘Neechaa’ and by implication calling oneself (men) as ‘Uchaa’ i.e. higher or superior. This goes straight against the teaching of this sentence of Siri Guru Granth Sahib. Sikhs cannot and should not do this; it is a un-Sikh-like act. Here the word ‘Neechaa’ is to be taken to mean that the individual has on sense of superiority. The best example of this comes from the life of Guru Amardas Ji. When Siri Chand (son of Siri Guru Nanak Dev Ji) came to meet Guru Amardas Ji, he asked Guru Sahib why he is keeping this long beard. Guru Sahib replies to brush the dust off the feet of great individuals like you and moved closer to Siri Chand to do so. Siri Chand stepped back and requested Guru Sahib not to do so. Here you see Guru Sahib considered himself lower than the guest who has come to see him. Here Guru Sahib has lived the preaching of this sentence. This is part of Sikh culture. We all know that the level at which Siri Guru Granth Sahib is kept in Harmandar Sahib is much lower than the entrance from where the devotee enters the Harmandar Sahib complex. This was done deliberately by Guru Sahib. It is to convey that even divine should consider herself or himself ‘Neechaa’. This way, Guru Sahib has institutionalized this trait of humility which should be the trait of each and every Sikh. This way all that Guru Sahibs have done reflect the teachings of Sikhi, which now stands enshrined in the text of Siri Guru Granth Sahib. The being of every Sikh should reflect the same.
In the second sentence Guru Sahib has said that the person whose being is humble, who has no sense of superiority, who has shed her or his ‘Ahamkara’ i.e. ego, is in fact the highest.
5. jw kw mnu hoie sgl kI rInw ] jaa kaa man ho-ay sagal kee reenaa.
The one whose mind is dust of all.
6. hir hir nwmu iqin Git Git cInw ] har har naam tin ghat ghat cheenaa.
Har, Har ‘Naam’ is in every minute entity of such person.
My understanding:
Again, in these two sentences there is no element of self debasement. We have to understand the term ‘dust’ here; it is not to be taken literally.
Just visualize how dust is formed. The rock is subjected to the impact of weather over a long period of time. The alternate heat and bitter cold causes its fragmentation. The rocks are subjected to mechanical erosion by strong winds. The water flowing over the rocks leaches away the dissolvable chemicals. The pores so left get filled with water. The trapped water in pores and crevices freezes as the temperature drops below zero degree C. The ice occupies more volume than liquid water. As the ice expands during the process of freezing it exerts pressure on the pore and crevices of the rock. This cause rocks to crack and fragment. The small fragments are dragged by the flowing water into stream where they roll at the bottom of the stream by the force of water stream roll are get ground. The fine particles that get detached from the stones; these fine particles we call dust. One can imagine the amount of work that the nature does to produce these small particles which are collectively called dust. We all can see what great and varied experience is ingrained in these particles. Guru Sahib is pointing to something similar for us too.
Guru Sahib has used the word dust; it is a metaphor. The term here is not to be considered as the physical dust, which some of the orthodox Sadhus following some of the ancient scripture of the land smear over themselves.
Let us take the above analogy of rock and dust. The rock is our lives and the dust is small pieces of wisdom that we acquire from our experiences in life – both good and bad in spiritual and material domains. I elaborate it below.
We human live our lives. As we progress we encounter problems and difficulties and successes of different kinds. We learn to negotiate them as the rock has to cope with the on slaughter of the harsh weather. Each experience is training for us, only if we learn the truth behind it. The associated wisdom dawns on the concerned individual, when she or he has learnt the truth behind the experience. To see the events in their true perspective one needs pure mind that gives undistorted view or learning, this comes through efforts mental discipline and training. The riggers of this training are similar to the difficult process that the rock undergoes to become a dust particle. Each dust particle here means an experience in life and the wisdom that one acquires by understanding the truth behind it.
The word ‘Sagal’ here means the entire creation of ‘The Sat’ and not just the people around us. ‘Sagal kee reenaa’ here means the entire truth behind the creation of ‘The Sat’, which is ‘The Sat’ itself.
As nature has to work a lot to produce the physical dust, we too have to work a lot to purify our mind to look for the truth behind all that we experience in life and beyond. Each small experience and the wisdom coming from the lessons learned from it with pure mind is the elementary dust particle Guru Sahib is referring to.
According to my understanding, there is another reason why Guru Sahib has used the analogy of dust. We all know that the dust on its own cannot create a structure. Similarly, the sum total of wisdom (dust particles) that comes from the experiences in life, which provide the true perspective of the creation (sagal) to a pure mind, should not create any structure. What this structure can be? It is the ‘Ahamkara’ that the mind feeling proud of the acquired wisdom can create. Guru Sahib has very aptly called it as dust. The dust also coveys the humble nature, as it settles at the lowest place around; Guru Sahib has used the word ‘Neechaa’ in the earlier sentence of this Pauri.
This way I understand that the realization of the truth behind the creation i.e. ‘The Sat’, devoid of any element of ‘Ahamkara’ is what Guru Sahib is referring to in his use of the word ‘dust’. This is what Guru Sahib is asking his Sikhs to achieve.
Once the person has attained the wisdom of the creation of ‘The Sat’, she or he has reached ‘The Sat’. Then what Guru Sahib has said in the second sentence becomes a fact. Every aspect of this person’s being – thoughts, speech and actions – convey the presence of ‘The Sat’ in them; this is what is meant by the phrase ‘ghat ghat cheenaa’. This is what I understand Guru Sahib meant by what he has said in the second sentence.
7. mn Apuny qy burw imtwnw ] man apunay tay buraa mitaanaa.
From one’s mind erase all that is bad.
8. pyKY sgl isRsit swjnw ] paykhai sagal sarisat saajnaa.
Then one finds that in entire creation is ‘The Sat’.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib is again emphasizing the need for his Sikhs to purify their mind. Guru Sahib has asked his Sikhs to remove all that is evil from their thinking. Sikhs are asked by Guru Sahib to get rid of vices. Guru Sahib says that when one views the world and the life with pure mind, which does not create distortion in understanding, then the truth of the situation is revealed. When this happens one finds that in every event of entity the same ‘Sat’ is there. When this realization dawns, the entire creation fuses into ‘One’ - ‘The Sat’ the ‘EkOngkar’. With this the intent of Siri Guru Granth Sahib is achieved – the Sikh has become ‘Gurmukh’.
9. sUK dUK jn sm idRstyqw ] sookh dookh jan sam daristaytaa.
Happiness and sorrow is equal in the way of seeing.
10. nwnk pwp puMn nhI lypw ]6] naanak paap punn nahee laypaa. ||6||
O’Nanak, sin and good deeds do not get affect.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib tells his Sikhs that the person who has reached the above mentioned level of spiritual evolution i.e. the person who has become Gurmukh sees all that she or he encounters in life as ‘Hukam’. The duality of happiness and sorrow gets dissolved; the person remains equipoised under both types of events; it just becomes the way of looking at them and nothing more.
Guru Sahib further tells his Sikhs that the person who has become Gurmukh (we know that there is no ‘I-ness’ or ego i.e. ‘Ahamkara’ left in him) rises above the laws of Karma, there is no sin or good deed for Gurmukh. Gurmukh is only an instrument of the will of ‘The Sat’ and so what all Gurmukh does is in accordance with the ‘Hukam’ of ‘The Sat’. We all know that the laws of Karma do not apply to ‘The Sat’; since Gurmukh is only carrying out the will of ‘The Sat’, she or he too gets elevated above the Karmic cycle. This way sin and good deeds loose meaning for Gurmukhs. The actions of Gurmukh become divine and they do not stick to the being of Gurmukh as Karmas of an ordinary person will.
With this I close this post.
With love and respect for all.
Amarpal Singh
We have now reached the 6th Pauri of the 3rd Ashtapadee of Sukhmani Sahib. What I understand from it I share with you.
1. sgl purK mih purKu pRDwnu ] sagal purakh meh purakh parDhaan.
Among all the individuals, the individual is the first i.e. ahead or in the lead.
2. swDsMig jw kw imtY AiBmwnu ] saaDhsang jaa kaa mitai abhimaan.
Who is able to dissolve her or his ego i.e. ‘Ahamkara’.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib, in the earlier Pauris, that the individual should shed her or his ego. Guru Sahib has suggested that the company of spiritually evolved persons is the right environment to achieve this end. The same Guru Sahib has again repeated to emphasize the importance of doing so.
3. Awps kau jo jwxY nIcw ] aapas ka-o jo jaanai neechaa.
The person who considers herself or himself to be lower i.e. humbler compared to the others around.
4. soaU gnIAY sB qy aUcw ] so-oo ganee-ai sabh tay oochaa.
That person is counted to be the highest than others.
My understanding:
Here the word ‘Neechaa’ needs to be understood. Literally it means low. Here it does not mean that this person is a repository of all the evil and vices and what one ethically and morally considers bad. There is no sense of deliberate personal debasement; this person has shed its ego. This person is now free from likes and dislikes, attraction and aversion. This person sees the truth as it is. This person is mission oriented. Birth in human form has given this individual an opportunity to become and instrument of the will of ‘The Sat’. This person lives in ‘Hukam’. For this mission of life this person does what right and truthful in a given situation. For example, for the mission – ‘Sewa’ – the person sweeps the floor of ‘Harmandar Sahib’ when needed, serves in langar when needed, does the sewa of shoes of the devotees when needed, and even cleans the filth, if any, when needed. All this the person does with the same sense of purpose and dedication; no work is lowly or superior for this person. Such dualities have got totally dissolved in the mind of this person. In short Guru Sahib is telling his Sikhs that this person has no sense of superiority complex. Such person will never say that women are not eligible to certain kinds of Sewa in Harmandar Sahib; saying so will amount to calling some one else i.e. women ‘Neechaa’ and by implication calling oneself (men) as ‘Uchaa’ i.e. higher or superior. This goes straight against the teaching of this sentence of Siri Guru Granth Sahib. Sikhs cannot and should not do this; it is a un-Sikh-like act. Here the word ‘Neechaa’ is to be taken to mean that the individual has on sense of superiority. The best example of this comes from the life of Guru Amardas Ji. When Siri Chand (son of Siri Guru Nanak Dev Ji) came to meet Guru Amardas Ji, he asked Guru Sahib why he is keeping this long beard. Guru Sahib replies to brush the dust off the feet of great individuals like you and moved closer to Siri Chand to do so. Siri Chand stepped back and requested Guru Sahib not to do so. Here you see Guru Sahib considered himself lower than the guest who has come to see him. Here Guru Sahib has lived the preaching of this sentence. This is part of Sikh culture. We all know that the level at which Siri Guru Granth Sahib is kept in Harmandar Sahib is much lower than the entrance from where the devotee enters the Harmandar Sahib complex. This was done deliberately by Guru Sahib. It is to convey that even divine should consider herself or himself ‘Neechaa’. This way, Guru Sahib has institutionalized this trait of humility which should be the trait of each and every Sikh. This way all that Guru Sahibs have done reflect the teachings of Sikhi, which now stands enshrined in the text of Siri Guru Granth Sahib. The being of every Sikh should reflect the same.
In the second sentence Guru Sahib has said that the person whose being is humble, who has no sense of superiority, who has shed her or his ‘Ahamkara’ i.e. ego, is in fact the highest.
5. jw kw mnu hoie sgl kI rInw ] jaa kaa man ho-ay sagal kee reenaa.
The one whose mind is dust of all.
6. hir hir nwmu iqin Git Git cInw ] har har naam tin ghat ghat cheenaa.
Har, Har ‘Naam’ is in every minute entity of such person.
My understanding:
Again, in these two sentences there is no element of self debasement. We have to understand the term ‘dust’ here; it is not to be taken literally.
Just visualize how dust is formed. The rock is subjected to the impact of weather over a long period of time. The alternate heat and bitter cold causes its fragmentation. The rocks are subjected to mechanical erosion by strong winds. The water flowing over the rocks leaches away the dissolvable chemicals. The pores so left get filled with water. The trapped water in pores and crevices freezes as the temperature drops below zero degree C. The ice occupies more volume than liquid water. As the ice expands during the process of freezing it exerts pressure on the pore and crevices of the rock. This cause rocks to crack and fragment. The small fragments are dragged by the flowing water into stream where they roll at the bottom of the stream by the force of water stream roll are get ground. The fine particles that get detached from the stones; these fine particles we call dust. One can imagine the amount of work that the nature does to produce these small particles which are collectively called dust. We all can see what great and varied experience is ingrained in these particles. Guru Sahib is pointing to something similar for us too.
Guru Sahib has used the word dust; it is a metaphor. The term here is not to be considered as the physical dust, which some of the orthodox Sadhus following some of the ancient scripture of the land smear over themselves.
Let us take the above analogy of rock and dust. The rock is our lives and the dust is small pieces of wisdom that we acquire from our experiences in life – both good and bad in spiritual and material domains. I elaborate it below.
We human live our lives. As we progress we encounter problems and difficulties and successes of different kinds. We learn to negotiate them as the rock has to cope with the on slaughter of the harsh weather. Each experience is training for us, only if we learn the truth behind it. The associated wisdom dawns on the concerned individual, when she or he has learnt the truth behind the experience. To see the events in their true perspective one needs pure mind that gives undistorted view or learning, this comes through efforts mental discipline and training. The riggers of this training are similar to the difficult process that the rock undergoes to become a dust particle. Each dust particle here means an experience in life and the wisdom that one acquires by understanding the truth behind it.
The word ‘Sagal’ here means the entire creation of ‘The Sat’ and not just the people around us. ‘Sagal kee reenaa’ here means the entire truth behind the creation of ‘The Sat’, which is ‘The Sat’ itself.
As nature has to work a lot to produce the physical dust, we too have to work a lot to purify our mind to look for the truth behind all that we experience in life and beyond. Each small experience and the wisdom coming from the lessons learned from it with pure mind is the elementary dust particle Guru Sahib is referring to.
According to my understanding, there is another reason why Guru Sahib has used the analogy of dust. We all know that the dust on its own cannot create a structure. Similarly, the sum total of wisdom (dust particles) that comes from the experiences in life, which provide the true perspective of the creation (sagal) to a pure mind, should not create any structure. What this structure can be? It is the ‘Ahamkara’ that the mind feeling proud of the acquired wisdom can create. Guru Sahib has very aptly called it as dust. The dust also coveys the humble nature, as it settles at the lowest place around; Guru Sahib has used the word ‘Neechaa’ in the earlier sentence of this Pauri.
This way I understand that the realization of the truth behind the creation i.e. ‘The Sat’, devoid of any element of ‘Ahamkara’ is what Guru Sahib is referring to in his use of the word ‘dust’. This is what Guru Sahib is asking his Sikhs to achieve.
Once the person has attained the wisdom of the creation of ‘The Sat’, she or he has reached ‘The Sat’. Then what Guru Sahib has said in the second sentence becomes a fact. Every aspect of this person’s being – thoughts, speech and actions – convey the presence of ‘The Sat’ in them; this is what is meant by the phrase ‘ghat ghat cheenaa’. This is what I understand Guru Sahib meant by what he has said in the second sentence.
7. mn Apuny qy burw imtwnw ] man apunay tay buraa mitaanaa.
From one’s mind erase all that is bad.
8. pyKY sgl isRsit swjnw ] paykhai sagal sarisat saajnaa.
Then one finds that in entire creation is ‘The Sat’.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib is again emphasizing the need for his Sikhs to purify their mind. Guru Sahib has asked his Sikhs to remove all that is evil from their thinking. Sikhs are asked by Guru Sahib to get rid of vices. Guru Sahib says that when one views the world and the life with pure mind, which does not create distortion in understanding, then the truth of the situation is revealed. When this happens one finds that in every event of entity the same ‘Sat’ is there. When this realization dawns, the entire creation fuses into ‘One’ - ‘The Sat’ the ‘EkOngkar’. With this the intent of Siri Guru Granth Sahib is achieved – the Sikh has become ‘Gurmukh’.
9. sUK dUK jn sm idRstyqw ] sookh dookh jan sam daristaytaa.
Happiness and sorrow is equal in the way of seeing.
10. nwnk pwp puMn nhI lypw ]6] naanak paap punn nahee laypaa. ||6||
O’Nanak, sin and good deeds do not get affect.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib tells his Sikhs that the person who has reached the above mentioned level of spiritual evolution i.e. the person who has become Gurmukh sees all that she or he encounters in life as ‘Hukam’. The duality of happiness and sorrow gets dissolved; the person remains equipoised under both types of events; it just becomes the way of looking at them and nothing more.
Guru Sahib further tells his Sikhs that the person who has become Gurmukh (we know that there is no ‘I-ness’ or ego i.e. ‘Ahamkara’ left in him) rises above the laws of Karma, there is no sin or good deed for Gurmukh. Gurmukh is only an instrument of the will of ‘The Sat’ and so what all Gurmukh does is in accordance with the ‘Hukam’ of ‘The Sat’. We all know that the laws of Karma do not apply to ‘The Sat’; since Gurmukh is only carrying out the will of ‘The Sat’, she or he too gets elevated above the Karmic cycle. This way sin and good deeds loose meaning for Gurmukhs. The actions of Gurmukh become divine and they do not stick to the being of Gurmukh as Karmas of an ordinary person will.
With this I close this post.
With love and respect for all.
Amarpal Singh
