Begging the patience of the forum, I would like to observe that there are at least two themes in this thread. They are related, but it seems that when they are all tangled up it is difficult to come to a conclusion that steers clear of controversy. One is the idea that Waheguru can reduce the egotistical to a low state of eating grass. The other is that Waheguru would "punish" anyone by lowering their status, perchance to eating grass.
I want to start with this shabad, where some things are apparent. The first seloka sets the stage and establishes a context for the idea of who eats grass, or whether the food mentioned has little to do with grass, and that our nourishment comes about through His Hukam
ਮਃ ੧ ॥
ma 1 ||
First Mehl:
ਨ ਰਿਜਕੁ ਦਸਤ ਆ ਕਸੇ ॥
n rijak dhasath aa kasae ||
Our sustenance is not in the hands of any person.
ਹਮਾ ਰਾ ਏਕੁ ਆਸ ਵਸੇ ॥
hamaa raa eaek aas vasae ||
The hopes of all rest in the One Lord.
ਅਸਤਿ ਏਕੁ ਦਿਗਰ ਕੁਈ ॥
asath eaek dhigar kuee ||
The One Lord alone exists-who else is there?
ਏਕ ਤੁਈ ਏਕੁ ਤੁਈ ॥੫॥
eaek thuee eaek thuee ||5||
You alone, Lord, You alone. ||5||
No matter what any creature eats, nourishment rests in the hands of Akaal, who alone is the source of what sustains us. The seloka casts its light on the verses that follow, for the sustenance at the beginning is not so much food but the spiritual sustenance that supports the soul. So we should understand food in that light as we read on.
ਮਃ ੧ ॥
ma 1 ||
First Mehl:
ਪਰੰਦਏ ਨ ਗਿਰਾਹ ਜਰ ॥
parandheae n giraah jar ||
The birds have no money in their pockets.
ਦਰਖਤ ਆਬ ਆਸ ਕਰ ॥
dharakhath aab aas kar ||
They place their hopes on trees and water.
ਦਿਹੰਦ ਸੁਈ ॥
dhihandh suee ||
He alone is the Giver.
ਏਕ ਤੁਈ ਏਕ ਤੁਈ ॥੬॥
eaek thuee eaek thuee ||6||
You alone, Lord, You alone. ||6||
Birds unlike humans do not relay on money to find nourishment. They rely on nature itself -- A similar idea: Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? (New Testament of the Christians) The Giver, Akaal Himself is the only Giver. We can trust He is generous, an idea supported in Japji Sahib Maharaj.
ਮਃ ੧ ॥
ma 1 ||
First Mehl:
ਨਾਨਕ ਲਿਲਾਰਿ ਲਿਖਿਆ ਸੋਇ ॥
naanak lilaar likhiaa soe ||
O Nanak, that destiny which is pre-ordained and written on one's forehead
ਮੇਟਿ ਨ ਸਾਕੈ ਕੋਇ ॥
maett n saakai koe ||
no one can erase it.
ਕਲਾ ਧਰੈ ਹਿਰੈ ਸੁਈ ॥
kalaa dhharai hirai suee ||
The Lord infuses strength, and He takes it away again.
ਏਕੁ ਤੁਈ ਏਕੁ ਤੁਈ ॥੭॥
eaek thuee eaek thuee ||7||
You alone, O Lord, You alone. ||7||
Our destiny is already known, written, and it cannot be unwritten. No one can erase the truth that it is Akaal who supports us. And He can take our nourishment, spiritual and material, away. We are wholly dependent on Him. But does He take it away? The answers to these questions are left open. Would He take it away? When would he take it away? Has He ever taken it away?
ਪਉੜੀ ॥
pourree ||
Pauree:
ਸਚਾ ਤੇਰਾ ਹੁਕਮੁ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਜਾਣਿਆ ॥
sachaa thaeraa hukam guramukh jaaniaa ||
True is the Hukam of Your Command. To the Gurmukh, it is known.
ਗੁਰਮਤੀ ਆਪੁ ਗਵਾਇ ਸਚੁ ਪਛਾਣਿਆ ॥
guramathee aap gavaae sach pashhaaniaa ||
Through the Guru's Teachings, selfishness and conceit are eradicated, and the Truth is realized.
ਸਚੁ ਤੇਰਾ ਦਰਬਾਰੁ ਸਬਦੁ ਨੀਸਾਣਿਆ ॥
sach thaeraa dharabaar sabadh neesaaniaa ||
True is Your Court. It is proclaimed and revealed through the Word of the Shabad.
ਸਚਾ ਸਬਦੁ ਵੀਚਾਰਿ ਸਚਿ ਸਮਾਣਿਆ ॥
sachaa sabadh veechaar sach samaaniaa ||
Meditating deeply on the True Word of the Shabad, I have merged into the Truth.
An important thought at this point is that the Gurmukh knows the Hukam of Akaal Purakh. And another important concept is, that by meditating on the shabad, Nanak has merged into the Truth of His Divine nature. For the Gurmukh this words of Nanak are the model -- to eradicate sefishness and conceit through meditation on the shabad.
To ignore this brings a person to a form of spiritual neurosis, spiritual alienation, the suffering that comes from living outside of the shabad, and from giving up on the realization that is mentioned earlier in the seloka n rijak dhasath aa kasae || Our sustenance is not in the hands of any person.hamaa raa eaek aas vasae ||The hopes of all rest in the One Lord. asath eaek dhigar kuee ||
The One Lord alone exists-who else is there? eaek thuee eaek thuee ||5|| You alone, Lord, You alone. ||5||
What is the alternative to living in the word of the shabad? One lives as a manamukh, in a state of spiritual irrationality and confusion. And this is a life of pain. A life in a spiritual hell.
ਮਨਮੁਖ ਸਦਾ ਕੂੜਿਆਰ ਭਰਮਿ ਭੁਲਾਣਿਆ ॥
manamukh sadhaa koorriaar bharam bhulaaniaa ||
The self-willed manmukhs are always false; they are deluded by doubt.
ਵਿਸਟਾ ਅੰਦਰਿ ਵਾਸੁ ਸਾਦੁ ਨ ਜਾਣਿਆ ॥
visattaa andhar vaas saadh n jaaniaa ||
They dwell in manure, and they do not know the taste of the Name.
They dwell in manure -- This is the spiritual hell that Nanak speaks of. It is not a place where we are cast into an eternity of brimstone and ashes. And it is not literally a pile of dung. Rather we live in the spiritual filth that we create through our ignorance, any conscious choice to live by the intellect instead of through serious dwelling on the truth of the shabad, "they do not know the taste of the Name."
ਵਿਣੁ ਨਾਵੈ ਦੁਖੁ ਪਾਇ ਆਵਣ ਜਾਣਿਆ ॥
vin naavai dhukh paae aavan jaaniaa ||
Without the Name, they suffer the agonies of coming and going.
The price that is paid is spiritual neurosis, spiritual sickness and pain, agonies of coming and going.
ਨਾਨਕ ਪਾਰਖੁ ਆਪਿ ਜਿਨਿ ਖੋਟਾ ਖਰਾ ਪਛਾਣਿਆ ॥੧੩॥
naanak paarakh aap jin khottaa kharaa pashhaaniaa ||13||
O Nanak, the Lord Himself is the Appraiser, who distinguishes the counterfeit from the genuine. ||13||
It is Akaal Purakh who sorts out who is true and who is false. But he does this as the searcher of each and every heart. Akaal does not stand on a heavenly precipice dividing the good from the bad. He dwells in our heart, and it is in our heart, where there is an inner awareness of our sordid consciousness that is causing all of our agony. The inner searcher of arts speaks to us through our sense of pain in life. We do not recognize that this pain is of our own doing.
ਸਲੋਕੁ ਮਃ ੧ ॥
salok ma 1 ||
Shalok, First Mehl:
ਸੀਹਾ ਬਾਜਾ ਚਰਗਾ ਕੁਹੀਆ ਏਨਾ ਖਵਾਲੇ ਘਾਹ ॥
seehaa baajaa charagaa kuheeaa eaenaa khavaalae ghaah ||
Tigers, hawks, falcons and eagles-the Lord could make them
eat grass.
ਘਾਹੁ ਖਾਨਿ ਤਿਨਾ ਮਾਸੁ ਖਵਾਲੇ ਏਹਿ ਚਲਾਏ ਰਾਹ ॥
ghaahu khaan thinaa maas khavaalae eaehi chalaaeae raah ||
And those animals which
eat grass-He could make them eat meat. He could make them follow this way of life.
Akaal can do anything He pleases. Make grass-eaters into meat-eaters, and meat-eaters into grass-eaters. He can do it. Does He ever do that? Or does he instead offer us something to eat? And again, the gift of nourishment that we can choose is not meat or grass, but the amrith which is sweet and that lies behind the words in this pauree.
ਨਦੀਆ ਵਿਚਿ ਟਿਬੇ ਦੇਖਾਲੇ ਥਲੀ ਕਰੇ ਅਸਗਾਹ ॥
nadheeaa vich ttibae dhaekhaalae thhalee karae asagaah ||
He could raise dry land from the rivers, and turn the deserts into bottomless oceans.
ਕੀੜਾ ਥਾਪਿ ਦੇਇ ਪਾਤਿਸਾਹੀ ਲਸਕਰ ਕਰੇ ਸੁਆਹ ॥
keerraa thhaap dhaee paathisaahee lasakar karae suaah ||
He could appoint a worm as king, and reduce an army to ashes.
ਜੇਤੇ ਜੀਅ ਜੀਵਹਿ ਲੈ ਸਾਹਾ ਜੀਵਾਲੇ ਤਾ ਕਿ ਅਸਾਹ ॥
jaethae jeea jeevehi lai saahaa jeevaalae thaa k asaah ||
All beings and creatures live by breathing, but He could keep us alive, even without the breath.
ਨਾਨਕ ਜਿਉ ਜਿਉ ਸਚੇ ਭਾਵੈ ਤਿਉ ਤਿਉ ਦੇਇ ਗਿਰਾਹ ॥੧॥
naanak jio jio sachae bhaavai thio thio dhaee giraah ||1||
O Nanak, as it pleases the True Lord, He gives us sustenance. ||1||
Akaal can make a worm a king. Yet has He done that? Whether He has or has not is not the point. The point is that it pleases the True Lord to give us sustenance and to keep us alive -- it pleases the True Lord to give us sustenance in the form of His shabad, and to give us the chance to stay alive through serious contemplation of His name.
Not only does the Great Giver Give to us, but He keeps us alive, he keeps us spiritually alive. As written below we are kept alive through support of the Naam.
ਮਃ ੧ ॥
ma 1 ||
First Mehl:
ਇਕਿ ਮਾਸਹਾਰੀ ਇਕਿ ਤ੍ਰਿਣੁ ਖਾਹਿ ॥
eik maasehaaree eik thrin khaahi ||
Some eat meat, while others
eat grass.
ਇਕਨਾ ਛਤੀਹ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤ ਪਾਹਿ ॥
eikanaa shhatheeh anmrith paahi ||
Some have all the thirty-six varieties of delicacies,
ਇਕਿ ਮਿਟੀਆ ਮਹਿ ਮਿਟੀਆ ਖਾਹਿ ॥
eik mitteeaa mehi mitteeaa khaahi ||
while others live in the dirt and eat mud.
ਇਕਿ ਪਉਣ ਸੁਮਾਰੀ ਪਉਣ ਸੁਮਾਰਿ ॥
eik poun sumaaree poun sumaar ||
Some control the breath, and regulate their breathing.
ਇਕਿ ਨਿਰੰਕਾਰੀ ਨਾਮ ਆਧਾਰਿ ॥
eik nirankaaree naam aadhhaar ||
Some live by the Support of the Naam, the Name of the Formless Lord.
ਜੀਵੈ ਦਾਤਾ ਮਰੈ ਨ ਕੋਇ ॥
jeevai dhaathaa marai n koe ||
The Great Giver lives; no one dies.
In the verse below Nanak defines the alternatives -- we can live in the shabad or we can lived deluded. In other words, if we do not accept the gift of His sustenance in the shabad, then we have chosen to live in spiritual neurosis and the agony that accompanies it.. We can accept His gift or live in pain.
ਨਾਨਕ ਮੁਠੇ ਜਾਹਿ ਨਾਹੀ ਮਨਿ ਸੋਇ ॥੨॥
naanak muthae jaahi naahee man soe ||2||
O Nanak, those who do not enshrine the Lord within their minds are deluded. ||2||
ਪਉੜੀ ॥
pourree ||
Pauree:
ਪੂਰੇ ਗੁਰ ਕੀ ਕਾਰ ਕਰਮਿ ਕਮਾਈਐ ॥
poorae gur kee kaar karam kamaaeeai ||
By the karma of good actions, some come to serve the Perfect Guru.
To conclude: It is through the teachings of the Shabad Guru that some are able to eliminate their selfishness and conceit. They focus their minds on medication of the name of God. Notice that Guru nanak says, "undetaking any other task;" he is saying that some decide otherwise and they waste their lives and eat poison.
v ਗੁਰਮਤੀ ਆਪੁ ਗਵਾਇ ਨਾਮੁ ਧਿਆਈਐ ॥
guramathee aap gavaae naam dhhiaaeeai ||
Through the Guru's Teachings, some eliminate selfishness and conceit, and meditate on the Naam, the Name of the Lord.
ਦੂਜੀ ਕਾਰੈ ਲਗਿ ਜਨਮੁ ਗਵਾਈਐ ॥
dhoojee kaarai lag janam gavaaeeai ||
Undertaking any other task, they waste their lives in vain.
He is the Giver. Do we accept the gift? Or do we eat poison (spiritual agony)? Or do we praise the true word of the shabad (we merge with the Lord)?
ਵਿਣੁ ਨਾਵੈ ਸਭ ਵਿਸੁ ਪੈਝੈ ਖਾਈਐ ॥
vin naavai sabh vis paijhai khaaeeai ||
Without the Name, all that they wear and eat is poison.
ਸਚਾ ਸਬਦੁ ਸਾਲਾਹਿ ਸਚਿ ਸਮਾਈਐ ॥
sachaa sabadh saalaahi sach samaaeeai ||
Praising the True Word of the Shabad, they merge with the True Lord.
ਵਿਣੁ ਸਤਿਗੁਰੁ ਸੇਵੇ ਨਾਹੀ ਸੁਖਿ ਨਿਵਾਸੁ ਫਿਰਿ ਫਿਰਿ ਆਈਐ ॥
vin sathigur saevae naahee sukh nivaas fir fir aaeeai ||
Without serving the True Guru, they do not obtain the home of peace; they are consigned to reincarnation, over and over again.
ਦੁਨੀਆ ਖੋਟੀ ਰਾਸਿ ਕੂੜੁ ਕਮਾਈਐ ॥
dhuneeaa khottee raas koorr kamaaeeai ||
Investing counterfeit capital, they earn only falsehood in the world.
ਨਾਨਕ ਸਚੁ ਖਰਾ ਸਾਲਾਹਿ ਪਤਿ ਸਿਉ ਜਾਈਐ ॥੧੪॥
naanak sach kharaa saalaahi path sio jaaeeai ||14||
O Nanak, singing the Praises of the Pure, True Lord, they depart with honor. ||14||
So now! What of being cast into hell -- the hell of Gurbani is the hell of our own making. First we fix our attention on the counterfeit by trusting in false ideas and values, and then we earn what we reap, more falsehood. Our pay-off is to live lives that are tormented by fear and worry, jealousy and depression.
And what of finding heaven? Heaven is the home of peace, and we find it singing the praises of the pure. In that way we depart with honor, says Guruji.
Then the question: Does Akaal assign the righteous Judge of Dharma to act as his surrogate and separate us at death casting some into hell? Does he punish the egotistical in their lifetime by making them live in manure or eat grass? My understanding is that Akaal has the power to do all of this. Does He? Does the Judge of Dharma act as the judge, jury and executioner? Or is the judge of dharma living inside us eating away at our hearts? The food we eat in the context of the Shabad Guru is chosen as either spiritual poison or spiritual noursihment. The place were we live is either in a pile of manure or in the home of our own heart. The heaven or the hell is either the sukh or dukh, the peace or the agony. He allows us accept His gifts. if we turn down God by rejecting His gifts, then our suffering comes from the nagging of the voice within that reminds us we are spiritually sick.
ਵਿਣੁ ਨਾਵੈ ਸਭ ਵਿਸੁ ਪੈਝੈ ਖਾਈਐ ॥
vin naavai sabh vis paijhai khaaeeai ||
Without the Name, all that they wear and eat is poison.
ਸਚਾ ਸਬਦੁ ਸਾਲਾਹਿ ਸਚਿ ਸਮਾਈਐ ॥
sachaa sabadh saalaahi sach samaaeeai ||
Praising the True Word of the Shabad, they merge with the True Lord.
Please forgive any offense.
