Dear Khalsa Ji,
I share with you all, my understanding of the 1st Pauri of 6th Ashtapadee of Sukhmani Sahib. Please note that the English sentence after the Transliteration is not the exact literal translation of the sentence, it is the meaning of the tuk as understood by me.
First the summary: Guru Sahib in this Pauri has asked us that while living the natural life including that of a house holder and enjoying the worldly pleasures, one should always remember ‘The Sat’. It is by the grace of ‘The Sat’ that good life comes to us.
1. ijh pRswid CqIh AMimRq Kwih ] jih parsaad chhateeh amrit khaahi.
By Who’s Grace, you partake of the thirty-six delicacies;
2. iqsu Twkur kau rKu mn mwih ] tis thaakur ka-o rakh man maahi.
Enshrine that Master within your mind.
My understanding:
Before I elaborate on what I understand from this Pauri, I need to say some thing about Sikh Religion.
Sikh Religion does not ask its followers to leave the world go to a secluded place and deprive one-self of all the joys that human life is capable of giving.
Sikh Religion clearly says that to achieve any thing in life two inputs are concurrently needed - one is sustained honest efforts and second is ‘Gurparsadee’ i.e. blessing of ‘The Sat’.
According to Sikh Religion, being born in human form is a blessing, which enables the person to go beyond life.
Sikh Religion provides for evolution of spiritual life of the person while she or he lives the life in normal honest and ethical way as house holder.
Sikh Religion says that human birth is an opportunity to go beyond life. It explains how to live in this world of Maya without being fooled by it.
Sikh Religion asks its followers to enjoy the pleasures life and face the sorrows as they come with equanimity without getting attached, addicted or overwhelmed by them.
Sikh Religion is a spiritual path in life i.e. the way of living, which leads to divinity.
Sikh Religion is life-affirming religion; it is not a life-negating religion.
With this introduction I come back to my main task of conveying what is my understanding of this Pauri.
Guru Sahib in the first line touched upon the human sense of taste. Guru Sahib has mentioned about thirty six delicacies. No one needs to list these 36 delicacies. Use of this number 36 is a way of saying ‘many’. Here it means many delicacies.
Guru Sahib has not asked his followers to refrain from enjoying the human sense of taste. What Guru Sahib has said in these lines is that always remember that the means to buy the delicacy has come to her or him with the grace of ‘The Sat’, delicacy, well prepared which she or he is enjoying has come to him by the grace of ‘The Sat’ and also the sense of taste with which the person is relishing the delicacy is in the person as a result of grace of ‘The Sat’.
Guru Sahib asks us to never forget ‘The Sat’.
If this teaching percolates into the being of the person then the sense of Ahamkara will not arise in her or him.
3. ijh pRswid sugMDq qin lwvih ] jih parsaad suganDhat tan laaveh.
By Who’s Grace, you apply scented oils to your body;
4. iqs kau ismrq prm giq pwvih ] tis ka-o simrat param gat paavahi.
Remembering ‘The Sat’, the supreme state is obtained.
My understanding:
In these Tuks Guru Sahib has touched upon the sense of smell. Guru Sahib has not asked us to avoid the pleasure of this sense, but told us that the ability to purchase the oil, apply it on the body and finally enjoy the sense of pleasure is due to the grace of ‘The Sat’. We on our own has not created this body on which we apply the scent, we have not created the brain which is the repository of the skills which the individual has that enables her or him to earn money and buy oil, and the sense of smell too is a gift from ‘The Sat’. If we remain aware of these fundamental facts, as I understand, the sense of Ahamkara will not enter us and one will be able to become one with ‘The Sat’.
5. ijh pRswid bsih suK mMdir ] jih parsaad baseh sukh mandar.
By who’s grace peace enters the mind.
6. iqsih iDAwie sdw mn AMdir ] tiseh Dhi-aa-ay sadaa man andar.
Always keep the remembrance of that entity in the mind.
My understanding:
The placidity of mind comes to us when we live a pure life. The purity in life comes when we live in accordance the values that are enshrined in spiritual life where we put in honest hard work and accept the outcome as gift of ‘The Sat’. Ahamkara disappears there is no I-ness in it. There are no enemies and the person remains in perfect harmony with all the entities that create her or his environment of life. This way we become one with the creation. Since creation and creator are one, we become one with the creator. As I understand, it is for this reason guru Sahib has asked us to always remember ‘The Sat’ for all that we do and that happens to us.
7. ijh pRswid igRh sMig suK bsnw ] jih parsaad garih sang sukh basnaa.
By who’s Grace you live joyfully in the family
8. AwT phr ismrhu iqsu rsnw ] aath pahar simrahu tis rasnaa.
Remain imbued in the essence of remembrance of this entity – ‘The Sat’
My understanding:
Guru Sahib has asked us to live a life of a householder which means the individual has to earn some living. Guru Sahib has asked us to do Kirt i.e. earn through honest hard work. Guru Sahib in this Tuk has also asked us to remember ‘The Sat’ all the 24 hours of the day. My brain can concentrate only on one entity at a time not on many. How can I concentrate on the remembrance of ‘The Sat’ and the physical or mental task at hand that enables me to earn. Both need to be satisfied concurrently, but how - needs to be explained.
To me, remembrance does not mean that all the time we keep uttering the verbal sound that conveys the thought of ‘The Sat’ – say ‘Waheguru’. I cannot be doing Jaap at the same time making presentation at some forum. I had to deliberate on this doubt and how I come out of it I share with you.
As I understand, when all of my thoughts, all of my utterances and all of my actions gets first processed through the teachings of Siri Guru Granth Sahib before taking shape and effect, to me, it means, that all the time I am remembering ‘The Sat’. It is my understanding that living in accordance with the sum total of teachings of Siri Guru Granth Sahib the person gets delivered to ‘The Sat’. This I say because, here, I-ness in the person disappears, only ‘The Sat’ i.e. ‘The Karta’ remains. In this case the person is only an instrument of delivery; such person is instrument of ‘The Sat’.
This is my way of remembering ‘The Sat’ all the time.
9. ijh pRswid rMg rs Bog ] jih parsaad rang ras bhog.
By who’s Grace, one enjoys the joys of life.
10. nwnk sdw iDAweIAY iDAwvn jog ]1] naanak sadaa Dhi-aa-ee-ai Dhi-aavan jog. ||1||
O Nanak, meditate forever on the One, who is worthy of meditation. ||1||
My understanding:
Finally Guru Sahib asks us to have proper sense of gratitude towards the entity i.e. ‘The Sat’ because of whom we live our worldly life and enjoy its joys and pleasures. Guru Sahib says it is proper enshrine ‘The Sat’ in our being and always remember ‘The Sat’.
With this I close.
With love and respect for all.
Amarpal Singh
I share with you all, my understanding of the 1st Pauri of 6th Ashtapadee of Sukhmani Sahib. Please note that the English sentence after the Transliteration is not the exact literal translation of the sentence, it is the meaning of the tuk as understood by me.
First the summary: Guru Sahib in this Pauri has asked us that while living the natural life including that of a house holder and enjoying the worldly pleasures, one should always remember ‘The Sat’. It is by the grace of ‘The Sat’ that good life comes to us.
1. ijh pRswid CqIh AMimRq Kwih ] jih parsaad chhateeh amrit khaahi.
By Who’s Grace, you partake of the thirty-six delicacies;
2. iqsu Twkur kau rKu mn mwih ] tis thaakur ka-o rakh man maahi.
Enshrine that Master within your mind.
My understanding:
Before I elaborate on what I understand from this Pauri, I need to say some thing about Sikh Religion.
Sikh Religion does not ask its followers to leave the world go to a secluded place and deprive one-self of all the joys that human life is capable of giving.
Sikh Religion clearly says that to achieve any thing in life two inputs are concurrently needed - one is sustained honest efforts and second is ‘Gurparsadee’ i.e. blessing of ‘The Sat’.
According to Sikh Religion, being born in human form is a blessing, which enables the person to go beyond life.
Sikh Religion provides for evolution of spiritual life of the person while she or he lives the life in normal honest and ethical way as house holder.
Sikh Religion says that human birth is an opportunity to go beyond life. It explains how to live in this world of Maya without being fooled by it.
Sikh Religion asks its followers to enjoy the pleasures life and face the sorrows as they come with equanimity without getting attached, addicted or overwhelmed by them.
Sikh Religion is a spiritual path in life i.e. the way of living, which leads to divinity.
Sikh Religion is life-affirming religion; it is not a life-negating religion.
With this introduction I come back to my main task of conveying what is my understanding of this Pauri.
Guru Sahib in the first line touched upon the human sense of taste. Guru Sahib has mentioned about thirty six delicacies. No one needs to list these 36 delicacies. Use of this number 36 is a way of saying ‘many’. Here it means many delicacies.
Guru Sahib has not asked his followers to refrain from enjoying the human sense of taste. What Guru Sahib has said in these lines is that always remember that the means to buy the delicacy has come to her or him with the grace of ‘The Sat’, delicacy, well prepared which she or he is enjoying has come to him by the grace of ‘The Sat’ and also the sense of taste with which the person is relishing the delicacy is in the person as a result of grace of ‘The Sat’.
Guru Sahib asks us to never forget ‘The Sat’.
If this teaching percolates into the being of the person then the sense of Ahamkara will not arise in her or him.
3. ijh pRswid sugMDq qin lwvih ] jih parsaad suganDhat tan laaveh.
By Who’s Grace, you apply scented oils to your body;
4. iqs kau ismrq prm giq pwvih ] tis ka-o simrat param gat paavahi.
Remembering ‘The Sat’, the supreme state is obtained.
My understanding:
In these Tuks Guru Sahib has touched upon the sense of smell. Guru Sahib has not asked us to avoid the pleasure of this sense, but told us that the ability to purchase the oil, apply it on the body and finally enjoy the sense of pleasure is due to the grace of ‘The Sat’. We on our own has not created this body on which we apply the scent, we have not created the brain which is the repository of the skills which the individual has that enables her or him to earn money and buy oil, and the sense of smell too is a gift from ‘The Sat’. If we remain aware of these fundamental facts, as I understand, the sense of Ahamkara will not enter us and one will be able to become one with ‘The Sat’.
5. ijh pRswid bsih suK mMdir ] jih parsaad baseh sukh mandar.
By who’s grace peace enters the mind.
6. iqsih iDAwie sdw mn AMdir ] tiseh Dhi-aa-ay sadaa man andar.
Always keep the remembrance of that entity in the mind.
My understanding:
The placidity of mind comes to us when we live a pure life. The purity in life comes when we live in accordance the values that are enshrined in spiritual life where we put in honest hard work and accept the outcome as gift of ‘The Sat’. Ahamkara disappears there is no I-ness in it. There are no enemies and the person remains in perfect harmony with all the entities that create her or his environment of life. This way we become one with the creation. Since creation and creator are one, we become one with the creator. As I understand, it is for this reason guru Sahib has asked us to always remember ‘The Sat’ for all that we do and that happens to us.
7. ijh pRswid igRh sMig suK bsnw ] jih parsaad garih sang sukh basnaa.
By who’s Grace you live joyfully in the family
8. AwT phr ismrhu iqsu rsnw ] aath pahar simrahu tis rasnaa.
Remain imbued in the essence of remembrance of this entity – ‘The Sat’
My understanding:
Guru Sahib has asked us to live a life of a householder which means the individual has to earn some living. Guru Sahib has asked us to do Kirt i.e. earn through honest hard work. Guru Sahib in this Tuk has also asked us to remember ‘The Sat’ all the 24 hours of the day. My brain can concentrate only on one entity at a time not on many. How can I concentrate on the remembrance of ‘The Sat’ and the physical or mental task at hand that enables me to earn. Both need to be satisfied concurrently, but how - needs to be explained.
To me, remembrance does not mean that all the time we keep uttering the verbal sound that conveys the thought of ‘The Sat’ – say ‘Waheguru’. I cannot be doing Jaap at the same time making presentation at some forum. I had to deliberate on this doubt and how I come out of it I share with you.
As I understand, when all of my thoughts, all of my utterances and all of my actions gets first processed through the teachings of Siri Guru Granth Sahib before taking shape and effect, to me, it means, that all the time I am remembering ‘The Sat’. It is my understanding that living in accordance with the sum total of teachings of Siri Guru Granth Sahib the person gets delivered to ‘The Sat’. This I say because, here, I-ness in the person disappears, only ‘The Sat’ i.e. ‘The Karta’ remains. In this case the person is only an instrument of delivery; such person is instrument of ‘The Sat’.
This is my way of remembering ‘The Sat’ all the time.
9. ijh pRswid rMg rs Bog ] jih parsaad rang ras bhog.
By who’s Grace, one enjoys the joys of life.
10. nwnk sdw iDAweIAY iDAwvn jog ]1] naanak sadaa Dhi-aa-ee-ai Dhi-aavan jog. ||1||
O Nanak, meditate forever on the One, who is worthy of meditation. ||1||
My understanding:
Finally Guru Sahib asks us to have proper sense of gratitude towards the entity i.e. ‘The Sat’ because of whom we live our worldly life and enjoy its joys and pleasures. Guru Sahib says it is proper enshrine ‘The Sat’ in our being and always remember ‘The Sat’.
With this I close.
With love and respect for all.
Amarpal Singh
