Dear Khalsa Ji,
I share with you all, my understanding of the 2nd 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 knew that the joys and pleasures of living a life of a house holder can attach the person to worldly life. It is for this reason, as Guru Sahib did in last the Pauri, in this Pauri too Guru Sahib continue to remind his Sikhs that it is ‘The Sat’ behind all that we get in this life.
1. ijh pRswid pwt ptMbr hFwvih ] jih parsaad paat patambar hadhaaveh.
By whose grace you wear fine cloths.
2. iqsih iqAwig kq Avr luBwvih ] tiseh ti-aag kat avar lubhaaveh.
Why should one abandon this entity and attach to another
My understanding:
Guru Sahib is again talking about the joys of life, in this case the sense of sight – the person dresses up to look presentable and elegant i.e. pleasing to eyes. All that the person has is because of ‘The Sat’. It is irrational to leave the sole and infinite provider and attach to something that is partial and limited in nature.
3. ijh pRswid suiK syj soeIjY ] jih parsaad sukh sayj so-eejai.
By whose grace you have sound sleep
4. mn AwT phr qw kw jsu gwvIjY ] man aath pahar taa kaa jas gaaveejai.
O my mind, sing His Praises, through out the day.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib now draws our attention to the sound sleep a person can have. It is not only the cozy bed that is needed for such sleep but also tension free mind. All this we get when we follow the teachings of Siri Guru Granth Sahib which enables us to live a pure life. These teachings too have come to us by the grace of ‘The Sat’.
Guru Sahib wants Sikhs to sing the praises of ‘The Sat’, what does this means needs to be explained.
As I understand, it means that I must remember all that ‘The Sat’ has done to make me reach where I am; how ‘The Sat’ sustains life in me keeping all the systems of the body functional and enables me to acquire the nourishments to sustain its functioning; enables me to life in an environment of peace and Chardiyan Kalan. Thinking of all this I am overtaken by a great sense of humility, gratitude and reverence. I realize the greatness of ‘The Sat’. In this state of being, with deep sense of realization about ‘The Sat’, what ever affectionate thoughts arise from the depth of my heart and soul, are the praises of ‘The Sat’.
5. ijh pRswid quJu sBu koaU mwnY ] jih parsaad tujh sabh ko-oo maanai.
By whose grace you are accepted and respected by all;
6. muiK qw ko jsu rsn bKwnY ] mukh taa ko jas rasan bakhaanai.
Give verbal expression to the glory of ‘The Sat’.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib is very clear here that we must speak about the greatness of ‘The Sat. As I understand, there can be two reasons for it:
(i) We all know that the saints all over the world had beard and long hairs on their head. This is a visual – eternal expression to their inner understanding of living in harmony with what nature has given.
The reverse is also true. When we learn driving a car, we have to tell our self mentally what to do – press clutch under the left foot, then change gear then press accelerator under the right foot etc, etc. This is some thing like giving verbal expression to our linkage with ‘The Sat’ as suggested by Guru Sahib in these Tuks.
By repeatedly practicing the what car driving demands, all these small, small commands that we have been giving ourselves, get internalized and they percolate down to the deeper layers of our brain and become part of our reflexes. At this stage you take mental decision to turn left or right all the detailed actions on the controls of the car are done by your body just on its own. Similarly when we repeatedly give verbal expression to the positive thoughts about ‘The Sat’, our being, over a period of time gets aligned to those thoughts and we evolve in spiritual domain.
(ii) When we verbally express our gratitude and speak about the infinite glory of ‘The Sat’, it catches attention of others who will lean from it and follow the path.
As I understand, this is the reason for our Guru Sahib asking us to not only think about the blessings that came to us from ‘The Sat’ but also to give verbal expression to them.
7. ijh pRswid qyro rhqw Drmu ] jih parsaad tayro rahtaa Dharam.
By whose grace one lives in accordance with Dharma;
8. mn sdw iDAwie kyvl pwrbRhmu ] man sadaa Dhi-aa-ay kayval paarbarahm.
O my mind, remember ‘The Sat’ all the time.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib says that it is by the grace of ‘The Sat’ that the person learns to live a life in accordance with dharma.
As I understand, it is absolutely correct.
We can keep on trying but unless the external circumstances are appropriate our attempts will just not succeed – the grace of ‘The Sat’ is a must. Initially one needs the proper frame of mind and time to do Jaap or Simran or Dhyan; the environment in which one lives can make it difficult if not impossible. How to attain a state that is needed needs to be understood – my understanding I elaborate below.
In this I hold the opinion that the parents and elders in the family have to take responsibility and initiative; they should not leave it to chance. It is better if the child participate along with its parents and elders in Jaap or Simran etc; at that stage of life the child the circumstances are not bad that can affect its frame of mind. As the child grows its mind will some what get linked with ‘The Sat’. As a result this linkage and association grace of ‘The Sat’ will naturally flow to the child; this will help and further create circumstances that will be conducive for the growing child to live in Simran and thus the link between the child and ‘The Sat’ will get further strengthened. This linkage and the flow of grace of ‘The sat’ towards the growing child will be a sort of positive feed back, intensifying the concentration of the child in Simran or Dhyan.
From the process I have elaborated above, it is clear to me that grace of ‘The Sat’ that Guru Sahib has emphasized is fully justified. It is my personal conviction base of this understanding.
9. pRB jI jpq drgh mwnu pwvih ] parabh jee japat dargeh maan paavahi.
Remembering ‘The Sat’ one evolve and get respect in spiritual domain;
10. nwnk piq syqI Gir jwvih ]2] naanak pat saytee ghar jaaveh. ||2||
O Nanak, such persons return to their original source.||2||
My understanding:
Guru Sahib has clearly asked his Sikhs not to worship any formed entity - dead or alive; these have no spiritual significance for us, their value is historical. Yet Guru Sahib has used the name of a formed entity ‘Dargah’, the place were Muslim saints are buried. This as I understand, Guru Sahib has done to convey the aspect of reverence to the domain he is referring to, because his audience – both Muslims and Hindus understood it. The word ‘Dargah’, as I understand, is a metaphor for spiritual domain. I have elaborated a lot on this in ‘My understanding’ of Japu Ji Sahib.
As we evolve in spiritual domain and reach the ultimate level we become divine. Only this physical body separates the being of a divine person from ‘The Sat’. This is the state Guru Sahib is referring to when he says that the person return to his home – this Home is the source from where the person came i.e. ‘The Sat’
This is my understanding of this Pauri.
I close this post now.
With love and respect for all.
Amarpal Singh
