Dear Khalsa Ji,
I share with you all, my understanding of the 3rd 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:
In this Pauri too, Guru Sahib continue to tell about the gifts that have come to us from ‘The Sat’ and point out to us that we must have an evolved sense of gratitude and Sikhs must remember ‘The Sat’ all the time.
1. ijh pRswid Awrog kMcn dyhI ] jih parsaad aarog kanchan dayhee.
By whose grace one got this excellent body.
2. ilv lwvhu iqsu rwm snyhI ] liv laavhu tis raam sanayhee.
Align yourself to this affectionate entity i.e. ‘The Sat.
My understanding:
Kanchan means beautiful. The context in which Guru Sahib has used this word, it needs to be understood.
On the surface it is the appearance of human body that is beautiful; but when we go deep, in the context of Guru Sahib’s utterance there is much more to it. This human form has very potent features, faculties and systems embedded in it, the combination of which makes the life of the human being extraordinary and beautiful to live.
Just take the human hand; it joints in the fingers along with the thumb gives us extraordinary power to manipulate things and draw intricate things and write.
The structure of our body was such which allowed us to evolve from walking on four limbs to two as we are walking now.
Our extraordinary vocal ability allows us to converse and discuss very involved issues and understand each other so essential for harmonious living.
The great gift of brain has allowed us to understand the laws of nature and master the nature to a great extent. It allows us to imagine things and peep into the future possibilities and prepare to face them. It allows us to determine future possibilities with the likelihood or probability of their occurrences i.e. it allows us to paint the canvas of the time to come. This beautiful brain allows us to think and enables us to transcend our present limitation and move to a better life in future. This excellent brain allow us to think in abstract manner, imagine, postulate and create hypothesis’s beyond the realm of current knowledge, generate theories, make mathematical models and discover more and more of what is presently unknown and evolve philosophies and innovate products and systems and procedures including medical) useful for lives on this plant. In large measure, this brain has allowed us to master the nature.
The mental faculties allows us to express our inner feelings in poetry, in art forms and in our dances; combined with vocal capabilities they make singing possible through which we can express all types of human emotions.
The human brain is such a lovely gift from nature which allows us to overcome the animal is us to become a true human, then transcend our human limitation and go beyond life.
True we use them, but we did not create all these; all these have come to us a Gift from ‘The Sat’. What I have mentioned above is only a very small portion of what has come to us from ‘The Sat’. ‘The Sat’ has done so much, so much, so much more for us. We must be grateful to ‘The Sat’
It is for this reason Guru Sahib has asked his audience to be one with ‘The Sat’. Align with ‘The Sat’. Without ‘The Sat’ we are nothing.
I bow my head with a deep and heart felt sense of gratitude to ‘The Absolute’ i.e. ‘The Sat’
Wah-e-Guru; Wah-e-Guru; Wah-e-Guru.
3. ijh pRswid qyrw Elw rhq ] jih parsaad tayraa olaa rahat.
By whose grace your honour is sustained.
4. mn suKu pwvih hir hir jsu khq ] man sukh paavahi har har jas kahat.
O mind, the joy comes by remembering the infinite greatness of ‘The Sat’ and keep reminding oneself about it.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib in these Tuks has touched upon another important aspect of our worldly living – the honor.
We are honoured in this world partly because of our work i.e. contribution to the society and partly because of circumstances that are outside our control which includes the chance that one gets in her or his life. The later aspects, those are not under our control, become favourable only with the grace of ‘The Sat’. An example which all the Sikhs can understand is that of Mother Teresa and Bhai Puran Singh Ji of Pinglewada. Both did similar work, both were egoless, but the honours the two got were not the same. One can give lots of reason for why it happened to be so, they all are the factors that are outside the control of any individual I have alluded to in the text above; collectively, I say that the grace of ‘The Sat’ was missing in one case.
The same happens in our lives too. Factors outside our control can deny the honour due us or they can conspire to disgrace us. This happens when the grace of ‘The Sat’ does not reinforce what the individual has done. Only with the grace of ‘The Sat’ we get honoured and our honour is preserved.
It for this reason Guru Sahib has asked his Sikhs to be with ‘The Sat’ all the time. I have already shared my understanding as to how to remain with ‘The Sat’ while performing all the duties of the householder in one of my previous post, hence I am not repeating it.
5. ijh pRswid qyry sgl iCdR Fwky ] jih parsaad tayray sagal chhidar dhaakay.
By whose grace all the gaps in our personality remain unexposed.
6. mn srnI pru Twkur pRB qw kY ]
man sarnee par thaakur parabh taa kai.
O mind take the shelter of ‘The Karta’ (The doer) i.e. ‘The Sat’.
My understanding:
The word ‘Chhidar’ means holes and word ‘Dhaakay’ means to cover.
In our relative existence in this world, we are not complete and harmonious being. We have discordance between what we think, what we say and what we do; there are gaps in our personalities and even there are imperfections in our genes too.
I take the case of genes. A person may have alcoholic genes in her or his DNA which it has received from the parents; the person cannot do any thing about it. If this person starts drinking there is a good possibility that she or he will become addicted to alcohol and this defect will be visible to all who happen to know this person.
Please note that this gene on its own does not demand that the person to imbibe alcoholic drinks, it only functions to make that person addicted to alcohol if the person takes such drinks.
Now take the similar case where the person has the alcoholic gene, but is born in a family, which abstain from alcoholic drinks and the child grows in the environment were the harm caused by alcohol is ingrained in the child from the beginning. With such up-bringing his natural being itself will no urge to consume such drinks; the person may abstain all the life from drinking alcoholic beverages. As a result the alcoholic gene will not be able to find expression, thus this imperfection (‘Chhidar’) in the person will remain unknown (Dhaakay). Here we see that the person’s birth in specific family and the environment in which she or he grew were both not under the control of the person, but under the control of ‘The Sat’, and see how ‘The Sat’ has covered this gap in the person’s basic building block.
As I understand, it is for such reasons Guru Sahib has asked us to Take the shelter of ‘The Sat’.
7. ijh pRswid quJu ko n phUcY ] jih parsaad tujh ko na pahoochai.
By whose grace no one can equal you;
8. mn swis swis ismrhu pRB aUcy ] man saas saas simrahu parabh oochay.
O mind with every breath remember ‘The Highest’.
My understanding:
In this Tuk one has to understand the basis of Guru Sahib for saying that no one can equal you. I elaborate on it below.
Siri Guru Granth Sahib is addressed to the entire humanity. For me here the word ‘Tujh’ which means you, is in plural form and is said in the context of the entire creation of ‘The Sat’. With is the meaning become very clear. There is no living entity as evolved, capable and resourceful as humans are.
This word ‘Tujh’ means entire humanity. The truth of Guru Sahib’s statement is evident, it is an accepted fact. This special and first position among all the living entities is not due to us but because of ‘The Sat’, to whom we must be grateful.
For this reason ‘The Sat’ naturally becomes higher than any human – individually and collectively - that is why Guru Sahib has referred to ‘The Sat’ as ‘The Highest’.
Guru Sahib asks his followers to remember ‘The Sat’ with every breath. Here also there is an element of learning for us.
We do not make any effort to breath. Even when asleep, the breathing continues. It means that Guru Sahib is asking us to transform our being in accordance with the teachings of Siri Guru Granth Sahib to such an extent that all that we think, say and do is in tune with it. It means that all that we do is imprinted by ‘The Sat’. This should become our natural disposition and no effort should be needed to be in this state as no effort is put in to breath.
9. ijh pRswid pweI dRülB dyh ] jih parsaad paa-ee darulabh dayh.
By whose grace this difficult to get human form (body) is obtained.
10. nwnk qw kI Bgiq kryh ]3] naanak taa kee bhagat karayh. ||3||
O Nanak, worship this entity i.e. ‘The Sat’. ||3||
My understanding:
There are great many forms (bodies) in which life are. Even by shear probability it is very rare to be born is human form from among so many varieties if life. Each one of us is blessed with this rare event to be born as human. Guru Sahib is overwhelmed in gratitude for this blessing from ‘The Sat’ and says that he (it means each one of us) should worship ‘The Sat’ truly.
With this I close the post.
With love and respect for all.
Amarpal Singh
I share with you all, my understanding of the 3rd 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:
In this Pauri too, Guru Sahib continue to tell about the gifts that have come to us from ‘The Sat’ and point out to us that we must have an evolved sense of gratitude and Sikhs must remember ‘The Sat’ all the time.
1. ijh pRswid Awrog kMcn dyhI ] jih parsaad aarog kanchan dayhee.
By whose grace one got this excellent body.
2. ilv lwvhu iqsu rwm snyhI ] liv laavhu tis raam sanayhee.
Align yourself to this affectionate entity i.e. ‘The Sat.
My understanding:
Kanchan means beautiful. The context in which Guru Sahib has used this word, it needs to be understood.
On the surface it is the appearance of human body that is beautiful; but when we go deep, in the context of Guru Sahib’s utterance there is much more to it. This human form has very potent features, faculties and systems embedded in it, the combination of which makes the life of the human being extraordinary and beautiful to live.
Just take the human hand; it joints in the fingers along with the thumb gives us extraordinary power to manipulate things and draw intricate things and write.
The structure of our body was such which allowed us to evolve from walking on four limbs to two as we are walking now.
Our extraordinary vocal ability allows us to converse and discuss very involved issues and understand each other so essential for harmonious living.
The great gift of brain has allowed us to understand the laws of nature and master the nature to a great extent. It allows us to imagine things and peep into the future possibilities and prepare to face them. It allows us to determine future possibilities with the likelihood or probability of their occurrences i.e. it allows us to paint the canvas of the time to come. This beautiful brain allows us to think and enables us to transcend our present limitation and move to a better life in future. This excellent brain allow us to think in abstract manner, imagine, postulate and create hypothesis’s beyond the realm of current knowledge, generate theories, make mathematical models and discover more and more of what is presently unknown and evolve philosophies and innovate products and systems and procedures including medical) useful for lives on this plant. In large measure, this brain has allowed us to master the nature.
The mental faculties allows us to express our inner feelings in poetry, in art forms and in our dances; combined with vocal capabilities they make singing possible through which we can express all types of human emotions.
The human brain is such a lovely gift from nature which allows us to overcome the animal is us to become a true human, then transcend our human limitation and go beyond life.
True we use them, but we did not create all these; all these have come to us a Gift from ‘The Sat’. What I have mentioned above is only a very small portion of what has come to us from ‘The Sat’. ‘The Sat’ has done so much, so much, so much more for us. We must be grateful to ‘The Sat’
It is for this reason Guru Sahib has asked his audience to be one with ‘The Sat’. Align with ‘The Sat’. Without ‘The Sat’ we are nothing.
I bow my head with a deep and heart felt sense of gratitude to ‘The Absolute’ i.e. ‘The Sat’
Wah-e-Guru; Wah-e-Guru; Wah-e-Guru.
3. ijh pRswid qyrw Elw rhq ] jih parsaad tayraa olaa rahat.
By whose grace your honour is sustained.
4. mn suKu pwvih hir hir jsu khq ] man sukh paavahi har har jas kahat.
O mind, the joy comes by remembering the infinite greatness of ‘The Sat’ and keep reminding oneself about it.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib in these Tuks has touched upon another important aspect of our worldly living – the honor.
We are honoured in this world partly because of our work i.e. contribution to the society and partly because of circumstances that are outside our control which includes the chance that one gets in her or his life. The later aspects, those are not under our control, become favourable only with the grace of ‘The Sat’. An example which all the Sikhs can understand is that of Mother Teresa and Bhai Puran Singh Ji of Pinglewada. Both did similar work, both were egoless, but the honours the two got were not the same. One can give lots of reason for why it happened to be so, they all are the factors that are outside the control of any individual I have alluded to in the text above; collectively, I say that the grace of ‘The Sat’ was missing in one case.
The same happens in our lives too. Factors outside our control can deny the honour due us or they can conspire to disgrace us. This happens when the grace of ‘The Sat’ does not reinforce what the individual has done. Only with the grace of ‘The Sat’ we get honoured and our honour is preserved.
It for this reason Guru Sahib has asked his Sikhs to be with ‘The Sat’ all the time. I have already shared my understanding as to how to remain with ‘The Sat’ while performing all the duties of the householder in one of my previous post, hence I am not repeating it.
5. ijh pRswid qyry sgl iCdR Fwky ] jih parsaad tayray sagal chhidar dhaakay.
By whose grace all the gaps in our personality remain unexposed.
6. mn srnI pru Twkur pRB qw kY ]
man sarnee par thaakur parabh taa kai.
O mind take the shelter of ‘The Karta’ (The doer) i.e. ‘The Sat’.
My understanding:
The word ‘Chhidar’ means holes and word ‘Dhaakay’ means to cover.
In our relative existence in this world, we are not complete and harmonious being. We have discordance between what we think, what we say and what we do; there are gaps in our personalities and even there are imperfections in our genes too.
I take the case of genes. A person may have alcoholic genes in her or his DNA which it has received from the parents; the person cannot do any thing about it. If this person starts drinking there is a good possibility that she or he will become addicted to alcohol and this defect will be visible to all who happen to know this person.
Please note that this gene on its own does not demand that the person to imbibe alcoholic drinks, it only functions to make that person addicted to alcohol if the person takes such drinks.
Now take the similar case where the person has the alcoholic gene, but is born in a family, which abstain from alcoholic drinks and the child grows in the environment were the harm caused by alcohol is ingrained in the child from the beginning. With such up-bringing his natural being itself will no urge to consume such drinks; the person may abstain all the life from drinking alcoholic beverages. As a result the alcoholic gene will not be able to find expression, thus this imperfection (‘Chhidar’) in the person will remain unknown (Dhaakay). Here we see that the person’s birth in specific family and the environment in which she or he grew were both not under the control of the person, but under the control of ‘The Sat’, and see how ‘The Sat’ has covered this gap in the person’s basic building block.
As I understand, it is for such reasons Guru Sahib has asked us to Take the shelter of ‘The Sat’.
7. ijh pRswid quJu ko n phUcY ] jih parsaad tujh ko na pahoochai.
By whose grace no one can equal you;
8. mn swis swis ismrhu pRB aUcy ] man saas saas simrahu parabh oochay.
O mind with every breath remember ‘The Highest’.
My understanding:
In this Tuk one has to understand the basis of Guru Sahib for saying that no one can equal you. I elaborate on it below.
Siri Guru Granth Sahib is addressed to the entire humanity. For me here the word ‘Tujh’ which means you, is in plural form and is said in the context of the entire creation of ‘The Sat’. With is the meaning become very clear. There is no living entity as evolved, capable and resourceful as humans are.
This word ‘Tujh’ means entire humanity. The truth of Guru Sahib’s statement is evident, it is an accepted fact. This special and first position among all the living entities is not due to us but because of ‘The Sat’, to whom we must be grateful.
For this reason ‘The Sat’ naturally becomes higher than any human – individually and collectively - that is why Guru Sahib has referred to ‘The Sat’ as ‘The Highest’.
Guru Sahib asks his followers to remember ‘The Sat’ with every breath. Here also there is an element of learning for us.
We do not make any effort to breath. Even when asleep, the breathing continues. It means that Guru Sahib is asking us to transform our being in accordance with the teachings of Siri Guru Granth Sahib to such an extent that all that we think, say and do is in tune with it. It means that all that we do is imprinted by ‘The Sat’. This should become our natural disposition and no effort should be needed to be in this state as no effort is put in to breath.
9. ijh pRswid pweI dRülB dyh ] jih parsaad paa-ee darulabh dayh.
By whose grace this difficult to get human form (body) is obtained.
10. nwnk qw kI Bgiq kryh ]3] naanak taa kee bhagat karayh. ||3||
O Nanak, worship this entity i.e. ‘The Sat’. ||3||
My understanding:
There are great many forms (bodies) in which life are. Even by shear probability it is very rare to be born is human form from among so many varieties if life. Each one of us is blessed with this rare event to be born as human. Guru Sahib is overwhelmed in gratitude for this blessing from ‘The Sat’ and says that he (it means each one of us) should worship ‘The Sat’ truly.
With this I close the post.
With love and respect for all.
Amarpal Singh
