Dear Khalsa Ji,
With the grace of ‘The Sat’, today I share my understanding of 6th Pauri of 9th Ashtapadee of Sukhmani Sahib with you.
Please note that the English sentence after the Transliteration is not the exact literal translation of the text of the Tuk of Siri Guru Granth Sahib under reference, it is the meaning of the tuk as understood by me.
First the Summary: In this Pauri, Guru Sahib explains the ‘State of Being’, of the person who has enshrined “The Sat’ in the deeper layers of its brain and the frame of mind that result from its functioning. Guru Sahib describes to us the attributes and the ways of the person who has spiritually evolved to a level where it has become a perfect instrument of ‘The Sat’
1. ijs kY min pwrbRhm kw invwsu ] jis kai man paarbarahm kaa nivaas.
In whose mind ‘The Sat’ resides
My understanding:
Here I want to explain some of my very personal understanding about brain and mind – I make distinction between the two.
Brain for me is hardware analogous to computer. In its memory, it has the sum total of our experience of the lives lived – past and the current one. This forms the basis for processing any input that the brain receives. The output that this functioning brain produces is what I call mind. The mind is thus soft output of our functioning brain.
Now I share my understanding of what happens when a person successfully internalise the teachings of Siri Guru Granth Sahib and its Being is imbued with it.
Living a life in worldly environment, the individual acquires the worldly culture. It develops its own likes and dislikes, sensitivities, values and their hierarchy, beliefs, desires, aspiration, ambitions and vices viz. lust, anger, greed, attachments, and ego. These vices have different degree of hold on the on the functioning of the brain and thus impact on the output generated – the mind. These acquired attribute and past memories collectively direct the person’s senses which collect information from external world. The extant and the nature of information collected depend on the self serving needs and tendencies of the individual. This selective acquisition of information acts like a filter – selecting some information and discarding other, which creates inadequacy in the information received from the external world. Further, the biases of the individual make the information to be processed by the brain in a particular way. Collectively, all this, gives the person a distorted view of the world. This view is largely what the person wants to see and not what it really is. It generally gravitate toward a perception that either satisfy the ego making it stronger or hurt it to generate, anger hatred and jealousy which damage the person’s ‘being’ further.
When the teachings of Siri Guru Granth Sahib percolates and settle into the deeper layers of the brain and reside there, the transformation takes place. The processing of this information is directed by virtues (truthfulness, justice, mercy, forgiveness, compassion etc) and not by vices; such a person develops a sense of total awareness. The person sees every event, every aspect of life as if it is seeing it for the first time; sees as it is, without any distortion being created by the selectivity of the brain resulting from past experiences stored in it memory and biases. Such a person becomes an instrument of ‘The Sat’; the person becomes Godly; ‘The Sat’ to express itself through that person and thus can be said that ‘The Sat’ resides in such person. This is what, as I understand from what Guru Sahib has said in this tuk.
2. iqs kw nwmu siq rwmdwsu ] tis kaa naam sat raamdaas.
In true sense such a person can be called the server of ‘The Sat’.
My understanding:
The person, who has enshrined the teachings of Siri Guru Granth Sahib in the deeper layers of its brain, acquires a Godly frame of mind. This person’s thoughts, speech and actions, all remain harmonious and resonate with the teachings of Siri Guru Granth Sahib. All its actions become selfless and are towards the common good of different entities of the creation of ‘The Sat’- living beings, non-living things and its environment. This way all its actions become a service to ‘The Sat’. As I understand it is for this reason Guru Sahib, in this Tuk has designated such a person as a server of ‘The Sat’ i.e. Ramdas.
3. Awqm rwmu iqsu ndrI AwieAw ] aatam raam tis nadree aa-i-aa.
The person who is able to see ‘The Sat’ within
My understanding:
Guru Sahib is referring to a person who has succeeded in purifying is ‘being’ by removing all the negativities that had accumulated in the deeper layers of its brain preventing its ‘being’ from receiving the illumination from ‘The Sat’ within him. These negativities consist of vices, bad Karmas that had resulted from the past lives the person had lived and the portion of the present life lived. They accumulate in the deeper layers of the brain. They act like a dark thick cover, which prevent our communication with ‘The Sat’. The being of the person who had got rid of this cover sees the light of ‘The Sat’ and thus have realises and experience it; thus have the vision, Guru Sahib has mentioned in this Tuk.
4. dws dsMqx Bwie iqin pwieAw ] daas dasantan bhaa-ay tin paa-i-aa.
This is achieved only by becoming a true servant of ‘The Sat’.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib is very explicit here and tell us that only those people who acquire the Godly traits, incorporate them in their ‘being’ and make it their nature achieve ‘The Sat’. In other words, only who become a perfect instrument of ‘The Sat’ alone can realise it. Such persons become absolutely selfless and the Godly behavior becomes natural to them. The experience ‘The Sat’ all the time and the same is reflected in what they do in their lives.
5. sdw inkit inkit hir jwnu ] sadaa nikat nikat har jaan.
Such a person knows that ‘The Sat’ is near.
My understanding:
The person who has evolves to this high level of spirituality, feels ‘The Sat’ all the time; ‘The Sat’ is within the person and all around such a person. ‘The Sat’ is always near.
6. so dwsu drgh prvwnu ] so daas dargeh parvaan.
Such servant is accepted at the highest spiritual level of ‘The Sat’.
My understanding:
The word ‘Dargeh’ here is a metaphor for spiritual world. (Detailed explanation I have given in one of my posts on Japji Sahib). Guru Sahib tells that the person, who has reached this high level of spirituality and has become perfect instrument of ‘The Sat’; who is selflessly working for the entities of the creation of ‘The Sat’ is received by ‘The Sat’.
7. Apuny dws kau Awip ikrpw krY ] apunay daas ka-o aap kirpaa karai.
On its own, ‘The Sat’ blesses such a servant (The Instrument of ‘The Sat’) with its gace.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib tells us that the person, who has become its ‘instrument’ in true sense, is always showered with the blessings from ‘The Sat’. As I understand, it is bound to be natural because such and evolved person has lost all its selfishness, all that this person does is for the good of the creation of ‘The Sat’; in fact, it is ‘The Sat’ who is acting through this person because this person’s brain formatting is fully Godly. Such a person’s self is ‘The Sat’ and ‘The Sat only.
8. iqsu dws kau sB soJI prY ] tis daas ka-o sabh sojhee parai.
Such a server, understand everything.
My understanding:
For the person, who has become a true instrument of ‘The Sat’, the veils that are caused by worldly living get removed from its brain and the purity of mind gets restored. The deeper layers of the brain, where ‘The Sat’ resides direct this person’s being – thought, speeches and actions. The person becomes ‘The Sat’ like. Free from vices and selfishness, this person is able to see through ‘Maya’ and understand the true nature of everything. This way the person understands every thing.
9. sgl sMig Awqm audwsu ] sagal sang aatam udaas.
Living in this world, the self of such person remains detached.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib tells us that the person, who has evolved does not get captivated by the charms of the worldly entities. This person’s being remains pure and ‘The Sat’ bound. To explain this point I use the example of lotus. It grows in muddy and many times in dirty water. This is like the life on earth which is dirtied by the negativities present here. When the lotus blooms, it comes out of the water and opens up much above the dirt. In Indian scripture it symbolises ‘Purity’ and the way to life pure life on this planet which is full of negativities. Guru Sahib wants us to remain pure and unattached to the worldly entities.
10. AYsI jugiq nwnk rwmdwsu ]6] aisee jugat naanak raamdaas. ||6||
O’ Nanak, this is the way of the server of ‘The Sat’.
My understanding:
Guru Sahibs reflects and tell to himself that this is the way of the person who has become a perfect instrument of ‘The Sat’. Through this reflection Guru Sahib tells the same to us.
With this I close my post.
With love and respect for all.
Amarpal Singh
With the grace of ‘The Sat’, today I share my understanding of 6th Pauri of 9th Ashtapadee of Sukhmani Sahib with you.
Please note that the English sentence after the Transliteration is not the exact literal translation of the text of the Tuk of Siri Guru Granth Sahib under reference, it is the meaning of the tuk as understood by me.
First the Summary: In this Pauri, Guru Sahib explains the ‘State of Being’, of the person who has enshrined “The Sat’ in the deeper layers of its brain and the frame of mind that result from its functioning. Guru Sahib describes to us the attributes and the ways of the person who has spiritually evolved to a level where it has become a perfect instrument of ‘The Sat’
1. ijs kY min pwrbRhm kw invwsu ] jis kai man paarbarahm kaa nivaas.
In whose mind ‘The Sat’ resides
My understanding:
Here I want to explain some of my very personal understanding about brain and mind – I make distinction between the two.
Brain for me is hardware analogous to computer. In its memory, it has the sum total of our experience of the lives lived – past and the current one. This forms the basis for processing any input that the brain receives. The output that this functioning brain produces is what I call mind. The mind is thus soft output of our functioning brain.
Now I share my understanding of what happens when a person successfully internalise the teachings of Siri Guru Granth Sahib and its Being is imbued with it.
Living a life in worldly environment, the individual acquires the worldly culture. It develops its own likes and dislikes, sensitivities, values and their hierarchy, beliefs, desires, aspiration, ambitions and vices viz. lust, anger, greed, attachments, and ego. These vices have different degree of hold on the on the functioning of the brain and thus impact on the output generated – the mind. These acquired attribute and past memories collectively direct the person’s senses which collect information from external world. The extant and the nature of information collected depend on the self serving needs and tendencies of the individual. This selective acquisition of information acts like a filter – selecting some information and discarding other, which creates inadequacy in the information received from the external world. Further, the biases of the individual make the information to be processed by the brain in a particular way. Collectively, all this, gives the person a distorted view of the world. This view is largely what the person wants to see and not what it really is. It generally gravitate toward a perception that either satisfy the ego making it stronger or hurt it to generate, anger hatred and jealousy which damage the person’s ‘being’ further.
When the teachings of Siri Guru Granth Sahib percolates and settle into the deeper layers of the brain and reside there, the transformation takes place. The processing of this information is directed by virtues (truthfulness, justice, mercy, forgiveness, compassion etc) and not by vices; such a person develops a sense of total awareness. The person sees every event, every aspect of life as if it is seeing it for the first time; sees as it is, without any distortion being created by the selectivity of the brain resulting from past experiences stored in it memory and biases. Such a person becomes an instrument of ‘The Sat’; the person becomes Godly; ‘The Sat’ to express itself through that person and thus can be said that ‘The Sat’ resides in such person. This is what, as I understand from what Guru Sahib has said in this tuk.
2. iqs kw nwmu siq rwmdwsu ] tis kaa naam sat raamdaas.
In true sense such a person can be called the server of ‘The Sat’.
My understanding:
The person, who has enshrined the teachings of Siri Guru Granth Sahib in the deeper layers of its brain, acquires a Godly frame of mind. This person’s thoughts, speech and actions, all remain harmonious and resonate with the teachings of Siri Guru Granth Sahib. All its actions become selfless and are towards the common good of different entities of the creation of ‘The Sat’- living beings, non-living things and its environment. This way all its actions become a service to ‘The Sat’. As I understand it is for this reason Guru Sahib, in this Tuk has designated such a person as a server of ‘The Sat’ i.e. Ramdas.
3. Awqm rwmu iqsu ndrI AwieAw ] aatam raam tis nadree aa-i-aa.
The person who is able to see ‘The Sat’ within
My understanding:
Guru Sahib is referring to a person who has succeeded in purifying is ‘being’ by removing all the negativities that had accumulated in the deeper layers of its brain preventing its ‘being’ from receiving the illumination from ‘The Sat’ within him. These negativities consist of vices, bad Karmas that had resulted from the past lives the person had lived and the portion of the present life lived. They accumulate in the deeper layers of the brain. They act like a dark thick cover, which prevent our communication with ‘The Sat’. The being of the person who had got rid of this cover sees the light of ‘The Sat’ and thus have realises and experience it; thus have the vision, Guru Sahib has mentioned in this Tuk.
4. dws dsMqx Bwie iqin pwieAw ] daas dasantan bhaa-ay tin paa-i-aa.
This is achieved only by becoming a true servant of ‘The Sat’.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib is very explicit here and tell us that only those people who acquire the Godly traits, incorporate them in their ‘being’ and make it their nature achieve ‘The Sat’. In other words, only who become a perfect instrument of ‘The Sat’ alone can realise it. Such persons become absolutely selfless and the Godly behavior becomes natural to them. The experience ‘The Sat’ all the time and the same is reflected in what they do in their lives.
5. sdw inkit inkit hir jwnu ] sadaa nikat nikat har jaan.
Such a person knows that ‘The Sat’ is near.
My understanding:
The person who has evolves to this high level of spirituality, feels ‘The Sat’ all the time; ‘The Sat’ is within the person and all around such a person. ‘The Sat’ is always near.
6. so dwsu drgh prvwnu ] so daas dargeh parvaan.
Such servant is accepted at the highest spiritual level of ‘The Sat’.
My understanding:
The word ‘Dargeh’ here is a metaphor for spiritual world. (Detailed explanation I have given in one of my posts on Japji Sahib). Guru Sahib tells that the person, who has reached this high level of spirituality and has become perfect instrument of ‘The Sat’; who is selflessly working for the entities of the creation of ‘The Sat’ is received by ‘The Sat’.
7. Apuny dws kau Awip ikrpw krY ] apunay daas ka-o aap kirpaa karai.
On its own, ‘The Sat’ blesses such a servant (The Instrument of ‘The Sat’) with its gace.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib tells us that the person, who has become its ‘instrument’ in true sense, is always showered with the blessings from ‘The Sat’. As I understand, it is bound to be natural because such and evolved person has lost all its selfishness, all that this person does is for the good of the creation of ‘The Sat’; in fact, it is ‘The Sat’ who is acting through this person because this person’s brain formatting is fully Godly. Such a person’s self is ‘The Sat’ and ‘The Sat only.
8. iqsu dws kau sB soJI prY ] tis daas ka-o sabh sojhee parai.
Such a server, understand everything.
My understanding:
For the person, who has become a true instrument of ‘The Sat’, the veils that are caused by worldly living get removed from its brain and the purity of mind gets restored. The deeper layers of the brain, where ‘The Sat’ resides direct this person’s being – thought, speeches and actions. The person becomes ‘The Sat’ like. Free from vices and selfishness, this person is able to see through ‘Maya’ and understand the true nature of everything. This way the person understands every thing.
9. sgl sMig Awqm audwsu ] sagal sang aatam udaas.
Living in this world, the self of such person remains detached.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib tells us that the person, who has evolved does not get captivated by the charms of the worldly entities. This person’s being remains pure and ‘The Sat’ bound. To explain this point I use the example of lotus. It grows in muddy and many times in dirty water. This is like the life on earth which is dirtied by the negativities present here. When the lotus blooms, it comes out of the water and opens up much above the dirt. In Indian scripture it symbolises ‘Purity’ and the way to life pure life on this planet which is full of negativities. Guru Sahib wants us to remain pure and unattached to the worldly entities.
10. AYsI jugiq nwnk rwmdwsu ]6] aisee jugat naanak raamdaas. ||6||
O’ Nanak, this is the way of the server of ‘The Sat’.
My understanding:
Guru Sahibs reflects and tell to himself that this is the way of the person who has become a perfect instrument of ‘The Sat’. Through this reflection Guru Sahib tells the same to us.
With this I close my post.
With love and respect for all.
Amarpal Singh
