• Welcome to all New Sikh Philosophy Network Forums!
    Explore Sikh Sikhi Sikhism...
    Sign up Log in

Anand Sahib - 29 Pauri

Amarpal

Mentor
Writer
SPNer
Jun 11, 2004
591
366
78
India
Dear Khalsa Ji,

In this post, I write what I understand from the 29th Pauri of Anand Sahib.

1. jYsI Agin audr mih qYsI bwhir mwieAw ] jaisee agan udar meh taisee baahar maa-i-aa.


As is the fire (please read the explanation given for the word fire below) in the womb so is the Maya outside.

My understanding:

Guru Sahib tells me that as the fire inside the womb of the mother shapes the individuals form, in the same way Maya shapes the individual when the baby arrives.

Guru Sahib has used the phrase ‘fire inside the womb’. The word ‘fire’ is used as an analogy.

Here, the word ‘fire’ is not to be understood for its destructive attributes, where it burns, causes pain and discomfort or destroys the object. Guru Sahib has used this word for the constructive attribute of the fire.

It is the fire that melts the metal so that it can be poured into pattern to caste it into the required shape. It is the fire that heats the metal so that it can be forged and formed into the required shape. The processes in the mother’s womb do exactly what the fire does to metals; they enable forming of human body. It is for this reason Guru Sahib has used this word ‘fire’ to denote the processes inside the womb, and has done so rightly with rational and justification.

Here, this word ‘fire’ is intended to mean the sum total of all the processes that take place in mothers womb - from fertilisation to the delivery of the baby.

True as Guru Sahib is always, the physical shape of the baby gets formed by the processes (fire) inside the womb; Maya that is all around us all the time formats the individual mentally.

2. mwieAw Agin sB ieko jyhI krqY Kylu rcwieAw ] (921-2, rwmklI, mÚ 3)
maa-i-aa agan sabh iko jayhee kartai khayl rachaa-i-aa.


Maya, fire are all one, the doer (‘The Sat’) has deployed this game.

My understanding:

Guru Sahib here tells me that ultimately all are one. The source behind all that happen is ‘The Sat’.

As I analyse how dualities get created, I use the entity from the ancient scripture of our land.

According to this scripture, ‘Devi’ is a divine entity.

An individual having Gunas (attributes) that make him inclined towards learning, sees this ‘Devi’ as ‘Saraswati’. Through her, this person seeks knowledge, spirituality and liberation.

Another person having Gunas make him inclined to generate more and more wealth, sees this ‘Devi’ as ‘Laksmi’. Through her worship this person hopes to get more and more wealth, which attaches this person to the material world more intensely.

The person who’s ‘Gunas’ give him the tendency to seek power, sees the same ‘Devi’ as ‘Durga’ or ‘Kali’ and worships her to get what is intended. This person may become the protector or a brutal person.

We know that the ‘Devi’ is and always was the same but the tendencies of the individual seeker make this divine entity to look different.

Our mind driven by our ‘Gunas’ creates duality in perception and results in different outcomes.

At the level of the individual what she or he is doing appears fine, but at some other i.e. higher level – at the level of the ‘Devi’ – this differentiation is ‘Maya’. The mind driven by ‘Guans’ has created the three divinities out of one. This is plurality. On a still higher plane even ‘Deva’ and Devi both are one, reaching that level of spirituality, the perceive difference between these two disappears.

As one move up the ladder of spirituality all dualities keep merging into one another till every entity perceived as separate, merges into ‘One’ i.e. ‘The Sat’. When this stage is reached this person, she or he is divine.

This why Guru Sahib has called fire and Maya to be one, both shape the individual.

Guru Sahib tells me that this Maya too is a creation of ‘The Sat’.

3. jw iqsu Bwxw qw jMimAw prvwir Blw BwieAw ] jaa tis bhaanaa taa jammi-aa parvaar bhalaa bhaa-i-aa.


If ‘The Sat’ ordains, birth occurs in the family, simple, pure and good (bhalaa) and pleasing.

My understanding:

Guru Sahib is here tells a very significant fact not realised by most of us.


Guru Sahib in a way tells that the individual born is pure simple and beautiful in all aspects. This sentence tells me that it is the family in which the child is born and the ecology around this baby that shapes it and makes her or him what she or he finally is.

4. ilv CuVkI lgI iqRsnw mwieAw Amru vrqwieAw ] liv chhurhkee lagee tarisnaa maa-i-aa amar vartaa-i-aa.


The remembrance of ‘The Sat’ diminished, the desires take hold of the person and then the never dying Maya rules the individual.

My understanding:

Guru Sahib tells me how I can get lost in this material world. The remembrance of ‘The Sat’ always has to be kept alive. That means the ‘Satvikta’ in the baby has to be promoted at all time till it is firmly in place in the individual’s thought process.

This puts enormous responsibility on the our families specially our mothers to ensure that the ‘Satvik Gunas’ are allowed to grow to their ultimate capacity and ‘Avgunas’ (Bad Gunas) do not get opportunity to manifest themselves else the maya will take hold of the baby.

5. eyh mwieAw ijqu hir ivsrY mohu aupjY Bwau dUjw lwieAw ] ayh maa-i-aa jit har visrai moh upjai bhaa-o doojaa laa-i-aa.


This Maya, which displaces remembrance of ‘The Sat’, creates attachments and a different orientation in the individual results.

My understanding:

Guru Sahib tells me that the Maya creates attachments to the worldly objects which gratify the senses. Maya prevents me to understand the true nature these attachments and their long-term effect on me; such is the influence of Maya. Embroiled by Maya, I can progressively stray away from the remembrance of ‘The Sat’. In extreme limit, I may even start thinking that I am the cause of what I am; what a great mistake I will make then – this is Ahamkara. Guru Sahib has told us even in the mother’s womb it was ‘The Sat’ who has nourished us and that remains the case all through the life. The path that Maya leads us is away from ‘The Sat’.

Guru Sahib in this sentence cautions me against the adverse effects of Maya and wants me to see through its game.

6. khY nwnku gur prswdI ijnw ilv lwgI iqnI ivcy mwieAw pwieAw ]29] kahai naanak gur parsaadee jinaa liv laagee tinee vichay maa-i-aa paa-i-aa. ||29||


Says Nanak, those who maintains remembrance of ‘The Sat’; they even in the midst of Maya find ‘The Sat’. They are the ones who are graced.

My understanding:

Guru Sahib tells me that it is possible to be with ‘The Sat’ even in an environment that is saturated with Maya. These are the steady fast persons who get graced. In this way Guru Sahib tells me that living the life of a householder I can evolve spiritually and reach its ultimate heights.

With this I close my post on this Pauri.

With love and respect for all.



Amarpal Singh
 

❤️ CLICK HERE TO JOIN SPN MOBILE PLATFORM

Top