Japji Sahib - Pauri 6

Dear Members,



Today I share with you my understanding of the 6th Pauri of Japji Sahib.



In this Pauri, Guru Sahib tells us how important it is and what a great matter of satisfaction it is, if ‘Karta Purakh’ accepts the individual. He is telling us that the ritualistic aspect of reverence shown to ‘Karta Purakh’ has no meaning for ‘Sat’. He emphasises on the importance of learning the teaching of the Guru, and then once again reminds us the oneness of all life forms at the level of their source.

qIriQ nwvw jy iqsu Bwvw ivxu Bwxy ik nwie krI ] tirath naavaa jay tis bhaavaa vin bhaanay ke naa-ay karee.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/jap-ji-sahib/400-japji-sahib-pauri-6-a.html

Guru Sahib tells us that if one is acceptable or is to the liking of ‘Karta Purakh’ then it is as good as what is implied by the act of taking bath in a place of pilgrimage. Without the grace of ‘Karta Purakh’ taking bath in revered places of worship is just a mechanical act with no spiritual element in it. In other words, Guru Sahib is telling us that the physical acts of reverence have no significance to ‘Karta Purakh’; the seeker should be such that ‘Karta Purakh’ consider her/him proper and adequate for it’s grace. In a way Guru Sahib is showing us the direction to spirituality.



jyqI isriT aupweI vyKw ivxu krmw ik imlY leI ] jaytee sirath upaa-ee vaykhaa vin karmaa ke milai la-ee.



Guru Sahib adds that when he sees the life forms, he ponders that can it comes without good karmas.



What is implied here is that ones Karmas decide the form one gets, indirectly it means that the individual is the architect of her/his future.



miq ivic rqn jvwhr mwixk jy iek gur kI isK suxI ] (2-12, jpu, mÚ 1)
mat vich ratan javaahar maanik jay ik gur kee sikh sunee.



Guru Sahib tells us that even if one has realised and incorporated in herself/himself even a single teaching of the Guru, it creates an extraordinary mental framework for the functioning of the brain which is as brilliant as the best of jewels in the domain of wealth.



gurw iek dyih buJweI ] guraa ik dayhi bujhaa-ee.



sBnw jIAw kw ieku dwqw so mY ivsir n jweI ]6] sabhnaa jee-aa kaa ik daataa so mai visar na jaa-ee. ||6||
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=400




Once again in this Pauri, Guru sahib tells us that one thing that his Guru has made him understand and realise that there is only one provider supporting all the life forms.



Guru Sahib has already hinted in an earlier sentence of this Pauri that even if one teaching from the Guru we fully realise in our life and the way of living, it is a wealth equivalent to the best of jewels. The one teaching of his own Guru, our Guru Sahib has passed on to us in these last two sentences of this Pauri.



In this way Guru Sahib is conveying to us the oneness of human race, and all the forms of life. This he is probably telling to inculcate in us some thing that can make us acceptable to ‘Karta Purakh’. Once we understand that it is the same in oneself and in all other forms of life, the individual will then become sympathetic and compassionate towards all form of life. The individual will see the same provider in all beings and develop consideration for them.



Guru Sahib is guiding us to put us on the Path to Spirituality.



With Love and Respect for all.



Amarpal

 
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'tirath naavaa jay tis bhaavaa vin bhaanay ke naa-ay karee.'
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=400



The above verse reconfirms my belief that in Pauri 1, line 1, the word SOCH means Cleansing rather that thinking.

Didnt get this veer ji. Where is the word 'soch' in the tuk u mentioned?

ThinkigOne ji,

The way I see it that the message is the same in the first verse of the first pauri and the first verse of the 6th. Hence according to my understanding SOCH in the first one is same as TIRATH ISHNAAN.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=400

If I were you I would read different interpretations of the same from different scholars so that you can draw your own conclusion.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=400

Peace & Love

Tejwant

Got it. Those are different actions (rituals) without any spiritual elements e.g. soch, tirath naave etc.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=400
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=400

Please Consider this ignorant as a learner sikh. Getting questions is better for my own understaning, or probably thats how I learn it. But before drawing any conclusion on my own, I do confirm with the original contributor if that learning was correct

Your posts are definitely a good source of most of the things I looked answers for.

Best Regards.

THinkingOne ji,

For me SOCH and TEERATH ISHNAAN are the same. In other words SOCH means to purify by bathing in holy waters. But some take SOCH as THINKING by which I am not convinced.

Fateh Ji

So, you suggest that taking bath in the 'holy' waters purifies the mind and the soul ??? Any basis for that ???

No,
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=400
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=400

What I said is that in Pauri 1, Guru Nanak Dev ji talked about 4 schools of thought and the first school of thought was that when one takes bath in holy waters one'e sins are washed, which GurU Nanak rejected altogether. and it is not thinking hundreds of times.
Guru Nanak shows us the same in the 6th pauri what he did in the first one.

Peace & Love

Tejwant

Dear Khalsa Jee,

In my next post I will share with you all what is my thinking on taking bath in revered places of worship. It is different from what is being said here. I will post it in this very thread.

With Love and Respect for all.

Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=400
Amarpal

Dear Khalsa Jee,



Visiting places of pilgrimage and taking bath in water bodies has been a tradition from the times of Vedas. To understand it’s meaning we have to go back in time.



Let us imagine the India say some 1500 years ago and an individual starting from what is known as Chennai today for pilgrimage to Kashi.



Imagine the total environment for this journey. What transport that would have been available at that time – bullock cart or horse or some thing like that. What types of roads of that time – muddy and ill maintained and non-existent at places. Imagine the non-availability of the map of the route to Kashi – on had to depend on locals who can help to some distance they know with all the possibility of deception and cheating. Imagine the lonely paths with virtually no traffic to be encountered for long times. Imagine the distances between population centers – long stretches of unpopulated areas and the time taken to cover the distance between them, with no help in between. Imagine the feeling of insecurity felt all the time by the individual from carnivorous animals and thieves. Imagine the ruggedness of the Satpura and Vindhya mountain ranges, which the individual has to cross and the difficulties associated with it. Imagine the limitation and the risk associated with carrying food, water, supplies and money on the way to Kashi. Imagine the uncertainties in the traveler passing through the areas ruled by different kings. Imagine the risk involved for the traveler all the way who had to depend on individuals that one does not know for sure what are their intentions. Imagine the sickness that may afflict the person on the way with no medical help available. Imagine the uncertainty the individual will have not knowing how much time the journey will take. Imagine the loneliness that the individual will have with no real contact with his loved one he has left behind. With all this, imagine what the individual embarking on such journey will be undergoing.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=400



I must have been a very stressful and scary situation demanding lot of courage to say ‘I’ will go to pilgrimage to Kashi. Note the word ‘I’, which indicates ego.



The person who embarks on such journey is bound to pass through very difficult times on the way. Somewhere he may be sick and living on the mercy of some one. Some time all what he is carrying with him may get stolen or lost; he may have to beg to support himself and his journey. Some time he may be struggling for water. He may even she his fellow traveler dieing on the way. Some time he may miss the convoy going to Kashi and may have to wait for long till the next one arrives. During this wait he may have to take up some menial works, which may not suit his status back home and so on. One can imagine all sorts of difficulties that the travelers would have to face in those times.



Now imagine what would have happen to this individuals ego ‘I’ with which he has begun his journey. On the way it would have been shattered so many times, the individual would have realised his limitedness and inadequacies. The ordeals would have made him realise that he is nobody and time and time again he would have prayed to God for help and support. His reliance and belief in God would have increased many folds and the belief would have percolated deep into his psyche and to the depth of his heart and his soul.



When in sight of his destination - Kashi, with tears in his eyes, he would have been thanking God who has carried him all the way and whose support his again need to go back home and be with his loved ones.



With his ego shattered and dead the individual would have already become ‘Nirmal’. The process of reaching Kashi would have already transformed him. This internal transformation is in no way visible to human eye. What they can see is the individual taking bath in the water body near the place of pilgrimage. What water can do to any individual? It touches only the external body; it can only wash away the dust and dirt. The real cleansing is the transformation that is needed deep within. It is the transformation that had taken place during the journey caused by the process of journey of those times.



Taking bath in Kashi was only symbolic act; it was the intent with which the individual had started his journey. Taking bath was like touching the tape in a race at the end line; the real thing is running.



The individual, who had started the journey with ‘I’ on his tongue, would have returned home with the Naam on his tongue. People, naturally would have concluded that the bath has transformed him, and this illusion continues – it is not the bath but the process of reaching Kashi in those days.



When Guru Sahib says that ‘tirath naavaa jay tis bhaavaa’, he is meaning the same thing. If one has become transformed and graced by ‘Karta Purakh’ then it is equivalent to what common people think happens if one takes bath in the water body associated with a revered place for pilgrimage.



Please note:



(i) Guru Sahib had to use terms, which the common man – his audience – understood, this was necessary to convey the intended meaning effectively. Here he has used ‘tirath naavaa’.



(ii) Use of this term does not mean that he is asking us to start going to places of pilgrimage and take bath there. Reaching the place of pilgrimage by plane, going to the place of reverence by air-conditioned car and taking bath there or something like that, for me, has no meaning because the real process that bring about the transformation is missed all together. To me, it is waste of time and money; it is only pretence. It is a meaning less ritual.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=400



With Love and Respect for all



Amarpal