Sukhmani Sahib:7th Ashtapadee:8th Pauri:My understanding

Amarpal · #1 (**permalink**) 03-May-2009, 10:20 AM

Dear Khalsa Ji,

With the grace of ‘The Sat’, today I share my understanding of 7th Pauri of 7th Ashtapadee of Sukhmani Sahib with you.

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:

As done in the previous Pauri of this Ashtapadee, Guru Sahib is conveying to his disciples the effect that the company of pure and spiritually evolved people will have on their being. This is the positive factor of such association.
This can also be used as the criteria to determine the persons who will qualify for Saadh-Sangat. If in the company of a person, whom one presume to be a pure and evolved, these positive changes in do not start manifesting in your being, than there are good chances that the person is not a pure and spiritually evolved person. This way Guru Sahib is protecting us from possible deception.

1. swD kI mihmw byd n jwnih ] saaDh kee mahimaa bayd na jaaneh.
The ‘Mahima’ of the spiritually evolved pure person is not known to Vedas.

My understanding:

I am not able to give exact word in English which is equivalent to the word ‘Mahima’ used by Guru Sahib in this Tuk. It means the love, respect and the reverence people have for the person’s sage like wisdom, spiritual achievements and its Puneet nature, simplicity and truthful life etc. This is not known to Vedas.

2. jyqw sunih qyqw biKAwnih ] jaytaa suneh taytaa bakhi-aaneh.
They can describe only what they have heard.

My understanding:

Vedas in earlier days, before they were written down, were passes on from the Guru to the disciple through the word of mouth. The disciple has not experienced ‘The Sat’; he memorized what was told to him. This process continued for centuries before they were documented, after this to instead of word of mouth they become to be learnt by reading, without the person experiencing ‘The Absolute’. This way the Vedas ultimately got compiled by individuals who documented what was told to them by their Gurus. The Vedas mostly limited themselves to Devatas the heavenly entities and not with the ‘Absolute’. Guru Sahibs has experienced ‘The Sat’ themselves and with that knowledge told us the path to each one of us to experience ‘The Sat’; this aspect is lacking in the text of Vedas. It is this difference that Guru Sahib is pointing out to us. Though it cannot be denied that it is conceptualization by thinking minds yet the Vedas are not complied by persons who have experiences ‘The Absolute’. This is what Guru Sahib is conveying to us.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/sukhmani-sahib/24912-sukhmani-sahib-7th-ashtapadee-8th-pauri.html

3. swD kI aupmw iqhu gux qy dUir ] saaDh kee upmaa tihu gun tay door.
Spiritually evolved pure people cannot be compared using the three Gunas.

My understanding:

The nature of all that is in this creation of ‘The Sat’ can be split into three Gunas (attributes): Tamas, Satva, and Rajas. Each entity of the creation has these in varying proportion. Guru Sahib says that the nature of spiritually evolved pure people can not be described using these three Gunas. The truth of this statement of Guru Sahib is self evident. These spiritually evolved pure people have become one with ‘The Sat’, except for the body that keeps gives them an appearance of being different from ‘The Sat’. The being of such people is already one with ‘The Sat’. Their nature has risen to a level, where the source of these three Gunas is. What that source is we do not know, thus we cannot describe it. It is for this reason Guru Sahib has said that spiritually evolved pure people cannot be described in terms of these three Gunas, they are beyond them.

4. swD kI aupmw rhI BrpUir ] saaDh kee upmaa rahee bharpoor.
Any comparison of the spiritually evolved person will become overwhelming.

My understanding:

Guru Sahib says that if one tries to describe the spiritually evolved pure people then it will overwhelm the individual’s capabilities. Such persons are one with ‘The Sat’. You know. I know, every one knows that no one can describe ‘The Sat’. Describing a ‘Sat’ like person is equally difficult; this person being is beyond our experiences and vocabulary. Any one who tries will get overwhelmed.

5. swD kI soBw kw nwhI AMq ] saaDh kee sobhaa kaa naahee ant.
The grace of the spiritually evolved pure people is endless.

My understanding:

Guru Sahib tells us that the grace of the personality of the spiritually evolved pure person is so rich that any description of it will become endless. The term grace here just does not cove the appearance alone but the person’s being also. If one makes an attempt, it will be endless.

6. swD kI soBw sdw byAMq ] saaDh kee sobhaa sadaa bay-ant.
The grace of the spiritually evolved pure people is infinite.

My understanding:
Guru Sahib is owed by the grace and glow of that comes from the spiritually evolved pure person; he says that it is infinite. It cannot be grasped; it is beyond us.

7. swD kI soBw aUc qy aUcI ] saaDh kee sobhaa ooch tay oochee.
The grace of spiritually evolved pure people is higher than the highest.

My understanding:

Guru Sahib here is further elaborating that the grace of the spiritually evolved pure people is higher than and worldly entity. As I understand, this is bound to be so because this grace is the glow of divinity that is in the person.

8. swD kI soBw mUc qy mUcI ] saaDh kee sobhaa mooch tay moochee.
The grace of spiritually evolved pure people is more comprehensive and lacks nothing.

My understanding:

Guru Sahib says that the grace of the spiritually evolved pure people is more comprehensive than what we see in and around us. In a way this grace is the ultimate definition of the term grace.

9. swD kI soBw swD bin AweI ] saaDh kee sobhaa saaDh ban aa-ee.
The grace of spiritually evolved pure people is their own which comes from within.

My understanding:

Guru Sahib says that the grace of spiritually evolved pure people comes from within themselves; their nature, their being, their divinity is its source; it is not a make-up. This grace is intrinsic to them.

10. nwnk swD pRB Bydu n BweI ]8]7] naanak saaDh parabh bhayd na bhaa-ee. ||8||7||
O Nanak, spiritually evolved pure people and ‘The Sat’ are one and the same. ||8||7||

My understanding:

Guru Sahib tells to himself and to us that the spiritually evolved pure people and ‘The Sat’ are one and the same. The truth of this statement of Guru Sahib is based on the fact that the being of such people is only an instrument of ‘The Sat’. This ‘I-ness’ of their being i.e. Ahamkara in them stands totally dissolved. What they do is only that comes from the guidance of ‘The Sat’ who is the sole source to illuminate their being. Thus they only act as instrument of ‘Karta Purakh’ i.e. ‘The Sat’.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=24912

With this I close the post.

With love and respect for all.

Amarpal Singh