Dear Khalsa Ji,
What I understand from the 1st Pauri of the 2nd Ashtapadee of Sukhmani Sahib, I share with you.
1. jh mwq ipqw suq mIq n BweI ] jah maat pitaa sut meet na bhaa-ee.
Where there is no mother, father, siblings, friends or brother.
My understanding:
This sentence is not to be taken literally or physically. All our Gurus were house holders and had all the relations associated with it – mother, father, sisters, brothers, and friends. Yet it has a message. Here Guru Sahib yells me that I have to get rid of the selfish nature; I have to dissolve my ‘I’ and ‘mine nature. Every entity in this world belongs to ‘The Sat’; I have to get over my possessing attitudes. In every entity there is ‘The Sat’. All have to be equally dear to me and not just my blood relatives and friends alone, with whom I have direct relationships. This state of mind I have to create. In this state alone I will realize that I too belong to ‘The Sat; there is nothing that belongs to me.
2. mn aUhw nwmu qyrY sMig shweI ] man oohaa naam tayrai sang sahaa-ee.
In such mind is Naam, which is all with you and supports you.
My understanding:
This sentence is to be understood with the previous sentence. It conveys that once all the selfishness is removed from one’s being the mind becomes pure. This mind is the place of ‘Naam’ i.e. the remembrance of ‘The Sat’ who is always with us. We forget this fact because all our thinking space of mind gets filled with ‘I’ and ‘my’. It clouds our thinking so much that we forget the presence of ‘The Sat’ there.
3. jh mhw BieAwn dUq jm dlY ] jah mahaa bha-i-aan doot jam dalai.
Where there is great fear of the agents of death (Jam or Yama).
My understanding:
In this Guru Sahib refers to this world where we all live under the constant fear of death. Though it is the ultimate fait of all living entities, still no one wants to die. The fear of death haunts all the humans.
4. qh kyvl nwmu sMig qyrY clY ] tah kayval naam sang tayrai chalai.
There only “Naam’ accompanies the person.
My understanding:
This sentence is to be understood in the context of what is said in the previous one. Guru Sahib says that once the space of mind is filled with ‘Naam’ i.e. remembrance of ‘The Sat’, there is nothing that is mine, every thing belongs to ‘The Sat’ and it includes the life of the individual. Once the person has already understood and realized in its being that the life too belongs to ‘The Sat’, she or he has nothing to loose. What can death take away from her or him? Such an individual is free from all attachments; this individual lives this empirical life with a sense of ‘Hukam’ from ‘The Sat’. Death is not a fear for such a person; this person cannot be crushed by it. The person is imbued with remembrance of ‘The Sat’. The mental space of this individual is filled with ‘Naam’.
5. jh muskl hovY Aiq BwrI ] jah muskal hovai at bhaaree.
Where the difficulties of life become too intense.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib is telling that when the difficulties in life become too intense. If it becomes extremely difficult for the individual to handle them
6. hir ko nwmu iKn mwih auDwrI ] har ko naam khin maahi uDhaaree.
The ‘Naam’ of ‘The Sat’ lifts the person above the difficulties.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib says that it is the remembrance of ‘The Sat’ which helps the individual to come out of difficult position or find solutions to the difficult position in which the individual finds herself or himself. I understand that one is in difficult position and deliberates intensely over it. The deeper layers (subconscious) of the brain get involves in solving the problem. With remembrance of ‘The Sat’ (Naam) the mind becomes pure and the fuzziness in thinking disappears; ‘I’ and ‘mine’ gets dissolve and the individual sees the situation as it truly is. This is the environment in which the right solution emerges. This way, ‘Naam’ provides solution for the individual to come out of difficult situations with success.
7. Aink punhcrn krq nhI qrY ] anik punahcharan karat nahee tarai.
Performing several un-sinful acts does not carry the person through.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib says that doing rituals to dissolve the sins do not help the individual to dissolve her or his past Karma.
8. hir ko nwmu koit pwp prhrY ] har ko naam kot paap parharai.
The ‘Naam’ of ‘The Sat’, dissolves the sinful acts.
My understanding:
This sentence too has to be read along with the previous sentence.
I understand that all Karmas, good or bad, when done with a sense of ‘I’ or ‘mine’ get into the Karmic cycle. I also understand that Karmas that are done without ‘I’ or ‘my’ are out of Karmic cycle as they cannot be tagged to any individual because there is no ‘I’ or ‘my’. Such Karmas are divine. It was of this reason Gautam Buddha had said;
The Dharma that I do is Karma. The Dharma that happens is Divine.
Here it should be noted that there is no ‘I’ in the second part of this saying.
Guru Sahib here is very clear. When the person has become pure in her or his mind and its ‘I’ or ‘my’ are all dissolved, then the individual too who has done the specific karma in the past to stands dissolved; there is only ‘The Sat’ who fills this person’s being. We know that ‘The Sat’ is beyond the cycle of Karma. The person who has freed itself from the five vices; who has dissolved its attachments and desires and who now lives a truthful life has no ‘I’ or ‘my’ left in her or in him. The person has become a living expression of the Shabad; the person has become a Gurmukh. Expect the body, this person is no longer the same; it’s being is no longer the same as it was when she or he has done the past Karmas. The Karmic cycle can no longer find the doer of the past sin and so the karmic cycle can no longer impact on this purified individual. This way the person gets protected from the adverse impact of her or his past deeds. This is what I understand Guru Sahib is conveying to me.
9. gurmuiK nwmu jphu mn myry ] gurmukh naam japahu man mayray.
As Gurmukh, O’ my mind, repeat ‘Naam’.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib has put me on the path of continuous spiritual elevation. This path is simple even illiterates can follow it. It is that of ‘Naam’ which purifies the individual’s being.
This is a great teaching from my Guru Sahib. ‘Wah-e-guru’. ‘Wah-e-guru’. ‘Wah-e-guru’.
10. nwnk pwvhu sUK Gnyry ]1] naanak paavhu sookh ghanayray. ||1||
O’ Nanak, will find intense joyful serene peace.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib restates the advantage of the path of ‘Naam’ -. Truthfully living the life of a house holder and in remembrance of ‘The Sat’.
With this I close today’s post.
With love and respect for all.
Amarpal Singh
What I understand from the 1st Pauri of the 2nd Ashtapadee of Sukhmani Sahib, I share with you.
1. jh mwq ipqw suq mIq n BweI ] jah maat pitaa sut meet na bhaa-ee.
Where there is no mother, father, siblings, friends or brother.
My understanding:
This sentence is not to be taken literally or physically. All our Gurus were house holders and had all the relations associated with it – mother, father, sisters, brothers, and friends. Yet it has a message. Here Guru Sahib yells me that I have to get rid of the selfish nature; I have to dissolve my ‘I’ and ‘mine nature. Every entity in this world belongs to ‘The Sat’; I have to get over my possessing attitudes. In every entity there is ‘The Sat’. All have to be equally dear to me and not just my blood relatives and friends alone, with whom I have direct relationships. This state of mind I have to create. In this state alone I will realize that I too belong to ‘The Sat; there is nothing that belongs to me.
2. mn aUhw nwmu qyrY sMig shweI ] man oohaa naam tayrai sang sahaa-ee.
In such mind is Naam, which is all with you and supports you.
My understanding:
This sentence is to be understood with the previous sentence. It conveys that once all the selfishness is removed from one’s being the mind becomes pure. This mind is the place of ‘Naam’ i.e. the remembrance of ‘The Sat’ who is always with us. We forget this fact because all our thinking space of mind gets filled with ‘I’ and ‘my’. It clouds our thinking so much that we forget the presence of ‘The Sat’ there.
3. jh mhw BieAwn dUq jm dlY ] jah mahaa bha-i-aan doot jam dalai.
Where there is great fear of the agents of death (Jam or Yama).
My understanding:
In this Guru Sahib refers to this world where we all live under the constant fear of death. Though it is the ultimate fait of all living entities, still no one wants to die. The fear of death haunts all the humans.
4. qh kyvl nwmu sMig qyrY clY ] tah kayval naam sang tayrai chalai.
There only “Naam’ accompanies the person.
My understanding:
This sentence is to be understood in the context of what is said in the previous one. Guru Sahib says that once the space of mind is filled with ‘Naam’ i.e. remembrance of ‘The Sat’, there is nothing that is mine, every thing belongs to ‘The Sat’ and it includes the life of the individual. Once the person has already understood and realized in its being that the life too belongs to ‘The Sat’, she or he has nothing to loose. What can death take away from her or him? Such an individual is free from all attachments; this individual lives this empirical life with a sense of ‘Hukam’ from ‘The Sat’. Death is not a fear for such a person; this person cannot be crushed by it. The person is imbued with remembrance of ‘The Sat’. The mental space of this individual is filled with ‘Naam’.
5. jh muskl hovY Aiq BwrI ] jah muskal hovai at bhaaree.
Where the difficulties of life become too intense.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib is telling that when the difficulties in life become too intense. If it becomes extremely difficult for the individual to handle them
6. hir ko nwmu iKn mwih auDwrI ] har ko naam khin maahi uDhaaree.
The ‘Naam’ of ‘The Sat’ lifts the person above the difficulties.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib says that it is the remembrance of ‘The Sat’ which helps the individual to come out of difficult position or find solutions to the difficult position in which the individual finds herself or himself. I understand that one is in difficult position and deliberates intensely over it. The deeper layers (subconscious) of the brain get involves in solving the problem. With remembrance of ‘The Sat’ (Naam) the mind becomes pure and the fuzziness in thinking disappears; ‘I’ and ‘mine’ gets dissolve and the individual sees the situation as it truly is. This is the environment in which the right solution emerges. This way, ‘Naam’ provides solution for the individual to come out of difficult situations with success.
7. Aink punhcrn krq nhI qrY ] anik punahcharan karat nahee tarai.
Performing several un-sinful acts does not carry the person through.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib says that doing rituals to dissolve the sins do not help the individual to dissolve her or his past Karma.
8. hir ko nwmu koit pwp prhrY ] har ko naam kot paap parharai.
The ‘Naam’ of ‘The Sat’, dissolves the sinful acts.
My understanding:
This sentence too has to be read along with the previous sentence.
I understand that all Karmas, good or bad, when done with a sense of ‘I’ or ‘mine’ get into the Karmic cycle. I also understand that Karmas that are done without ‘I’ or ‘my’ are out of Karmic cycle as they cannot be tagged to any individual because there is no ‘I’ or ‘my’. Such Karmas are divine. It was of this reason Gautam Buddha had said;
The Dharma that I do is Karma. The Dharma that happens is Divine.
Here it should be noted that there is no ‘I’ in the second part of this saying.
Guru Sahib here is very clear. When the person has become pure in her or his mind and its ‘I’ or ‘my’ are all dissolved, then the individual too who has done the specific karma in the past to stands dissolved; there is only ‘The Sat’ who fills this person’s being. We know that ‘The Sat’ is beyond the cycle of Karma. The person who has freed itself from the five vices; who has dissolved its attachments and desires and who now lives a truthful life has no ‘I’ or ‘my’ left in her or in him. The person has become a living expression of the Shabad; the person has become a Gurmukh. Expect the body, this person is no longer the same; it’s being is no longer the same as it was when she or he has done the past Karmas. The Karmic cycle can no longer find the doer of the past sin and so the karmic cycle can no longer impact on this purified individual. This way the person gets protected from the adverse impact of her or his past deeds. This is what I understand Guru Sahib is conveying to me.
9. gurmuiK nwmu jphu mn myry ] gurmukh naam japahu man mayray.
As Gurmukh, O’ my mind, repeat ‘Naam’.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib has put me on the path of continuous spiritual elevation. This path is simple even illiterates can follow it. It is that of ‘Naam’ which purifies the individual’s being.
This is a great teaching from my Guru Sahib. ‘Wah-e-guru’. ‘Wah-e-guru’. ‘Wah-e-guru’.
10. nwnk pwvhu sUK Gnyry ]1] naanak paavhu sookh ghanayray. ||1||
O’ Nanak, will find intense joyful serene peace.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib restates the advantage of the path of ‘Naam’ -. Truthfully living the life of a house holder and in remembrance of ‘The Sat’.
With this I close today’s post.
With love and respect for all.
Amarpal Singh
