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Sukhmani Sahib: 9th Ashtapadee: 1st Pauri: My Understanding

Amarpal

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Jun 11, 2004
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Dear Khalsa Ji,

With the grace of ‘The Sat’, today I share my understanding of 1st 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 asks us the live a true life of love and shed falsehood.
1. imiQAw nwhI rsnw prs ] mithi-aa naahee rasnaa paras.
No falsehood, serve the essence.

My understanding:
Guru Sahib tells us that our actions in our lives should be truthful in accordance with the teachings of Gurbani. Our speech should be truthful; our earning should be honest; our social interaction should be for the good of all around and beyond; Our thoughts should be pious; our physical activities should be for the preservation and evolution of creation – we must be kind to all that ‘The Sat’ has created; strive for excellence; in other words we must live to preserve life in ourselves and all those around us in a just and truthful way and to participate effectively in evolution of creation..
All that we dispense in our lives should refect the essence of creation i.e. ‘The Sat’.

2. mn mih pRIiq inrMjn drs ] man meh pareet niranjan daras.
Functioning of the brain based on love is the way (Basis) to experience ‘The Sat’.

My understanding:
‘The Sat’ supports its entire creation the way mother supports its little ones. There is nothing that the little one can give back. This one way love is the purest from of love. The child develops a sense of affection towards its care takers without knowing it. This is the beginning of formatting of brain for love based living. As we grow this base gets polluted because the element of greed, sense of possession, selfishness etc enter into the way our brain functions. The love based function of our brain which we had in our childhood gets clouded by this *******ed sense of self centeredness and ‘I-ness’. How ever if we retain the love based brain formatting and with the growing realisation that it the ‘The Sat’ who supports us and our caretakers in early childhood were only instruments of ‘The Sat’, the love for the parents can be further extended to ‘The Sat’. As we grow spiritually, this love gets further intensified. This pure form of love becomes a link for us to realise ‘The Sat’ which resided in us. This realisation gets intensified over a period of time and it influences each aspect of our being. Ultimately this love fuses with the Love that the creator has for its creation which includes us. This love encompasses both the lover and the loved, they both become one and at that stage one experiences ‘The Sat’. This, as I understand, is the meaning of ‘Niranjan Daras’ through love (The vision of ‘The Sat’) as stated by Guru Sahib in the above Tuk

3. pr iqRA rUpu n pyKY nyqR ] par tari-a roop na paykhai naytar.
The eyes do not get attached to the beauty of others’ wives.

My understanding:
Through this Tuk, Guru Sahib asks his Sikhs to see the entire humanity as human beings only. Gender difference should not be the basis of our eyes seeking some object of gratification for senses. We all see flowers, they are beautiful, we admire this creation of ‘The Sat’ we do not try to possess there flowers. The same should apply to entire creation including humans. This needs a very specific brain formatting which can be achieved through some effort and discipline. The best way to acquire such frame of mind is by training oneself to see ‘The Sat’ in every human being. As one progresses in this self development and training, the body of the person will loose the importance in our thought process which it had earlier. Ultimately one will see every entity as a creation of ‘The Sat’ – the sensuality triggered by the beauty of the women will get dissolved.

4. swD kI thl sMqsMig hyq ] saaDh kee tahal satsang hayt.
Who moves around in search of company of pure humans and serves them.

My understanding:
Guru Sahib asks his Sikhs to keep looking for individuals who a=have evolved and become pure. The company of such people provides and environment where one naturally gravitate towards spiritual purity.

5. krn n sunY kwhU kI inMdw ] karan na sunai kaahoo kee nindaa.
The ears should not listen any slander about any one.

My understanding:
Guru Sahib asks his Sikhs not to enter into any human grouping where the people where people talk ill about others. Guru Sahib wants us to avoid the company of slander mongers. This as I see, is the only way to avoid listening to slander against any one.

6. sB qy jwnY Awps kau mMdw ] sabh tay jaanai aapas ka-o mandaa.
Consider one-self less important than others

My understanding:
This should be the nature disposition of every Sikh; humility is the virtue highlighted in Sikhi and demonstrated in the life of our Gurus
Through this Tuk Guru Sahib is asking use to be humble. The word lower is not used in the sense of any debasement, but to convey that Sikhs should not have any superiority or inferiority complex. One should be free both of these and be imbued with humility.

7. gur pRswid ibiKAw prhrY ] gur parsaad bikhi-aa parharai.
By the grace of ‘The Sat’ one gets rid of wrong living.

My understanding:
It is the progressive spiritual evolution aided by ‘The Sat’ that enables the person to realise the futility of living through deceit, tricks and on unearned income. The spiritual purity results in quenching the desires and makes person happy with what is needed for sustaining live and keep oneself healthy. This happens when ‘The sat’ wishes.
Guru Sahib wants us to eschew dependence in our life. We must all base our life on Kirt and not on charity or acquisition of wealth and money through wrong-doings. Corruption in any form is not the attribute of a true Sikh.

8. mn kI bwsnw mn qy trY ] man kee baasnaa man tay tarai.
Get rid of the lust that originate in our mind,

My understanding:
Guru Sahib asks us not the let our mind be captured by the negativities of our worldly life. These negativities give rise to desires and lust that lead us away from the true mission of our life.
Those individuals who learn the lessons of life properly they do not develop any attachment to negativities and thus carry on with their mission in the life, gravitating towards Godliness and thus evolve spiritually.

9. ieMdRI ijq pMc doK qy rhq ] indree jit panch dokh tay rahat.
Conquering the five senses gives relief from distress and mental agonies.

My understanding:
Our five Gyanendriyas – vision, smell, touch, hearing and taste – are given to us to make sense of this world around us and to live safely. Yet we become slave of them and strive to seek the object liked by these sense. We get distracted from our true mission of life which is to become Godly. Pursuits of objects of sense gratification create attachments which cloud our brain and prevent us from seeing the truth as it is; it result in painful experiences and metal suffering. If we have disciplined our senses then all this is avoided. This is what I understand, Guru Sahib is telling us.

10. nwnk koit mDy ko AYsw Aprs ]1] naanak kot maDhay ko aisaa apras. ||1||
O’ Nanak in millions there may be some who in not affected.

My understanding:
Guru Sahib reflect on the prevailing conditions of humanity and tells us that there are very few individuals who are not captivated by the senses and remain steady on the path of spiritual evolution in this world and physical for and become Godly

With this I close the post.

With Love and Respect for all.
Amarpal Singh
 

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