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Gurmat Vichaar
Gurmat Vichar - Discussions
And When The Swan Soul Leaves The Body, Then ਪ੍ਰੇਤ ਪ੍ਰੇਤ ਕਰਿ ਭਾਗੀ
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<blockquote data-quote="spnadmin" data-source="post: 191535" data-attributes="member: 35"><p>ਸੋਰਠਿ ਮਹਲਾ ੯ ॥ </p><p>Soraṯẖ mėhlā 9. </p><p>Sorat'h, Ninth Mehl: </p><p></p><p>ਪ੍ਰੀਤਮ ਜਾਨਿ ਲੇਹੁ ਮਨ ਮਾਹੀ ॥ </p><p>Parīṯam jān leho man māhī. </p><p>O dear friend, know this in your mind. </p><p></p><p>ਅਪਨੇ ਸੁਖ ਸਿਉ ਹੀ ਜਗੁ ਫਾਂਧਿਓ ਕੋ ਕਾਹੂ ਕੋ ਨਾਹੀ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥ </p><p>Apne sukẖ si▫o hī jag fāʼnḏẖi▫o ko kāhū ko nāhī. ||1|| rahā▫o. </p><p>The world is entangled in its own pleasures; no one is for anyone else. ||1||Pause|| </p><p></p><p>ਸੁਖ ਮੈ ਆਨਿ ਬਹੁਤੁ ਮਿਲਿ ਬੈਠਤ ਰਹਤ ਚਹੂ ਦਿਸਿ ਘੇਰੈ ॥ </p><p>Sukẖ mai ān bahuṯ mil baiṯẖaṯ rahaṯ cẖahū ḏis gẖerai. </p><p>In good times, many come and sit together, surrounding you on all four sides. </p><p></p><p>ਬਿਪਤਿ ਪਰੀ ਸਭ ਹੀ ਸੰਗੁ ਛਾਡਿਤ ਕੋਊ ਨ ਆਵਤ ਨੇਰੈ ॥੧॥ </p><p>Bipaṯ parī sabẖ hī sang cẖẖādiṯ ko▫ū na āvaṯ nerai. ||1|| </p><p>But when hard times come, they all leave, and no one comes near you. ||1|| </p><p></p><p>ਘਰ ਕੀ ਨਾਰਿ ਬਹੁਤੁ ਹਿਤੁ ਜਾ ਸਿਉ ਸਦਾ ਰਹਤ ਸੰਗ ਲਾਗੀ ॥ </p><p>Gẖar kī nār bahuṯ hiṯ jā si▫o saḏā rahaṯ sang lāgī. </p><p>Your wife, whom you love so much, and who has remained ever attached to you, </p><p></p><p>ਜਬ ਹੀ ਹੰਸ ਤਜੀ ਇਹ ਕਾਂਇਆ ਪ੍ਰੇਤ ਪ੍ਰੇਤ ਕਰਿ ਭਾਗੀ ॥੨॥ </p><p>Jab hī hans ṯajī ih kāʼn▫i▫ā pareṯ pareṯ kar bẖāgī. ||2|| </p><p>runs away crying, "Ghost! Ghost!", as soon as the swan-soul leaves this body. ||2|| </p><p></p><p>ਇਹ ਬਿਧਿ ਕੋ ਬਿਉਹਾਰੁ ਬਨਿਓ ਹੈ ਜਾ ਸਿਉ ਨੇਹੁ ਲਗਾਇਓ ॥ </p><p>Ih biḏẖ ko bi▫uhār bani▫o hai jā si▫o nehu lagā▫i▫o. </p><p>This is the way they act - those whom we love so much. </p><p></p><p>ਅੰਤ ਬਾਰ ਨਾਨਕ ਬਿਨੁ ਹਰਿ ਜੀ ਕੋਊ ਕਾਮਿ ਨ ਆਇਓ ॥੩॥੧੨॥੧੩੯॥ </p><p>Anṯ bār Nānak bin har jī ko▫ū kām na ā▫i▫o. ||3||12||139|| </p><p>At the very last moment, O Nanak, no one is any use at all, except the Dear Lord. ||3||12||139|| </p><p></p><p></p><p>The shabad on its face seems melancholy, almost to say that in times of adversity and in the hours and days surrounding our death, those who admired us and were attached to us will not come near. Even a much-loved wife believes she sees a ghost 'paret' and runs in fear when the swan-soul 'hans' leaves the body. Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa’s translation is a poetic English translation. However, I broke with his translation in places because I feel he has missed the point. Forgive my errors, because I found the grammar ambiguous in places, and correct me where I am wrong. </p><p></p><p>Probing a little deeper the images provide some other views, and the shabad could be seen to be a hopeful and uplifting message, and not so colored by feelings of being resigned to unreliable friends and family members who in the end abandon us. The shabad may even describe spiritual rebirth, where the one who dies in ego is the one who abandons familiar sources of contentment.</p><p></p><p>Pondering, ਅਪਨੇ ਸੁਖ ਸਿਉ ਹੀ ਜਗੁ ਫਾਂਧਿਓ ਕੋ ਕਾਹੂ ਕੋ ਨਾਹੀ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥ </p><p>Apne sukẖ si▫o hī jag fāʼnḏẖi▫o ko kāhū ko nāhī. ||1|| rahā▫o. </p><p>The world is entangled in its own pleasures; no one is for anyone else. ||1||Pause| </p><p></p><p>Take as a given that 'jag,' our universe is debilitated by entanglements in personal pleasures, few of us can be truly there for others. Guru Teg Bahadur ji is saying that very few people are able to free themselves from the bondage to the pleasure they gain from the illusions they have about their place in the world.</p><p></p><p>Next, consider some of the powerful images Guruji presents that burst these personal myths.</p><p></p><p> ਸੁਖ ਮੈ ਆਨਿ ਬਹੁਤੁ ਮਿਲਿ ਬੈਠਤ ਰਹਤ ਚਹੂ ਦਿਸਿ ਘੇਰੈ ॥ </p><p>Sukẖ mai ān bahuṯ mil baiṯẖaṯ rahaṯ cẖahū ḏis gẖerai. </p><p>In good times, many come and sit together, surrounding you on all four sides. </p><p></p><p>This tuk is actually saying that times of happiness and good fortune your house its 4 corners with friends and associates (those joined to you)</p><p></p><p>Friends avoid us in adversity, and even a spouse may run in fear. </p><p></p><p>ਬਿਪਤਿ ਪਰੀ ਸਭ ਹੀ ਸੰਗੁ ਛਾਡਿਤ ਕੋਊ ਨ ਆਵਤ ਨੇਰੈ ॥੧॥ </p><p>Bipaṯ parī sabẖ hī sang cẖẖādiṯ ko▫ū na āvaṯ nerai. ||1|| </p><p>But when hard times come, they all leave, and no one comes near you. ||1|| </p><p></p><p> This tuk is saying when times of adversity come, fair women will not keep company with you (and by implication neither will your friends and associates); indeed even your wife draws away. We enjoy the company of friends and family in good times, but they avoid us in times of distress. The image is that of spiritual alienation. Guru Teg Bahadur is alluding to the Brahmin belief in samskars, or imprints from positive and negative experiences in life attach to our minds and color our destiny. Good and bad samskars are contagious. Our samskars attach to those around us. Hence, a person in distress, or at the time of death, is a problem because no one can endure negative samskars to burden them in their own reincarnation to a next life. This was the thinking of Guru’s time. And it was so deeply ingrained that ...</p><p></p><p>ਘਰ ਕੀ ਨਾਰਿ ਬਹੁਤੁ ਹਿਤੁ ਜਾ ਸਿਉ ਸਦਾ ਰਹਤ ਸੰਗ ਲਾਗੀ ॥ </p><p>Gẖar kī nār bahuṯ hiṯ jā si▫o saḏā rahaṯ sang lāgī. </p><p>Your wife, whom you love so much, and who has remained ever attached to you, </p><p></p><p>Meaning the wife that you kept in your own house, who was always tied to you,</p><p></p><p>ਜਬ ਹੀ ਹੰਸ ਤਜੀ ਇਹ ਕਾਂਇਆ ਪ੍ਰੇਤ ਪ੍ਰੇਤ ਕਰਿ ਭਾਗੀ ॥੨॥ </p><p>Jab hī hans ṯajī ih kāʼn▫i▫ā pareṯ pareṯ kar bẖāgī. ||2|| </p><p>runs away crying, "Ghost! Ghost!", as soon as the swan-soul leaves this body. ||2|| </p><p></p><p>In this shabad, as in other shabads, Guru Teg Bahadur ji consistently uses Hindu imagery to turn the tables on Brahmin beliefs. Particularly in this tuk he relates beliefs about death and the soul after death. A wife who was once attached to her husband at his death now recoils. In the shabad she runs in horror from a ghost. This is not a ghost in the western sense of a lingering soul, but the karmic residue of a dead person that can contaminate his survivors. The wife of a dead man could not touch him; his body had to be turned over, with even the jewels he might be wearing at the time of death, to a member of the Sudra caste who would dispose of the remains. By tradition a wife had to pull away in distress or risk her own purity. </p><p></p><p>Guru ji then labels the moment of death “when the swan-soul leaves the body.” The image of swan-soul is not a simple image of the soul as a swan in flight from the dead person’s spent body. Guru ji has deliberately picked the swan to foreshadow the end verses of the shabad. The swan is a special bird in Hindu mythology because it inhabits more than one plane of being: the earth, the water, the sky. It is often taken to mean a being at ease and in perfect balance in more than one habitat. It is capable of moving from one realm to the other with ease. The swan therefore becomes a symbol of the soul that is ready and able to merge with the Brahman and change its spiritual status. So, it is with a swan soul leaving the body and leaving beind those fearful of samskars and ghosts that Guruji leads us to the last verse. This is where he turns the tables.</p><p></p><p>ਅੰਤ ਬਾਰ ਨਾਨਕ ਬਿਨੁ ਹਰਿ ਜੀ ਕੋਊ ਕਾਮਿ ਨ ਆਇਓ ॥੩॥੧੨॥੧੩੯॥ </p><p>Anṯ bār Nānak bin har jī ko▫ū kām na ā▫i▫o. ||3||12||139|| </p><p>At the very last moment, O Nanak, no one is any use at all, except the </p><p></p><p>Dear Lord. ||3||12||139|| </p><p></p><p>The journey is complete and at its end, 'ant,' we are at a threshold, 'bar,' without Har, 'bin Har'... satisfaction there is none 'kam na a-i-o.' This tuk can mean that kam, usually meaning sense gratification, no longer has any value once our material attachment to the world and friends and loved ones is severed. In the final days, hours, and moments, on the threshold of <em>life into death</em> ‘Ant bar’ no one can give gratification, ‘kam,’ except ‘Har.’ However, the tuk might also mean, at the threshold of <em>death into life,</em> your friendships will have a different meaning, and your wife may not recognize you (she sees only the ghost of your former self). Only our attachment with Har, the indestructible truth, can satisfy us then. Only a swan soul is ready and able to find oneness with Akaal.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="spnadmin, post: 191535, member: 35"] ਸੋਰਠਿ ਮਹਲਾ ੯ ॥ Soraṯẖ mėhlā 9. Sorat'h, Ninth Mehl: ਪ੍ਰੀਤਮ ਜਾਨਿ ਲੇਹੁ ਮਨ ਮਾਹੀ ॥ Parīṯam jān leho man māhī. O dear friend, know this in your mind. ਅਪਨੇ ਸੁਖ ਸਿਉ ਹੀ ਜਗੁ ਫਾਂਧਿਓ ਕੋ ਕਾਹੂ ਕੋ ਨਾਹੀ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥ Apne sukẖ si▫o hī jag fāʼnḏẖi▫o ko kāhū ko nāhī. ||1|| rahā▫o. The world is entangled in its own pleasures; no one is for anyone else. ||1||Pause|| ਸੁਖ ਮੈ ਆਨਿ ਬਹੁਤੁ ਮਿਲਿ ਬੈਠਤ ਰਹਤ ਚਹੂ ਦਿਸਿ ਘੇਰੈ ॥ Sukẖ mai ān bahuṯ mil baiṯẖaṯ rahaṯ cẖahū ḏis gẖerai. In good times, many come and sit together, surrounding you on all four sides. ਬਿਪਤਿ ਪਰੀ ਸਭ ਹੀ ਸੰਗੁ ਛਾਡਿਤ ਕੋਊ ਨ ਆਵਤ ਨੇਰੈ ॥੧॥ Bipaṯ parī sabẖ hī sang cẖẖādiṯ ko▫ū na āvaṯ nerai. ||1|| But when hard times come, they all leave, and no one comes near you. ||1|| ਘਰ ਕੀ ਨਾਰਿ ਬਹੁਤੁ ਹਿਤੁ ਜਾ ਸਿਉ ਸਦਾ ਰਹਤ ਸੰਗ ਲਾਗੀ ॥ Gẖar kī nār bahuṯ hiṯ jā si▫o saḏā rahaṯ sang lāgī. Your wife, whom you love so much, and who has remained ever attached to you, ਜਬ ਹੀ ਹੰਸ ਤਜੀ ਇਹ ਕਾਂਇਆ ਪ੍ਰੇਤ ਪ੍ਰੇਤ ਕਰਿ ਭਾਗੀ ॥੨॥ Jab hī hans ṯajī ih kāʼn▫i▫ā pareṯ pareṯ kar bẖāgī. ||2|| runs away crying, "Ghost! Ghost!", as soon as the swan-soul leaves this body. ||2|| ਇਹ ਬਿਧਿ ਕੋ ਬਿਉਹਾਰੁ ਬਨਿਓ ਹੈ ਜਾ ਸਿਉ ਨੇਹੁ ਲਗਾਇਓ ॥ Ih biḏẖ ko bi▫uhār bani▫o hai jā si▫o nehu lagā▫i▫o. This is the way they act - those whom we love so much. ਅੰਤ ਬਾਰ ਨਾਨਕ ਬਿਨੁ ਹਰਿ ਜੀ ਕੋਊ ਕਾਮਿ ਨ ਆਇਓ ॥੩॥੧੨॥੧੩੯॥ Anṯ bār Nānak bin har jī ko▫ū kām na ā▫i▫o. ||3||12||139|| At the very last moment, O Nanak, no one is any use at all, except the Dear Lord. ||3||12||139|| The shabad on its face seems melancholy, almost to say that in times of adversity and in the hours and days surrounding our death, those who admired us and were attached to us will not come near. Even a much-loved wife believes she sees a ghost 'paret' and runs in fear when the swan-soul 'hans' leaves the body. Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa’s translation is a poetic English translation. However, I broke with his translation in places because I feel he has missed the point. Forgive my errors, because I found the grammar ambiguous in places, and correct me where I am wrong. Probing a little deeper the images provide some other views, and the shabad could be seen to be a hopeful and uplifting message, and not so colored by feelings of being resigned to unreliable friends and family members who in the end abandon us. The shabad may even describe spiritual rebirth, where the one who dies in ego is the one who abandons familiar sources of contentment. Pondering, ਅਪਨੇ ਸੁਖ ਸਿਉ ਹੀ ਜਗੁ ਫਾਂਧਿਓ ਕੋ ਕਾਹੂ ਕੋ ਨਾਹੀ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥ Apne sukẖ si▫o hī jag fāʼnḏẖi▫o ko kāhū ko nāhī. ||1|| rahā▫o. The world is entangled in its own pleasures; no one is for anyone else. ||1||Pause| Take as a given that 'jag,' our universe is debilitated by entanglements in personal pleasures, few of us can be truly there for others. Guru Teg Bahadur ji is saying that very few people are able to free themselves from the bondage to the pleasure they gain from the illusions they have about their place in the world. Next, consider some of the powerful images Guruji presents that burst these personal myths. ਸੁਖ ਮੈ ਆਨਿ ਬਹੁਤੁ ਮਿਲਿ ਬੈਠਤ ਰਹਤ ਚਹੂ ਦਿਸਿ ਘੇਰੈ ॥ Sukẖ mai ān bahuṯ mil baiṯẖaṯ rahaṯ cẖahū ḏis gẖerai. In good times, many come and sit together, surrounding you on all four sides. This tuk is actually saying that times of happiness and good fortune your house its 4 corners with friends and associates (those joined to you) Friends avoid us in adversity, and even a spouse may run in fear. ਬਿਪਤਿ ਪਰੀ ਸਭ ਹੀ ਸੰਗੁ ਛਾਡਿਤ ਕੋਊ ਨ ਆਵਤ ਨੇਰੈ ॥੧॥ Bipaṯ parī sabẖ hī sang cẖẖādiṯ ko▫ū na āvaṯ nerai. ||1|| But when hard times come, they all leave, and no one comes near you. ||1|| This tuk is saying when times of adversity come, fair women will not keep company with you (and by implication neither will your friends and associates); indeed even your wife draws away. We enjoy the company of friends and family in good times, but they avoid us in times of distress. The image is that of spiritual alienation. Guru Teg Bahadur is alluding to the Brahmin belief in samskars, or imprints from positive and negative experiences in life attach to our minds and color our destiny. Good and bad samskars are contagious. Our samskars attach to those around us. Hence, a person in distress, or at the time of death, is a problem because no one can endure negative samskars to burden them in their own reincarnation to a next life. This was the thinking of Guru’s time. And it was so deeply ingrained that ... ਘਰ ਕੀ ਨਾਰਿ ਬਹੁਤੁ ਹਿਤੁ ਜਾ ਸਿਉ ਸਦਾ ਰਹਤ ਸੰਗ ਲਾਗੀ ॥ Gẖar kī nār bahuṯ hiṯ jā si▫o saḏā rahaṯ sang lāgī. Your wife, whom you love so much, and who has remained ever attached to you, Meaning the wife that you kept in your own house, who was always tied to you, ਜਬ ਹੀ ਹੰਸ ਤਜੀ ਇਹ ਕਾਂਇਆ ਪ੍ਰੇਤ ਪ੍ਰੇਤ ਕਰਿ ਭਾਗੀ ॥੨॥ Jab hī hans ṯajī ih kāʼn▫i▫ā pareṯ pareṯ kar bẖāgī. ||2|| runs away crying, "Ghost! Ghost!", as soon as the swan-soul leaves this body. ||2|| In this shabad, as in other shabads, Guru Teg Bahadur ji consistently uses Hindu imagery to turn the tables on Brahmin beliefs. Particularly in this tuk he relates beliefs about death and the soul after death. A wife who was once attached to her husband at his death now recoils. In the shabad she runs in horror from a ghost. This is not a ghost in the western sense of a lingering soul, but the karmic residue of a dead person that can contaminate his survivors. The wife of a dead man could not touch him; his body had to be turned over, with even the jewels he might be wearing at the time of death, to a member of the Sudra caste who would dispose of the remains. By tradition a wife had to pull away in distress or risk her own purity. Guru ji then labels the moment of death “when the swan-soul leaves the body.” The image of swan-soul is not a simple image of the soul as a swan in flight from the dead person’s spent body. Guru ji has deliberately picked the swan to foreshadow the end verses of the shabad. The swan is a special bird in Hindu mythology because it inhabits more than one plane of being: the earth, the water, the sky. It is often taken to mean a being at ease and in perfect balance in more than one habitat. It is capable of moving from one realm to the other with ease. The swan therefore becomes a symbol of the soul that is ready and able to merge with the Brahman and change its spiritual status. So, it is with a swan soul leaving the body and leaving beind those fearful of samskars and ghosts that Guruji leads us to the last verse. This is where he turns the tables. ਅੰਤ ਬਾਰ ਨਾਨਕ ਬਿਨੁ ਹਰਿ ਜੀ ਕੋਊ ਕਾਮਿ ਨ ਆਇਓ ॥੩॥੧੨॥੧੩੯॥ Anṯ bār Nānak bin har jī ko▫ū kām na ā▫i▫o. ||3||12||139|| At the very last moment, O Nanak, no one is any use at all, except the Dear Lord. ||3||12||139|| The journey is complete and at its end, 'ant,' we are at a threshold, 'bar,' without Har, 'bin Har'... satisfaction there is none 'kam na a-i-o.' This tuk can mean that kam, usually meaning sense gratification, no longer has any value once our material attachment to the world and friends and loved ones is severed. In the final days, hours, and moments, on the threshold of [I]life into death[/I] ‘Ant bar’ no one can give gratification, ‘kam,’ except ‘Har.’ However, the tuk might also mean, at the threshold of [I]death into life,[/I] your friendships will have a different meaning, and your wife may not recognize you (she sees only the ghost of your former self). Only our attachment with Har, the indestructible truth, can satisfy us then. Only a swan soul is ready and able to find oneness with Akaal. [/QUOTE]
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And When The Swan Soul Leaves The Body, Then ਪ੍ਰੇਤ ਪ੍ਰੇਤ ਕਰਿ ਭਾਗੀ
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