Dear Khalsa Ji,
I share with you all, my understanding of the 2nd Pauri of 5th Ashtapadee of Sukhmani Sahib. 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:
To make his teachings clear Guru Sahib has taken the financial transaction between a lender and a borrower with which his audience was well familiar. Using this Guru Sahib has asked us to accept with equanimity the Hukam of ‘The Sat’.
1. Agnq swhu ApnI dy rwis ] agnat saahu apnee day raas.
The banker of infinite capacity (The Sat), keeps lending his capital
2. Kwq pIq brqY And aulwis ] khaat peet bartai anad ulaas.
Who eats drinks and expends it in pleasure and merry making.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib, as a great communicator has use the example of a banker which is in common knowledge of his audience to explained to Sikhs that ‘The Sat’ from its infinite store keeps on dishing out entities that we need for our earthly living. What comes from ‘The Sat’, we consume lavishly, relish, and enjoy. We never think that it is not what we own, it is what ‘The Sat’ has given us to live properly. It is my understanding that we should not consume more than what is needed for good healthy living. Consuming more than what is really needed, for the sake of pleasure, is to draw more than our share from the nature. It is not justified; it depletes the nature which is not in accordance with Sikhi.
3. ApunI Amwn kCu bhuir swhu lyie ] apunee amaan kachh bahur saahu lay-ay.
If some of the goodies are take back by ‘The Sat’,
4. AigAwnI min rosu kryie ] agi-aanee man ros karay-i.
The ignorant mind shows its anger.
My understanding:
We do not remain the same all our life. Every second, we leave the past behind, never to be visited again. We leave our infancy and become a child, leave childhood and become an adult, beyond adult life we grow old and become aged. We do not remain the same in ripe old age what we were in our adulthood. The strength and vigour that ‘The Sat’ has provided us during our youth, gradually, leaves9in a way are taken back). Same is true of our worldly abilities, earning capacity, position in society etc. The up coming younger generation keeps on taking over the responsibilities and the power from the aged. This is the way for the nature to renew itself and remain fresh. Seen from the perspective of the aged person, it appears to be a loss and is reflected in the anger in the aged person – the loss can not only be because of the old age but for many other reason; anger is the general response. Guru Sahib says that this response is because of the ignorance of the person. What ‘The Sat’ has given can be withdrawn by it also. What the person had was not her or his; the person was only a temporary custodian of it and was allowed to use that came from ‘The Sat’. What I have elaborated taking the example of physical capacity, applies to all aspects of our earthly living. Guru Sahib says that anger is the response of the ignorant person. As I understand anger is the response of the ignorant person who has not learnt to live within ‘Hukam’ of ‘The Sat’.
5. ApnI prqIiq Awp hI KovY ] apnee parteet aap hee khovai.
This angry person destroys his rapport
6. bhuir aus kw ibsÍwsu n hovY ] bahur us kaa bisvaas na hovai.
Such a person is not trusted again.
My understanding:
The person, who has been entrusted with the responsibility regarding some thing and shows anger when the time comes for it being returned, spoils its relations with the donor. The donor is not likely to entrust him any thing in future; the person has lost the needed trust.
The above example Guru Sahib has used to convey something subtle to his audience. As I understand, I elaborate below:
Any spiritually evolved person resonates with the will of ‘The Sat’ and though continues to strive for better and better life, learns to accept and live within the ‘Hukam’ of ‘The Sat’. Incidentally, the ancient literature of the land i.e. ‘Bhagvad Gita’ also preaches the same. It says continue to keep doing Karma (strive for better life) but do not demand specific result (what comes to the person is the result of ‘Hukam’ in formation of which, the effort put in by the individual is only one of the many parameters. I will elaborate on what I understand from the term ‘Hukam’ in some other post).
Coming back to the subject, when the person lives according to the teachings of Siri Guru Granth Sahib – putting in honest labour (Kirt) exercising the free will given to humans by ‘The Sat’ striving for better life yet not being attached to specific result for her or his effort, she or he then is working according to Shabad and is in tune with ‘The Sat’. Such person will naturally resonate with ‘The Sat’; this person accepts ‘Hukam with equanimity. When, as a result of some entity being withdrawn from the life of this person by ‘The Sat’, the person becomes angry, this person effectively detune her or him from “The Sat’ and no longer resonate with it. On getting detuned ‘The Sat’ this person’s ability to align the forces of nature which she or he wants to work in its favour diminishes. Under such condition your spiritual link with ‘The Sat’ gets lost.
When resonating with ‘The Sat’ the individual was and instrument of ‘The Sat’ and was an active, alert element of what I call ‘Cosmic Intelligence’ of which all the forces of nature are the tools. From this position (resonating with ‘The Sat’)the individual is able to work the forces of nature for the common good of the creation; the same what the divines have been doing in the past and are still doing in our present day world..
Detuning from “The Sat’ is synonymous with the spoiled relations between the donor and the recipient, Guru Sahib has mentioned in the above example. The Pavitra (pure sublime person) has become Apavitra (impure egoistic person), the later cannot command the forces of nature; such person is not trusted any more by the ‘Cosmic Intelligence’
This is what I understand from the above two sentences.
7. ijs kI bsqu iqsu AwgY rwKY ] jis kee basat tis aagai raakhai.
Offering the entity to the person to whom it belongs.
My understanding:
Here Guru Sahib is telling us that all that we posses and what we are, the totality belongs to ‘The Sat’. In fact we cannot offer any thing to ‘The Sat’, we own nothing, and nothing is really our creation. This fact needs elaboration, as I understand I explain it below.
It has been a tradition followed by the devotees of the majority religion of the land that they break coconut at the feet of the deity as offering to it. As I see it, when the coconut grew on the tree it was a result of natural processes and that way it belonged to ‘The Sat’. When the devotee purchased that coconut from the vendor the money that was given in exchange came to that devotee with the grace of ‘The Sat’; that way the money to belong to ‘The Sat’. Finally when the devotee breaks this purchased coconut at the feet of the deity, the devotee too says that now it belongs to ‘The Sat’.
In fact, the coconut all the time belonged to ‘The Sat’; it never belonged to the devotee. This way one can see that the devotee has given to ‘The Sat’ what had always belonged to ‘The Sat’. This is what Guru Sahib has explained in the Tuk under discussion. We do not and cannot own any thing all belongs to ‘The Sat’ and ‘The Sat’ only.
Incidentally, I wish to share the reason behind this practice of breaking coconuts at the feet of deities, as I understand.
The coconut resembles human head; it has fibers on it depicting hairs of our head; has a hard cover resembling the skull; and has kernel inside of somewhat similar colour as the brain. This brain is the seat of human ego ‘Ahamkara’. Those who had broken the coconuts during ‘Puja’ know who hard it is to break the coconut- I was called upon to do so during Durga Puja. When the devotee breaks the coconut at the feet of the deity, from the depth of his heart and soul she/he should be taking a vow to break her/his ‘Ahamkara’; breaking the coconut is external physical expression of this inner spiritual resolve. This clearly show we cannot offer any thing to ‘The Sat’; all that is, belongs to ‘The Sat’.
8. pRB kI AwigAw mwnY mwQY ] parabh kee aagi-aa maanai maathai.
Obey the Hukam of ‘The Sat’ with whole hearted acceptance.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib has conveyed in the previous Tuk that, in real sense we own nothing and thus what we offer to ‘The Sat’ traditionally already belong to ‘The Sat’. If this feeling is true in the person i.e. it is part of its being, then it helps is dissolving the ‘I-ness’ i.e. ‘Ahamkara’ that we all have. When the person evolves into such state of spirituality, it becomes natural for the person to accept the ‘Hukam’ of ‘The Sat’ as it comes. The other way round is also true; if the person starts accepting the ‘Hukam’ of ‘The Sat’ without any question or reservations, then it affect the being too and over a period of time, the person starts realizing the Truth that all is ‘The Sat’. At some stage the state Guru Sahib has specified in this Tuk become her/his natural self – the person has evolved spiritually.
9. aus qy caugun krY inhwlu ] us tay cha-ugun karai nihaal.
Such person will gain bliss that is many time more joyful.
My understanding:
As I understand, with the ‘I-ness’ getting removed from the being of the person, she/he is no longer haunted by the desires, nor does this person has any ego to be hurt on failures of any sort. This ‘Satvika’ person now is working in accordance with the ‘Hukam’ realizing the intent of being born in human form – to become an instrument of ‘The Sat’. Such a person works for the common good of maximum number of entities and protects environment without any selfish interest. Such person is furthering the will of ‘The Sat’ – ‘Chardiyan Kalan’ i.e. blissful ascendancy’ for the entire creation of ‘The Sat’. The joy of this is not the same as the temporary thrills of worldly achievements or acquisitions, it is much more satisfying. It is for this reason Guru Sahib has said that the joy that comes is meant fold more that the what one gets through worldly achievements.
10. nwnk swihbu sdw dieAwlu ]2] naanak saahib sadaa da-i-aal. ||2||
O Nanak, ‘The Sat’ is always kind and supportive. ||2||
My understanding:
Guru Sahib tells himself that ‘The Sat’ is always kind and remains supportive. This way Guru Sahib tells that no matter what stage of spiritual eveolution on is, she/he is never lost. ‘Turning to ‘The Sat’ one always find kindness and support for the right act.
With this I close the post.
With love and respect for all.
Amarpal Singh
I share with you all, my understanding of the 2nd Pauri of 5th Ashtapadee of Sukhmani Sahib. 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:
To make his teachings clear Guru Sahib has taken the financial transaction between a lender and a borrower with which his audience was well familiar. Using this Guru Sahib has asked us to accept with equanimity the Hukam of ‘The Sat’.
1. Agnq swhu ApnI dy rwis ] agnat saahu apnee day raas.
The banker of infinite capacity (The Sat), keeps lending his capital
2. Kwq pIq brqY And aulwis ] khaat peet bartai anad ulaas.
Who eats drinks and expends it in pleasure and merry making.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib, as a great communicator has use the example of a banker which is in common knowledge of his audience to explained to Sikhs that ‘The Sat’ from its infinite store keeps on dishing out entities that we need for our earthly living. What comes from ‘The Sat’, we consume lavishly, relish, and enjoy. We never think that it is not what we own, it is what ‘The Sat’ has given us to live properly. It is my understanding that we should not consume more than what is needed for good healthy living. Consuming more than what is really needed, for the sake of pleasure, is to draw more than our share from the nature. It is not justified; it depletes the nature which is not in accordance with Sikhi.
3. ApunI Amwn kCu bhuir swhu lyie ] apunee amaan kachh bahur saahu lay-ay.
If some of the goodies are take back by ‘The Sat’,
4. AigAwnI min rosu kryie ] agi-aanee man ros karay-i.
The ignorant mind shows its anger.
My understanding:
We do not remain the same all our life. Every second, we leave the past behind, never to be visited again. We leave our infancy and become a child, leave childhood and become an adult, beyond adult life we grow old and become aged. We do not remain the same in ripe old age what we were in our adulthood. The strength and vigour that ‘The Sat’ has provided us during our youth, gradually, leaves9in a way are taken back). Same is true of our worldly abilities, earning capacity, position in society etc. The up coming younger generation keeps on taking over the responsibilities and the power from the aged. This is the way for the nature to renew itself and remain fresh. Seen from the perspective of the aged person, it appears to be a loss and is reflected in the anger in the aged person – the loss can not only be because of the old age but for many other reason; anger is the general response. Guru Sahib says that this response is because of the ignorance of the person. What ‘The Sat’ has given can be withdrawn by it also. What the person had was not her or his; the person was only a temporary custodian of it and was allowed to use that came from ‘The Sat’. What I have elaborated taking the example of physical capacity, applies to all aspects of our earthly living. Guru Sahib says that anger is the response of the ignorant person. As I understand anger is the response of the ignorant person who has not learnt to live within ‘Hukam’ of ‘The Sat’.
5. ApnI prqIiq Awp hI KovY ] apnee parteet aap hee khovai.
This angry person destroys his rapport
6. bhuir aus kw ibsÍwsu n hovY ] bahur us kaa bisvaas na hovai.
Such a person is not trusted again.
My understanding:
The person, who has been entrusted with the responsibility regarding some thing and shows anger when the time comes for it being returned, spoils its relations with the donor. The donor is not likely to entrust him any thing in future; the person has lost the needed trust.
The above example Guru Sahib has used to convey something subtle to his audience. As I understand, I elaborate below:
Any spiritually evolved person resonates with the will of ‘The Sat’ and though continues to strive for better and better life, learns to accept and live within the ‘Hukam’ of ‘The Sat’. Incidentally, the ancient literature of the land i.e. ‘Bhagvad Gita’ also preaches the same. It says continue to keep doing Karma (strive for better life) but do not demand specific result (what comes to the person is the result of ‘Hukam’ in formation of which, the effort put in by the individual is only one of the many parameters. I will elaborate on what I understand from the term ‘Hukam’ in some other post).
Coming back to the subject, when the person lives according to the teachings of Siri Guru Granth Sahib – putting in honest labour (Kirt) exercising the free will given to humans by ‘The Sat’ striving for better life yet not being attached to specific result for her or his effort, she or he then is working according to Shabad and is in tune with ‘The Sat’. Such person will naturally resonate with ‘The Sat’; this person accepts ‘Hukam with equanimity. When, as a result of some entity being withdrawn from the life of this person by ‘The Sat’, the person becomes angry, this person effectively detune her or him from “The Sat’ and no longer resonate with it. On getting detuned ‘The Sat’ this person’s ability to align the forces of nature which she or he wants to work in its favour diminishes. Under such condition your spiritual link with ‘The Sat’ gets lost.
When resonating with ‘The Sat’ the individual was and instrument of ‘The Sat’ and was an active, alert element of what I call ‘Cosmic Intelligence’ of which all the forces of nature are the tools. From this position (resonating with ‘The Sat’)the individual is able to work the forces of nature for the common good of the creation; the same what the divines have been doing in the past and are still doing in our present day world..
Detuning from “The Sat’ is synonymous with the spoiled relations between the donor and the recipient, Guru Sahib has mentioned in the above example. The Pavitra (pure sublime person) has become Apavitra (impure egoistic person), the later cannot command the forces of nature; such person is not trusted any more by the ‘Cosmic Intelligence’
This is what I understand from the above two sentences.
7. ijs kI bsqu iqsu AwgY rwKY ] jis kee basat tis aagai raakhai.
Offering the entity to the person to whom it belongs.
My understanding:
Here Guru Sahib is telling us that all that we posses and what we are, the totality belongs to ‘The Sat’. In fact we cannot offer any thing to ‘The Sat’, we own nothing, and nothing is really our creation. This fact needs elaboration, as I understand I explain it below.
It has been a tradition followed by the devotees of the majority religion of the land that they break coconut at the feet of the deity as offering to it. As I see it, when the coconut grew on the tree it was a result of natural processes and that way it belonged to ‘The Sat’. When the devotee purchased that coconut from the vendor the money that was given in exchange came to that devotee with the grace of ‘The Sat’; that way the money to belong to ‘The Sat’. Finally when the devotee breaks this purchased coconut at the feet of the deity, the devotee too says that now it belongs to ‘The Sat’.
In fact, the coconut all the time belonged to ‘The Sat’; it never belonged to the devotee. This way one can see that the devotee has given to ‘The Sat’ what had always belonged to ‘The Sat’. This is what Guru Sahib has explained in the Tuk under discussion. We do not and cannot own any thing all belongs to ‘The Sat’ and ‘The Sat’ only.
Incidentally, I wish to share the reason behind this practice of breaking coconuts at the feet of deities, as I understand.
The coconut resembles human head; it has fibers on it depicting hairs of our head; has a hard cover resembling the skull; and has kernel inside of somewhat similar colour as the brain. This brain is the seat of human ego ‘Ahamkara’. Those who had broken the coconuts during ‘Puja’ know who hard it is to break the coconut- I was called upon to do so during Durga Puja. When the devotee breaks the coconut at the feet of the deity, from the depth of his heart and soul she/he should be taking a vow to break her/his ‘Ahamkara’; breaking the coconut is external physical expression of this inner spiritual resolve. This clearly show we cannot offer any thing to ‘The Sat’; all that is, belongs to ‘The Sat’.
8. pRB kI AwigAw mwnY mwQY ] parabh kee aagi-aa maanai maathai.
Obey the Hukam of ‘The Sat’ with whole hearted acceptance.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib has conveyed in the previous Tuk that, in real sense we own nothing and thus what we offer to ‘The Sat’ traditionally already belong to ‘The Sat’. If this feeling is true in the person i.e. it is part of its being, then it helps is dissolving the ‘I-ness’ i.e. ‘Ahamkara’ that we all have. When the person evolves into such state of spirituality, it becomes natural for the person to accept the ‘Hukam’ of ‘The Sat’ as it comes. The other way round is also true; if the person starts accepting the ‘Hukam’ of ‘The Sat’ without any question or reservations, then it affect the being too and over a period of time, the person starts realizing the Truth that all is ‘The Sat’. At some stage the state Guru Sahib has specified in this Tuk become her/his natural self – the person has evolved spiritually.
9. aus qy caugun krY inhwlu ] us tay cha-ugun karai nihaal.
Such person will gain bliss that is many time more joyful.
My understanding:
As I understand, with the ‘I-ness’ getting removed from the being of the person, she/he is no longer haunted by the desires, nor does this person has any ego to be hurt on failures of any sort. This ‘Satvika’ person now is working in accordance with the ‘Hukam’ realizing the intent of being born in human form – to become an instrument of ‘The Sat’. Such a person works for the common good of maximum number of entities and protects environment without any selfish interest. Such person is furthering the will of ‘The Sat’ – ‘Chardiyan Kalan’ i.e. blissful ascendancy’ for the entire creation of ‘The Sat’. The joy of this is not the same as the temporary thrills of worldly achievements or acquisitions, it is much more satisfying. It is for this reason Guru Sahib has said that the joy that comes is meant fold more that the what one gets through worldly achievements.
10. nwnk swihbu sdw dieAwlu ]2] naanak saahib sadaa da-i-aal. ||2||
O Nanak, ‘The Sat’ is always kind and supportive. ||2||
My understanding:
Guru Sahib tells himself that ‘The Sat’ is always kind and remains supportive. This way Guru Sahib tells that no matter what stage of spiritual eveolution on is, she/he is never lost. ‘Turning to ‘The Sat’ one always find kindness and support for the right act.
With this I close the post.
With love and respect for all.
Amarpal Singh
