Dear Khalsa Ji,
I share with you all, my understanding of the 4th Pauri of 6th 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:
In this Pauri too, Guru Sahib names few of the objects of gratification that our senses seek when allowed to run wild. Though not criticizing such indulgence, Guru Sahib again and again tells us that even while living a worldly life, these objects have come to us as a result of the grace of ‘The Sat’ and are not coming our way because of us alone. This way, Guru Sahib is trying to help us to dissolve our Ahamkara – the I-ness, which in turn helps us to move towards ‘The Sat’. Guru Sahib, shows us the way to divinity
1. ijh pRswid AwBUKn pihrIjY ] jih parsaad aabhookhan pehreejai.
By whose grace you wear ornaments and decorations;
2. mn iqsu ismrq ikau Awlsu kIjY ] man tis simrat ki-o aalas keejai.
O mind, why are you so lazy as not to remember ‘The Sat’.
My understanding:
We all know that to buy ornaments and decorations money is needed, which we have to earn. The person thinks that all that she or he earns come because of the person itself. Here it is its I-ness which is ruling its mental thought process.
No matter what type of work the person does – mental or physical or the combination of the two, the faculties of the body which she or he uses are the creation of ‘The Sat’. The individual is only exercising these faculties and using the associated capabilities to earn; the individual has no contribution in creating them – it is all done by ‘The Sat’.
The ornament, we buy spending our earnings which accrued to us using the abilities that ‘The Sat’ gave us in human form. The opportunity to use these capabilities also came from the environment created by ‘The Sat’. As a consequence of these two combining together, one could earn and buy the ornaments which she or he wears.
True, the person has exerted to acquire skills in her or his life which enabled her or him to earn, but even the faculties through which the person acquired the skills are all the creation of ‘The Sat’. This way all the inputs, the processes used for any realization and the out puts of human endeavors all is due to ‘The Sat’ and thus belong to ‘The Sat’.
Guru Sahib, keeps pointing to us all the time that ‘all what is’, is because of ‘The Sat’. This means in real sense there is no ‘I’. If we realize this then I-ness in us will disappear; we will become egoless – the essential condition for spiritual evolution.
Guru Sahib asks us to shed mental blocks and realize the Truth that ‘all that is’, is because of ‘The Sat’ and nothing is because of us. This realization from the depth of heart and soul when incorporated into one’s being, as I understand, leads to realization of Suunyata, the absolute, infinite void, i.e. or zero- ness in our real existence.
This way Guru Sahib, through the teachings of these Pauris, is leading us to the path of spiritual evolution.
3. ijh pRswid AsÍ hsiq AsvwrI ] jih parsaad asav hasat asvaaree.
By whose grace one has horses and elephants to ride;
4. mn iqsu pRB kau kbhU n ibswrI ] man tis parabh ka-o kabhoo na bisaaree.
O mind never forget this supreme entity i.e. ‘The Sat’.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib is well aware that the audience he is addressing is very strongly rooted in worldly entities, and pleasures. Here Guru Sahib has chosen Horses and Elephants, which were the main modes of transport at that time. Guru Sahib says that these animals we are able to use because of the grace of ‘The Sat’ and so we must remember this giver all the time. The rational of Guru Sahib as understood by me is elaborated below.
If we take any of the two animals referred to by Guru Sahib they are physically much stronger than humans. Yet we are able to capture them and then domesticate them using our higher mental faculties that ‘The Sat’ has given to humans compared to the animals under reference. These faculties are not the creation of Humans but are gifts from ‘The Sat’. Naturally all the product and facilities we avail using these faculties also become the gifts from ‘The Sat’.
Even to buy these animals and to maintain then resources are required; these too are acquired using the capabilities ‘The Sat has given to un in human form.
As humans we are only instruments of ‘The Sat’. It is this ‘Sat’ that we have to be grateful to and remember ‘The Sat’ all the time.
5. ijh pRswid bwg imlK Dnw ] jih parsaad baag milakh Dhanaa.
By whose grace you have for you the land, vegetation and wealth;
6. rwKu proie pRBu Apuny mnw ] raakh paro-ay parabh apunay manaa.
Keep threaded ‘The Sat’ in your mind.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib in this Pauri takes up the components of ‘The Sat’s’ creation that are vital for our survival on this planet.
The land was not our creation, which is there because of ‘The Sat’. On this land the vegetation grows which we and other in animal kingdom eat. Without the plant kingdom we cannot survive. The animals, whose milk and meat we eat also depend on availability of vegetation. It is clear that our entire food chain is not our creation; ‘The Sat’ has created it. By trading in the farm produce - grains vegetable, milk, meat etc – the person can earn further and become wealthy. We must see the hand of ‘The Sat’ in all that we have for our living on this planet. It is all because of ‘The Sat’.
Guru Sahib asks his Sikhs to thread ‘The Sat’ in her or his brain formatting so that all its outputs, some total of which constitutes the mind at any given time, have the imprint of ‘The Sat’.
Please note that the soft out put of the function brain is ‘mind’ – it is intangible.
7. ijin qyrI mn bnq bnweI ] jin tayree man banat banaa-ee.
O mind, the one who gave you a form
8. aUTq bYTq sd iqsih iDAweI ] oothat baithat sad tiseh Dhi-aa-ee.
Getting up or while sitting one enshrine that ‘The Sat’ in mind.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib points out to his audience that the human form they have got is by the grace of ‘The Sat’. This form has the potential which no other form of life can provide. Guru Sahib asks his Sikhs to become godly in their actions and lives. Guru Sahib asks us to enshrine ‘The Sat’ in our brain. I elaborate on it in the text that follows.
9. iqsih iDAwie jo eyk AlKY ] tiseh Dhi-aa-ay jo ayk alkhai.
Enshrine in one’s being ‘The One’ Nirakaar.
10. eIhw aUhw nwnk qyrI rKY ]4] eehaa oohaa naanak tayree rakhai. ||4||
in this life and after ‘The Sat’ will take care of you O Nanak.
My understanding:
The key word in this Tuk is ‘Dhiaayee’. We all understand the meaning of this word, yet it needs elaboration to appreciate its meaning in the context it is used.
Dh, is a Sanskrit word. It means base; that holds. Many words are derived from this root e.g. Dharti (earth), Dharaatal (the supporting surface) etc. Here Dhiaayeai means to make ‘The Sat’ as one’s own base. We all know ‘The Sat’ is infinite; humans are finite. How can the ‘Infinite’ be in finite? ‘The Sat’ is Nirakaar and intangible, how can one place such an entity as the base? Further understanding is needed.
We too have an intangible component i.e. our being. If our being gets based on ‘The Sat’ then what Guru Sahib has said can be realized.
Our being is very strongly influence by our mind; in fact our mind is the part of our being. We also know that the mind is the soft output of our functioning brain. This takes me to the study of brain.
The mental faculties of the brain function based on the inputs received by them from our senses and the elements stored in the memory. The memory is created by the interplay of ‘Nature’ (inherited from parents and our past lives) and ‘Nurture’ (experiences and learning from the current life). Some total of these create our tendencies, our values, beliefs and aspirations. All of these influence our thinking process - the way the brain handles (selection and allocation of) the inputs received from the senses, and from which our speech and actions result. To learn what should change in us to realize the intent of the word Dhiaayeai let us understand the ways of ‘The Sat’.
What ‘The Sat’ does we can learn from the function of its creation as ‘The Sat’ alone is the force behind it.
All the time the nature is working to sustain itself and evolve. The process of dissolution and recreation (death and rebirth) are part of a process that allows it to make a new beginning, make fresh choices and evolve further or to adapt to ever changing environment. We humans too have grown to the present level as a result of this process. All this ‘The Sat’ does in a selfless manner; ‘The Sat’ does not seek any thing for itself.
All components of the creation support each other. The vegetation grows using the nourishment provided through air and soil. This vegetation is eaten by animals the excretion of whom is used as fodder by the vegetation again. The Plant grows and finally dies. The tree fall and decay, insets and microbes use the decaying plant as feed for themselves and their excretion give chemicals that sustain the growth of new plants.
Humans - the highest order in the creation of ‘The Sat’ - too have the responsibility to sustain and contribute towards evolution of ‘The Sat’s creation; we must become the instrument in this will of ‘The Sat’. In other words we must not load the nature more than what is needed to sustain our lives and contribute maximum to sustain this creation of ‘The Sat’ and help it evolve. How this is possible needs to be determined.
As Guru Sahib has said in Shaloka at the end of Japji Sahib, each Sikh (rather human) has the duty to conserve and maintain in high purity the mother - earth, the father – water and the guru –air. Guru Sahib has clearly said this is what will sustain life on this planet. At the same time, as the functioning of the creation of ‘The Sat’ suggest, we must live for the common good of the creation i.e. working with ever increasing zeal to meet this objective in the field of our own choice.
How to do this is to be again determined. This is possible if we convince ourselves that we are born not just to enjoy life but to be an instrument of ‘The Sat’ and go beyond life and dedicate our lives to the cause of ‘The Sat’.
This means we have to get over the vices of Kama (desires including lust); Krodh (anger), Lobh (greed), Moh (attachment) and naturally Ahamkara. These are the negative attributes that creates biases in the functioning of our brain and results in a corrupted mind which sees the happening the way it wants to see. With these negative attributes dissolved the functioning of the brain becomes unbiased and results in a pure mind, which Guru Sahib has emphasized in many places in Siri Guru Granth Sahib. Such mind sees the truth as it is with no artificiality and then commands the Karmendriyas (five organs of human action – tongue, hands, feet, reproductive organ and the organ of excretion) without fear or favour – the person becomes Nirbhau (without fear) and Nirvair (without animosity). This is to say the person becomes godly. The lives of Guru Sahibs are full of examples of such living.
When the being of the person becomes godly as elaborated above, then, as I understand, the meaning of the word Dhiaayeai gets realized for that person as the base for the person’s action are now ‘The Sat’ like. The person is now reflecting ‘The Sat’. This person is now the instrument of ‘The Sat’.
The person who has attained this perfection will rise above the laws of Karma; her or his acts will not attract response from these laws. All her or his acts will be like the roasted seeds from which the new plants cannot sprout – there will be no reaction from Karmic processes. In the end, when the essence of such person leaves the body it will merge with ‘The Sat’. That is why Guru Sahib has said that such person will be taken care of by ‘The Sat’ in this life as well as beyond this life.
This way Guru Sahib is conveying to us how to move forward in the domain of spirituality.
With this I close this post.
With love and respect for all.
Amarpal Singh
I share with you all, my understanding of the 4th Pauri of 6th 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:
In this Pauri too, Guru Sahib names few of the objects of gratification that our senses seek when allowed to run wild. Though not criticizing such indulgence, Guru Sahib again and again tells us that even while living a worldly life, these objects have come to us as a result of the grace of ‘The Sat’ and are not coming our way because of us alone. This way, Guru Sahib is trying to help us to dissolve our Ahamkara – the I-ness, which in turn helps us to move towards ‘The Sat’. Guru Sahib, shows us the way to divinity
1. ijh pRswid AwBUKn pihrIjY ] jih parsaad aabhookhan pehreejai.
By whose grace you wear ornaments and decorations;
2. mn iqsu ismrq ikau Awlsu kIjY ] man tis simrat ki-o aalas keejai.
O mind, why are you so lazy as not to remember ‘The Sat’.
My understanding:
We all know that to buy ornaments and decorations money is needed, which we have to earn. The person thinks that all that she or he earns come because of the person itself. Here it is its I-ness which is ruling its mental thought process.
No matter what type of work the person does – mental or physical or the combination of the two, the faculties of the body which she or he uses are the creation of ‘The Sat’. The individual is only exercising these faculties and using the associated capabilities to earn; the individual has no contribution in creating them – it is all done by ‘The Sat’.
The ornament, we buy spending our earnings which accrued to us using the abilities that ‘The Sat’ gave us in human form. The opportunity to use these capabilities also came from the environment created by ‘The Sat’. As a consequence of these two combining together, one could earn and buy the ornaments which she or he wears.
True, the person has exerted to acquire skills in her or his life which enabled her or him to earn, but even the faculties through which the person acquired the skills are all the creation of ‘The Sat’. This way all the inputs, the processes used for any realization and the out puts of human endeavors all is due to ‘The Sat’ and thus belong to ‘The Sat’.
Guru Sahib, keeps pointing to us all the time that ‘all what is’, is because of ‘The Sat’. This means in real sense there is no ‘I’. If we realize this then I-ness in us will disappear; we will become egoless – the essential condition for spiritual evolution.
Guru Sahib asks us to shed mental blocks and realize the Truth that ‘all that is’, is because of ‘The Sat’ and nothing is because of us. This realization from the depth of heart and soul when incorporated into one’s being, as I understand, leads to realization of Suunyata, the absolute, infinite void, i.e. or zero- ness in our real existence.
This way Guru Sahib, through the teachings of these Pauris, is leading us to the path of spiritual evolution.
3. ijh pRswid AsÍ hsiq AsvwrI ] jih parsaad asav hasat asvaaree.
By whose grace one has horses and elephants to ride;
4. mn iqsu pRB kau kbhU n ibswrI ] man tis parabh ka-o kabhoo na bisaaree.
O mind never forget this supreme entity i.e. ‘The Sat’.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib is well aware that the audience he is addressing is very strongly rooted in worldly entities, and pleasures. Here Guru Sahib has chosen Horses and Elephants, which were the main modes of transport at that time. Guru Sahib says that these animals we are able to use because of the grace of ‘The Sat’ and so we must remember this giver all the time. The rational of Guru Sahib as understood by me is elaborated below.
If we take any of the two animals referred to by Guru Sahib they are physically much stronger than humans. Yet we are able to capture them and then domesticate them using our higher mental faculties that ‘The Sat’ has given to humans compared to the animals under reference. These faculties are not the creation of Humans but are gifts from ‘The Sat’. Naturally all the product and facilities we avail using these faculties also become the gifts from ‘The Sat’.
Even to buy these animals and to maintain then resources are required; these too are acquired using the capabilities ‘The Sat has given to un in human form.
As humans we are only instruments of ‘The Sat’. It is this ‘Sat’ that we have to be grateful to and remember ‘The Sat’ all the time.
5. ijh pRswid bwg imlK Dnw ] jih parsaad baag milakh Dhanaa.
By whose grace you have for you the land, vegetation and wealth;
6. rwKu proie pRBu Apuny mnw ] raakh paro-ay parabh apunay manaa.
Keep threaded ‘The Sat’ in your mind.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib in this Pauri takes up the components of ‘The Sat’s’ creation that are vital for our survival on this planet.
The land was not our creation, which is there because of ‘The Sat’. On this land the vegetation grows which we and other in animal kingdom eat. Without the plant kingdom we cannot survive. The animals, whose milk and meat we eat also depend on availability of vegetation. It is clear that our entire food chain is not our creation; ‘The Sat’ has created it. By trading in the farm produce - grains vegetable, milk, meat etc – the person can earn further and become wealthy. We must see the hand of ‘The Sat’ in all that we have for our living on this planet. It is all because of ‘The Sat’.
Guru Sahib asks his Sikhs to thread ‘The Sat’ in her or his brain formatting so that all its outputs, some total of which constitutes the mind at any given time, have the imprint of ‘The Sat’.
Please note that the soft out put of the function brain is ‘mind’ – it is intangible.
7. ijin qyrI mn bnq bnweI ] jin tayree man banat banaa-ee.
O mind, the one who gave you a form
8. aUTq bYTq sd iqsih iDAweI ] oothat baithat sad tiseh Dhi-aa-ee.
Getting up or while sitting one enshrine that ‘The Sat’ in mind.
My understanding:
Guru Sahib points out to his audience that the human form they have got is by the grace of ‘The Sat’. This form has the potential which no other form of life can provide. Guru Sahib asks his Sikhs to become godly in their actions and lives. Guru Sahib asks us to enshrine ‘The Sat’ in our brain. I elaborate on it in the text that follows.
9. iqsih iDAwie jo eyk AlKY ] tiseh Dhi-aa-ay jo ayk alkhai.
Enshrine in one’s being ‘The One’ Nirakaar.
10. eIhw aUhw nwnk qyrI rKY ]4] eehaa oohaa naanak tayree rakhai. ||4||
in this life and after ‘The Sat’ will take care of you O Nanak.
My understanding:
The key word in this Tuk is ‘Dhiaayee’. We all understand the meaning of this word, yet it needs elaboration to appreciate its meaning in the context it is used.
Dh, is a Sanskrit word. It means base; that holds. Many words are derived from this root e.g. Dharti (earth), Dharaatal (the supporting surface) etc. Here Dhiaayeai means to make ‘The Sat’ as one’s own base. We all know ‘The Sat’ is infinite; humans are finite. How can the ‘Infinite’ be in finite? ‘The Sat’ is Nirakaar and intangible, how can one place such an entity as the base? Further understanding is needed.
We too have an intangible component i.e. our being. If our being gets based on ‘The Sat’ then what Guru Sahib has said can be realized.
Our being is very strongly influence by our mind; in fact our mind is the part of our being. We also know that the mind is the soft output of our functioning brain. This takes me to the study of brain.
The mental faculties of the brain function based on the inputs received by them from our senses and the elements stored in the memory. The memory is created by the interplay of ‘Nature’ (inherited from parents and our past lives) and ‘Nurture’ (experiences and learning from the current life). Some total of these create our tendencies, our values, beliefs and aspirations. All of these influence our thinking process - the way the brain handles (selection and allocation of) the inputs received from the senses, and from which our speech and actions result. To learn what should change in us to realize the intent of the word Dhiaayeai let us understand the ways of ‘The Sat’.
What ‘The Sat’ does we can learn from the function of its creation as ‘The Sat’ alone is the force behind it.
All the time the nature is working to sustain itself and evolve. The process of dissolution and recreation (death and rebirth) are part of a process that allows it to make a new beginning, make fresh choices and evolve further or to adapt to ever changing environment. We humans too have grown to the present level as a result of this process. All this ‘The Sat’ does in a selfless manner; ‘The Sat’ does not seek any thing for itself.
All components of the creation support each other. The vegetation grows using the nourishment provided through air and soil. This vegetation is eaten by animals the excretion of whom is used as fodder by the vegetation again. The Plant grows and finally dies. The tree fall and decay, insets and microbes use the decaying plant as feed for themselves and their excretion give chemicals that sustain the growth of new plants.
Humans - the highest order in the creation of ‘The Sat’ - too have the responsibility to sustain and contribute towards evolution of ‘The Sat’s creation; we must become the instrument in this will of ‘The Sat’. In other words we must not load the nature more than what is needed to sustain our lives and contribute maximum to sustain this creation of ‘The Sat’ and help it evolve. How this is possible needs to be determined.
As Guru Sahib has said in Shaloka at the end of Japji Sahib, each Sikh (rather human) has the duty to conserve and maintain in high purity the mother - earth, the father – water and the guru –air. Guru Sahib has clearly said this is what will sustain life on this planet. At the same time, as the functioning of the creation of ‘The Sat’ suggest, we must live for the common good of the creation i.e. working with ever increasing zeal to meet this objective in the field of our own choice.
How to do this is to be again determined. This is possible if we convince ourselves that we are born not just to enjoy life but to be an instrument of ‘The Sat’ and go beyond life and dedicate our lives to the cause of ‘The Sat’.
This means we have to get over the vices of Kama (desires including lust); Krodh (anger), Lobh (greed), Moh (attachment) and naturally Ahamkara. These are the negative attributes that creates biases in the functioning of our brain and results in a corrupted mind which sees the happening the way it wants to see. With these negative attributes dissolved the functioning of the brain becomes unbiased and results in a pure mind, which Guru Sahib has emphasized in many places in Siri Guru Granth Sahib. Such mind sees the truth as it is with no artificiality and then commands the Karmendriyas (five organs of human action – tongue, hands, feet, reproductive organ and the organ of excretion) without fear or favour – the person becomes Nirbhau (without fear) and Nirvair (without animosity). This is to say the person becomes godly. The lives of Guru Sahibs are full of examples of such living.
When the being of the person becomes godly as elaborated above, then, as I understand, the meaning of the word Dhiaayeai gets realized for that person as the base for the person’s action are now ‘The Sat’ like. The person is now reflecting ‘The Sat’. This person is now the instrument of ‘The Sat’.
The person who has attained this perfection will rise above the laws of Karma; her or his acts will not attract response from these laws. All her or his acts will be like the roasted seeds from which the new plants cannot sprout – there will be no reaction from Karmic processes. In the end, when the essence of such person leaves the body it will merge with ‘The Sat’. That is why Guru Sahib has said that such person will be taken care of by ‘The Sat’ in this life as well as beyond this life.
This way Guru Sahib is conveying to us how to move forward in the domain of spirituality.
With this I close this post.
With love and respect for all.
Amarpal Singh
