bilāvalu mahalā 9.
jā mai bhajanu rāmu ko nāhī.
tih nar janamu akārathu khoiā yah rākhahu man māhī.1. rahāu.
tīrath karai brat phuni rākhai nah manūā basi jā ko.
nihphal dharamu tāhi tum mānahu sācu kahat mai yā kaü.1.
jaise pāhanu jal mahi rākhio bhedai nāhi tih pānī.
taise hī tum tāhi pachānahu bhagati hīn jo prānī.2.
kal mai mukati nām te pāvat guru yah bhedu batāvai.
kahu nānak soī naru garūā jo prabh ke gun gāvai.3.3.
-Guru Granth Sahib 831
Guru Teghbahadar Sahib states that the life of that being goes in vain in whose mind there is no praise of Nam (Identification with IkOankar). Only through Nam can one be free from material bondage, vices, and fear of birth and death.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
In the third composition, Guru Teghbahadar says, keep this in mind: the one within whom there is no praise of the Beautiful One has wasted their life in vain. The Guru speaks to us like we are having a conversation, asking us to understand the statement that without Remembrance of the Beautiful, without the utterance of the Beautiful, we have wasted our lives. The Guru emphasizes this gentle warning to keep in mind. It is the key to making this life fruitful.
Keep this in mind: the one within whom there is no praise of the Beautiful One has wasted their life in vain. The Guru refers to the theatricalities that we participate in to display our own religiosity. We go on our pilgrimages, and we bathe at these holy places thinking it will purify us, we observe fasts thinking they will grant us some sort of religiosity, we do all of these things, but we have not gained control over our minds. Without that, our practices are fruitless. The Guru emphasizes this observation by saying, I state this truth. There is a tone of gentle intervention here, where the Guru is asking us to really reflect and understand that we are doing all of these things, but our minds are not with us, and because of that, all we do is useless. All this kind of “religious” work is then useless.
Keep this in mind: the one within whom there is no praise of the Beautiful One has wasted their life in vain. The Guru says that those who are devoid of devotion are like a stone in water. The outside of the stone might become wet when immersed in the water, but the inside remains dry. We cannot soak it up unless we are living in devotion. Without devotion and reflection on the virtues, a stone-hearted person remains unchanged even by external ritual practices. Like the stone, we, the weighted ones, cannot get drenched though we may be fully immersed! Nam, or Identification with the One, cannot enter us until we praise the virtues of the One. The praise cannot enter us until we are devoted. We remain indifferent and apathetic even when we are being surrounded by devotion and praise.
Keep this in mind: the one within whom there is no praise of the Beautiful One has wasted their life in vain. In the era of darkness that we live in, the only way to become free is through Identification with IkOankar. The Wisdom reveals this mystery. The Guru’s statement to the world is that only those who sing the virtues of the One are great or celebrated or honorable in this world. The role of the Wisdom is emphasized here, as that which can give us the simple answers we are looking for. We can resolve these pains, and our wandering, and our externalization of religiosity through the guidance of the Wisdom.
The Guru does not give us any grand philosophical explanations or complicated lines of thought. The message here is a simple one of loving concern: that we are wasting away the gifts that are our human lives because we have not praised the Beautiful, we have not inculcated the virtues of the Beautiful, we have not lived out our praise in our behaviors. We run to external deeds in our desperation for connection, thinking they will snap us out of it. But we are walking through the world devoid of devotion. And when we are not devoted, we cannot be chiseled by any of the things we hope to be chiseled by. The Guru gives us a simple solution to help us get out of this cycle. Will we take this simple guidance and begin to chisel away at our stone-heartedness?
Keep this in mind: the one within whom there is no praise of the Beautiful One has wasted their life in vain. The Guru refers to the theatricalities that we participate in to display our own religiosity. We go on our pilgrimages, and we bathe at these holy places thinking it will purify us, we observe fasts thinking they will grant us some sort of religiosity, we do all of these things, but we have not gained control over our minds. Without that, our practices are fruitless. The Guru emphasizes this observation by saying, I state this truth. There is a tone of gentle intervention here, where the Guru is asking us to really reflect and understand that we are doing all of these things, but our minds are not with us, and because of that, all we do is useless. All this kind of “religious” work is then useless.
Keep this in mind: the one within whom there is no praise of the Beautiful One has wasted their life in vain. The Guru says that those who are devoid of devotion are like a stone in water. The outside of the stone might become wet when immersed in the water, but the inside remains dry. We cannot soak it up unless we are living in devotion. Without devotion and reflection on the virtues, a stone-hearted person remains unchanged even by external ritual practices. Like the stone, we, the weighted ones, cannot get drenched though we may be fully immersed! Nam, or Identification with the One, cannot enter us until we praise the virtues of the One. The praise cannot enter us until we are devoted. We remain indifferent and apathetic even when we are being surrounded by devotion and praise.
Keep this in mind: the one within whom there is no praise of the Beautiful One has wasted their life in vain. In the era of darkness that we live in, the only way to become free is through Identification with IkOankar. The Wisdom reveals this mystery. The Guru’s statement to the world is that only those who sing the virtues of the One are great or celebrated or honorable in this world. The role of the Wisdom is emphasized here, as that which can give us the simple answers we are looking for. We can resolve these pains, and our wandering, and our externalization of religiosity through the guidance of the Wisdom.
The Guru does not give us any grand philosophical explanations or complicated lines of thought. The message here is a simple one of loving concern: that we are wasting away the gifts that are our human lives because we have not praised the Beautiful, we have not inculcated the virtues of the Beautiful, we have not lived out our praise in our behaviors. We run to external deeds in our desperation for connection, thinking they will snap us out of it. But we are walking through the world devoid of devotion. And when we are not devoted, we cannot be chiseled by any of the things we hope to be chiseled by. The Guru gives us a simple solution to help us get out of this cycle. Will we take this simple guidance and begin to chisel away at our stone-heartedness?
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