gaüṛī mahalā 9.
sādho rām sarani bisrāmā.
bed purān paṛe ko ih gun simre hari ko nāmā.1. rahāu.
lobh moh māiā mamtā phuni aü bikhian kī sevā.
harakh sog parsai jih nāhani so mūrati hai devā.1.
surag narak ammrit bikhu e sabh tiu kancan aru paisā.
ustati nindā e sam jā kai lobhu mohu phuni taisā.2.
dukhu sukhu e bādhe jih nāhin tih tum jānaü giānī.
nānak mukati tāhi tum mānaü ih bidhi ko jo prānī.3.7.
-Guru Granth Sahib 220
Guru Teghbahadar Sahib describes the refuge in IkOankar (the Divine) as the only force strong enough to banish the vices from a wandering mind. Reading religious texts impacts the mind only if the individual engages in the remembrance of IkOankar. The being who engages in the remembrance of IkOankar and remains steady in all circumstances is wise and free.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
GAURI 7
In the seventh composition, Guru Teghbahadar says, O wise ones, steadiness is in the sanctuary of the Beautiful One. The virtue of reading the Vedas and Puranas is this: that the being may remember the Identification of the 1-Light. The sanctuary of the Beautiful, IkOankar (One Universal Integrative Force, 1Force, the One) is the place where we come to rest in steadiness. We may have spent our time reading various religious texts hoping they give us something like freedom or salvation, but reading religious texts is useful only if we engage in the remembrance of IkOankar. Without remembrance and Identification, reading these texts is of no use.
O wise ones, steadiness is in the sanctuary of the Beautiful One. The Guru says that those who live in greed and attachment and love of Maya, or attachment to the material and to our relationships, become bound up and controlled, serving vices and poisons. Those who live in service of vices cannot live in remembrance. Those who live in service of the poisons which make us forget IkOankar cannot live in remembrance. But those who are not touched or affected by greed, attachment, and love of Maya, who do not live in service of vices, and who are not driven or affected by happiness and sorrow, are the embodiment of IkOankar, the Source of light.
O wise ones, steadiness is in the sanctuary of the Beautiful One. The Guru elaborates on what it is like to live in that freedom and remembrance by listing out apparent opposites: heaven and hell, ambrosia, and poison, gold and one paisa (coin), praise and slander. The free individual, who lives in remembrance, is not caught up in these opposites. It is not that the free individual is living a life devoid of certain opposites; it is that the relationship to seeming opposites shifts, and things that once seemed opposed to one another are considered the same. Extremes and opposites, material and abstract, become equal. The Guru says that greed and attachment also become like this when we are not touched or affected by the material; we are not touched or affected by our greed or attachment.
O wise ones, steadiness is in the sanctuary of the Beautiful One. The Guru says that we ought to consider the being who is not bound by suffering or comfort, as wise and knowledgeable, that we ought to consider the freedom of the being who is of this way alone. An insightful person is a free person because they are in constant remembrance, dwelling with the Beautiful, steadied by the sanctuary of Beautiful. When they rest in the sanctuary of the Beautiful, they come out of the extremities of life — not just the vices like greed and attachment and Maya, but also happiness and grief, suffering and comfort. They do not look for heaven or ask not to go to hell; they are not greedy for nectar and disgusted by poison; they are not pained by sorrow or joy, nor affected by praise or slander. These pairings become one and the same.
The Guru shows us how a free person lives when they are in constant remembrance and steadied in the sanctuary of the Beautiful. Wherever we look in this world, we see the forms of things; we make value judgments; we form opinions on what we like and what we don’t, what is good and what is bad, what to seek and what to avoid. And this causes extremities in behaviors and emotions, it causes greed, and it causes attachment. But those who have deep insights, who live in remembrance and steadiness, who are free in the world, are able to break through this binary outlook and come to rest in the sanctuary of the Beautiful. Will we dissolve our imposed binaries and come into the sanctuary?
In the seventh composition, Guru Teghbahadar says, O wise ones, steadiness is in the sanctuary of the Beautiful One. The virtue of reading the Vedas and Puranas is this: that the being may remember the Identification of the 1-Light. The sanctuary of the Beautiful, IkOankar (One Universal Integrative Force, 1Force, the One) is the place where we come to rest in steadiness. We may have spent our time reading various religious texts hoping they give us something like freedom or salvation, but reading religious texts is useful only if we engage in the remembrance of IkOankar. Without remembrance and Identification, reading these texts is of no use.
O wise ones, steadiness is in the sanctuary of the Beautiful One. The Guru says that those who live in greed and attachment and love of Maya, or attachment to the material and to our relationships, become bound up and controlled, serving vices and poisons. Those who live in service of vices cannot live in remembrance. Those who live in service of the poisons which make us forget IkOankar cannot live in remembrance. But those who are not touched or affected by greed, attachment, and love of Maya, who do not live in service of vices, and who are not driven or affected by happiness and sorrow, are the embodiment of IkOankar, the Source of light.
O wise ones, steadiness is in the sanctuary of the Beautiful One. The Guru elaborates on what it is like to live in that freedom and remembrance by listing out apparent opposites: heaven and hell, ambrosia, and poison, gold and one paisa (coin), praise and slander. The free individual, who lives in remembrance, is not caught up in these opposites. It is not that the free individual is living a life devoid of certain opposites; it is that the relationship to seeming opposites shifts, and things that once seemed opposed to one another are considered the same. Extremes and opposites, material and abstract, become equal. The Guru says that greed and attachment also become like this when we are not touched or affected by the material; we are not touched or affected by our greed or attachment.
O wise ones, steadiness is in the sanctuary of the Beautiful One. The Guru says that we ought to consider the being who is not bound by suffering or comfort, as wise and knowledgeable, that we ought to consider the freedom of the being who is of this way alone. An insightful person is a free person because they are in constant remembrance, dwelling with the Beautiful, steadied by the sanctuary of Beautiful. When they rest in the sanctuary of the Beautiful, they come out of the extremities of life — not just the vices like greed and attachment and Maya, but also happiness and grief, suffering and comfort. They do not look for heaven or ask not to go to hell; they are not greedy for nectar and disgusted by poison; they are not pained by sorrow or joy, nor affected by praise or slander. These pairings become one and the same.
The Guru shows us how a free person lives when they are in constant remembrance and steadied in the sanctuary of the Beautiful. Wherever we look in this world, we see the forms of things; we make value judgments; we form opinions on what we like and what we don’t, what is good and what is bad, what to seek and what to avoid. And this causes extremities in behaviors and emotions, it causes greed, and it causes attachment. But those who have deep insights, who live in remembrance and steadiness, who are free in the world, are able to break through this binary outlook and come to rest in the sanctuary of the Beautiful. Will we dissolve our imposed binaries and come into the sanctuary?
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