so ṭikā so baihaṇā soī dībāṇu.
piyū dāde jevihā potā parvāṇu.
jini bāsaku netrai ghatiā kari nehī tāṇu.
jini samundu viroliā kari meru madhāṇu.
caüdah ratan nikālianu kītonu cānāṇu.
ghoṛā kīto sahaj dā jatu kīo palāṇu.
dhaṇakhu caṛāio sat dā jas handā bāṇu.
kali vici dhū andhāru sā caṛiā raibhāṇu.
satahu khetu jamāio satahu chāvāṇu.
nit rasoī terīai ghiu maidā khāṇu.
cāre kunḍāṁ sujhīosu man mahi sabadu parvāṇu.
āvāgaüṇu nivārio kari nadari nīsāṇu.
aütariā aütāru lai so purakhu sujāṇu.
jhakhaṛi vāu na ḍolaī parbatu merāṇu.
jāṇai birthā jīa kī jāṇī hū jāṇu.
kiā sālāhī sace pātisāh jāṁ tū sughaṛu sujāṇu.
dānu ji satigur bhāvasī so sate dāṇu.
nānak handā chatru siri umati hairāṇu.
so ṭikā so baihaṇā soī dībāṇu.
piyū dāde jevihā potrā parvāṇu.6.
-Guru Granth Sahib 967-968
Rai Balvand and Sata Dum describe the glory of Guru Amardas Sahib on the Guruship throne. A popular Indic mythological story exemplifies how Guru Amardas Sahib used divine wisdom to spread world-transcendent virtues without the help of gods and goddesses. This pauri (stanza) hails Guru Amardas Sahib as wise, all-knowing, unwavering, and benevolent, embodying the teachings of both Guru Nanak Sahib and Guru Angad Sahib. As the third sovereign in the Raj lineage, which Guru Nanak Sahib initiated, Guru Angad Sahib is described as his figurative grandson.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
In the sixth stanza, Satta and Balvand tell us that the mark of the Guru is the same, the throne of the Guru is the same, and the court of the Guru is the same, even as the Guruship is being passed down from Guru Nanak to Guru Angad, and from Guru Angad to Guru Amardas. Guru Amardas is then referred to as the grandson of Guru Nanak, and the son of Guru Angad, despite not being biologically related to either of his predecessors. This clearly establishes that biological lineage does not dictate the lineage of the Guruship and that, instead, the lineage that matters is that of following the command of the Guru, working for the Raj of the Guru, and engaging in discipline, devotion, and service. This is not about bloodline; this is about action.
The Bards again use the story of the churning of the ocean to establish the greatness of the Guru, this time Guru Amardas, and his virtues. In the myth, the gods churned Mandar Mountain, Mount Sumeru, with a rope of Vasuki (the king of snakes), churned the ocean of milk, and extracted fourteen gems. The Guru made Sabad the churn, inner strength the stick, his mind the rope, and churned his own body. Through that churning, the Guru extracted fourteen gems, spreading illumination, making the horse a horse of wisdom, the saddle a saddle of chastity, the bow a bow of truth, the arrow an arrow of praise. It is important to know that both Guru Angad and Guru Amardas were, in their earlier lives, part of today’s Hindu Vaishnavite traditions. This reframing of the story of the gods and demons churning the ocean is important because it functions as a way of showing people that they are no longer of those traditions anymore. No gods, goddesses, or demons sit above them, they have churned the oceans of their vast minds without help, and the gems extracted are those of virtues, not wish-fulfilling items or things to own. The Gurus are not looking for worldly jewels but for things that will transcend the world, that last longer than objects, and that change us to become like the One. These virtues are not just of the world; they are world-transcendent.
The greatness of the Guru is praised again, the one who came in the era of darkness and ignorance to bring awareness, who rose like the divine-rayed sun in the darkness, who was born from the truth, chiseled by the truth, and remains in the truth. The Guru’s kitchen is where ghee (clarified butter), refined flour, and sugar are distributed and eaten. The Guru is the one who is able to see in all four directions, in all four realms, and who understands that accepting Sabad, or the Word, in the mind is what matters most. The Guru is the one who eliminates coming or going, who bestows the glance of grace, whose mark is the grace itself. This is the one who is wise, having descended into the world as Guru Amardas. From incarnations to incarnations, the Guru is the one who, from Guru Nanak to Guru Amardas, has continued to change the body. The Guru stands like the great Mount Sumeru. He does not waver the scenarios that come his way, no matter storm or wind. Nothing can move him or his eternality. He is the knower of knowers who knows the pain of every being.
Satta and Balvand ask a rhetorical question pointing to the greatness of the Guru — How can I praise the one who is accomplished and all-knowing, the true sovereign? The gift which pleases the true Guru is the gift that Satta is asking for. The canopy of Guru Nanak is now on Guru Amardas’s head, and the nation or collective is astonished or surprised to see this because no one would have guessed that it would be him. This is because Guru Amardas is an older man from a strictly worldly sense, and a successor is rarely of that age. But the Guru is being anointed from the angle of the eternality of the jot, the light within him. The first line is repeated, emphasizing that the mark, the throne, and the court of the Guru are the same even as the body of the Guru changes. Just like the lineage of Gurus who came before him, Guru Amardas is also accepted. Why is this continuation necessary? What was added to the system of governance and the rule? How did Guru Amardas prepare for it? And how can we praise the one who is accomplished and all-knowing, the true sovereign?
The Bards again use the story of the churning of the ocean to establish the greatness of the Guru, this time Guru Amardas, and his virtues. In the myth, the gods churned Mandar Mountain, Mount Sumeru, with a rope of Vasuki (the king of snakes), churned the ocean of milk, and extracted fourteen gems. The Guru made Sabad the churn, inner strength the stick, his mind the rope, and churned his own body. Through that churning, the Guru extracted fourteen gems, spreading illumination, making the horse a horse of wisdom, the saddle a saddle of chastity, the bow a bow of truth, the arrow an arrow of praise. It is important to know that both Guru Angad and Guru Amardas were, in their earlier lives, part of today’s Hindu Vaishnavite traditions. This reframing of the story of the gods and demons churning the ocean is important because it functions as a way of showing people that they are no longer of those traditions anymore. No gods, goddesses, or demons sit above them, they have churned the oceans of their vast minds without help, and the gems extracted are those of virtues, not wish-fulfilling items or things to own. The Gurus are not looking for worldly jewels but for things that will transcend the world, that last longer than objects, and that change us to become like the One. These virtues are not just of the world; they are world-transcendent.
The greatness of the Guru is praised again, the one who came in the era of darkness and ignorance to bring awareness, who rose like the divine-rayed sun in the darkness, who was born from the truth, chiseled by the truth, and remains in the truth. The Guru’s kitchen is where ghee (clarified butter), refined flour, and sugar are distributed and eaten. The Guru is the one who is able to see in all four directions, in all four realms, and who understands that accepting Sabad, or the Word, in the mind is what matters most. The Guru is the one who eliminates coming or going, who bestows the glance of grace, whose mark is the grace itself. This is the one who is wise, having descended into the world as Guru Amardas. From incarnations to incarnations, the Guru is the one who, from Guru Nanak to Guru Amardas, has continued to change the body. The Guru stands like the great Mount Sumeru. He does not waver the scenarios that come his way, no matter storm or wind. Nothing can move him or his eternality. He is the knower of knowers who knows the pain of every being.
Satta and Balvand ask a rhetorical question pointing to the greatness of the Guru — How can I praise the one who is accomplished and all-knowing, the true sovereign? The gift which pleases the true Guru is the gift that Satta is asking for. The canopy of Guru Nanak is now on Guru Amardas’s head, and the nation or collective is astonished or surprised to see this because no one would have guessed that it would be him. This is because Guru Amardas is an older man from a strictly worldly sense, and a successor is rarely of that age. But the Guru is being anointed from the angle of the eternality of the jot, the light within him. The first line is repeated, emphasizing that the mark, the throne, and the court of the Guru are the same even as the body of the Guru changes. Just like the lineage of Gurus who came before him, Guru Amardas is also accepted. Why is this continuation necessary? What was added to the system of governance and the rule? How did Guru Amardas prepare for it? And how can we praise the one who is accomplished and all-knowing, the true sovereign?
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