hari dūjaṛī lāv satiguru purakhu milāiā bali rām jīu.
nirbhaü bhai manu hoi haümai mailu gavāiā bali rām jīu.
nirmalu bhaü pāiā hari guṇ gāiā hari vekhai rāmu hadūre.
hari ātam rāmu pasāriā suāmī sarab rahiā bharpūre.
antari bāhari hari prabhu eko mili hari jan maṅgal gāe.
jan nānak dūjī lāv calāī anhad sabad vajāe.2.
-Guru Granth Sahib 773-774
Guru Arjan Sahib counsels the seeker longing for union with IkOankar (the Divine) to rid their mind of ego and cultivate reverence for the all-pervasive IkOankar.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
In the second stanza, we are made aware of bringing “reverence” into our lifestyle. The first link with the Light chiseled us by making the Utterances filled with infinite wisdom the center of our existence. And prepared us, beings, to become Wisdom-centered, to live in Nam, Identification with the Beautiful Being, and Nam became sweet to the mind. Guru Ramdas says, The second link with the Light, the Eternal Wisdom, has enabled the connection to transpire; I lovingly surrender myself to the dearest Beautiful Being. The Guru says the Light has materialized the meeting with the Eternal Wisdom. With intense love, devotion, and vigor, willingly surrender to the Beautiful Being in this love-journey.
What is the sign of this meeting? The Guru elaborates that your mind has become fearless. The fear of losing wealth, relationships, and power have disappeared. The sweetness of Nam eliminated your fears; it removed the bitterness and the flavorlessness of life as well as the dirt and ego. The love-journey continues with intense love, devotion, vigor, and willing surrender to the Beautiful Being. A distinct “fear” will enter you when love begins to replace dread. This “fear” will be filth-free, ego-free—it is reverence, born in your heart on its own for the Light. The reverence will keep you centered and in humility. The reverence within you will enable you to see the Beautiful Being in everything, both within and outside you. You will invite the Beautiful Being as your Owner. You will find the company of wisdom-inspired beings who identify with the Light and feel the presence of the Beautiful Being. You will sing songs of love and joy in their company and become of the Divine. The reverence will enable you to truly sing the virtues of the Light, not only to sing the virtues but also to see and feel the presence of the Beautiful Being. You are not just physically singing the divine virtues; you are listening to the divine sound and feeling the divine presence. An intuitive, inborn, limitless, independent sound and melody will enter you on its own. The second link with the Beautiful Being is when that infinite innate sound and that uncomposed song begin to resound within you.
Similar is the journey of two beings coming together in the House of Guru Ramdas with the One as their center. Towards that journey, the couple has “met” with the Beautiful Being. Do they feel they have “met”? An indication would be that their mind has become fearless. Have they chiseled themselves to become fearless? Where there is fear, there is no freedom. Only when their mind eliminates the fear of losing material things and transitory relationships can it become filth-free and ego-free. If there is enslavement, restriction, or fear, reverence cannot enter their relationship. Reverence is born within the heart. It is pivotal in this link. Reverence is how they will connect to the Eternal Wisdom. And in this state of reverence, when the couple will sing the divine virtues, they will see and feel the presence of the Beautiful Being and make the Light, the Beautiful Being, their Owner. The couple that lives in reverence sees the Divine inside and outside. And because they are in this state of mind, they will find the company of divinely inspired beings living this fearless and egoless lifestyle. They will sing songs of the joy of the Light and become of the Light in their company. Before, they were emulating; now, they will genuinely sing the songs of joy. They will not just be physically singing; the music will develop within them. This is how the music within them will start—that music, that sound that is limitless and naturally composed on its own. Nothing in the human realm causes that sound to be produced; it is produced from within. In Indic traditions, mangals are joyous songs sung on happy occasions, such as weddings. This four-stanza Lava composition is sung during the Sikh wedding ceremony as the ceremony is a joyous and fortunate occasion. The ceremony reminds a couple of their lifelong commitment to become like the One by being virtuous. However, they must go back to the first link and chisel themselves further if they are still in fear. Reverence will take them to experience the divinity of their relationship. For reverence to grace them, they need the remembrance of Nam to chisel them and take them to that state of intuitiveness so that they can truly listen to the uncomposed melody and to the sound that is not humanly produced but is. The path to divine-centered reverence and the sound of the uncomposed limitless melody is created through the second link.
Do we want to bring that “reverence” into our relationship? A reverence that will lead us to return to become part of the Beautiful Being. We will need to rise above our fears to truly sing the “songs of joy” in the company of divinely inspired beings. Do we want to commit to working on our fears to be able to wed the Beautiful Being as shared by Guru Ramdas?
What is the sign of this meeting? The Guru elaborates that your mind has become fearless. The fear of losing wealth, relationships, and power have disappeared. The sweetness of Nam eliminated your fears; it removed the bitterness and the flavorlessness of life as well as the dirt and ego. The love-journey continues with intense love, devotion, vigor, and willing surrender to the Beautiful Being. A distinct “fear” will enter you when love begins to replace dread. This “fear” will be filth-free, ego-free—it is reverence, born in your heart on its own for the Light. The reverence will keep you centered and in humility. The reverence within you will enable you to see the Beautiful Being in everything, both within and outside you. You will invite the Beautiful Being as your Owner. You will find the company of wisdom-inspired beings who identify with the Light and feel the presence of the Beautiful Being. You will sing songs of love and joy in their company and become of the Divine. The reverence will enable you to truly sing the virtues of the Light, not only to sing the virtues but also to see and feel the presence of the Beautiful Being. You are not just physically singing the divine virtues; you are listening to the divine sound and feeling the divine presence. An intuitive, inborn, limitless, independent sound and melody will enter you on its own. The second link with the Beautiful Being is when that infinite innate sound and that uncomposed song begin to resound within you.
Similar is the journey of two beings coming together in the House of Guru Ramdas with the One as their center. Towards that journey, the couple has “met” with the Beautiful Being. Do they feel they have “met”? An indication would be that their mind has become fearless. Have they chiseled themselves to become fearless? Where there is fear, there is no freedom. Only when their mind eliminates the fear of losing material things and transitory relationships can it become filth-free and ego-free. If there is enslavement, restriction, or fear, reverence cannot enter their relationship. Reverence is born within the heart. It is pivotal in this link. Reverence is how they will connect to the Eternal Wisdom. And in this state of reverence, when the couple will sing the divine virtues, they will see and feel the presence of the Beautiful Being and make the Light, the Beautiful Being, their Owner. The couple that lives in reverence sees the Divine inside and outside. And because they are in this state of mind, they will find the company of divinely inspired beings living this fearless and egoless lifestyle. They will sing songs of the joy of the Light and become of the Light in their company. Before, they were emulating; now, they will genuinely sing the songs of joy. They will not just be physically singing; the music will develop within them. This is how the music within them will start—that music, that sound that is limitless and naturally composed on its own. Nothing in the human realm causes that sound to be produced; it is produced from within. In Indic traditions, mangals are joyous songs sung on happy occasions, such as weddings. This four-stanza Lava composition is sung during the Sikh wedding ceremony as the ceremony is a joyous and fortunate occasion. The ceremony reminds a couple of their lifelong commitment to become like the One by being virtuous. However, they must go back to the first link and chisel themselves further if they are still in fear. Reverence will take them to experience the divinity of their relationship. For reverence to grace them, they need the remembrance of Nam to chisel them and take them to that state of intuitiveness so that they can truly listen to the uncomposed melody and to the sound that is not humanly produced but is. The path to divine-centered reverence and the sound of the uncomposed limitless melody is created through the second link.
Do we want to bring that “reverence” into our relationship? A reverence that will lead us to return to become part of the Beautiful Being. We will need to rise above our fears to truly sing the “songs of joy” in the company of divinely inspired beings. Do we want to commit to working on our fears to be able to wed the Beautiful Being as shared by Guru Ramdas?
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