paüṛī.
nāu terā niraṅkāru hai nāi laïai narki na jāīai.
jīu pinḍu sabhu tis dā de khājai ākhi gavāīai.
je loṛahi caṅgā āpaṇa kari punnahu nīcu sadāīai.
je jarvāṇā parharai jaru ves karedī āīai.
ko rahai na bharīai pāīai.5.
nāu terā niraṅkāru hai nāi laïai narki na jāīai.
jīu pinḍu sabhu tis dā de khājai ākhi gavāīai.
je loṛahi caṅgā āpaṇa kari punnahu nīcu sadāīai.
je jarvāṇā parharai jaru ves karedī āīai.
ko rahai na bharīai pāīai.5.
paüṛī. |
nāu terā niraṅkāru hai nāi laïai narki na jāīai. |
jīu pinḍu sabhu tis dā de khājai ākhi gavāīai. |
je loṛahi caṅgā āpaṇa kari punnahu nīcu sadāīai. |
je jarvāṇā parharai jaru ves karedī āīai. |
ko rahai na bharīai pāīai.5. |
Guru Nanak concludes by challenging the theatricalities which purport to show us how to get to “heaven” in their system by striking fear in us. The real way to stay out of an unpleasant place is to live in the culture of 1-Identification, or Nam, where we learn to identify with 1Force. Our temporary identities begin to relate with the Eternal Identity. It is no use paying attention to what other people are telling us about what we must or must not do in order to attain some sort of peace.
Guru Nanak says, if you are really looking for goodness for your own goodness, then what you must do is, be virtuous. Do good things but be humble — become virtuous and act as if you are nothing.
Finally, there is mention of aging and the reality of this natural process. We can do anything we want to try and avoid aging, we can go to war with time and color our hair or get plastic surgery or buy the most expensive wrinkle creams, but aging will happen regardless, and it will come towards us at its own pace, not at the pace we set for it. We can fool ourselves into thinking that aging is not affecting us but it always is.
Here, Guru Nanak is referencing the sort of self-theater that we might have within us — these are the worlds we make up in our own minds to convince ourselves that nature will not take its course. We are all performers, even if we are not the ones dancing in the theater. We are all running in circles, stuck in the rat race, churning and churning, in our own ways. We are all performing for other people all of the time. We curate versions of our lives to post on social media platforms in hopes that we can convince ourselves and everyone else that we are happy and content and that we are not running in circles, with no end in sight, empty inside. We have wired ourselves to perform and curate and perform and curate, and so we do it even when no one is watching. We perform for ourselves in our heads and we perform for others out in the world, and because of this we have convinced ourselves that we know what is valuable and worth spending our time and energy on, but we are wrong. These bodies are not ours, and these minds are not ours either, but if we focus on the eternal formless One, we will understand how to distribute our beings in our bodies — how to use our existence, how to share our existence, what we will consume and what we will give.
Guru Nanak says, if you are really looking for goodness for your own goodness, then what you must do is, be virtuous. Do good things but be humble — become virtuous and act as if you are nothing.
Finally, there is mention of aging and the reality of this natural process. We can do anything we want to try and avoid aging, we can go to war with time and color our hair or get plastic surgery or buy the most expensive wrinkle creams, but aging will happen regardless, and it will come towards us at its own pace, not at the pace we set for it. We can fool ourselves into thinking that aging is not affecting us but it always is.
Here, Guru Nanak is referencing the sort of self-theater that we might have within us — these are the worlds we make up in our own minds to convince ourselves that nature will not take its course. We are all performers, even if we are not the ones dancing in the theater. We are all running in circles, stuck in the rat race, churning and churning, in our own ways. We are all performing for other people all of the time. We curate versions of our lives to post on social media platforms in hopes that we can convince ourselves and everyone else that we are happy and content and that we are not running in circles, with no end in sight, empty inside. We have wired ourselves to perform and curate and perform and curate, and so we do it even when no one is watching. We perform for ourselves in our heads and we perform for others out in the world, and because of this we have convinced ourselves that we know what is valuable and worth spending our time and energy on, but we are wrong. These bodies are not ours, and these minds are not ours either, but if we focus on the eternal formless One, we will understand how to distribute our beings in our bodies — how to use our existence, how to share our existence, what we will consume and what we will give.
(O seeker!) The formless One and the Identification (Nam) of the formless One alone are your real support. By continuously reflecting upon the Identification (Nam), one can overcome the painful moments of life (hell).
Your mind, body, and everything else is of the formless One. The formless One alone gives food to eat. Explicitly asking for things is useless.
If you seek your own welfare, then even after doing good deeds, you ought to stay humble.
Even if a powerful person tries to keep old age away, the old age would still arrive disguised in one form or the other.
When the lifespan granted by the formless One is exhausted, no one can continue to stay in this world.
Your mind, body, and everything else is of the formless One. The formless One alone gives food to eat. Explicitly asking for things is useless.
If you seek your own welfare, then even after doing good deeds, you ought to stay humble.
Even if a powerful person tries to keep old age away, the old age would still arrive disguised in one form or the other.
When the lifespan granted by the formless One is exhausted, no one can continue to stay in this world.
(O seeker!) Nam (of the formless One, and) the formless One are your (support); by uttering Nam (one) does not go to hell.
Mind, body, everything, is of that (formless One; that formless One alone) gives to eat, having asked is useless.
If (you) seek your own welfare, (then, even after) having done charity, (you) will have to call (yourself) lowly.
If a powerful (person) keeps (old age) away; (even then), having disguised, the old age would arrive.
No one can stay, (when) the vessel (of life) fills up.
Mind, body, everything, is of that (formless One; that formless One alone) gives to eat, having asked is useless.
If (you) seek your own welfare, (then, even after) having done charity, (you) will have to call (yourself) lowly.
If a powerful (person) keeps (old age) away; (even then), having disguised, the old age would arrive.
No one can stay, (when) the vessel (of life) fills up.
There is a presence of alliteration in the first line of this pauri because of the repeated use of the letter ‘na.’ Similarly, the use of ‘jāīai’ (go/depart), ‘gavāīai’ (lose/waste), ‘āīai’ (arrive), ‘bharīai’ (fills up), ‘pāīai’ (water-clock), etc. is also alliteration.
The first four lines of the pauri express the same meaning. Through simple linguistic expression it has been made clear that by connecting with the Nam, one can be saved from hell (misery). If we seek our welfare, then we should stay humble even while doing good. If we try to escape old age, it still arrives disguised in some form or another.
In the third line, ‘nīcu sadāīai’ (call lowly) is a symbolic statement, where considering oneself lowly means being humble.
Similarly, ‘bharīai pāīai’ (vessel fills up) and ‘ko rahai na’ (no one can stay) in the last line are also symbolic statements. The submerging of ‘pāī’ (water-clock) in ‘bharīai pāīai’ (vessel fills up), which is essentially a water clock in the form of a bowl with a hole, means an individual who has completed their lifespan. Word ‘rahai na’ in ‘ko rahai na’ (no one can stay) means ‘to die or not to live.’ Using symbolic meanings, instead of direct meanings, introduces semantic deviation here.
The first four lines of the pauri express the same meaning. Through simple linguistic expression it has been made clear that by connecting with the Nam, one can be saved from hell (misery). If we seek our welfare, then we should stay humble even while doing good. If we try to escape old age, it still arrives disguised in some form or another.
In the third line, ‘nīcu sadāīai’ (call lowly) is a symbolic statement, where considering oneself lowly means being humble.
Similarly, ‘bharīai pāīai’ (vessel fills up) and ‘ko rahai na’ (no one can stay) in the last line are also symbolic statements. The submerging of ‘pāī’ (water-clock) in ‘bharīai pāīai’ (vessel fills up), which is essentially a water clock in the form of a bowl with a hole, means an individual who has completed their lifespan. Word ‘rahai na’ in ‘ko rahai na’ (no one can stay) means ‘to die or not to live.’ Using symbolic meanings, instead of direct meanings, introduces semantic deviation here.