ustati nindiā nāhi jihi kancan loh samāni.
kahu nānak suni re manā mukati tāhi tai jāni.14.
-Guru Granth Sahib 1426-1427
Guru Teghbahadar Sahib reminds beings of the purpose of life, which is to remember and reflect on the virtues of IkOankar (the Divine). The saloks describe how life is wasted in the entanglements of familial and material attachments distracting from the purpose of life. They inspire seekers to search for deeper meaning beyond the attachment to family and temporary material things and develop a relationship with IkOankar. These saloks gently nudge seekers to live in awareness of IkOankar and see the entire world from that place of realization.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
In the fourteenth stanza, the transformative steps to get to the state of freedom are concluded. Guru Teghbahadar says, for whom praise or slander do not matter, for whom gold and iron are equal, that person alone is free.
The Guru urges us to understand that those who are not affected by praise or criticism, who see both gold and iron as the same, are free individuals. In fact, they are carefree individuals.
This is how we can become free. Through remembrance and recognizing the presence of the 1-Light, through becoming like the adorable One, we become indifferent to weighing things as “good” or “bad,” valuable or not. We are no longer concerned with whether someone likes us or doesn’t. This is hard to do! Human beings do not like to hear criticism. We love being praised. But when someone is criticizing us, do we remain steady? When someone praises us, do we take it for what it is instead of letting it inflate our egos? Both praise and slander are non-virtues. Virtuous living is free living, where neither affects consciousness. To be unaffected by both is difficult. But when we have gotten to the point of doing that, then we are free. When we have gotten to a point where gold and iron mean nothing to us, when their acquisition and loss do not change our behavior, when we understand that these things do not go with us, that they are immaterial, then we are free.
The Guru urges us to understand that those who are not affected by praise or criticism, who see both gold and iron as the same, are free individuals. In fact, they are carefree individuals.
This is how we can become free. Through remembrance and recognizing the presence of the 1-Light, through becoming like the adorable One, we become indifferent to weighing things as “good” or “bad,” valuable or not. We are no longer concerned with whether someone likes us or doesn’t. This is hard to do! Human beings do not like to hear criticism. We love being praised. But when someone is criticizing us, do we remain steady? When someone praises us, do we take it for what it is instead of letting it inflate our egos? Both praise and slander are non-virtues. Virtuous living is free living, where neither affects consciousness. To be unaffected by both is difficult. But when we have gotten to the point of doing that, then we are free. When we have gotten to a point where gold and iron mean nothing to us, when their acquisition and loss do not change our behavior, when we understand that these things do not go with us, that they are immaterial, then we are free.
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