rāmānand jī gharu 1
ikoaṅkār satigur prasādi.
kat jāīai re ghar lāgo raṅgu. merā citu na calai manu bhaïo paṅgu.1. rahāu.
ek divas man bhaī umaṅg. ghasi candan coā bahu sugandh.
pūjan cālī braham ṭhāi. so brahamu batāio gur man hī māhi.1.
jahā jāīai tah jal pakhān. tū pūri rahio hai sabh samān.
bed purān sabh dekhe joi. ūhāṁ taü jāīai jaü īhāṁ na hoi.2.
satigur mai balihārī tor. jini sakal bikal bhram kāṭe mor.
rāmānand suāmī ramat braham. gur kā sabadu kāṭai koṭi karam.3.1.
-Guru Granth Sahib 1195
The Sabad states that there is no need to look outside oneself to experience bliss. When the pervasiveness of IkOankar (the Divine) is realized and experienced through Wisdom, bliss arises in the heart.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
It is important to understand Bhagat Ramanand in the larger South Asian context. Bhagat Ramanand comes out of a larger tradition of Advaita Vedanta, one of the six Hinduism philosophies, and some Buddhism adaptations. Practitioners of Advaita call him Sri Ramanandcharya, with Acharya being a title of a thought leader and mentor; in this case, to the mastery of elements of the Advaita school and some yogic schools of thought in the Nath Panthis. Acharya also denotes that Bhagat Ramanand had reached a high level of mastery and teaching. Before this composition was uttered, Ramanand had a journey with his mentor, Raghavananda, in his particular context and time. He practiced Vedantic ideas and Yogic ideas. Vedantic thought is usually presented as nondualism, but it is literally about this idea of non-secondness or non-otherness. Indic systems at the time saw the Divine as either nirgun, one who does not take form, or sargun, one who takes form. This composition is set to the rag (musical mode) of Basant. Basant is about changing seasons, freshness and newness, spring and blooming. It evokes a mood of brushing away that one is aware of and beginning something new. Bhagat Ramanand experiences this kind of spring cleaning in his own practice and belief system, which is reflected in this composition. It is not that his previous learnings and spiritual practices were a waste but that his previous questions and goals are no longer relevant to him. There is hope for a new beginning, a new understanding, and a new cycle. This is the Bhagat, the devoted one, Ramanand, who is in the Guru Granth Sahib.
O people, where should one go? The heart-home is filled with the color of bliss. My consciousness does not waver; my wandering mind has become crippled. In this composition, Bhagat Ramanand asks a rhetorical question reminiscent of his previous philosophical tendencies as a practitioner of Advait. He asks, where shall I go now? Where can we go to dye the consciousness in the color of love? Where can we go to cripple our wandering minds? The focus here is on the mind because Advait is about seeking certain knowledge and using yoga techniques to attain that knowledge. Through his expression of a desire to cripple the wandering mind, these previous paradigms in which knowledge is the ultimate goal are being discounted. Instead, the Bhagat seeks to injure the mind, to keep it from running around after intellectual accumulation, and to color his consciousness in love, to experience a love beyond intellect.
O people, where should one go? The heart-home is filled with the color of bliss. My consciousness does not waver; my wandering mind has become crippled. Bhagat Ramanand continues to reflect and says, until now, every day in my mind, this desire used to be born — I used to go to the places of pilgrimage and take part in rituals like rubbing the sandalwood and worshipping idols and using perfumes. This is what has been advised as the correct and most fruitful worship practice from time immemorial. This is what he has been told to do to advance spiritually. But the Bhagat’s paradigm has now shifted. The Wisdom has shown him where the Supreme Being, IkOankar (One Universal Integrative Force, 1Force, the One), really is, that IkOankar is dwelling within the mind. All that the Bhagat was ritually busy doing was what he thought was his true desire. He thought it would help him. But it did not allow him to experience a connection with IkOankar. Intentionality did not work; these acts did not work, and this worship did not work. The Bhagat has found that IkOankar has actually entered his mind through the guidance of the Wisdom.
O people, where should one go? The heart-home is filled with the color of bliss. My consciousness does not waver; my wandering mind has become crippled. Now that the Wisdom has entered his mind and he has experienced the presence of IkOankar, wherever Bhagat Ramanand goes, he now only sees water and stones. This is a reference to worship and idols. He now sees that these objects are simply objects. The One is pervading in all things everywhere. And he does not need to have a relationship with these stones and this water to have a relationship with the One. He continues to reflect, saying, having searched through the religious texts of the Vedas and the Puranas, I understand that I do not need to go to these places of pilgrimage when I know that the One is present in my mind. If the One were not present in my mind, I would go to these pilgrimage places. In a way, this is a philosophical argument! Bhagat Ramanand says that this previous practice he engaged in, or going to pilgrimage sites and participating in rituals, is no longer a practice that resonates with him. He does not need to look outside for a connection. His perspective and paradigm have shifted, and he now feels IkOankar within.
O people, where should one go? The heart-home is filled with the color of bliss. My consciousness does not waver; my wandering mind has become crippled. Bhagat Ramanand closes this composition by glorifying the greatness of the One who helped him shift his paradigm. The centuries-old traditions did not give him what he was looking for. They only produced more knowledge. His relationships with previous gurus did not give him what he wanted. The relationships were too transactional. This Guru, the Wisdom, the vastness of the Guru’s utterance, has helped him cut all his troubling illusions, hard doubts, and constant questions. And so it is to the Wisdom that he devotes himself. This praise of the Wisdom and of IkOankar is notably intimate because intimacy and the experience of love were lacking in these previous philosophical schools of thought. Instead, the emphasis was on knowledge and intellect. The emphasis was on arguments over which deeds would result in which consequences and which rituals were needed to absolve oneself of which misdeeds. The Wisdom eliminates this question because the Wisdom rids Bhagat Ramanand of millions of transgressions. The Bhagat’s vocabulary has also changed. He uses the word Suami, which seems out of place for those in the Advaita school. Suami literally means ‘Master,’ but it can also be interpreted as Owner. This is not a relationship of positionality or fear, which would not allow for closeness. This is a relationship of reverence, deep love, and the freedom to give over one’s submission rather than have it taken. Suami invokes a deeply intimate and personal relationship with the One. The Bhagat also uses the word Ramat, referring to the One who is present within, the One we are drenched in, and the One we are colored in. This is the One who is his Owner now.
Bhagat Ramanand was a Brahmin who benefited from his caste position and his position as an influential teacher and guide. And yet, through reflection on what has kept him so busy, so caught up in the pursuit of knowledge that does not satiate him, he critiques the systems that Brahmins have created cobwebs out of — pilgrimage and ritual and idol worship. These systems are founded on fear and transactional relationships with the Divine that provide the priestly class with job security. We have this worldwide — different people with different schools of thought who mentor and guide those seeking knowledge and fulfillment. There are so many philosophies, theologies, ‘isms,’ and studies of religion that one can choose from, so many ways we seek to be satisfied. The mind is exhausted and constantly engaging in various attempts to find satiation, only to find that it cannot experience bliss this way. We can have all the religious and scriptural understandings and studies and knowledge possible, but if we are caught up in a constant pursuit of intellect without understanding the importance of experiential knowledge and devoted connection to the One, we are not and will not be internally illumined.
Bhagat Ramanand shows us that those who start to rise above idol worship and ritual have begun to experience the nearness of IkOankar. The Wisdom is what has gotten him to experience that nearness, and he is in adoration of the Wisdom for that reason. He no longer seeks the accumulation of knowledge. He instead has formed a devoted relationship with the perfect genius in the Wisdom, which destroys the very deeds and misdeeds that the Brahmanical system is hinged upon. He encourages us to eliminate external fear-based worship and ritual and calculation, to stop the constant pursuit of knowledge and philosophical exchange to no end, and to begin to worship with love and devotion within, to form a relationship with IkOankar, who dwells within. If we do that, what happens? In Bhagat Ramanand’s case, his whole life changed. He had thirteen disciples. Two were women. Seven out of eleven men who were his disciples or fellow-travelers are included in the Guru Granth Sahib and come from the so-called ‘low’ caste backgrounds. Bhagat Ramanand transformed — not only in terms of his internal world and principles, but also in his external behavior. He became revolutionary in abandoning previous schools of thought and norms and in who he chose to guide and teach. The pursuit of particular knowledge and rituals, and disciplines was, at some point, not enough for him. It did not help him experience the Brahm within, the Ultimate within. When he finally did, it changed everything.
What of our current lifestyles, practices, anxieties, and pursuits are we willing to question and reflect on? What are we willing to let go of? What are we dedicating ourselves to, and what fruits does it bear? Are we willing to interrogate the very systems that serve us? Are we willing to leave the safety of transactional fear-based systems of progression and pursuit for something less tangible, less logical, and less intellectual? Are we willing to give ourselves over in surrender to the Suami, the One who lives within, in whose color we seek to be dyed? Is the Wisdom chiseling us to become the devoted one, the bhagat?
O people, where should one go? The heart-home is filled with the color of bliss. My consciousness does not waver; my wandering mind has become crippled. In this composition, Bhagat Ramanand asks a rhetorical question reminiscent of his previous philosophical tendencies as a practitioner of Advait. He asks, where shall I go now? Where can we go to dye the consciousness in the color of love? Where can we go to cripple our wandering minds? The focus here is on the mind because Advait is about seeking certain knowledge and using yoga techniques to attain that knowledge. Through his expression of a desire to cripple the wandering mind, these previous paradigms in which knowledge is the ultimate goal are being discounted. Instead, the Bhagat seeks to injure the mind, to keep it from running around after intellectual accumulation, and to color his consciousness in love, to experience a love beyond intellect.
O people, where should one go? The heart-home is filled with the color of bliss. My consciousness does not waver; my wandering mind has become crippled. Bhagat Ramanand continues to reflect and says, until now, every day in my mind, this desire used to be born — I used to go to the places of pilgrimage and take part in rituals like rubbing the sandalwood and worshipping idols and using perfumes. This is what has been advised as the correct and most fruitful worship practice from time immemorial. This is what he has been told to do to advance spiritually. But the Bhagat’s paradigm has now shifted. The Wisdom has shown him where the Supreme Being, IkOankar (One Universal Integrative Force, 1Force, the One), really is, that IkOankar is dwelling within the mind. All that the Bhagat was ritually busy doing was what he thought was his true desire. He thought it would help him. But it did not allow him to experience a connection with IkOankar. Intentionality did not work; these acts did not work, and this worship did not work. The Bhagat has found that IkOankar has actually entered his mind through the guidance of the Wisdom.
O people, where should one go? The heart-home is filled with the color of bliss. My consciousness does not waver; my wandering mind has become crippled. Now that the Wisdom has entered his mind and he has experienced the presence of IkOankar, wherever Bhagat Ramanand goes, he now only sees water and stones. This is a reference to worship and idols. He now sees that these objects are simply objects. The One is pervading in all things everywhere. And he does not need to have a relationship with these stones and this water to have a relationship with the One. He continues to reflect, saying, having searched through the religious texts of the Vedas and the Puranas, I understand that I do not need to go to these places of pilgrimage when I know that the One is present in my mind. If the One were not present in my mind, I would go to these pilgrimage places. In a way, this is a philosophical argument! Bhagat Ramanand says that this previous practice he engaged in, or going to pilgrimage sites and participating in rituals, is no longer a practice that resonates with him. He does not need to look outside for a connection. His perspective and paradigm have shifted, and he now feels IkOankar within.
O people, where should one go? The heart-home is filled with the color of bliss. My consciousness does not waver; my wandering mind has become crippled. Bhagat Ramanand closes this composition by glorifying the greatness of the One who helped him shift his paradigm. The centuries-old traditions did not give him what he was looking for. They only produced more knowledge. His relationships with previous gurus did not give him what he wanted. The relationships were too transactional. This Guru, the Wisdom, the vastness of the Guru’s utterance, has helped him cut all his troubling illusions, hard doubts, and constant questions. And so it is to the Wisdom that he devotes himself. This praise of the Wisdom and of IkOankar is notably intimate because intimacy and the experience of love were lacking in these previous philosophical schools of thought. Instead, the emphasis was on knowledge and intellect. The emphasis was on arguments over which deeds would result in which consequences and which rituals were needed to absolve oneself of which misdeeds. The Wisdom eliminates this question because the Wisdom rids Bhagat Ramanand of millions of transgressions. The Bhagat’s vocabulary has also changed. He uses the word Suami, which seems out of place for those in the Advaita school. Suami literally means ‘Master,’ but it can also be interpreted as Owner. This is not a relationship of positionality or fear, which would not allow for closeness. This is a relationship of reverence, deep love, and the freedom to give over one’s submission rather than have it taken. Suami invokes a deeply intimate and personal relationship with the One. The Bhagat also uses the word Ramat, referring to the One who is present within, the One we are drenched in, and the One we are colored in. This is the One who is his Owner now.
Bhagat Ramanand was a Brahmin who benefited from his caste position and his position as an influential teacher and guide. And yet, through reflection on what has kept him so busy, so caught up in the pursuit of knowledge that does not satiate him, he critiques the systems that Brahmins have created cobwebs out of — pilgrimage and ritual and idol worship. These systems are founded on fear and transactional relationships with the Divine that provide the priestly class with job security. We have this worldwide — different people with different schools of thought who mentor and guide those seeking knowledge and fulfillment. There are so many philosophies, theologies, ‘isms,’ and studies of religion that one can choose from, so many ways we seek to be satisfied. The mind is exhausted and constantly engaging in various attempts to find satiation, only to find that it cannot experience bliss this way. We can have all the religious and scriptural understandings and studies and knowledge possible, but if we are caught up in a constant pursuit of intellect without understanding the importance of experiential knowledge and devoted connection to the One, we are not and will not be internally illumined.
Bhagat Ramanand shows us that those who start to rise above idol worship and ritual have begun to experience the nearness of IkOankar. The Wisdom is what has gotten him to experience that nearness, and he is in adoration of the Wisdom for that reason. He no longer seeks the accumulation of knowledge. He instead has formed a devoted relationship with the perfect genius in the Wisdom, which destroys the very deeds and misdeeds that the Brahmanical system is hinged upon. He encourages us to eliminate external fear-based worship and ritual and calculation, to stop the constant pursuit of knowledge and philosophical exchange to no end, and to begin to worship with love and devotion within, to form a relationship with IkOankar, who dwells within. If we do that, what happens? In Bhagat Ramanand’s case, his whole life changed. He had thirteen disciples. Two were women. Seven out of eleven men who were his disciples or fellow-travelers are included in the Guru Granth Sahib and come from the so-called ‘low’ caste backgrounds. Bhagat Ramanand transformed — not only in terms of his internal world and principles, but also in his external behavior. He became revolutionary in abandoning previous schools of thought and norms and in who he chose to guide and teach. The pursuit of particular knowledge and rituals, and disciplines was, at some point, not enough for him. It did not help him experience the Brahm within, the Ultimate within. When he finally did, it changed everything.
What of our current lifestyles, practices, anxieties, and pursuits are we willing to question and reflect on? What are we willing to let go of? What are we dedicating ourselves to, and what fruits does it bear? Are we willing to interrogate the very systems that serve us? Are we willing to leave the safety of transactional fear-based systems of progression and pursuit for something less tangible, less logical, and less intellectual? Are we willing to give ourselves over in surrender to the Suami, the One who lives within, in whose color we seek to be dyed? Is the Wisdom chiseling us to become the devoted one, the bhagat?
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