tū suṇi hari ras bhinne prītam āpaṇe.
mani tani ravat ravanne ghaṛī na bīsarai.
kiu ghaṛī bisārī haü balihārī haü jīvā guṇ gāe.
nā koī merā haü kisu kerā hari binu rahaṇu na jāe.
oṭ gahī hari caraṇ nivāse bhae pavitra sarīrā.
nānak drisṭi dīragh sukhu pāvai gur sabadī manu dhīrā.3.
-Guru Granth Sahib 1107
‘Barah Maha Tukhari’ describes the longing of a seeker to unite with their Origin, and the resulting bliss in that union. It is set against the backdrop of the occurring and changing natural conditions of the twelve months of the Indic and Panjabi calendar. Out of seventeen stanzas, the first four stanzas of the composition shed light on its theme. Stanzas five to sixteen sequentially outline the Guru’s teachings through the twelve months of the year. In the last stanza, the theme is concluded by providing the essence of the entire verse.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
The third stanza begins again with a direct address to the Beloved:
You, listen! You are the one who is drenched in love, my Beloved. You are in my mind. You are in my body. How can I forget you even for a moment? I adore You. I sing of You. In this world, there is no one who I can call my own. Who do I belong to? I want You to know my condition. All I have is You. Without You, all-pervading One, I cannot live. All I have is You.
This is the second time that “You, listen!” is being invoked. There is no serious request beyond this first plea. This is a stanza of pure longing. The seeker’s mind, body, entire life, and consciousness are surrounded by the Beloved, so much so that there is not even an option of forgetting. So much so that the seeker cannot live without the Beloved — an experience of love that we rarely come across in our lives within human relationships. The seeker says: I am not living in any kind of forgetfulness — I am very clear as to where I am as I walk this path. I am enjoying this, but I want this comfort I feel in my mind to turn into the ultimate joy — union.
But is the mind that is impatient in a state of longing? The mind sees the changes in nature happening — it knows that from a leaf to the flower to the fruit, things take time, that these changes happen over seasons and not in an instant. But because the mind has witnessed the blooming happen all around, it becomes impatient for that same experience. Patience is required, and the Wisdom helps us to develop this patience in the mind. This is how we can truly internalize what we are observing in our natural surroundings. If we are witnessing patiently, we can develop a great level of comfort from our observations.
My vision has become farsighted. I do achieve joy. It happens through Wisdom’s Word (Guru’s Sabad). It happens when the Wisdom’s Word makes my mind patient and steady.
How does the mind live continuously in the Word of Wisdom? The Wisdom is what helps the mind get to a place of joy. When the consciousness has experienced such a great and visceral longing, this is when the entrance of the Beloved occurs. This is not a question of doubt or faith, or if it will happen. This is a question of when it will happen.
You, listen! You are the one who is drenched in love, my Beloved. You are in my mind. You are in my body. How can I forget you even for a moment? I adore You. I sing of You. In this world, there is no one who I can call my own. Who do I belong to? I want You to know my condition. All I have is You. Without You, all-pervading One, I cannot live. All I have is You.
This is the second time that “You, listen!” is being invoked. There is no serious request beyond this first plea. This is a stanza of pure longing. The seeker’s mind, body, entire life, and consciousness are surrounded by the Beloved, so much so that there is not even an option of forgetting. So much so that the seeker cannot live without the Beloved — an experience of love that we rarely come across in our lives within human relationships. The seeker says: I am not living in any kind of forgetfulness — I am very clear as to where I am as I walk this path. I am enjoying this, but I want this comfort I feel in my mind to turn into the ultimate joy — union.
But is the mind that is impatient in a state of longing? The mind sees the changes in nature happening — it knows that from a leaf to the flower to the fruit, things take time, that these changes happen over seasons and not in an instant. But because the mind has witnessed the blooming happen all around, it becomes impatient for that same experience. Patience is required, and the Wisdom helps us to develop this patience in the mind. This is how we can truly internalize what we are observing in our natural surroundings. If we are witnessing patiently, we can develop a great level of comfort from our observations.
My vision has become farsighted. I do achieve joy. It happens through Wisdom’s Word (Guru’s Sabad). It happens when the Wisdom’s Word makes my mind patient and steady.
How does the mind live continuously in the Word of Wisdom? The Wisdom is what helps the mind get to a place of joy. When the consciousness has experienced such a great and visceral longing, this is when the entrance of the Beloved occurs. This is not a question of doubt or faith, or if it will happen. This is a question of when it will happen.
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