Guru Nanak sahib describes an unbreaking relationship with truth-oriented beings. Those disconnected from the Wisdom (Guru) fall into the trap of worldly attachments and waste their lives. The ones who have developed a love for the Wisdom connect with the eternal IkOankar (the Divine) and achieve freedom from worldly attachments and ego, making their lives fruitful.
mārū mahalā 1.
nā bhaiṇā bharjāīā nā se sasuṛīāh.
sacā sāku na tuṭaī guru mele sahīāh.1.
balihārī gur āpaṇe sad balihārai jāu.
gur binu etā bhavi thakī guri piru melimu ditamu milāi.1. rahāu.
phuphī nānī māsīā der jeṭhānaṛīāh.
āvani vanñani nā rahani pūr bhare pahīāh.2.
māme tai māmāṇīā bhāir bāp na māu.
sāth laḍe tin nāṭhīā bhīṛ ghaṇī darīāu.3.
sācaü raṅgi raṅgāvalo sakhī hamāro kantu.
saci vichoṛā nā thīai so sahu raṅgi ravantu.4.
sabhe rutī caṅgīā jitu sace siu nehu.
sādhan kantu pachāṇiā sukhi sutī nisi ḍehu.5
pataṇi kūke pātaṇī vanñahu dhruki vilāṛi.
pāri pavandaṛe ḍiṭhu mai satigur bohithi cāṛi.6.
hiknī ladiā hiki ladi gae hiki bhāre bharnāli.
jinī sacu vaṇanjiā se sace prabh nāli.7.
nā ham caṅge ākhīah burā na disai koi.
nānak haümai mārīai sace jehaṛā soi.8.2.10.
-Guru Granth Sahib 1015
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
In the second composition, Guru Nanak says, I devote to my Guru (the Wisdom), always devote. Having wandered so much without the Guru, I was tired. The Guru has united me with the Divine-Spouse, has united me with the Beloved. The Guru lists various relationships we have and says none of these are eternal relationships. The real eternal relationship does not break when the Guru unites us with the truth-oriented friends. They show us the way to cultivate a relationship with IkOankar (One Universal Integrative Force, 1Force, the One). The Guru is also understood to be the Wisdom, which helps the seeker cease their wandering and unite with the Beloved. This is why the seeker adores the Guru. Why they give their strength and lose their strength in front of their Guru. Because without the Guru, without the Wisdom, we are caught up in all sorts of things. The seeker is tired of going through these cycles of not being able to find the Divine-Spouse. The Guru, the Wisdom, has taken them out of this cycle.
I devote to my Guru, always devote. The Guru again lists various relatives we have and says that none of these are eternal relationships. These family members come into the world and go. They do not stay with us, just like the travelers who come and go by the boatload. Caravans of these travelers are lining up to cross the world-ocean. There are crowds and crowds of them at the river.
I devote to my Guru, always devote. The Guru invokes the female-friend, the truth-oriented human-bride or seeker who is also seeking connection with the Divine-Spouse. This relationship with the Spouse is the only relationship that is eternal, that does not break. All other meaningful relationships are with the feminine friends who are seeking that same connection. These are not positional relationships, but instead friendships that come through the relationship one has to the Wisdom. It is the feminine friends that the seeker speaks to, who know that the Divine-Spouse is the only eternal, the One drenched in love.
I devote to my Guru, always devote. The Guru says that all seasons of life are good, in which love with the true One develops. In the season where there is love born for IkOankar within, there is goodness. The human-bride, the seeker who has recognized and begun to form a relationship with the Divine-Spouse, is sleeping in comfort day and night. Their life is comfortable because they are not in separation. The emphasis here is not on reaching a point of constant connection but on heading there, developing a relationship, and beginning the journey of connection and love with IkOankar. Even when we are in those seasonal relationships, the ones listed previously as temporary, those relationships can become good as well, if the love we have is born out of love for the One. Our relatives can become our feminine-friends who are Wisdom-oriented, who help remind us of the Wisdom. Cyclical things will come and go but out of those cyclical relationships, which are helping us prepare to get on the boat to cross the world-ocean? Which are helping us develop love with IkOankar so that we may make these lives fruitful before they are over? Do we understand that the Wisdom prepares us for this journey?
I devote to my Guru, always devote. The Guru fulfills the role of the ferryman at the edge of the world-ocean. The ferryman cries out at the dock, go, get across by running! The world is ocean-like, and everyone is trying to get across it. The Guru is urging us to get on the boat of the eternal Wisdom so that we can get across and make this life fruitful. This is the way to get across.
I devote to my Guru, always devote. The Guru says that some are loading their things, some have departed while loading, and some heavy ones have drowned. Some have loaded the Wisdom and become wisdom-oriented. Some are able to cross. Some are pained. Some leave on their journey and drown. Some bear the weight of not being able to fully commit themselves to the Wisdom. Those who were able to load the eternal things, who trade in truth, who are able to become like the Divine in behavior and virtues, are able to get across and unite with IkOankar.
I devote to my Guru, always devote. The seeker reflects and says, I cannot be called good or bad, no one is worse than me, but those who kill ego become like the eternal One. We cannot cast judgments on who is good or bad because as flawed human beings we are full of ego and we do not have the ability to evaluate people based on the virtues. Our metrics are different, informed by our egos and our prejudices. The way we judge others changes with the seasons we are in. So the Guru encourages us to kill the ego and become like the Eternal. The Guru becomes the assurance that although not everyone gets across, those who inculcate the virtues, who trade in eternality and get on the boat of Wisdom have a better chance. This is about the efforts we can make, and the importance of the Wisdom.
This composition is brief but direct, emphasizing that all the relationships we have in the world are temporary, even as they bring us great joy and happiness and excitement. All of the relatives we have are guests or travelers, and they will all eventually have to go to the dock to depart from this world. These relationships are not forever. The only eternal relationship is with the Divine-Spouse, the one drenched in color, who will never leave us. This is the One with whom we ought to develop love. When we are making efforts toward developing that loving relationship, every season is good, despite the way they might change. Will we take the form of the Eternal in order to cross this world-ocean? Will we make efforts toward cultivating a relationship with the One who does not leave us?