rāgu gūjarī mahalā 4.
hari ke jan satigur satpurkhā binaü karaü gur pāsi.
ham kīre kiram satigur sarṇāī kari daïā nāmu pargāsi.1.
mere mīt gurdev mo kaü rām nāmu pargāsi.
gurmati nāmu merā prān sakhāī hari kīrati hamrī rahrāsi.1. rahāu.
hari jan ke vaḍ bhāg vaḍere jin hari hari sardhā hari piās.
hari hari nāmu milai triptāsahi mili saṅgati guṇ pargāsi.2.
jin hari hari hari rasu nāmu na pāiā te bhāghīṇ jam pāsi.
jo satigur saraṇi saṅgati nahī āe dhrigu jīve dhrigu jīvāsi.3.
jin hari jan satigur saṅgati pāī tin dhuri mastaki likhiā likhāsi.
dhanu dhannu satsaṅgati jitu hari rasu pāiā mili jan nānak nāmu pargāsi.4.4.
-Guru Granth Sahib 10
Guru Ramdas Sahib describes the source for attaining the eternal Nam (Identification with IkOankar). The Wisdom (Guru) alone bestows the gift of Nam on people. Fortunate beings who join the company of the Guru-oriented seekers experience the essence of Nam.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
Sabad 4
In the fourth Sabad, the voice and tone used by Guru Ramdas are of a loving plea. Intimately, imploring, we hear: O my revered Wisdom-Eternal friend, reveal to me the Nam of the beautiful, charming One. I am searching for this Nam, and pleading with the Friend who embodies 1Force, to help me identify with Nam. Receiving the Wisdom-infused Nam will give my life, my breath, my very essence, the being within me, the companionship for this life journey. And the lifestyle needed will be to live in the praise and the glory of Hari, where I identify with the All-Pervasive, the Fear-Eliminator, and the Light. It will be my discipline, my practice, my norm, my sustenance. Can we relate to the real need of the being within, the very essence within us?
O my revered Wisdom-Eternal friend, reveal to give me the Nam of the beautiful, charming One. O devotee of Fear-Eliminator, eternal Wisdom, eternal Being, I personally and humbly submit to You, the Wisdom: I am the smallest of the smallest bug; I am no one, I am insignificant. Please shelter me in Your Wisdom sanctuary. Be compassionate and enlighten me with Nam. The humility is silencing; it is a lived reality. We remember the child who was orphaned, the child who sold savory black grams on the streets of Amritsar, the child who rose to be the uncontested leader of the Sikh nation, the child who was enthroned as Guru Ramdas. A worldly “nobody” infused with Nam becomes the Wisdom-embodiment “Friend.” This is Nam here, and now, this is the miracle! Can we be that humble and ask for that deep radiant connection for our life journey?
O my revered Wisdom-Eternal friend, reveal to give me the Nam of the beautiful, charming One. The most fortunate are those who are devoted to the Fear-Eliminator. For they not only have the devotion but also the thirst for Nam. Devotion lives in mind; it is experienced there. Thirst is felt in the body; it is physical. This mind-body longing makes the fortunate ones greater than the great, for they experience both. And when they feel the All-Pervasive, the Fear-Eliminator, and the Light incessantly, they experience Nam and are gratified and quenched. What is Nam? Nam is a feeling of 1Force. Think of Nam as the rays of the sun. We cannot look at the sun, but we can feel it, for we cannot take in such radiance directly. In the company of these fortunate ones, we recognize Nam’s virtues and yearn to become virtuous. We seek them only for this sole purpose and nothing else. Can we make an effort to search for those fortunate beings who are Nam-drenched, who are the contented and quenched devotees of the Light?
O my revered Wisdom-Eternal friend, reveal to give me the Nam of the beautiful, charming One. The unfortunate are those who do not receive Nam. They are caught in fear of death and live their lives in desolation and dejection. They are unable to enjoy the flavor of the All-Pervasive, the Fear-Eliminator, and the Light’s Nam. They are unable to savor the sweetness of identifying with the Fear-Eliminator. These most unfortunate ones did not take the refuge of the eternal Wisdom and companionship of devoted ones. Therefore, they cannot feel the sun rays around them, and they lived, and they will continue to live in the arid landscape of death. They are not seeking this life companionship to live a life filled with sweetness, flavor, and radiance. The question is: is a life lived this way worth living? For even the aspiration to live this way is a waste. We have our understanding of who is fortunate and unfortunate. However, it is decoded here that the fortunate ones are those looking for the company of Wisdom. And the unfortunate ones are caught or fascinated in the company of death. Where are we in our life journey? Are we the fortunate or the unfortunate ones? Do we really want to be drenched in Nam?
O my revered Wisdom-Eternal friend, reveal to give me the Nam of the beautiful, charming One. The devotees of the All-Pervasive, the Fear-Eliminator, and the Light who are in the company of the eternal Wisdom, their forehead has the Writ written from The Origin. The Origin is the Beginning, the One, the All-Pervasive, the Fear-Eliminator, the Light, the 1Force. Everything rests with the One, the 1Force. The closer the relationship is with the 1Force, one’s behavior changes because of the relationship, and that change determines the course of life. Felicitations resound for those who are in the company of the ones devoted to the Eternal and taste the flavor of the All-Pervasive, the Fear-Eliminator, and the Light. Felicitations resound for those who are enjoying the sweetness as Nam is revealed to them. This is how we can experience the greatness of the Origin, the 1Force! What does that close relationship with the Origin look like? Do we yearn for it? Do we yearn to taste the flavor and enjoy the sweetness of Nam?
Guru Ramdas has rolled out a treasure map of a well-lived life. A life lived with the All-Pervasive, the Fear-Eliminator, and the Light, in the company of fellow cosmic travelers. We need to recognize the being, the essence of life within. We need to nurture that being, the being who is looking for Nam of the Beautiful One as a life companion. Nam that is freely available and accessible to all, including the darkest beings on the planet. For the being is in all. No wealth, no status, no caste, no gender, no sexuality, no nationalities, no boundaries can restrict Nam. The only companionship that the being needs is Nam. The only discipline required is the praise of the All-Pervasive, the Fear-Eliminator, and the Light. What is needed on this journey is the companionship of those who share the Wisdom, taste the sweetness and bask in the sunlight of the eternality of Nam. And those who can enter into the companionship of the Beautiful One are the most fortunate. Are you preparing to taste Nam?
In the fourth Sabad, the voice and tone used by Guru Ramdas are of a loving plea. Intimately, imploring, we hear: O my revered Wisdom-Eternal friend, reveal to me the Nam of the beautiful, charming One. I am searching for this Nam, and pleading with the Friend who embodies 1Force, to help me identify with Nam. Receiving the Wisdom-infused Nam will give my life, my breath, my very essence, the being within me, the companionship for this life journey. And the lifestyle needed will be to live in the praise and the glory of Hari, where I identify with the All-Pervasive, the Fear-Eliminator, and the Light. It will be my discipline, my practice, my norm, my sustenance. Can we relate to the real need of the being within, the very essence within us?
O my revered Wisdom-Eternal friend, reveal to give me the Nam of the beautiful, charming One. O devotee of Fear-Eliminator, eternal Wisdom, eternal Being, I personally and humbly submit to You, the Wisdom: I am the smallest of the smallest bug; I am no one, I am insignificant. Please shelter me in Your Wisdom sanctuary. Be compassionate and enlighten me with Nam. The humility is silencing; it is a lived reality. We remember the child who was orphaned, the child who sold savory black grams on the streets of Amritsar, the child who rose to be the uncontested leader of the Sikh nation, the child who was enthroned as Guru Ramdas. A worldly “nobody” infused with Nam becomes the Wisdom-embodiment “Friend.” This is Nam here, and now, this is the miracle! Can we be that humble and ask for that deep radiant connection for our life journey?
O my revered Wisdom-Eternal friend, reveal to give me the Nam of the beautiful, charming One. The most fortunate are those who are devoted to the Fear-Eliminator. For they not only have the devotion but also the thirst for Nam. Devotion lives in mind; it is experienced there. Thirst is felt in the body; it is physical. This mind-body longing makes the fortunate ones greater than the great, for they experience both. And when they feel the All-Pervasive, the Fear-Eliminator, and the Light incessantly, they experience Nam and are gratified and quenched. What is Nam? Nam is a feeling of 1Force. Think of Nam as the rays of the sun. We cannot look at the sun, but we can feel it, for we cannot take in such radiance directly. In the company of these fortunate ones, we recognize Nam’s virtues and yearn to become virtuous. We seek them only for this sole purpose and nothing else. Can we make an effort to search for those fortunate beings who are Nam-drenched, who are the contented and quenched devotees of the Light?
O my revered Wisdom-Eternal friend, reveal to give me the Nam of the beautiful, charming One. The unfortunate are those who do not receive Nam. They are caught in fear of death and live their lives in desolation and dejection. They are unable to enjoy the flavor of the All-Pervasive, the Fear-Eliminator, and the Light’s Nam. They are unable to savor the sweetness of identifying with the Fear-Eliminator. These most unfortunate ones did not take the refuge of the eternal Wisdom and companionship of devoted ones. Therefore, they cannot feel the sun rays around them, and they lived, and they will continue to live in the arid landscape of death. They are not seeking this life companionship to live a life filled with sweetness, flavor, and radiance. The question is: is a life lived this way worth living? For even the aspiration to live this way is a waste. We have our understanding of who is fortunate and unfortunate. However, it is decoded here that the fortunate ones are those looking for the company of Wisdom. And the unfortunate ones are caught or fascinated in the company of death. Where are we in our life journey? Are we the fortunate or the unfortunate ones? Do we really want to be drenched in Nam?
O my revered Wisdom-Eternal friend, reveal to give me the Nam of the beautiful, charming One. The devotees of the All-Pervasive, the Fear-Eliminator, and the Light who are in the company of the eternal Wisdom, their forehead has the Writ written from The Origin. The Origin is the Beginning, the One, the All-Pervasive, the Fear-Eliminator, the Light, the 1Force. Everything rests with the One, the 1Force. The closer the relationship is with the 1Force, one’s behavior changes because of the relationship, and that change determines the course of life. Felicitations resound for those who are in the company of the ones devoted to the Eternal and taste the flavor of the All-Pervasive, the Fear-Eliminator, and the Light. Felicitations resound for those who are enjoying the sweetness as Nam is revealed to them. This is how we can experience the greatness of the Origin, the 1Force! What does that close relationship with the Origin look like? Do we yearn for it? Do we yearn to taste the flavor and enjoy the sweetness of Nam?
Guru Ramdas has rolled out a treasure map of a well-lived life. A life lived with the All-Pervasive, the Fear-Eliminator, and the Light, in the company of fellow cosmic travelers. We need to recognize the being, the essence of life within. We need to nurture that being, the being who is looking for Nam of the Beautiful One as a life companion. Nam that is freely available and accessible to all, including the darkest beings on the planet. For the being is in all. No wealth, no status, no caste, no gender, no sexuality, no nationalities, no boundaries can restrict Nam. The only companionship that the being needs is Nam. The only discipline required is the praise of the All-Pervasive, the Fear-Eliminator, and the Light. What is needed on this journey is the companionship of those who share the Wisdom, taste the sweetness and bask in the sunlight of the eternality of Nam. And those who can enter into the companionship of the Beautiful One are the most fortunate. Are you preparing to taste Nam?
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