sabh sukh dātā rāmu hai dūsar nāhin koi.
kahu nānak suni re manā tih simrat gati hoi.9.
-Guru Granth Sahib 1426
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 ninth stanza, Guru Teghbahadar says, the Giver of every comfort is the Beautiful One. There is no other. O my mind, listen, you will move when you are in the remembrance of that One.
There is no one in the world who does not look for comfort. We look for this, physically, mentally, and emotionally, because no one wants to live in pain or discomfort. And there is nothing wrong with that, but we ought to be cautious of becoming too driven by our search for physical comfort. We ought to instead be driven by the real comfort, which is rooted in that remembrance. If the search for real comfort does not drive us, it is because we have doubt or misunderstandings about our physical comforts, that we did this or we gained this, we did it all for ourselves. The realization of the presence of IkOankar, the Beautiful, helps us understand that all comforts are because of the Beautiful.
This understanding becomes lifestyle and faith, and it changes our behavior. Once we have discovered that the Beautiful is the Giver, our lives have movement or freedom. Life moves us. We are no longer paralyzed by fear, paralyzed by our entanglements, paralyzed by our cages and our false senses of ‘comfort.’ We are free from all that binds us.
There is no one in the world who does not look for comfort. We look for this, physically, mentally, and emotionally, because no one wants to live in pain or discomfort. And there is nothing wrong with that, but we ought to be cautious of becoming too driven by our search for physical comfort. We ought to instead be driven by the real comfort, which is rooted in that remembrance. If the search for real comfort does not drive us, it is because we have doubt or misunderstandings about our physical comforts, that we did this or we gained this, we did it all for ourselves. The realization of the presence of IkOankar, the Beautiful, helps us understand that all comforts are because of the Beautiful.
This understanding becomes lifestyle and faith, and it changes our behavior. Once we have discovered that the Beautiful is the Giver, our lives have movement or freedom. Life moves us. We are no longer paralyzed by fear, paralyzed by our entanglements, paralyzed by our cages and our false senses of ‘comfort.’ We are free from all that binds us.
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