jagatu bhikhārī phiratu hai sabh ko dātā rāmu.
kahu nānak man simaru tih pūran hovahi kām.40.
-Guru Granth Sahib 1428
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
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In the fortieth stanza, Guru Teghbahadar says, the entire world wanders like a beggar, the beautiful charming One is the only universal giver. O mind! Remember That One, so that your affairs may be resolved.
The whole world is begging someone for something. The whole world is wandering in their begging. We are seeking to have our desires fulfilled by other people. But if we want our affairs to really be resolved and our desires to really be fulfilled, we ought not to beg other people for those things.
Even the people we think can give us what we want are themselves, beggars, even if they do not appear to be. We would not go up to a person begging on the street and ask them for something. So why beg others who are also begging? If we beg a wealthy or powerful person for something, we are still begging from someone who cannot give us what we need, who cannot satisfy us. If we want all things to be fulfilled, we ought to think only of the beautiful, charming One, the Giver. Are we ready to beg only from the One? And if so, do we know what we really want to beg for?
The whole world is begging someone for something. The whole world is wandering in their begging. We are seeking to have our desires fulfilled by other people. But if we want our affairs to really be resolved and our desires to really be fulfilled, we ought not to beg other people for those things.
Even the people we think can give us what we want are themselves, beggars, even if they do not appear to be. We would not go up to a person begging on the street and ask them for something. So why beg others who are also begging? If we beg a wealthy or powerful person for something, we are still begging from someone who cannot give us what we need, who cannot satisfy us. If we want all things to be fulfilled, we ought to think only of the beautiful, charming One, the Giver. Are we ready to beg only from the One? And if so, do we know what we really want to beg for?
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