paüṛī.
duādasī dānu nāmu isnānu.
hari kī bhagati karahu taji mānu.
hari ammrit pān karahu sādhsaṅgi.
man triptāsai kīrtan prabh raṅgi.
komal bāṇī sabh kaü santokhai.
panc bhū ātamā hari nām rasi pokhai.
gur pūre te eh nihcaü pāīai.
nānak rām ramat phiri joni na āīai.12.
-Guru Granth Sahib 299
Guru Arjan Sahib states that by following the Wisdom (Guru), the being can remove their flawed understanding and is liberated from worldly entanglements. Corresponding to the fifteen-day lunar calendar and each pauri (stanza) correlates to each day formed by the waxing and waning of the moon. The twelfth pauri states that the being ought to renounce pride, cleanse themselves by remembering Nam (Identification with IkOankar), and inspire others to remember Nam. Through the remembrance of IkOankar (the Divine), the mind is contented, and its wandering ends.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
In the twelfth pauri (stanza), the Guru continues to reference the already-existing paradigms in which we look for results the day after fasting. We want our rituals and our practices to heal us of our conditions. The Guru says that if we want to earn the condition we seek, we must eliminate our ingenuine, counterfeit, or bad thinking. But this thinking feels impossible to escape, so the Guru offers guidance: do charity, recite Nam (Divine Identification), and cleanse yourself internally. This is the Sikh paradigm of Nam, Dan, Isnan (Identifying, Giving, Cleansing). If we want to earn the condition we seek, we ought to engage in these practices, through which devotion of the 1-Light, the All-Pervasive, enters us, and ego leaves us. We imbibe the praise of the 1-Light, the glory of the 1-Light, through singing in the company of the virtuous beings. Through this, the mind is satiated. We become dyed in praise of the One. What does this do to us? It softens us. The tender and sweet Word of the Wisdom satiates us and melts our minds so that we are receptive to its message. This is how we not only hear the Wisdom, but listen to the Wisdom, experience the Wisdom, and live better.
The Guru says that the beings, made up of five elements, are all nurtured through the essence of the Identification of the All-Pervasive, the Fear-Eliminator, the Remover of Suffering. We are satiated and nurtured and distribute this same sweet nectar of the Word of the Wisdom. This is how ‘fasting’ is completed. Through internal nourishment and satiation. Through the gift of tender Wisdom. Through tasting and feeling, and experiencing the Word of Wisdom. Through this Wisdom, we receive this conviction that we can remove our bad thinking through Identification, through Giving, and through internal Cleansing. Being in remembrance, drenched in the color of the Beautiful One, will keep us from cycling through birth and death, whether that cycle occurs many times in one day, many times in one lifetime, or through multiple lifetimes. The question of this cycle is no longer important to us because we have faith in the Guru, and we have drenched ourselves in the color of the beautiful and all-pervasive One. This mention of IkOankar as beautiful and pervading means that ridding ourselves of our bad understandings requires something more emotional than positional; it requires something more experiential than logical.
The Guru shows us that if we can engage in Nam, Dan, and Isnan, if we can sing praises in the company of the virtuous beings, we can understand that the way we have been thinking is what has created separation and entanglement. This goes away when we are ready to be mentored by the compassionate Wisdom, ready to be in the company of the virtuous beings. We do not need to participate in external fasting and breaking of fasts that do nothing to nourish us internally. We ought to instead allow the tender Word of Wisdom to soften us, to make an effort to be in remembrance, and to make an effort to be in service. Will we allow ourselves to be softened? Will we seek the virtuous beings?
The Guru says that the beings, made up of five elements, are all nurtured through the essence of the Identification of the All-Pervasive, the Fear-Eliminator, the Remover of Suffering. We are satiated and nurtured and distribute this same sweet nectar of the Word of the Wisdom. This is how ‘fasting’ is completed. Through internal nourishment and satiation. Through the gift of tender Wisdom. Through tasting and feeling, and experiencing the Word of Wisdom. Through this Wisdom, we receive this conviction that we can remove our bad thinking through Identification, through Giving, and through internal Cleansing. Being in remembrance, drenched in the color of the Beautiful One, will keep us from cycling through birth and death, whether that cycle occurs many times in one day, many times in one lifetime, or through multiple lifetimes. The question of this cycle is no longer important to us because we have faith in the Guru, and we have drenched ourselves in the color of the beautiful and all-pervasive One. This mention of IkOankar as beautiful and pervading means that ridding ourselves of our bad understandings requires something more emotional than positional; it requires something more experiential than logical.
The Guru shows us that if we can engage in Nam, Dan, and Isnan, if we can sing praises in the company of the virtuous beings, we can understand that the way we have been thinking is what has created separation and entanglement. This goes away when we are ready to be mentored by the compassionate Wisdom, ready to be in the company of the virtuous beings. We do not need to participate in external fasting and breaking of fasts that do nothing to nourish us internally. We ought to instead allow the tender Word of Wisdom to soften us, to make an effort to be in remembrance, and to make an effort to be in service. Will we allow ourselves to be softened? Will we seek the virtuous beings?
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