bhagat terai mani bhavde dari sohani kīrati gāvade.
nānak karmā bāhare dari ḍhoa na lahan̖ī dhāvade.
iki mūlu na bujhan̖i āpaṇā aṇhodā āpu gaṇāide.
haü ḍhāḍhī kā
tin̖ maṅgā ji tujhai dhiāide. 9.
This pauri (stanza), revealed by Guru Nanak Sahib, is accompanied by two saloks. The first salok consists of five lines and describes the futility of worldly education that results in egoism. The second salok, composed of twenty-three lines, states that the rituals practiced by people have been rendered worthless. This pauri, while addressing IkOankar (the Divine), advises seeking the company of individuals who are in remembrance IkOankar.
paüṛī.
bhagat terai mani bhavde dari sohani kīrati gāvade.
nānak karmā bāhare dari ḍhoa na lahan̖ī dhāvade.
iki mūlu na bujhan̖i āpaṇā aṇhodā āpu gaṇāide.
haü ḍhāḍhī kā Ki Var & section:Pauri 9 & footnote:16> nīc jāti hori utam jāti sadāide.
tin̖ maṅgā ji tujhai dhiāide. 9.
bhagat terai mani bhavde dari sohani kīrati gāvade.
nānak karmā bāhare dari ḍhoa na lahan̖ī dhāvade.
iki mūlu na bujhan̖i āpaṇā aṇhodā āpu gaṇāide.
haü ḍhāḍhī kā
tin̖ maṅgā ji tujhai dhiāide. 9.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
Guru Nanak focuses the ballad on mentioning those who have not yet found that one thing but who consider themselves virtuous, and comparing them to those we can call the real devoted ones. So many people claim to be devoted but have no sense of their root, or origin. They take pride in virtues that they do not have, and continue wandering.
Guru Nanak mentions this and then focuses in on those who are truly devoted, the ones who are beautifully singing praises of the One, those who are living a life that is rooted in the realization of 1-Ness and in the culture of 1-Identification.
Guru Nanak identifies with these true devotees, calls himself a low-caste minstrel, someone who was considered to be the lowest rung on the ladder of musicians at the time. An important contrast is drawn, when Guru Nanak identifies with the lowest of the low in comparison to those who claim to be devotees and consider themselves to be high in social status due to their “glorifications.” Guru Nanak is asking for the ones who genuinely recognize who they are, who walk through their lives with a sense of where they come from, where they are rooted, who remember 1Force in their thoughts and their actions. There is a deliberate eulogizing of these devotees, the lowest of the low, and a reclaiming of the narrative around the devoted ones because of how easily that title is thrown around to refer to various people (people who have not really understood their origin and who instead reap the rewards of their performative devotion). It is not enough to just sing praises, to live in a certain way, or to check things off of a list in hopes of achieving some sort of spiritual status or understanding about life. The truly devoted ones are those who are not just singing and behaving in a way that aligns with the 1Force, but who are doing this while recognizing their own rootedness in that 1Force.
Guru Nanak mentions this and then focuses in on those who are truly devoted, the ones who are beautifully singing praises of the One, those who are living a life that is rooted in the realization of 1-Ness and in the culture of 1-Identification.
Guru Nanak identifies with these true devotees, calls himself a low-caste minstrel, someone who was considered to be the lowest rung on the ladder of musicians at the time. An important contrast is drawn, when Guru Nanak identifies with the lowest of the low in comparison to those who claim to be devotees and consider themselves to be high in social status due to their “glorifications.” Guru Nanak is asking for the ones who genuinely recognize who they are, who walk through their lives with a sense of where they come from, where they are rooted, who remember 1Force in their thoughts and their actions. There is a deliberate eulogizing of these devotees, the lowest of the low, and a reclaiming of the narrative around the devoted ones because of how easily that title is thrown around to refer to various people (people who have not really understood their origin and who instead reap the rewards of their performative devotion). It is not enough to just sing praises, to live in a certain way, or to check things off of a list in hopes of achieving some sort of spiritual status or understanding about life. The truly devoted ones are those who are not just singing and behaving in a way that aligns with the 1Force, but who are doing this while recognizing their own rootedness in that 1Force.
Tags
