ikoaṅkār satigur prasādi.
mārū mahalā 9.
hari ko nāmu sadā sukhdāī.
jā kaü simari ajāmalu udhrio ganikā hū gati pāī.1. rahāu.
pancālī kaü rāj sabhā mahi rām nām sudhi āī.
tā ko dūkhu hario karuṇāmai apnī paij baḍhāī.1.
jih nar jasu kirpānidhi gāio tā kaü bhaïo sahāī.
kahu nānak mai ihī bharosai gahī āni sarnāī.2.1.
-Guru Granth Sahib 1008
Guru Teghbahadar Sahib advises that Nam (Identification with IkOankar) is forever comforting. By engaging in Nam, vice-filled beings become free of vices and sufferings. This Sabad reminds seekers that for those who reflected on the virtues of the gracious IkOankar (the Divine) during difficult times, IkOankar became their support.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
Note: Maru is a rag (musical mode) that is often used to narrate heroic battles, evoking a mood of valiance and aggression, and strength. In this composition, the mind is the thing that is being battled, and the emphasis is on expressing the truth regardless of the consequences.
In the first composition, Guru Teghbahadar says, The 1-Light’s Identification is always comforting. Remembering which, Ajamal was freed, and Ganika was also freed. The Guru mentions two figures in this statement: Ajamal and Ganika, commonly known as those who had the biggest pains and who nonetheless became free. The stories of Ajamal and Ganika are separate. However, both of them serve as archetypes of those who have “sinned” the most and thus experienced the most pain. In the story of Ajamal, he was a Brahmin, a member of the priestly class, who had a relationship with a prostitute. He was in a privileged position and was aware of what was right and wrong. He knew better, but he fell. Even those spiritual or educated people can fall. Even they need reminders. In the story of Ganika, she was a prostitute, considered in that time and in that culture to have one of the worst possible occupations, and thus was demeaned and considered dirty. Even those considered to be the lowest have access to grace. The remedy to their pain is the Identification with the 1-Light. Ajamal, the fallen, and Ganika, the fallen, became free when Identification with the 1-Light carried them across this world. The Guru says, if we want a comfort that is always present, a joy that is constant, a peace that is sustained, we get that through Identification with the 1-Light. This Identification is what freed Ajamal and Ganika, and it can free us, too.
The 1-Light’s Identification is always comforting. The Guru continues with another example, this time of the princess of Panchal, Draupadi. In Hindu mythology, Draupadi was married to the Pandavs — five brothers from one of the larger dynasties. The Pandavs lost her in a bet to the Kauravs (one hundred brothers descended from a King). The scene the Guru describes is what happened after the Kauravs lost the bet —Draupadi was in the royal court, and the Kauravs were dishonoring her in front of her husbands and relatives, pulling at her sari to unravel it. At this moment, as she understood that her husbands and their networks were doing nothing for her, Draupadi felt an awareness of the greatest support: Identification with the Beautiful One. The story goes that the One caused her sari to become longer and longer so that it could never be fully unraveled. The Gurus says that the compassionate One removed her sorrow, protected her, and took care of her pain. Not only was her honor protected, but it was increased and expanded. It is not just that the 1-Light’s Nam (Identification) will catch us when we fall; it is that we will rise to new heights, newly empowered by this Identification.
The 1-Light’s Identification is always comforting. The Guru says that whoever is graced to sing of the Treasure of Grace, whoever sings these praises, is helped by the One. It is not that we need to sing to be “worthy enough” to be protected and helped by IkOankar (One Universal Integrative Force, 1Force, 1Ness), but that when we are singing, our minds are changing. We are invoking that gracefulness and protection that is inherent in IkOankar’s nature. And, the Guru closes with, it is on this very faith, on this very conviction, that the Guru also has taken the sanctuary of the One.
The Guru shows us through the examples of Ajamal, Ganika, and Draupadi that the Identification with the 1-Light is always comforting; will always protect; will always empower. There are the stories of those who are not the triumphant heroes in mythology. These are the narratives of those that one might designate as side characters to the larger narratives of the kings and princes, powerful and rich. We learn about the winners, but the Guru points us to the stories of those “underdogs” who were not taken seriously or given respect, who were “fallen,” who suffered. These are the stories that show us both the internal battle and the external battle we must all go through to live with faith and to become free in that faith. Will we identify with these figures? Will we begin to embark on our own journeys — full of battles and tests of faith — to experience freedom eventually?
In the first composition, Guru Teghbahadar says, The 1-Light’s Identification is always comforting. Remembering which, Ajamal was freed, and Ganika was also freed. The Guru mentions two figures in this statement: Ajamal and Ganika, commonly known as those who had the biggest pains and who nonetheless became free. The stories of Ajamal and Ganika are separate. However, both of them serve as archetypes of those who have “sinned” the most and thus experienced the most pain. In the story of Ajamal, he was a Brahmin, a member of the priestly class, who had a relationship with a prostitute. He was in a privileged position and was aware of what was right and wrong. He knew better, but he fell. Even those spiritual or educated people can fall. Even they need reminders. In the story of Ganika, she was a prostitute, considered in that time and in that culture to have one of the worst possible occupations, and thus was demeaned and considered dirty. Even those considered to be the lowest have access to grace. The remedy to their pain is the Identification with the 1-Light. Ajamal, the fallen, and Ganika, the fallen, became free when Identification with the 1-Light carried them across this world. The Guru says, if we want a comfort that is always present, a joy that is constant, a peace that is sustained, we get that through Identification with the 1-Light. This Identification is what freed Ajamal and Ganika, and it can free us, too.
The 1-Light’s Identification is always comforting. The Guru continues with another example, this time of the princess of Panchal, Draupadi. In Hindu mythology, Draupadi was married to the Pandavs — five brothers from one of the larger dynasties. The Pandavs lost her in a bet to the Kauravs (one hundred brothers descended from a King). The scene the Guru describes is what happened after the Kauravs lost the bet —Draupadi was in the royal court, and the Kauravs were dishonoring her in front of her husbands and relatives, pulling at her sari to unravel it. At this moment, as she understood that her husbands and their networks were doing nothing for her, Draupadi felt an awareness of the greatest support: Identification with the Beautiful One. The story goes that the One caused her sari to become longer and longer so that it could never be fully unraveled. The Gurus says that the compassionate One removed her sorrow, protected her, and took care of her pain. Not only was her honor protected, but it was increased and expanded. It is not just that the 1-Light’s Nam (Identification) will catch us when we fall; it is that we will rise to new heights, newly empowered by this Identification.
The 1-Light’s Identification is always comforting. The Guru says that whoever is graced to sing of the Treasure of Grace, whoever sings these praises, is helped by the One. It is not that we need to sing to be “worthy enough” to be protected and helped by IkOankar (One Universal Integrative Force, 1Force, 1Ness), but that when we are singing, our minds are changing. We are invoking that gracefulness and protection that is inherent in IkOankar’s nature. And, the Guru closes with, it is on this very faith, on this very conviction, that the Guru also has taken the sanctuary of the One.
The Guru shows us through the examples of Ajamal, Ganika, and Draupadi that the Identification with the 1-Light is always comforting; will always protect; will always empower. There are the stories of those who are not the triumphant heroes in mythology. These are the narratives of those that one might designate as side characters to the larger narratives of the kings and princes, powerful and rich. We learn about the winners, but the Guru points us to the stories of those “underdogs” who were not taken seriously or given respect, who were “fallen,” who suffered. These are the stories that show us both the internal battle and the external battle we must all go through to live with faith and to become free in that faith. Will we identify with these figures? Will we begin to embark on our own journeys — full of battles and tests of faith — to experience freedom eventually?
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