soraṭhi mahalā 9.
prānī kaünu upāu karai.
jā te bhagati rām kī pāvai jam ko trāsu harai.1. rahāu.
kaünu karam bidiā kahu kaisī dharamu kaünu phuni karaī.
kaünu nāmu gur jā kai simrai bhav sāgar kaü taraī.1.
kal mai eku nāmu kirpānidhi jāhi japai gati pāvai.
aür dharam tā kai sam nāhani ih bidhi bedu batāvai.2.
sukhu dukhu rahat sadā nirlepī jā kaü kahat gusāī.
so tum hī mahi basai nirantari nānak darpani niāī.3.5.
-Guru Granth Sahib 632
Guru Teghbahadar Sahib explains that individuals must only remember Nam (Identification with IkOankar) to dispel the fear of death.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
In the fifth composition, Guru Teghbahadar says, what effort may the being make, through which they may find devotion to the Beautiful One and dispel the fear of death? Whereas in earlier compositions, the Guru addresses the mind, here, the being is addressed — the one who has breath. After exploring the human condition and all its hardships, after understanding the ways in which even those who transgressed were able to make their lives fruitful and find freedom, the Guru asks what those with breath can do so that we can cultivate devotion to the Beautiful and eliminate our fear of death. The invocation of the Beautiful as a name of IkOankar (One Universal Integrative Force, 1Force, the One) is noteworthy because we might think that we are devoted to the Beautiful One through the beauty around us. However, we find that our fear is still very much present. We might be charmed by the physical beauty around us without understanding it as an extension of the Beautiful One. And if we have not come to that understanding, we will not be able to live in devotion to the Beautiful. We will not be able to rid ourselves of fear of death or fear of the temporariness of these human lives.
What effort may the being make? The Guru continues by asking, what knowledge, education, deed, and religious practice can the ones with breath do to find this devotion to the Beautiful One? What can the ones with breath do to rid ourselves of fear of death? But even when we have found the knowledge, deeds, and religious practices that help us find devotion to the Beautiful, those alone are not enough. And so the Guru asks, what is the greatest Nam (Identification)? What is the remembrance we ought to practice? What is the principle we ought to follow? We know we can cross this world-ocean, we know we can make our lives fruitful, but through what?
What effort may the being make? The Guru says that in this age of ignorance or darkness, in the many ages of ignorance that we live through in our singular lifetimes, the only Identification worth practicing is Identification with the One, IkOankar, the Treasure of Grace. The gracious One’s Identification is the only thing that will give us freedom through recitation and remembrance. There is nothing — no religious practice or ritual, no knowledge or deed — equal to that Identification.
What effort may the being make? The Guru shows us that through that one Identification, through Identifying with the Treasure of Grace, we can transcend happiness and sorrow and exist in a state of detachment. Detachment does not mean that we feel nothing or are numb to our experiences. Instead, it is Identifying with the Beautiful One that helps us find beauty in even the things we place in opposition to one another. It is Identifying with the Owner of the earth that allows us to transcend the tumultuous aspects of being so small on earth, the constant feeling that we are being moved this way and that by our emotions and our circumstances. The Guru reminds us that the Owner of the earth dwells within us constantly, like a mirror.
This is a reminder that even the One who is so vast is also so intimately connected with us and intimately dwells within us. If we can begin to Identify with that One, we can fulfill the potential of emulating that One so that we too may transcend happiness and sorrow and exist in a state of detachment. Will we polish the mirror and perceive that presence?
What effort may the being make? The Guru continues by asking, what knowledge, education, deed, and religious practice can the ones with breath do to find this devotion to the Beautiful One? What can the ones with breath do to rid ourselves of fear of death? But even when we have found the knowledge, deeds, and religious practices that help us find devotion to the Beautiful, those alone are not enough. And so the Guru asks, what is the greatest Nam (Identification)? What is the remembrance we ought to practice? What is the principle we ought to follow? We know we can cross this world-ocean, we know we can make our lives fruitful, but through what?
What effort may the being make? The Guru says that in this age of ignorance or darkness, in the many ages of ignorance that we live through in our singular lifetimes, the only Identification worth practicing is Identification with the One, IkOankar, the Treasure of Grace. The gracious One’s Identification is the only thing that will give us freedom through recitation and remembrance. There is nothing — no religious practice or ritual, no knowledge or deed — equal to that Identification.
What effort may the being make? The Guru shows us that through that one Identification, through Identifying with the Treasure of Grace, we can transcend happiness and sorrow and exist in a state of detachment. Detachment does not mean that we feel nothing or are numb to our experiences. Instead, it is Identifying with the Beautiful One that helps us find beauty in even the things we place in opposition to one another. It is Identifying with the Owner of the earth that allows us to transcend the tumultuous aspects of being so small on earth, the constant feeling that we are being moved this way and that by our emotions and our circumstances. The Guru reminds us that the Owner of the earth dwells within us constantly, like a mirror.
This is a reminder that even the One who is so vast is also so intimately connected with us and intimately dwells within us. If we can begin to Identify with that One, we can fulfill the potential of emulating that One so that we too may transcend happiness and sorrow and exist in a state of detachment. Will we polish the mirror and perceive that presence?
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