garabu karatu hai deh ko binsai chin mai mīt.
jihi prānī hari jasu kahio nānak tihi jagu jīti.42.
-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
Calligraphy
In the forty-second stanza, Guru Teghbahadar says, O friend! The being takes pride in the body, which perishes in an instant. But one who has sung praises of the 1-Light, it is as if that being has conquered the world.
We feel proud of our bodies, but they will be gone in an instant. We work so hard to maintain a particular look and maintain a particular level of fitness, which maintains the way others see us and maintains the way we feel about ourselves. When we do not do this, we fall into a lack of confidence. Even when we do it, even when we are proud, even when we feel that the body is beautiful, we still find ourselves constantly critical and constantly unhappy with these bodies. The body does not conquer the world. It will rot away just like all things must. And even now, it rots with pride.
Relationships that we create and maintain due to the body, rooted in the temporary and rooted in attachment, create pride. Relationships that we create and maintain due to the 1-Light — that are rooted in the eternal, in singing praises of the One — don’t. The body does not conquer the world. It is those who have the praise of the 1-Light within them who win the world. It is that praise of the Eternal which is eternal. It is that praise of the Eternal that is a constant even as our bodies grow and change, gain beauty, lose beauty, gain strength, and lose it. It is singing praises of the 1-Light that nurtures these bodies past the physical, that nurtures the virtues of the 1-Light within. These bodies will go. The 1-Light will remain.
We feel proud of our bodies, but they will be gone in an instant. We work so hard to maintain a particular look and maintain a particular level of fitness, which maintains the way others see us and maintains the way we feel about ourselves. When we do not do this, we fall into a lack of confidence. Even when we do it, even when we are proud, even when we feel that the body is beautiful, we still find ourselves constantly critical and constantly unhappy with these bodies. The body does not conquer the world. It will rot away just like all things must. And even now, it rots with pride.
Relationships that we create and maintain due to the body, rooted in the temporary and rooted in attachment, create pride. Relationships that we create and maintain due to the 1-Light — that are rooted in the eternal, in singing praises of the One — don’t. The body does not conquer the world. It is those who have the praise of the 1-Light within them who win the world. It is that praise of the Eternal which is eternal. It is that praise of the Eternal that is a constant even as our bodies grow and change, gain beauty, lose beauty, gain strength, and lose it. It is singing praises of the 1-Light that nurtures these bodies past the physical, that nurtures the virtues of the 1-Light within. These bodies will go. The 1-Light will remain.
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