Jup Bannee – Review of Part 12
Review of Jup Banee by Dr KSD Part 12
Recapitulation
Pauree 1 – Centrality of Hukm /Primacy of Hukm
- ਕਿਵ ਸਚਿਆਰਾ ਹੋਈਐ ਕਿਵ ਕੂੜੈ ਤੁਟੈ ਪਾਲਿ ॥
Kiv Sachiara Hoeyey Kiv Kooray Tootey Paal
ਹੁਕਮਿ ਰਜਾਈ ਚਲਣਾ ਨਾਨਕ ਲਿਖਿਆ ਨਾਲਿ ॥੧॥
Hukm Rajayee Chalnaa Nanak Likhiya Naal
Pauree 2 – Nature of Hukm
- ਹੁਕਮੈ ਅੰਦਰਿ ਸਭੁ ਕੋ ਬਾਹਰਿ ਹੁਕਮ ਨ ਕੋਇ ॥
Hukmey Andur Sabh Ko Bahur Hukam Na Koye
ਨਾਨਕ ਹੁਕਮੈ ਜੇ ਬੁਝੈ ਤ ਹਉਮੈ ਕਹੈ ਨ ਕੋਇ ॥੨॥
Nanak Hukmey Jey Bujhey Ta Haomai Kahey Na Koye
Pauree 3 – Narratives of Hukm
- ਹੁਕਮੀ ਹੁਕਮੁ ਚਲਾਏ ਰਾਹੁ ॥
Hukmi Hukm Chalaye Rah
ਨਾਨਕ ਵਿਗਸੈ ਵੇਪਰਵਾਹੁ ॥੩॥
Nanak Vigsey Veyparvah
Pauree 4 Continued – Living in Hukm
The answer to our spiritual journey in life is
- ਹੁਕਮਿ ਰਜਾਈ ਚਲਣਾ ਨਾਨਕ ਲਿਖਿਆ ਨਾਲਿ ॥੧॥
Hukm Rajayee Chalnaa Nanak Likhiya Naal
- ਸਾਚਾ ਸਾਹਿਬੁ ਸਾਚੁ ਨਾਇ ਭਾਖਿਆ ਭਾਉ ਅਪਾਰੁ ॥
Sacha Sahib Sach Naye Bhakhiya Bhau Apaar
ਆਖਹਿ ਮੰਗਹਿ ਦੇਹਿ ਦੇਹਿ ਦਾਤਿ ਕਰੇ ਦਾਤਾਰੁ ॥
Akhey Mangey Deh Deh Daat Kare Dataar
ਫੇਰਿ ਕਿ ਅਗੈ ਰਖੀਐ ਜਿਤੁ ਦਿਸੈ ਦਰਬਾਰੁ ॥
Fir Ke’ Agey Rakheay Jitt Dissey Darbar
ਮੁਹੌ ਕਿ ਬੋਲਣੁ ਬੋਲੀਐ ਜਿਤੁ ਸੁਣਿ ਧਰੇ ਪਿਆਰੁ ॥
Muhon Ke’ Bolen Boliay Jitt Sunn Dhare Pyaar
ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤ ਵੇਲਾ ਸਚੁ ਨਾਉ ਵਡਿਆਈ ਵੀਚਾਰੁ ॥
Amrit Vela Sach Nao Vadeayee Vichaar
- What is living/life – in a sentence it is the Present, Past, Future
What we are doing currently is the Present
What we did/have done is the Past
What we haven’t done/will do is the Future
- Our Practical /Temporal life
- For the majority of the human mind 50% is centered on What we
DID while 50% is devoted to What we WILL do.
- Very rarely, one in lakhs perhaps, are those Who are living in
the PRESENT.
- Most of us while having a meal for instance, are not into the meal but thoughts are either in the past (that which has taken place) or in the future (that which we intend to do)
- Only fleetingly do we dwell in the present and Live it now
SGGS 1429 Salok M : 9
ਚਿੰਤਾ ਤਾ ਕੀ ਕੀਜੀਐ ਜੋ ਅਨਹੋਨੀ ਹੋਇ ॥
Chinta Ta Kee Keejieh Jo Anhoni Hoey
Why ponder on the future (or even the past) that we don’t
have any control on?
- Our Spiritual Life
- a. What we did
Gurbani terms for the past are Pichha, Poorabla, Kalh
- b. What we will do
Gurbani terms as Aggha, Othey, Parlok
- c. What we do is termed as Sikhi and Living in Hukm
Hence Sikhi / the Here and Now is the narrow point between
- and (b) which we are not aware of and therefore we are
NOT true Sikhs in spirituality
- The spirituality of the Here and Now is actually the spirituality of Living in the Hukm, the reason being that the point at which
Hukm operates is always the present.
SGGS
Jeha Bijeh So Lunneh Karma Sanddra Khet
SGGS
Apey Beej Apey Hi Khah, Nanak Hukmee Aveh Jhah
Lunneh refers to the present and not something that will happen
in the future.
Khah is ‘now’ and not in the afterlife.
- It’s all about living life, the planting, the sowing and the reaping.
The same field that is reaped after it is sown – the consequences
in our lives are as of our deeds, not of others’ deeds.
- Our blunders
- Unfortunately, in 100% of our entire actual spiritual life, our entire focus seems to be on the future – a spirituality of fear, a spirituality of life after death – (What We WILL Do).
Agga,Othey, Parlok, Dargah, Sureg, Chaurasee (8.4 million)
- Worse still, we have pushed the future into AFTER DEATH
which Gurbani says does NOT exist, is of no concern to any Sikh, should not be of any concern to any spiritual person in this world and Gurbani says nothing is ever known of that part of the world (life after death).
However we have pushed this AFTER DEATH concerns to the present of our life. Nitnem, Akhand Paath, Metha Tek etc all are deeds concentrating on rewards in the NEXT LIFE!
- We have also pushed the past (What we did) to mean the past of our life – Pichley Janam, Karama Da Fll, Bhaag etc
- Our practices are thus in two quadrants, whereby what we DID has become our PAST LIFE and what we WILL do in the future is demarcated as Life AFTER DEATH.
- Hence our spirituality has become a Spirituality Obsessed With Life After Death! There is nothing we do in the present. Many of us are already spiritually dead at 18 or 19 and waiting for the burial of to take place at 70 or 80! According to Gurbani, we are already dead as there is NO spirituality of living in the present.
- This Spirituality Obsessed With Life After Death originated from Vedic spirituality / Yogic spirituality – the clergy of Brahmanism is all concerned with nothing but what will happen to us in the LIFE AFTER DEATH!
How to reach Parlok, how long it takes for the soul to reach
Parlok after death, food for the the journey to Parlok, how to
cross the river to reach Parlok etc etc
- The advent of this Spirituality Obsessed With Life After Death
is the hijacking of Sikhi at the highest level because Gurbani verses that contradict Agga, Picha are being explained in the Vedic Yogic terms to portray that Guru Nanak and the Sikh gurus are themselves saying there are things such as 8.4 joon, narak, surag, judgement after death, life after death…….
- This hijacking began after the martyrdom of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur when the persecution of the Sikhs began. For 80 years Sikhs underwent two ghalughara (massacres) and is the worst period in Sikh history as it is lined with shahidees (martyrs). While the authentic Sikhs were on the run, fighting for survival, living in jungles in Punjab, the deserts in Rajasthan and the hills of Jammu and Kashmir – the Sikh Gurdwaras, Sikh literature, Sikh philosophy, interpretation of Sikhi and the Sikh psyche all fell to opportunists.
- Deviant groups like Hindu Nirmalas from Benares, Udasis who were followers of Sri Chand (elder son of Guru Nanak), the Mahants who were controlling gurdwaras (as they were in the parameters of spirituality) but were in fact petty criminals committing crimes – all these contributed to the CORRUPTION of Sikhi for over 200 years!
- Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the 1800s did NOT understand or consider these elements and has no interest in the affair but instead REWARDED them with lavish financial aid and grants of land as they showed support for his rule! The Darbar Sahib (in the full control of the Nirmalas) was layered with gold from his treasury, making them even richer. The British who ruled after him played these groups against each other.
- The rot had reached a state where the Darbar Sahib was flanked with Hindu statues. The Brahmins gathered there daily to do their prayers, wash the idols and themselves abused the sarovar by bathing and washing in it. In 1905, a Hukamnamma was issued by a Granthi for the removal of the idols but Instead he was removed and excommunicated from the Sikh Panth!
- In the 1920s, Professor Gurmukh Singh and Gyani Ditt Singh began the Singh Sabha Movement and some reform took place with the SGPC, the Gurdwaras Act and the SRM put in place with the removal of the idols and reintroduction of authentic practices.
- However, we Sikhs took back only the PHYSICAL aspects of the gurdwaras, we did NOT take back Sikh psyche or authentic Sikh philosophy. The Nirmalas had created more than 35 classical Sikhi texts based on Vedic and Yogic interpretations and to this day no one has rectified these translations!
- The hijacking is still on but many Sikhs, especially the younger generation, are becoming aware of this hijacking and attempts are being made to reintroduce Tatt Gurmatt. Bhai Gurdas says – Nanak Nirmal Panth Chalaya. The uniqueness of Guru Nanak’s Sikhi – the new redefined, reorganised, re-constituted, re-explained concepts that are in Gurbani have to be studied so as to recapture the essence of Sikhi as propounded by our gurus.
- Unfortunately most Gurdwara lectures and talks today are still based on Gurbani verses that are (mis) interpreted in similar terms too! The hijacking of Sikhi has happened because we Sikhs have allowed our lives to be hijacked and so the spirituality of Sikhi has been hijacked!
- True Sikh Spirituality is only WHAT WE DO – there is no element of What We Will Do and no element of any past life. Sikh Spirituality is about Living in the Hukm as Hukm does not
operate in the past or in the future. It operates in the PRESENT.
- As an illustration, telling a lie in 2021 will not happen now, it
will happen in 2021 and the moment the lie is told (in the present when it is 2021), a sudden adulteration of my spiritual being will take place when the lie is told – my spiritual persona, my spiritual credibility, my spiritual integrity would be slashed by that one lie WHEN I say it, AT THE POINT I say it.
- The pointers, roadmap, indicators of living in Hukm
- What have we set as our objective
- What have we set as our objective determines what we do
- The objective is thus operating in the present, for the present – NOT in the past or in the future
- Living in the present is living in Hukm
- Our actions if they are in line with our set objective on a present daily basis then it means we are living in Hukm
- The test, benchmark, key performance indicator is how much we are moving towards the set objective
- Guru Nanak sets the objective as
ਫੇਰਿ ਕਿ ਅਗੈ ਰਖੀਐ ਜਿਤੁ ਦਿਸੈ ਦਰਬਾਰੁ ॥
Fir Ke’ Agey Rakheay Jitt Dissey Darbar
What then should I determine as my spiritual objective by
virtue of which realization of His Hukm can happen?
- What is our discourse in life
- What do we do
- What describes what we do
- What is our narrative of living in Hukm
- It is the parameters of what we do, our behaviour in our conduct on a daily basis
- Guru Nanak states the discourse as
ਮੁਹੌ ਕਿ ਬੋਲਣੁ ਬੋਲੀਐ ਜਿਤੁ ਸੁਣਿ ਧਰੇ ਪਿਆਰੁ ॥
Muhon Ke’ Bolen Boliay Jitt Sunn Dhare Pyaar
What discourse should I undertake, in my spiritual journey; by
virtue of which (my) loving realization of His Hukm can
happen?
- Both the objective and the discourse are answered thus by Guru
Nanak in a verse that is a breakthrough in Sikhi on how to live (in the present, in the Hukm)
ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤ ਵੇਲਾ ਸਚੁ ਨਾਉ ਵਡਿਆਈ ਵੀਚਾਰੁ ॥
Amrit Vela Sach Nao Vadeayee Vichar
The spiritual objective is to make my life (Vela) imbued with
Shabad (Amrit) which is a discourse (Vichar) of Virtues of the
One creator who is in existence (Sach), is the Hukmee
(Nao/Niyam) and is above all (Vadayee).
- As an illustration ;
- Life is Vela (Time) and within the parameters of this life (time) it has the parameters of Amrit (defined as Shabad, Godly Virtues and Hukm). If this is how life (Vela) is spent then it will be defined as Amrit + Vela.
- If there is Amrit as part and parcel of our present life, then it is Amrit Vela. Without the Amrit (Shabad, Godly Virtues and Hukm), it is just life (Jiwan), existing (Hond), living (Jiondey), breathing (Sah Lahndey)
- Real living is the choices we have to make on the objective and
the discourse : two questions with one answer. Sikhi is about
making choices (in our control) and accepting the consequences
(not in our control but decided by Hukm).
– Q1.
ਫੇਰਿ ਕਿ ਅਗੈ ਰਖੀਐ ਜਿਤੁ ਦਿਸੈ ਦਰਬਾਰੁ ॥
Fir Ke’ Agey Rakheay Jitt Dissey Darbar
What then should I determine as my spiritual objective by
virtue of which realization of His Hukm can happen?
– Q2.
ਮੁਹੌ ਕਿ ਬੋਲਣੁ ਬੋਲੀਐ ਜਿਤੁ ਸੁਣਿ ਧਰੇ ਪਿਆਰੁ ॥
Muhon Ke’ Bolen Boliay Jitt Sunn Dhare Pyaar
What discourse should I undertake, in my spiritual journey;
by virtue of which (my) loving realization of His Hukm can
happen?
– Answer
ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤ ਵੇਲਾ ਸਚੁ ਨਾਉ ਵਡਿਆਈ ਵੀਚਾਰੁ ॥
Amrit Vela Sach Nao Vadeayee Vichar
The spiritual objective is to make my life (Vela) imbued
with Shabad (Amrit) which is a discourse (Vichar) of Virtue of
the One creator who is in existence (Sach), is the Hukmee
(Nao/Niyam) and is above all (Vadayee).
- So the Objective of Sikh Spirituality is to Turn my Life into Amrit
(Amrit Vela) NOT as a Spirituality of Fear, Transactions (Bribery
and threats to meet demands in exchange for paaths, sukhnas,etc).
- Turn every moment of Life into Amrit 100% in the present
- The Amrit of Gurbani (VEDEAYEE VICHAR)
- The Amrit of Naam : Godly Virtues and Hukm (SACH NAO)
- Amrit Vela is not the specified time that matters but what matters are our deeds at any and every time.
- Our entire Life becomes AMRIT VELA when our present life, the present moment becomes Amrit as the objective.
- ਕਰਮੀ ਆਵੈ ਕਪੜਾ ਨਦਰੀ ਮੋਖੁ ਦੁਆਰੁ ॥
Karmee Avey Kapra Nadree Mokh Duar
- Karmee – Grace Giver, Creator (in the present)
Karam does NOT mean fate/ preordained from past life as per
Vedantic spirituality that nurtures a defeatist attitude of blame
and passive acceptance rather than on action- However a Sikh
creates his destiny via his own actions in the here and now.
- Avey – Lit. is obtained; is realized
- Kapra – Lit. cloth; diligence
Sift Saram Ka Kapra Mangoh – saram is Persian for diligence
Jinee Nam Thiaya Gaey Mushakat Khaal –mushakat is Arabian
for diligence, khaal is Sanskrit for diligence, kapra is diligence
- Nadree – Grace
- Mokh – Lit. freedom from bondage; liberation
- Duar – Lit. Door; way
- Mokh Duar – Godly Realization Within
- Translation of verse
ਕਰਮੀ ਆਵੈ ਕਪੜਾ ਨਦਰੀ ਮੋਖੁ ਦੁਆਰੁ ॥
Karmee Avey Kapra Nadree Mokh Duar
The way to realization of the Creator is through diligence towards
obtaining His grace.
– Having a state of mind that is in the Hukm (not in the past or any
preordained fate) and within the parameters of the Hukm, then
the grace of the Hukmee (Creator) is obtained – Hukm Rajaee
Chalna is the Kirpa/Grace)
– The diligence is in setting an objective, the narratives and the
discourse
- The Vedic translations where kapra is the human life as part of
the karam/past deeds/fate falls apart as it is NOT in the context of the earlier verse.
- ਨਾਨਕ ਏਵੈ ਜਾਣੀਐ ਸਭੁ ਆਪੇ ਸਚਿਆਰੁ ॥੪॥
Nanak Ehvey Janeah Sabh Apey Sachiar
- Nanak – says Nanak
- Evey – as in above (meaning the previous paurees, as one narrative that is running, evey tara, not in isolation)
- Janeay – Realization
- Sabh – All, every
- Apey – Self, within the self
- Translation of verse
ਨਾਨਕ ਏਵੈ ਜਾਣੀਐ ਸਭੁ ਆਪੇ ਸਚਿਆਰੁ ॥੪॥
Nanak Ehvey Janeah Sabh Apey Sachiar
Nanak, the above then is the way towards the Creator’s realization within our self by becoming Godly virtue imbued.
- Vedic versions want to keep us away from the realm of the spirituality of the present so apey is translated as God, all actions are blamed on God, whereas Sikhi is a spirituality of the self, by the self, for the self and within the self. Anything that is outside these parameters is NOT SIKHI.
- Living in the Hukm
ਕਰਮੀ ਆਵੈ ਕਪੜਾ ਨਦਰੀ ਮੋਖੁ ਦੁਆਰੁ ॥
Karmee Avey Kapra Nadree Mokh Duar
The way to realization of the Creator is through diligence towards
obtaining His grace.
ਨਾਨਕ ਏਵੈ ਜਾਣੀਐ ਸਭੁ ਆਪੇ ਸਚਿਆਰੁ ॥੪॥
Nanak Ehvey Janeah Sabh Apey Sachiar
Nanak, the above then is the way towards the Creator’s realization within our self by becoming Godly virtue imbued.
- The above refers to the nature of Hukm, the narratives and primacy of Hukm, and living in Hukm as in all the earlier paurees 1, 2, 3 and 4. All these are the parameters, pointers and benchmarks for a Sikh for living in Hukm – here and now, 100% in the present
– Here is the continuity in the context
ਕਿਵ ਸਚਿਆਰਾ ਹੋਈਐ ਕਿਵ ਕੂੜੈ ਤੁਟੈ ਪਾਲਿ ॥
Kiv Sachiara Hoeyey Kiv Kooray Tootey Paal
ਨਾਨਕ ਏਵੈ ਜਾਣੀਐ ਸਭੁ ਆਪੇ ਸਚਿਆਰੁ ॥੪॥
Nanak Ehvey Janeah Sabh Apey Sachiar
- Pauree 5 – Hukm Illustrated
Sikhi is ALL about Hukm so further illustrations are given by Guru Nanak
ਥਾਪਿਆ ਨ ਜਾਇ ਕੀਤਾ ਨ ਹੋਇ ॥
Thapeya Na Jaye Keeta Na Hoey
- Thapeya – Conceived, Created, Installed
- Na Jaye – Cannot be
- Keeta Na Hoey – Operated
- Translation of verse
ਥਾਪਿਆ ਨ ਜਾਇ ਕੀਤਾ ਨ ਹੋਇ ॥
Thapeya Na Jaye Keeta Na Hoey
His Hukm cannot be created and operated by His Creation
ਆਪੇ ਆਪਿ ਨਿਰੰਜਨੁ ਸੋਇ ॥
Apey Aap Niranjan Soey
– Apey Aap – Creator Himself, operated by
- Niranjan – Nir (without) Anjan (black) unblemished
- Soey – Himself
His Hukm is created and operated by Him alone and it remains unblemished by Creation.
It is anti-Sikhi spirituality when there is any aim to redirect, deflect, alter or change Hukm. Sikhi is about Hukm being Niranjan, Sacha Sahib Ekal Sacha Nai – His Hukm (Nai) is true, eternal and unchangeable, undirectable
- ਜਿਨਿ ਸੇਵਿਆ ਤਿਨਿ ਪਾਇਆ ਮਾਨੁ ॥
Jin Seyweya Tinn Payea Maan
- Jin – Who
- Seyweya – Internalised
- Tinn – He
- Payea – Attained
- Maan – Honour
- Translation of verse
ਜਿਨਿ ਸੇਵਿਆ ਤਿਨਿ ਪਾਇਆ ਮਾਨੁ ॥
Jin Seyweya Tinn Payea Maan
The honour of spirituality is attained by those who internalize the Hukm.
Spirituality here is the continuation of the context in this verse
ਨਾਨਕ ਏਵੈ ਜਾਣੀਐ ਸਭੁ ਆਪੇ ਸਚਿਆਰੁ ॥੪॥
Nanak Ehvey Janeah Sabh Apey Sachiar
- ਨਾਨਕ ਗਾਵੀਐ ਗੁਣੀ ਨਿਧਾਨੁ ॥
Nanak Gaveay Gunee Nidhan
- Gaveay –Lit. Sing; Accept
In Sikh spirituality gaveya is an important concept where it is a process only when it terminates in acceptance.
It begins with the appreciation of the vadheeya of the Creator and His Hukm and goes on to understanding, believing, accepting, internalising and finally becoming.
If any of this does not happen, then gaveay is simply singing. Gurbani cannot be brought down to the level of any other song.
a) gaveya is a part of a process
b) gaveya must go through the other parts in the process as
listed above, or else it remains just singing
- Gunee – Virtues
- Nidhan – Unlimited
- Translation of verse
ਨਾਨਕ ਗਾਵੀਐ ਗੁਣੀ ਨਿਧਾਨੁ ॥
Nanak Gaveay Gunee Nidhan
Nanak, to internalise the Hukm is to accept His unlimited virtues.
We have to accept that all virtues are his and all virtues are coming from Him and all vices are coming from me. Hence the replacement of the vices with the virtues is the process of internalization
- ਗਾਵੀਐ ਸੁਣੀਐ ਮਨਿ ਰਖੀਐ ਭਾਉ ॥
Gaveay Suneay Munn Rakheay Bhao
- Gaveay – Lit.S; Accept
- Suneay – Lit. Listen; take in, adopt
What is listened to has to be implemented – accepted and
adopted and this process is for the mind. It cannot be gaveya
until the mind accepts and it cannot be suneya until the mind
adopts.
In Gurbani gaveay and suneay (literally as singing and
listening) is of no use if the two separate processes of acceptance
and adoption are not involved. Internalization and becoming are
the other two processes for the end result.
SGGS 450 Rag Asa M : 4
ਕੋਈ ਗਾਵੈ ਰਾਗੀ ਨਾਦੀ ਬੇਦੀ ਬਹੁ ਭਾਤਿ ਕਰਿ ਨਹੀ ਹਰਿ ਹਰਿ ਭੀਜੈ ਰਾਮ ਰਾਜੇ ॥
Koee Gavey Ragi Nadee Bedi Bhau Bhaant Kar,
Nahi Har Har Bheejay Raam Rajey.
ਜਿਨਾ ਅੰਤਰਿ ਕਪਟੁ ਵਿਕਾਰੁ ਹੈ ਤਿਨਾ ਰੋਇ ਕਿਆ ਕੀਜੈ ॥
Jinna Antar Kapat Vikaar Hai Tina Roey Kya Keejay.
Praise (Vadeaye)
Sing Praise (Gavey)
Passionately Sing Praises (Ro Kay Gavna)
Even the highest calibre singer’s notes are reduced to just plain
singing if he is without internalization of the message.
ਜੇ ਬਾਹਰਹੁ ਭੁਲਿ ਚੁਕਿ ਬੋਲਦੇ ਭੀ ਖਰੇ ਹਰਿ ਭਾਣੇ ॥
Je Baro Bhul Chuk Boldey Bhee Kharey Har Bhaney
But an untalented singer with poor notes or tone is accepted if he
has adopted and accepted the message of the song.
ਹਰਿ ਕਰਤਾ ਸਭੁ ਕਿਛੁ ਜਾਣਦਾ ਸਿਰਿ ਰੋਗ ਹਥੁ ਦੀਜੈ ॥
Har Karta Sabh Kich Jaanda Serr Rog Hath Deejay.
ਜਿਨਾ ਨਾਨਕ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਹਿਰਦਾ ਸੁਧੁ ਹੈ ਹਰਿ ਭਗਤਿ ਹਰਿ ਲੀਜੈ ॥
Jinaa Nanak Gurmukh Hirda Shudh Hai Har Bhagat Har Leejay.
The Creator knows all that is in the singer whether it is purely
pretence to cover the internal defects. Only purity and clarity
is acceptable.
- Munn – Mind
- Rakeay – Instill
- Bhao – Love
- Translation of verse
ਗਾਵੀਐ ਸੁਣੀਐ ਮਨਿ ਰਖੀਐ ਭਾਉ ॥
Gaveay Suneay Munn Rakheay Bhao
Internalise the Hukm by accepting, adopting and instilling love for it (the Hukm) in the mind.
Without an attempt to accept, without an attempt to adopt and
without a need or a want to instill love for the Hukm, gaveya and
suneya is just mere singing and listening.
- Critique on available translations
- Each verse is seen in a vacuum without taking any consideration of the earlier or the next verse
- They are interpreted as stand-alone/silo verses without continuity even of the context of the earlier or next Pauree
– The principle expounded is not from Sikh philosophy but from
external sources
- ਦੁਖੁ ਪਰਹਰਿ ਸੁਖੁ ਘਰਿ ਲੈ ਜਾਇ ॥
Dukh Parhar Sukh Ghar Lae Jaye
- Dukh – Spiritual Agony
- Parhar – Dissipate
- Sukh – Spiritual Bliss
- Ghar – Mind
- Lae Jaye – Comes to reside
- Translation of verse
ਦੁਖੁ ਪਰਹਰਿ ਸੁਖੁ ਘਰਿ ਲੈ ਜਾਇ ॥
Dukh Parhar Sukh Ghar Lae Jaye
By internalizing the Hukm, spiritual agony dissipates and spiritual bliss comes to reside within the mind.
Spiritual bliss is attained when the Hukm is accepted, adopted and internalized, the spiritual state of the mind changes from agonizing, fighting, redirecting, challenging, not wanting to become one within.
When this becomes part and parcel of our spiritual journey on a daily basis, those fleeting moments of spiritual agony become a long-term spiritual bliss.
- ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਨਾਦੰ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਵੇਦੰ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਰਹਿਆ ਸਮਾਈ ॥
Gurmukh Nadung Gurmukh Vedang Gurmukh Raheya Samayee
- Gurmukh – Lit. from the Guru’s mind; Shabd
- Nadung – Lit.sound; Narrative
- Vedang – Lit. knowledge; enlightenment
- Raheya Samayee – Lit. resides,immersed; contains within
- Translation of verse
ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਨਾਦੰ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਵੇਦੰ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਰਹਿਆ ਸਮਾਈ ॥
Gurmukh Nadung Gurmukh Vedang Gurmukh Raheya Samayee
The Shabd contains within it the narrative and the enlightenment of Hukm.
The verse is continuing in the illustration of Hukm, where to obtain it in the narrative, where to learn about it, not outside but within the Shabd.
- ਗੁਰੁ ਈਸਰੁ ਗੁਰੁ ਗੋਰਖੁ ਬਰਮਾ ਗੁਰੁ ਪਾਰਬਤੀ ਮਾਈ ॥
Gur Esar Gur Gorakh Brahma Gur Parbatee Mayee
- Gur – Essence
- Esar – Lit.Shivji; Destruction
- Gorakh – Lit. Gorakh; Knowledge, Enlightenment
- Brahma – Lit. Bhrama; Creation
- Parbatee Mayee – Lit. Parbatee mother; Sustenance
- Translation of verse
ਗੁਰੁ ਈਸਰੁ ਗੁਰੁ ਗੋਰਖੁ ਬਰਮਾ ਗੁਰੁ ਪਾਰਬਤੀ ਮਾਈ ॥
Gur Esar Gur Gorakh Brahma Gur Parbatee Mayee
The Shabd contains within it the essence and enlightenment of
Hukm relating to creation, destruction and sustenance.
- Continuing on the illustration of Hukm, the message is that a
Sikh is to look within the Shabad Bani for Hukm in relation to
creation, sustenance and destruction and nowhere else.
- Guru Nanak did not have the luxury of a blank canvas as did the
other prophets (Christ, Muhammad, Musa etc). The references to
Gorakh, Brahma etc are therefore used as they were already
painted on a rich prevalent spiritual canvas of beliefs and
philosophies that were already ingrained in the spiritual minds
of the population. It was not possible to erase and create a fresh
canvas.
- He thus had to repaint over a painted canvas. People already
had various mythical entities so he had to reconstitute, redefine and reframe the existing concepts, take out the essence of the
spiritual idioms like creation, sustenance and destruction from
these myths, reconstruct and apply them and discard the
rest.
- Guru Nanak redefined that the three (creation, sustenance and
destruction) were not separate entities but in fact belonging to
the one Hukm.
- Authentic Sikhs had no difficulty in understanding and accepting Guru Nanak’s repainted canvas and the teachings of all the gurus for 230 years right till 1715 but after that for the next 239 years the Nirmalas, Udasis, Mahants (spiritual criminals) with the help of the rulers/governors of that time (including the present govt now) managed to repaint the canvas of Guru Nanak to include concepts that were discarded (such as the 84 joons, Heaven and Hell that Guru Nanak emphasized were just states of the mind) by subtly and deviously mistranslating, misinterpreting and misrepresenting to mislead the gullible Sikhs.
And even today there are some Sikhs attempting to “repaint”
Guru Nanak’s repainted canvas and doing it as a ‘business.’
- So it has become both difficult and complicated as we have
broken away from Gurbani for 239 years and we have discarded
Gurbani completely for the last 100 years.
- Sadly, there arent Sikhs today who have their primary objective in life to understand Gurbani. There aren’t Sikhs whose primary intent is to do everything in their life (temporally and spiritually) in line with the messages of our Guru.
- Sikhs have not read or understood the SGGS for the last 100 years and in fact have driven it out by outsourcing the SGGS to a group of crooks called clergy who are from the old canvas.
- Earlier Sikhs were staunch, intelligent, enlightened and far- sighted to understand the Gurus and could not be misled easily.
When the Guru said ‘Aakha Jivan Visrey Mar Jaon, they knew
immediately that it meant spiritual life and spiritual death.
When the Guru mentioned ‘Avah Gaon Hot Hai Fun Fun’ they
understood what Bhagat Kabir, Bhagat Farid and others were
saying.
- However today we are muddled and confused. The challenge
now is to reclaim and return to the original canvas of Guru
Nanak’s Sikhi /philosophy! We can only reconnect by undoing
the repainting – a task almost similar to Guru
Nanak’s.
This challenge is the beauty and depth of Sikhi. It is our bhajan,
our simran, our kirtan, our Sikhi, our spirituality – everything
else is just going back to the old canvas. We have to make our
own choices.
- ਜੇ ਹਉ ਜਾਣਾ ਆਖਾ ਨਾਹੀ ਕਹਣਾ ਕਥਨੁ ਨ ਜਾਈ ॥
Jay Hao Jana Akhan Nahee Kehna Kathan Na Jayee
- Jay Hao Jana – If I realize
- Akhan Nahee – Beyond Saying
- Kehna – Telling
- Kathan – Narrating
- Na Jayee – Unable
More illustration of the Hukm
- Translation of verse
ਜੇ ਹਉ ਜਾਣਾ ਆਖਾ ਨਾਹੀ ਕਹਣਾ ਕਥਨੁ ਨ ਜਾਈ ॥
Jay Hao Jana Akhan Nahee Kehna Kathan Na Jayee
The essence of Hukm can be realized, but is beyond narrating.
In Sikhi, Hukm is equal to the Hukmee (Creator) ‘Sacha Sahib Sach Naey’ and cannot be narrated. They are both on the same pedestal and cannot be fathomed. We can realize, accept, adopt, internalise, believe, work according to and become like Hukm, just like we can become like the virtues.
- ਗੁਰਾ ਇਕ ਦੇਹਿ ਬੁਝਾਈ ॥
Gura Ek Deh Bujhayee
- Gura – O Guru
- Ek – One
Ek without aunkar here is an adjective; not singular, plural or
singular masculine. but singular feminine as it applies not to
Deh but to the feminine subject/entity Bhujayee.
An example here : we say Mera Ghar but Meree Gaddee and
not Mera Gaddee)
- Deh Bujhayee – To Provide Realization
- Translation of verse
ਗੁਰਾ ਇਕ ਦੇਹਿ ਬੁਝਾਈ ॥
Gura Ek Deh Bujhayee
The Shabad provides one realization.
The Shabad is the one similarity in the message of all the earlier
verses, the essence that provides the one realization. The ultimate
objective of each verse is the same; to provide the one realization
of living Sikhi in the here and now; living Sikhi in the Hukm.
- ਸਭਨਾ ਜੀਆ ਕਾ ਇਕੁ ਦਾਤਾ ਸੋ ਮੈ ਵਿਸਰਿ ਨ ਜਾਈ ॥੫॥
Sabhna Jeeya Ka Ek Daata So Mein Viser Na Jayee
- Sabhna Jeeya – All of Creation
- Ka – Of
- Ek Daata – Lit. One Giver, Sustainer; Hukm
- So – That
- Mein – Me; myself, I
- Visar Na Jayee – Lit. Forget not; exempt
- Translation of verse
ਸਭਨਾ ਜੀਆ ਕਾ ਇਕੁ ਦਾਤਾ ਸੋ ਮੈ ਵਿਸਰਿ ਨ ਜਾਈ ॥੫॥
Sabhna Jeeya Ka Ek Daata So Mein Viser Na Jayee
The realization is that there is One Hukm for all of creation and I
am not exempt from it.
Guru says give me this realization. I want this realization. I need
this one realization and I ask for this ONE realization that there is
One Hukm for all of creation and I am not exempt from it.
Once I have this realization, I will know that I am not exempt and
will not want to be exempted.
- The illustration of Hukm continues as the One Giver. The Creator
created Hukm as the essence of creation, sustenance and
destruction so obviously the essence of giving is also from the
Hukm. The Creator created at one time the Hukm and all creation;
and provided for all creation in the one go in the Hukm.
– It is not a case of the Creator sitting there and watching and
wondering who needs what and when. There is no micro-
management in Hukm, it is all in the one go and that is why
Hukm is equated to Hukmee in Gurbani
- The forgetting, dismissing or visarna of the Hukm is actually an
exercise of attempting to exempt oneself from the Hukm. That is what it means in the ultimate reality.
- When we say we forget or remove God from our consciousness
the ultimate is that we want to remove, exempt ourself from the
operating principles of the Creator. We don’t want to subscribe
to Gurbani, to SGGS messages.
- We broke away from Gurbani for 200 years because in the
ultimate sense we didn’t want to listen to the Guru. We wanted to be exempted from all the messages in SGGS. We wanted to
accumulate material. We wanted to become human beings who
wouldn’t care about what happens to humanity.
- We wanted to become human beings who were not concerned
whether the world we leave behind is far worse than the one that was given to us by God.
We wanted all the above things and we could NOT have been able to do them if we had not being wanting ourselves to be exempted from the spirituality of the SGGS because the SGGS and Sikhi would not allow us to do that.
- The Creator (as Hukm) is IN me.
Aad Sach – from the point of my conception.
Jugad Sach – from the point when conception takes life.
Haibhee Sach – is within me now.
Hosee Sach – will be within me till the point of the end of my
Life.
He doesn’t have a point of an end of life, neither a beginning,
BUT I do and that’s why the verse applies to ME.
- The visar that we talk about is not forgetting but the process of
wanting to exempt myself from operating within the confines of
the Creator’s Hukm. We wanted out, a divorce from the
spirituality of Guru Nanak and we had this separation for all these
years because we were distanced from all the spirituality that took
the Gurus 239 years to discard but was placed back to the
paradigms of Sikhi by these tantrics, udasis, nirmalas, etc for 229
years.
- The entire flow of the context, pauree to pauree, verse to verse, is connecting and we can see how much there is of the richness and depth of the spirituality.
- Concluding Remarks
– When presented with the interpretation within the context of
Gurbani we need to compare with the available translations and
see how they are way off in the interpretations
- We need to compare if what is being discoursed in our
gurdwaras is correct and decide what should be really done
- The gurus are not about putting superficial fleeting knowledge
in the SGGS but every word, every sentence, and every verse
has a depth to it. We need to delve and study Gurban by
making it our simran, our nitnem, our kirtan.
- Our actions have translated Gurbani at the superficial level
when we have a Bhog for the demised, certain shabads are
selected to denote physical death whereas Gurbani gives
indepth spiritual knowledge about life and death.
- Words need to be interpreted in the Gurbani sense to understand the context and not at the literal dictionary level. Spirituality does not have a language (Kehna Kathan Na Jaee). Spiritual language is created by the paradigms of spirituality using temporal language. The process is of transferring meanings from the dictionary to the spiritual and then to the spiritual contextual. Thus words like Sewa/Visarna take on different meanings from the dictionary
- The acceptance of I AM NOT EXEMPT
- The starting point of HUKM RAJAYEE CHALNA has to be that I am not exempt.
- The starting point of the SPIRITUALITY OF HUKM is
the acceptance of I am not exempt from the consequences of my actions.
- Only by accepting that I am not exempt from Hukm can we eliminate the spirituality of FEAR, ASKING, LIFE AFTER DEATH.