Nau Nidh ਘਰ ਨਉ ਨਿਧ ਆਵੈ ਧਾਇ।
Nau Nidh – ਘਰ ਨਉ ਨਿਧ ਆਵੈ ਧਾਇ।
Ghar Nau Nidh Avey Dhayey
Karminder Singh Dhillon, PhD (Boston)
The verse in full is ਤੇਗ ਬਹਾਦਰ ਸਿਮਰੀਅੇ ਘਰ ਨਉ ਨਿਧ ਆਵੈ ਧਾਇ। Teg Bahadur Simreay Ghar Nau Nidh Avey Dhayey.
The translation is: Meditation on Teg Bahadur results in Nau Nidhs rushing (Dhayey) into one’s home (Ghar).
What are the “Nau Nidhs”? Nau is Punjabi for Nine. Nidh means Treasure. So what are the “Nine Treasures” that will come rushing into the home of anyone who meditates on Teg Bahadur ji?
The sikhiwiki site, under its entry pertaining to Nau Nidhs, http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Nau_Nidh lists them as Nine Spiritual Treasures of Bharosa (faith); Leenta (absorption); Santokh (Contentment); Detachment; Hukm; Sehaj (Equilibrium); Anand; Vismaad (Ecstacy) and Nadar.
The questions that need answering are:
- Are these the nine attributes (Bharosa ….Nadar) that are being referred to in the verse Ghar Nau Nidh Avey Dhayey?
- If not, then what is meant by the term Nau Nidh in Gar Nau Nidh Avey Dhayey?
- How does Gurbani – as contained within the SGGS – define the term Nau Nidh. After all, this term appears in the SGGS across 45 verses?
THE NINE TREASURES OF SIKHIWIKI
There is no question that the nine attributes mentioned by sikhiwiki are desirable on the journey of spirituality.
The fact remains that sikhiwiki’s translation of Nau Nidhs as “nine treasures” (Bharosa…Nadar) is arbitrary and without stated basis. It thus appears to be no more than a “wish list” of whoever is the author of the post.
If this was the criteria for explaining Nau Nidh; then just about anyone could come out with his or her preferred list of nine attributes.
If this criterion was to be accepted, then we have the task of finding out the ‘prefered list’ of the ORIGINAL AUTHOR of the verse Teg Bahadur Simreay Ghar Nau Nidh Avey Dhayey. More about this in the later parts of this article.
SIKHIWIKI ON NAU NIDH IN THE SGGS.
It is interesting to note that sikhiwiki.org quotes 45 verses from the SGGS ji that use the words Nau Nidh.
What is more interesting is that NONE of the 45 verses that are quoted use the words “Bharosa, Leenta, Sanotkh, Nadar etc to define Nau Nidh. NONE of the so called “nine treasures”of sikhiwiki are MENTIONED even ONCE in these 45 verses.
The conclusion should be obvious: the 45 verses DO NOT support the “nine treasures” of sikhiwiki. It should thus be obvious that sikhiwiki either remove the “nine treasure” list OR the 45 verses that DO NOT support its position. In any case, sikhwiki must make clear that the “Nine Treasures of Bharosa ….Nadar are NOT supported by Gurbani within the SGGS ji.
Since that is not what sikhiwiki chose to do, one can only hope that the “nine treasure” list is not intended to pull wool over our eyes that Nau Nidhs as “nine treasures” is indeed a Gurbani supported and Gurmat concept.
Readers will know that this is a common trick by people who want to use a concept FROM THE VEDIC texts and make us Sikhs believe that it is indeed a Gurmat concept.
People with this sort of agendas often pick out verses from the SGGS that MENTION a particular Vedic concept that they want us to accept as a Gurmat concept and sprinkle those verses to “prove” their fake point.
What we need to know is that IF OUR GURUS use any Vedic concepts (Nau Nidh in this case) then our Gurus REDEFINE the concept. The Gurus GIVE NEW MEANINGS to the concept.
As readers of Gurbani we need to find these REDEDINED meanings and discard other meanings.
So the concept NAU NIDH has TWO meanings. MEANING ONE comes from the Vedic Texts. MEANING TWO will come from GURBANI / SGGS.
The sikhiwiki meaning (Bharosa…Nadar) fits NEITHER of these meanings. It appears to have been plucked from thin air.
WHAT IS NAU NIDH IN THE ORIGINAL SENSE?
To find out MEANING ONE as mentioned above we will turn to Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha’s Mahan Kosh.
On Page 506 he gives the meaning of Nau Nidhs as follows:
“The Sanskrit Granths provide specific count of these NINE Nidhs as Padam, Mahapadam, Sankh, Makar, Kachap, Mukand, Kund, Neel and Vachang.”
He continues. “Chapter 68 of the Markandey Puran states that the Nau Nidhs reside within the feet of Padmini as treasures.”
He continues to detail the Nau Nidhs that reside in the feet of Padmini. The first is the “Padam Nidh. From this first Nidh one gets to grow many sons and grandsons.”
Readers can go to page 506 of the Mahan Kosh and read up the remaining 8 definitions of Nau Nidh. Suffice to say that they have NOTHING to do with Sikhi, Gurmat, and Gurbani.
Going by this definition of “Padam Nidh” as being the FIRST of the Nau Nidhs, Guru Teg Bahadur ji himself did NOT have it. Guruji did NOT get to “grow many sons and grandsons.” All Guru ji had was ONE son. His four grandsons (Sahibjadey) were all sacrificed to end the family lineage there.
Why then would anyone venture to promise something to those who meditate on Guru Teg Bahadur, knowing fully well that Guruji himself did not have a need for it?
THE SGGS AND NAU NIDH
As said above, the SGGS and Gurbani DOES use existing Vedic Concepts; but they are always redefined. So let’s look at the definition of NAU NIDH in the SGGS.
For this we can look at the 45 SGGS verses provided by sikhiwiki. Here are six.
Page 19: NAU NIDH UPJEY NAAM
Page 73. NAU NIDH NAAM NIDHAN HAI
Page 107. NAU NIDH NAAM TEREY BHANDARA
Page 122. NAU NIDH NAAM VASEYA MUNN AIYE.
Page 128. NAAM PADARAH NAU NIDH PAYE
Page 293. NAU NIDH AMRIT PRABH KA NAAM
It is CRYSTAL CLEAR, without having to translate any of the verses that the GURBANI DEFINITION of Nau Nidh is NAAM. So now we know that the sikhiwiki count of Nau Nidhs (Bharosa…Nadar) is NOT from the SGGS.
But instead of acknowledging the contradiction, sikhiwiki attempts to make a phony link by saying: “in the context of Gurbani the Nau-Nidh or nine sources of wealth are related to ‘Naam’.
The link is phony on two counts: (i) in Gurbani, Nau Nidh is NOT nine sources. Nau Nidh IS INDEED Naam. (ii) The ‘nine sources” are NOT related to Naam. There are NO nine sources of wealth in the SGGS. They thus cannot be related to Naam.
Sikhiwiki then says that “it is clear from reading Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji that the Nine treasures or Nine sources of wealth mentioned in the Ardas in fact refers to the wealth of Naam.
What is clear is that the SGGS does NOT talk of Nine Treasures or Ten or Twenty. The SGGS redefines Nau Nidh as Naam.
Having discovered that the sikhiwiki count of Nau Nidhs (Bharosa…Nadar) is NOT from the SGGS; we can further conclude that it is NOT from the Markandey Puran either.
One more point must be made. The verse is Teg Bahadur Simraey Ghar Nau Nidh Avey DHAYEY. The final word of the verse “DHAYEY “means RUSHING. So the meaning is “The Nau Nidhs come rushing to our house”. The word “AVEY” is therefore plural to accommodate the plurality of Nine.
NAU NIDH AVEY DHAYE – is PLURAL (Nine). NAU NIDH AIYA DHAYE – is singular (One).
The Nau Nidh of the SGGS is NAAM and hence singular. It thus cannot fit into the grammar and tense of the verse Teg Bahadur Simreay Ghar Nau Nidh Avey Dhayey.
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE VERSE?
Where did this verse Ghar Nau Nidh Avey Dhaye come from? The question is important as its answer will help us clarify all the queries raised in this article.
The verse comes from a composition titled Durga Kee Vaar as contained on page 119 of the Bachittar Natak Granth. It is the fifth verse of the first para of the composition that contains 55 paurees written in praise of goddess Durga.
In later editions of the Bachittar Natak Granth, the title was changed to Chandee Kee Vaar. And in even later editions to Vaar Bhagautee Kee. As stated earlier, Durga, Chandee and Bhagautee are the one and same deity.
Where did the author of Bachitar Natak LIFT this composition from? Since the source of Bachittar Natak as Markandey Puran is mentioned MULTIPLE TIMES in the Bachitar Natak Granth, we thus know that Durga Kee Vaar originates from the MARKANDEY PURAN.
So since the composition is lifted / taken from the Markandey Puran, then the meanings of NAU NIDH as used within this composition must be taken ACCORDING TO MARKANDEY PURAN.
And the meaning of Nau Nidhs in the Markandey Puran, as stated by Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha above is as noted above:
“Chapter 68 of the Markandey Puran states that the Nau Nidhs reside within the feet of Padmini as treasures.”
Padmini is Durga of Markandey Puran. Just like Chandee, Bhagautee, Kalika, Chandika, Seetla, , Shera Walee, Jugg Maata, Shiva, Parvati etc etc. This deity has multiple names according to Mahan Kosh.
THE VERSE IS PART OF OUR ARDAS
Now we know that the verse Teg Bahadur Simreay Ghar Nau Nidh Avey Dhayey is part of the Sikh Congregational Ardas. It is part of our institutional Ardas. It has been so for the past 80 years.
Some souls, for agendas known and unknown, added it to the SRM some 80 years ago. Sikhs – not knowing the truth of it for most part of our recent history – have accepted it as part of our Panthic Ardas.
In the minds of many Sikhs, devoting our Ardas to Bhagautee (Durga) instead of Akal Purakh and using this first paragraph of Durga Ki Vaar to begin our Ardas is a lie that needs to be corrected by the collective Sikh Panth.
Sikhs who continue to accept this cruel lie do so in the name of Panthic unity. They know that Sikhs will take time to absorb the truth of it all. They also know that the SGGS has 22 Vaars – any of these could have been picked for our Ardas. As such there was no real need to go looking OUTSIDE the SGGS for any other Vaar – Durga or otherwise.
But it is SOMETHING ELSE altogether to TRY TO FOOL Sikhs into believing that the verse comes from Gurbani, was composed by Guru Gobind Singh ji, or that the Nau Nidhs of the “Ghar Nau Nidh Avey Dhaye” are the SAME as the “Nau Nidh Amrit Prabh Ka Naam” of the SGGS.
They are worlds apart.
As stated above, the Nau Nidh of Gurbani is in SINGULAR form – NAAM. The Nau Nidhs that reside at the feet of Padmini / Durga are PLURAL – NINE in total. They are REAL for the worshippers of Padmini / Durga.
The Nau Nidhs of the sikhiwiki.org are also PLURAL – Nine in total. Only that they are concocted and without basis of Gurbani. The Gurbani understanding Sikh does NOT accept them as Nau Nidh. One can be sure that the followers of Durga too will NOT accept them.
So much for the credibility of sikhiwiki on the issue of Nau Nidh. One can only hope no one there has an agenda to obfuscate the facts and confuse us in the process.