English Translation of the Daily Hukamnama. (Siri Guru Granth Sahib ji. Ang: 565)

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Waheguru ji ka Khalsa! Waheguru ji ki Fateh! 

Today’s hukamnama is from Guru Amardas Dev ji in raag Wadahans on page 585 of Siri Guru Granth Sahib. 

In this hukam, Guru Amardas is talking about Gurmat,  and the way that the wisdom and instructions of the Guru can guide the mind and make the human incarnation very precious and very worthwhile.

vfhMsu mhlw 3 ]
vaddeha(n)s mehalaa 3 ||

mnUAw dh ids Dwvdw Ehu kYsy hir gux gwvY ]
manooaa dheh dhis dhhaavadhaa ouhu kaisae har gun gaavai ||
He says that the mind is wandering in the 10 directions.  It is so scattered, so many thoughts. It is so scattered. How is it then possible with such a scattered mind to make a practice of singing about the virtues of God?

ieMdRI ivAwip rhI AiDkweI kwmu koDu inq sMqwvY ]1]
ei(n)dhree viaap rehee adhhikaaee kaam krodhh nith sa(n)thaavai ||1||
He talks about how the mind is completely absorbed in the sensual experience of the tatawas. Mind just directs itself into sensualism, and that it is totally disturbed by thoughts of inappropriate sexual desire and anger. 

And talking about this state, he just elevates it. He changes the energy. He is praising the Divine, praising the virtues of the Divine, and just cutting the doubt of the first two lines.

rwm nwmu iesu jug mih dulBu hY gurmiq hir rsu pIjY ]1] rhwau ]
raam naam eis jug mehi dhulabh hai guramath har ras peejai ||1|| rehaao ||
And this play, this dynamic tension, will go on throughout the hukam: Where the mind leads us on its own versus where we can go when we are relating to Gurmat. So he says that the experience of the Divine identity that is inside of us, in this age, it is really difficult to get to that experience. 

But if we surrender to Gurmat, if we let the wisdom of the Guru guide the mind, instruct the mind, chisel the mind, then we can have that taste, that experience of divinity, and drink that deep within us.

The key of the shabad is the actual sound current that cuts the ego. And it is through the shabad that the mind can become pure, can become clear and clean of all these disturbing sensations and tortuous thoughts that just lead nowhere.

sbdu cIin mnu inrmlu hovY qw hir ky gux gwvY]
sabadh cheen man niramal hovai thaa har kae gun gaavai ||
When the mind is in that place of purity through the shabad, then it is possible to sing about the virtues of God and the virtues of Divinity.

gurmqI AwpY Awpu pCwxY qw inj Gir vwsw pwvY ]2]
guramathee aapai aap pashhaanai thaa nij ghar vaasaa paavai ||2||
So the Gurmat is very powerful. Guru Amardas is telling us that Gurmat can help us know who we are, and can help us live, find our own self in our own heart in our own home. Give us ease about our identity, our experience, our reality.

ey mn myry sdw rMig rwqy sdw hir ky gux gwau ]
eae man maerae sadhaa ra(n)g raathae sadhaa har kae gun gaao ||
He is talking directly to the mind and he is saying, "Hey mind of mind! Always be with love. Always be merged with the experience of love. Always through that experience of love, feel that place where you can sing of the virtues of God and the universe."

hir inrmlu sdw suKdwqw min icMidAw Plu pwau ]3]
har niramal sadhaa sukhadhaathaa man chi(n)dhiaa fal paao ||3||
So he goes on juxtaposing the benefit that the mind receives when it is in this place of relating through Gurmat to the Divine essence and the Divine identity.

He says that this Divinity that contains all, and is within all, is itself a very pure, very clear and clean energy. It is always the giver of peace. It gives constant peace. When the mind can experience that, it flowers, it blossoms, it comes into fruit. It comes into an expression of what is possible.

hm nIc sy aUqm Bey hir kI srxweI ]
ham neech sae ootham bheae har kee saranaaee ||
Gur Amardas then goes on to say, “I am lonely. I am nothing. But when I sought the sanctuary of the Divine, that brought me into an exalted state.” 

pwQru fubdw kwiF lIAw swcI vifAweI ]4]
paathhar ddubadhaa kaadt leeaa saachee vaddiaaee ||4||
And he goes on talking about how through that energy of Divinity that is so great, through the experience of truth, he was lifted up, even though he was a sinking stone.  He was someone who was never going to get it, was never going to understand it. But this other power brought him up.

ibKu sy AMimRq Bey gurmiq buiD pweI ]
bikh sae a(n)mrith bheae guramath budhh paaee ||
He was poisoned, but then through Gurmat, following the Wisdom of the Guru, Wisdom then came to him. And that allowed him to experience Amrit. That allowed him to experience his own deathless reality. 

Akhu prml Bey AMqir vwsnw vsweI ]5]
akahu paramal bheae a(n)thar vaasanaa vasaaee ||5||
And the analogy continues: that he was a bitter herb that has been transformed into sandalwood and that now permeates his entire life.

All these analogies are telling us that mind on its own is a sinking stone, a poison, a bitter herb; but with Gurmat, and with the shabad, that the mind can be transformed into the polarity, from poison into amrit, from a bitter herb into sandalwood, from the sinking stone into something that is elevated. 

mwxs jnmu dulBu hY jg mih KitAw Awie ] 
maanas janam dhula(n)bh hai jag mehi khattiaa aae ||
This is why the human birth is so precious. Because in this age, in this time, we have earned the gift of the human birth from the past, and it is a precious experience because it allows us to have this kind of transformation.

When we are talking about liberation, Guru Amardas is talking about having this experience inside of your own heart.  When we can experience these things within ourselves through the shabad, through Gurmat, then that liberates you. And the things that it liberates you from are the games of the mind.

Waheguru ji ka Khalsa! Waheguru ji ki Fateh!