vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw, vwihgurU jI kI &qh!
Waheguru ji ka Khalsa ! Waheguru ji ki Fateh !! 

Guru Amar Das Ji – Raag Sorath – Ang 643

MP3 File

The hukamnama today is by Guru Amardas Ji Maharaj, in Sorath Raag, on Ang 643 of Siri Guru Granth Sahib Ji Maharaj.

slokumÚ3]
salok ma 3 |
sloku mÚ 3 ]
Shalok, Third Mehl:

mwieAwmmqwmohxIijinivxudMqwjguKwieAw]
maaeiaa mamathaa mohanee jin vin dhanthaa jag khaaeiaa |
mwieAw mmqw mohxI ijin ivxu dMqw jgu KwieAw ]
The love of Maya is enticing; without teeth, it has eaten up the world.

mnmuKKwDygurmuiKaubryijnIsicnwimicqulwieAw]
manamukh khaadhae guramukh oubarae jinee sach naam chith laaeiaa |
mnmuK KwDy gurmuiK aubry ijnI sic nwim icqu lwieAw ]
The self-willed manmukhs are eaten away, while the Gurmukhs are saved; they focus their consciousness on the True Name.

ibnunwvYjgukmlwiPrYgurmuiKndrIAwieAw]
bin naavai jag kamalaa firai guramukh nadharee aaeiaa |
ibnu nwvY jgu kmlw iPrY gurmuiK ndrI AwieAw ]
Without the Name, the world wanders around insane; the Gurmukhs come to see this.

DMDwkriqAwinhPlujnmugvwieAwsuKdwqwminnvswieAw]
dhandhaa karathiaa nihafal janam gavaaeiaa sukhadhaathaa man n vasaaeiaa |
DMDw kriqAw inhPlu jnmu gvwieAw suKdwqw min n vswieAw ]
Involved in worldly affairs, he wastes his life in vain; the peace-giving Lord does not come to abide in his mind.

nwnknwmuiqnwkauimilAwijnkauDuiriliKpwieAw]1]
naanak naam thinaa ko miliaa jin ko dhur likh paaeiaa |1|
nwnk nwmu iqnw kau imilAw ijn kau Duir iliK pwieAw ]1]
O Nanak, they alone obtain the Name, who have such pre-ordained destiny. ||1||

mÚ3]
ma 3 |
mÚ 3 ]
Third Mehl:

GrhImihAMimRquBrpUruhYmnmuKwswdunpwieAw]
ghar hee mehi anmrith bharapoor hai manamukhaa saadh n paaeiaa |
Gr hI mih AMimRqu BrpUru hY mnmuKw swdu n pwieAw ]
The home within is filled with Ambrosial Nectar, but the self-willed manmukh does not get to taste it.

ijauksqUrIimrgunjwxYBRmdwBrimBulwieAw]
jio kasathooree mirag n jaanai bhramadhaa bharam bhulaaeiaa |
ijau ksqUrI imrgu n jwxY BRmdw Brim BulwieAw ]
He is like the deer, who does not recognize its own musk-scent; it wanders around, deluded by doubt.

AMimRquqijibKusMgRhYkrqYAwipKuAwieAw]
anmrith thaj bikh sangrehai karathai aap khuaaeiaa |
AMimRqu qij ibKu sMgRhY krqY Awip KuAwieAw ]
The manmukh forsakes the Ambrosial Nectar, and instead gathers poison; the Creator Himself has fooled him.

gurmuiKivrlysoJIpeIiqnwAMdirbRhmuidKwieAw]
guramukh viralae sojhee pee thinaa andhar breham dhikhaaeiaa |
gurmuiK ivrly soJI peI iqnw AMdir bRhmu idKwieAw ]
How rare are the Gurmukhs, who obtain this understanding; they behold the Lord God within themselves.

qnumnusIqluhoieAwrsnwhirswduAwieAw]
than man seethal hoeiaa rasanaa har saadh aaeiaa |
qnu mnu sIqlu hoieAw rsnw hir swdu AwieAw ]
Their minds and bodies are cooled and soothed, and their tongues enjoy the sublime taste of the Lord.

sbdyhInwauaUpjYsbdymyilimlwieAw]
sabadhae hee naao oopajai sabadhae mael milaaeiaa |
sbdy hI nwau aUpjY sbdy myil imlwieAw ]
Through the Word of the Shabad, the Name wells up; through the Shabad, we are united in the Lord’s Union.

ibnusbdYsBujgubaurwnwibrQwjnmugvwieAw]
bin sabadhai sabh jag bouraanaa birathaa janam gavaaeiaa |
ibnu sbdY sBu jgu baurwnw ibrQw jnmu gvwieAw ]
Without the Shabad, the whole world is insane, and it loses its life in vain.

AMimRqueykosbduhYnwnkgurmuiKpwieAw]2]
anmrith eaeko sabadh hai naanak guramukh paaeiaa |2|
AMimRqu eyko sbdu hY nwnk gurmuiK pwieAw ]2]
The Shabad alone is Ambrosial Nectar; O Nanak, the Gurmukhs obtain it. ||2||

pauVI]
pourree |
pauVI ]
Pauree:

sohirpurKuAgMmuhYkhuikquibiDpweIAY]
so har purakh aganm hai kahu kith bidh paaeeai |
so hir purKu AgMmu hY khu ikqu ibiD pweIAY ]
The Lord God is inaccessible; tell me, how can we find Him?

iqsurUpunryKAidRstukhujnikauiDAweIAY]
this roop n raekh adhrisatt kahu jan kio dhiaaeeai |
iqsu rUpu n ryK AidRstu khu jn ikau iDAweIAY ]
He has no form or feature, and He cannot be seen; tell me, how can we meditate on Him?

inrMkwruinrMjnuhirAgmuikAwkihguxgweIAY]
nirankaar niranjan har agam kiaa kehi gun gaaeeai |
inrMkwru inrMjnu hir Agmu ikAw kih gux gweIAY ]
The Lord is formless, immaculate and inaccessible; which of His Virtues should we speak of and sing?

ijsuAwipbuJweyAwipsuhirmwrigpweIAY]
jis aap bujhaaeae aap s har maarag paaeeai |
ijsu Awip buJwey Awip su hir mwrig pweIAY ]
They alone walk on the Lord’s Path, whom the Lord Himself instructs.

guirpUrYvyKwilAwgursyvwpweIAY]4]
gur poorai vaekhaaliaa gur saevaa paaeeai |4|
guir pUrY vyKwilAw gur syvw pweIAY ]4]
The Perfect Guru has revealed Him to me; serving the Guru, He is found. ||4||

This hukam is a very practical and complete explanation and description of Sikh thought, Sikh practice and Sikh realization. The main theme of the hukam is that the Guru trying to help us to understand that the experience that we are trying to get to is actually something that lives inside of us. The Naam which often gets translated as Name is an experience of your own identity within yourself. When through the Guru and through the Shabad you are blessed to experience who you really are and live who you really are then life becomes worthwhile but when we are trapped by the mind and we are trapped by the senses and we are trapped by the world around us. This hukam is not very high philosophy, it is very practical. If anything takes you out of you, if anything takes you away from who you are, you create your own misery, you create your own anxiety and you waste your own life. The beautiful message that is very universal and very human in Gurbani and especially in this hukam is that your life was given to you to be who you are so don’t waste it by being something else. Live it!

maaeiaa mamathaa mohanee jin vin dhanthaa jag khaaeiaa|
manamukh khaadhae guramukh oubarae jinee sach naam chith laaeiaa|
In the first lines of the hukam Guru Amardas is explaining that the sensual world around us, the maya, is a spell that enchants and fascinates us. In that enchanting fascination, in that maya it’s a power that has eaten up the world, even though it has no physical teeth. So in other worlds there is nothing you can point to to show what it’s doing, its actually a spell that is eating everything and everybody up. He makes it very clear when He says the manmukh (one who either speaks from just what they think or looks to their own mind as the highest authority, their highest reference point) is the one who gets eaten by maya, the manmukh is the one who is caught in the spell. But the Gurmukh is the one speaks Guru’s wisdom. A better to talk about Gurmukh is when your mind is tempered with what the Guru says and you don’t just go by what you think but you always check what you think with what the Guru says. You keep tempering your mind with the Guru’s wisdom. Then that makes you Gurmukh.

Chit is the awareness you have. There is an aspect of your consciousness that is just awareness. You are just aware of something with no judgement, with no personality. It is just awareness. When your chit, that pure awareness is focused on Sach naam (which sometimes gets translated as the true name but we look deeper than that. Naam is the divine identity within everything and sach is a word that is rooted in Japji Sahib; Sachkhand vaasay nirankaar – the highest reality is that the formless One dwells in everything, watches everything and does everything. So when as a Gurmukh you are aware and you are focused in your awareness on the Sach Naam, on the identity of the divine that dwell in all, watches all and does all then you become liberated.

So what the Guru is saying in first couple of lines is that the mind on its own, based on its own reference point is always going to get trapped and pulled by everything around it. But the mind that is tempered with Gurbani can see the formless One behind everything. That is the way you can be in the maya without being caught in the spell of maya, without being caught in the enchantment of maya.

bin naavai jag kamalaa firai guramukh nadharee aaeiaa|
So Guru Amardas continues on this theme of comparing these two approaches to life; without the Naam, without experiencing who you are in your truest identity, or without people experiencing who they are in their genuine soul the jag kamalaa firai the world is crazy and it wanders. Firai also gives the notion of connotation that people come back, that the process of rebirth is because you got trapped, you did not recognize the formless One so you keep coming back until you can recognize that formless One. It’s crazy to live any other way, to live as you don’t see the formless One, you are by definition a mad person.

Guramukh nadharee aaeiaa. Nadharee is a word that often means the divine gaze or the divine sight. It means when you really, genuinely see the creator in yourself, in others and you feel the creator looking at you when you’ve got that moment of recognition between you and the creator in your life that is nadharee. So for the gurmukh; the one who has tempered their mind with the Guru’s wisdom this experience of nadharee comes. So there is a polarity. The one without the Naam is crazy and wanders around but the Gurmukh has a different experience of getting to see the divine.

dhandhaa karathiaa nihafal janam gavaaeiaa sukhadhaathaa man n vasaaeiaa|
naanak naam thinaa ko miliaa jin ko dhur likh paaeiaa|
This whole hukam is still with kind of the tension of polarity statements that the Guru is making. In the first part He is saying if you just focus on the worldly affairs, if you do nothing but let your mind become absorbed with the worldly affairs what you are doing is going to be a waste, it is going to be fruitless, it is going to be useless and you are just wasting your life. The experience of peace, one who gives peace is never going to come and live in your mind. This is something that is talked about a lot in Gurbani: the mind when surrendered to Shabad and the Guru actually becomes a dwelling place for God and what we do when we meditate on Gurbani and we chant the shabad, we are preparing and purifying our mind so that God can actually come live there. There are so many different names for God in Gurbani and in this passage Guru Amardas is talking about sukhadhaathaa; the one who gives peace. Sukhadhaathaa is not going to come and live in your mind if you just focusing on your worldly affairs all the time.

The next line is an interesting polarity that He also does in Anand Sahib where He says that for a soul when they get to wake up to Naam, the experience of their own identity, in that timeless, formless way that is actually something that was written way back at the beginning of universe. So every soul when it started it’s journey of 8.4 million lifetimes it was already written when that awakening was going to happen. So Guru Amardas is setting us the system of acknowledging the madness and insanity of not experiencing the Naam and then saying that it is written before you even begin you transmigration when your awakening is going to happen. For those who are awakening now is because this is the time that it was written for them. People who aren’t awake is because their time isn’t here yet, not because anything is wrong with anybody or anything wrong with anybody.

ghar hee mehi anmrith bharapoor hai manamukhaa saadh n paaeiaa |
These next lines are so beautiful because they really talk about the inner experience. Ghar gets translated as house, it also means heart. In your own very heart the amrit (knowing of your own deathlessness). The word for amrit and the word for immortality in English come from the same Sanskrit root that you experience yourself as a really deathless being. So that amrit that gives you the awareness of your own immortality in the soul of you, in the light of you. Your heart is already filled with it but the manmukh never tastes it. The one who is following his own mind, of speaking from her own mind all the time never gets to taste this amrit that lives in your heart.

jio kasathooree mirag n jaanai bhramadhaa bharam bhulaaeiaa |
Guru Amardas Ji tells a beautiful analogy about the musk of a deer. The belly of a deer will give off a really strong sense that is very tantalizing for the deer and the deer will run and run and run trying to find where this delicious scent is coming from, not realizing that it is coming from deer’s own belly. So this image of deer and its belly where deer is running trying to find something that is coming from within itself and this is what we are as human beings! We have this amrit in our own heart, we have the divine identity inside of us and our mind is pulling us everywhere looking for something that is already inside. In this chasing around we live in a state of forgetfulness, we live in a state of doubt and illusion. This is really a beautiful description of a very human condition that most people live in. Most people live in the forgetfulness of the beauty that is inside of them and the light that is inside of them and the deathless wander that is inside of them.

anmrith thaj bikh sangrehai karathai aap khuaaeiaa |
Guru Amardas Ji is saying that people abandon the amrit that is within their own hearts and instead they collect poison. But He balances it and says kartay aap khoayia; karta (One who is the doer) the creative aspect of God that does everything is also the one who is creating the misleading. This can be little bit hard to understand because we think don’t we have any power. In Gurbani you really don’t have much power. You are a flower and when the sun is right, the water is right you will bloom. In the meantime the creator is leading you through a lot of experiences to ripen you. The soul begins its’ 8.4 million lives and it is written when the soul is going to be awaken and everything that happens to that soul, even if they are gathering poison, is part of God’s process of ripening the soul so that its ready when that moment of awakening comes. It can be a tremendous contradiction sometimes – for me as a westerner. How can both of those things be true? In Gurbani that’s what Guru says. God itself is creating all of this misleadingness and it’s part of the process of the soul.

guramukh viralae sojhee pee thinaa andhar breham dhikhaaeiaa |
In this line Guru is saying it is a very rare person that lives as a Gurmukh and in that sojhee (it means that all of your senses are open and you are completely sane. You have come into the profound sanity of your own mind and sense). It is a rare gurmukh who gets blessed with that experience. When someone who has tempered their mind with the Guru’s words has that experience then andhar breham dhikhaaeiaa they see God within themselves. Now it doesn’t mean that there is some personality named brahama who shows up inside of you and you see it. It means that in the way you are brahama you see it! You see in you that you are that creative power of God and it is a very rare gurmukh whose senses are opened that much and who has that much sanity that they recognizes themselves as braham themselves. This is the promise of what Gurbani can give you as a human being. Not that you see yourself as a failure or you see yourself as a worthless or low but that through meditation and through service to the Guru one day you may have that experience of seeing yourself in your pure, raw, deathless internal creative identity.

than man seethal hoeiaa rasanaa har saadh aaeiaa |
When this sight happens then than man seethal hoeiaa; the mind and the body become very balanced, very peaceful and rasanaa har saadh aaeiaa. It’s this beautiful image of Gurbani that these experiences have a taste to them, a sensual aspect that you can actually taste your own divinity like a ripened fruit inside of you.

sabadhae hee naao oopajai sabadhae mael milaaeiaa |
Shabad is made up of two naad syllables that means to cut the ego. Another way we can talk about the shabad is that it is a power that can take your mind and cuts it like a jewel so that your mind becomes this faceted jewel that projects the divine light that lives inside of you. Through this shabad the experience of your real identity grows and through this shabad you get to meet with the divine inside of you.

bin sabadhai sabh jag bouraanaa birathaa janam gavaaeiaa |
You need a power in your life that is going to cut your ego, that is going to facet your mind, that is going to be like a jewel cutter with your mind that the bad patterns get cut away. The negative thoughts are balanced. The shabad is that power that facets and cuts your mind like a jewel. If that power is not in your life, forget about it! You are crazy! The world is crazy without that power! Life if totally wasted and there is nothing but madness and pain so it’s a pretty bold statement that Guru Amardas is saying that look if you don’t have this shabad, you don’t have a way to facet your mind, you will be crazy and you will be in pain. That is all there is to it. There is no way around it. You cannot live in your mind and be happy. You need a power that chizzles your mind so that your mind can serve your soul and that’s when you will be happy.

anmrith eaeko sabadh hai naanak guramukh paaeiaa |2|
This is a beautiful line that says that this shabad alone is the power that brings you to the amrit that lives within your heart, this power of the mind being chizzled and cut. It’s the one who is working with the Guru, who is facing the Guru, who is Gurmukh, who is speaking Guru’s wisdom that obtains it.

Then these last lines are sort of a lament almost.

So har purakh aganm hai kahu kith bidh paaeeai |
There is this divine power that is the perfect protector and that is inaccessible. How and in what manner and where am I going to be able to get this experience? So this is the mind reacting! Oh my goodness, that divine and inaccessible being, what method is going to get me there?

This roop n raekh adhrisatt kahu jan kio dhiaaeeai |
This divine being has no form, it doesn’t have any outline. It is completely invisible. We can’t see it! So tell me how in the world can I meditate on it?

nirankaar niranjan har agam kiaa kehi gun gaaeeai |
This power is formless, it is totally pure and clean, it is totally inaccessible so how the heck am I suppose to sing and talk about it? Guru Amardas has jumped into the voice of the mind that is complaining and saying that this creator is so big, we can’t find it, we can’t see it. It is inaccessible. How am I suppose to talk? How am I suppose to sing? How am I suppose to meditate? What manner am I suppose to use to find it?

jis aap bujhaaeae aap s har maarag paaeeai |
In these last lines Guru Amardas is summing it up. It’s this notion of when the time is right the divine energy itself is going to show you the path. In other words if you haven’t found it yet, don’t worry! It’s not time yet. When it’s time you are going to find the path because the creator is going to show it to you and you are going to understand because the creator is going to show you that understanding. So don’t worry!

gur poorai vaekhaaliaa gur saevaa paaeeai |4|
It is through the perfect Guru that this path can be seen. This is where it comes back to the question, what can I do? Guru Amardas is saying at the end exactly what He did and exactly what was His path of liberation which is just serve the Guru, serve the Guru, serve the Guru. That perfect Guru will cause you to see these things when it’s time. When it is time God is going to show that path, that creator is going to give you that understanding and that knowledge will be awakened in you.

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw, vwihgurU jI kI &qh!
Waheguru ji ka Khalsa ! Waheguru ji ki Fateh !!