330.The Man in Blue - Ardas (2)

In my first article on the Ardás I made a critical remark about the five Takhats. I do not ‘believe’ in five Takhats, I only ‘believe’ in Akál Takhat. I have the right, we all have the right to be critical, to ask questions and to propose changes, but we cannot change anything that is part of the Rehat Maryada, only the Sarbat Khalsa can do that ! 

The first two sections of the Ardás discussed in the previous article address the sangat and are followed by the six lines underneath addressed to God.

1. The Sarbat Khalsa prays may the mind of the Sarbat Khalsa be informed by Vahiguru, Vahiguru, Vahiguru and may we obtain well-being and inner-peace in this way.

2. Wherever the Khalsa is, there give Your protection, honour the cooking pots and the swords, may the panth win, may the respected sword be our helper, Khalsa Ji say Vahiguru !

3. Give us the gifts of Sikhí, of uncut hair, of the rahit, divine knowledge, faith (visáh), faith (bharosá), the biggest gift of Nám and of ishnán in Amritsar.

4. May the choirs, flags and manors be permanent through the ages, the slogan of righteousness : Say Vahiguru !

5. May the minds of the Sikhs remain humble, may our beliefs be higher, protector of the beliefs our Vahiguru !

6. O Timeless Being, always the helper of and the giver to your panth. Sri Nankana Sahib and more Gurdwaré, Guru’s Houses that are separated from the panth, give the Khalsa the chance to have the sight of them and to take care of and do seva in them. 

In the second line above we ask God to give ‘fateh’ to our deg and teg (cooking pot and sword) and at the end of the line we ask ‘may the Sri Sahib to be our helper’. The cooking pots stand for Guru’s langar, the sword is the Sikh ‘sword of justice’. I am familiar with Sri Sahib as a description of the sword, but does Sri Sahib have a specific meaning ?   

I have always been concerned about line three. Of course I am grateful for the gift of Sikhí, of the Rahit, of faith (what is the difference between ‘visáh’ and ‘bharosa’ ?), and the biggest gift of Nám is indeed a splendid gift.

I thank Guru for his gift of the 5 Ks as signs of our commitment to living Sikhí, but I am not happy with ‘uncut hair’ being singled out. As far as ishnán is concerned I recommend to sadh sangat to read 5^th Guru’s sabad ‘Guru Ram Das Sarovar Nathe’ in full, to understand what the ishnán in Guru Ram Das’ sarovar really is about.

I am not impressed by line 4. I know what the choires, the flags and the bungé are, but do not think they are worthy of a mention in the Ardás. Line 5 is beautiful and under 6 I would want to pray for Panthic Rule in all Gurdwaré, not just in those in Pakistan. Next week the final article on the Ardas.

 

 

 

 

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