500.The man in blue – Anand Sahib pauri 20

My 500th Man in Blue column !

jíhu nirmal báharhu nirmal ||
No-dirt inside and no-dirt outside.
báharhu t nirmal jíhu nirmal satgur te karní kamání ||
Having no-dirt outside and no-dirt inside, through the true Guru, they do good deeds.
kúrr kí soi pahuchai náhí mansá sach samání ||
No falsehood touches them; their desire is to merge in Truth.
janam ratan jiní khattiá bhale se vanjáre ||
Those who earn the jewel of this birth, are noble traders.
kehai nának jin ma(n)n nirmal sadá rehehi gur nále ||20||
Says Nanak, those whose minds have no-dirt, stay with the Guru forever ||20||

For the above translation I consulted the Nitnem Gutka of Harbans Singh Doabia and the ‘Sikhitothemax’ website. I checked the meanings in the ‘Dictionary of Guru Granth Sahib’ by Surinder Singh Kohli.

I have translated ‘nirmal’ throughout as ‘no dirt’, not because I think this is the best translation but because I want to show that ‘mal’ of nirmal and ‘maile’ (dirty) come from the same root.

We see in the second line that having no-dirt inside or outside leads to good deeds. The third line is also logical, persons who are nirmal must live in Truth, and God Truth, with whom they want to merge.

I would like to translate the fourth line as ‘Noble traders will earn the jewel of this birth‘. I think it is more logical to say that through being a noble trader you earn a ‘janam ratan’ than the other way round, but as Guru seems to put it the other way round my understanding must be faulty.

The last line, starting with ‘kehai nának’, is again pretty straightforward.

Those that have met me know that I do not only wear the 5 Ks and the turban but also usually wear a blue Panjabi style outfit. Through my bana I want to tell the world that I am a committed follower of Guru, trying to be Guru’s sant-sipahi (saint-soldier).

I am realistic enough to know that I am not perfect. I am on the way, I do make progress, but there is a long way to go before I can call myself a ‘puran gursikh’.

Everyone who thinks about her/himself as a Sikh, everyone who even wears just a kara (steel bangle) should be on the path to the Guru, the path shown in the Guru Granth Sahib.

It might be only faltering steps that you put on that path, you might repeatedly fall of that very narrow cutting edge of the sword, but Guru will love you for it.

Wearing bana, wearing 5 Ks, doing your nitnem without fail is not enough. If that is all you do you are only clean on the outside. You have to listen to Guru, you have to work on understanding Guru, and then you must apply the teachings in your daily life.

Look like a Sikh, Be a Sikh !

Be clean inside and outside !

499.The Man in Blue – Anand Sahib pauri 19

jíhu maile báhrhu nirmal ||
Dirty inside and no-dirt outside.
báhrhu nirmal jíhu t maile tiní janam júai háriá ||
no-dirt outside and dirty inside, these lose their birth in the gamble.
eh tisná vaddá rog lagá maran manhu visáriá ||
These contract the big disease of desire and in their minds forget about dying.
vedá mehi nám utam so sunehi náhí firehi jiu betáliá ||
In the Vedas the exalted objective is Nám, but they listen not and come again and again like demons.
kehai nának jin sach thajiá kúrre láge tiní janam júai háriá ||19||
Says Nanak, those who renounce Truth and cling to falsehood, lose their births in the gamble. ||19||

For the above translation I consulted the Nitnem Gutka of Harbans Singh Doabia and the ‘Sikhitothemax’ website. I checked the meanings in the ‘Dictionary of Guru Granth Sahib’ by Surinder Singh Kohli.

The forty verses of the Anand Sahib, composed by Guru Amar Das are not too difficult to understand. We should use these verses as tools : listen to them, understand them  and apply their teachings in our daily life.

Being dirty inside and having no-dirt (nir-mal) outside is quite useless. If you are only concerned about your looks, about the impression you make on others, you will waste this birth as human being, this chance to find unity with The One.

You are dirty inside when you are controlled by the five desires, when you forget that you have only a short lifespan, which should be used efficiently.

The Vedas say that the objective of your life is ‘Nám’, the Godly essence, but people listen not and keep being born again and again like demons. Says Nanak, if you do not go for Truth and stick to falsehood, you gamble away this birth.

Many people think that following the ‘Shabad-Guru’ is no ‘fun’. No drinking, no smoking, not going for luxury but living a simple life, how boring !

Since I started to follow the Sikh way of life I do not need outside enjoyments anymore. I do need sadh-sangat, people of various backgrounds with whom I can fully share what I am trying to do. Here in Belgium I have not enough ‘soul-mates’.

But I am happy doing seva, living in my studio flat, studying, writing, listening to shabad Kirtan on my lap-top, listening to my radio to keep up with what happens outside Sint-Truiden and cook a simple meal when I do not eat from the langar.

Some weeks ago the weather was cold but sunny and I enjoyed a two hour walk. I regularly go on my bicycle to Gingelom, south of Sint-Truiden. This is only a 30 minute ride but it can be challenging in winter and I enjoy that. There is no need to become ‘maile’ (dirty) in order to enjoy life !

468.The Man in Blue – Maru M 5, Guru Granth Sahib P 1083/84

O slave of the inaccessible Lord God Allah, forsake thoughts of worldly entanglements. Become the dust of the feet of the humble fakeers, and consider yourself a traveller on this journey. O saintly dervish, you shall be approved in the Court of the Lord ||1|| Let Truth be your prayer, and faith your prayer-mat. Subdue your desires, and overcome your hopes. Let your body be the mosque, and your mind the priest. Let true purity be God’s Word for you ||2|| Let your practice be to live the spiritual life. Let your spiritual cleansing be to renounce the world and seek God. Let control of the mind be your spiritual wisdom, O holy man; meeting with God, you shall never die again ||3|| Practice within your heart the teachings of the Koran and the Bible; restrain the ten sensory organs from straying into evil. Tie up the five demons of desire with faith, charity and contentment, and you shall be acceptable ||4|| Let compassion be your Mecca, and the dust of the feet of the holy your fast. Let Paradise be your practice of the Prophet’s Word. God is the beauty, the light and the fragrance. Meditation on Allah is the secluded meditation chamber ||5|| He alone is a Qazi, who practices the Truth. He alone is a Haji, a pilgrim to Mecca, who purifies his heart. He alone is a Mullah, who banishes evil; he alone is a saintly dervish, who takes the Support of the Lord’s Praise ||6|| Always, at every moment, remember God, the Creator within your heart. Let your meditation beads be the subjugation of the ten senses. Let good conduct and self-restraint be your circumcision ||7|| You must know in your heart that everything is temporary. Family, household and siblings are all entanglements. Kings, rulers and nobles are mortal and transitory; only God’s Gate is the permanent place ||8|| First, is the Lord’s Praise; second, contentment; third, humility, and fourth, giving to charities. Fifth is to hold one’s desires in restraint. These are the five most sublime daily prayers ||9|| Let your daily worship be the knowledge that God is everywhere. Let renunciation of evil actions be the water-jug you carry. Let realisation of the One Lord God be your call to prayer; be a good child of God – let this be your trumpet ||10|| Let what is earned righteously be your blessed food. Wash away pollution with the river of your heart. One who realizes the Prophet attains heaven. Azraa-eel, the Messenger of Death, does not cast him into hell. ||11|| Let good deeds be your body, and faith your bride. Play and enjoy the Lord’s love and delight. Purify what is impure, and let the Lord’s Presence be your religious tradition. Let your total awareness be the turban on your head ||12|| To be Muslim is to be kind-hearted, and wash away pollution from within the heart. He does not even approach worldly pleasures; he is pure, like flowers, silk, ghee and the deer-skin ||13|| One who is blessed with the mercy and compassion of the Merciful Lord, is the manliest man among men. He alone is a Shaykh, a preacher, a Haji, and he alone is God’s slave, who is blessed with God’s Grace ||14|| The Creator Lord has Creative Power; the Merciful Lord has Mercy. The Praises and the Love of the Merciful Lord are unfathomable. Realize the True Hukam, the Command of the Lord, O Nanak; you shall be released from bondage, and carried across|| 15 || 3 || 12 || 

This is a pretty decent translation of the shabad in Rág Maru that in the 12^th pauri contains the words ‘sábat súrat dastár sirá’. Between this translation and the original everybody can now make up their own mind about the meaning of the shabad.

Just looking at four words in isolation very rarely leads to a correct interpretation. Shabads like this addressing Muslims, often use words based on Arabic and Farsi, which does not make understanding of the shabad any easier.

Previous columns on this issue :

446.The Man in Blue – Sabat Surat, Maru M 5, P1084 

457.The Man in Blue – Khalsa Principles, Turban & the 5 Ks

sikhitothemax.com P1083

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432.The Man in Blue – Pauri 20 Japji Sahib

Bharíai hath pair tan déh. Paní dhotai utras khéh.
When hands, feet and body are dirty,
Washing with water diminishes the dirt.
Mút palítí kapar hoé. Dé sábún laíai oh dhé.
When clothes are soiled by urine,
Soap will wash them clean.
Bharíai mat pápá kai sang. Oh dhopai návai kai rang.
When the intellect is polluted by sin,
That is washed by bathing in colour.
Punní pápí ákhan náhi. Kar, kar karná likh lai jáhu.
Virtue or sin do not come by speech,
actions repeated, over and over again, get written.
Ápé bíj ápé hí kháhu. Nának hukmí ávahu jáhu.
We ourselves sow, we ourselves indeed eat.
O Nanak, in Hukam we come and go. ||20||

‘Jap’ is the first Sabad in the Guru Granth Sahib. It is a rich source of teaching and an inspiration to go on the way to Sach Khand, to union with The One. It consists of an opening and closing Salok, both numbered (1), and 38 paurias (verses or steps).

Unlike Sukhmani Sahib or Anand Sahib the verses do not have standard formats. The above 20^th pauri is not too complicated, but it is very meaningful.   

Lines 1 to 4 are straightforward. If your hands are dirty wash them with water, if your clothes are dirty wash them with soap. No mention of this strange pollution that many Indians believe in, no cleansing rituals, just water and soap. In my dictionary both ‘tan’ and ‘déh’ (line 1) are translated as ‘body’.

Line 5 and 6 are also easy to understand. How does your mind get polluted ? By bad and useless thoughts and bad and useless deeds. How do you turn that round ? Have positive good thoughts and positive good deeds. Here we hit a minor translation difficulty. I have given the literal meaning of line 6 as I understand it. Oh dhopai návai kai rang = that wash bathe of colour, translated word by word. To understand the line we should add ‘colour of Rám’, or ‘colour of Nám’.

In my mohalla in Amritsar was a man who would ‘bathe’ your old clothes in colour. I think that this is what Guru was thinking about when he used this image.   

To me line 7 and 8 are the key to the Sabad. Neither virtue nor sin comes about by just talking about it. Kar, kar karná likh lai jáhu = do, do, actions write get go. Repeating a verb like ‘kar’ translates here as doing again and again. The meaning of the sentence is clear, if you keep doing bad and useless things that forms your personality, you become what you do. But I do not know how to fit in the word ‘jáhu’ or ‘go’. Line 9 is again straightforward, as is line 10 : All we do is in God’s Hukam, in God’s Will.

With God’s grace you can change your actions to good and useful ones, and by writing these actions on your personality you will become a good and useful person. This is the first, the dharam khand step on the way to sach khand, and step by step you will gain on that way. And at the end the Bridegroom is waiting for you.