Sukhmani Sahib:10th Ashtapadee:1st Pauri:My understanding

[Amarpal Singh]

Dear Khalsa Ji,

With the grace of ‘The Sat’, today I share my understanding of 1st Pauri of 10th Ashtapadee of Sukhmani Sahib with you.
Please note that the English sentence after the Transliteration is not the exact literal translation of the text of the Tuk of Siri Guru Granth Sahib under reference, it is the meaning of the tuk as understood by me.

First the Summary: In this Pauri, Guru Sahib elaborates on what he has said in the Shaloka that precede this Ashtapadee. Guru Sahib mentions many ways in which individuals try to interact with ‘The Sat’. In This Pauri, Guru Sahib, is drawing our attention towards what people of his time were doing who were not Sikhs.

1. keI koit hoey pUjwrI ] ka-ee kot ho-ay poojaaree.
Numerous individuals take to performing thr religious rituals to link with ‘The Sat’.

My understanding:

Many individuals perform Pooja (religious ritual) as a way to please the God. They perform many physical activities while chanting Mantras with the belief that God wants them do so to enable them to achieve or acquire what desire they want to get fulfilled.
For many religions this is the recognised mode of worship.

2. keI koit Awcwr ibauhwrI ] ka-ee kot aachaar bi-uhaaree.
Numerous individuals exert to live within a specified code of conduct and interaction.

My understanding:

Guru Sahib Tells us that many individual live a life of abstention and rituals in the belief that it is way to God.

3. keI koit Bey qIrQ vwsI ] ka-ee kot bha-ay tirath vaasee.
Numerous individuals settled and started living in the places of pilgrimage.

My understanding:
Many people thought that they will get close to the God by staying at places of pilgrimage. They thought that the environment of these places is holy and God resides there.

4. keI koit bn BRmih audwsI ] ka-ee kot ban bharmeh udaasee.
Numerous individuals gave up the natural rhythm of living their life.

My understanding:

Guru Sahib points to us that many persons moved away from normal way of life and developed a sense of aversion towards it. They felt that the natural life is full of temptations and to escape from it they physically moved away from it.

5. keI koit byd ky sRoqy ] ka-ee kot bayd kay sarotay.
Numerous individual took to listing to mantras of veda.

My understanding:

Many persons in the societies felt that listening to Vedas is the way to evolve and be close to the God and seek what desire they want to be fulfilled.

6. keI koit qpIsur hoqy ] ka-ee kot tapeesur hotay.
Numerous individuals took to extremely hard dry routine of life.

My understanding:

Tapas, was a very hard strict way of life. In it all the ‘Indriyas” (five senses and five organs of action) were starved to ensure that worldly thought do not arise in mind.
It is my personal understanding that these practices are in many ways counterproductive. They sometimes lead to mental illness leading to hallucinations. Even if one is fighting the Indriyas induced temptation, to me, it means the person is a slave of them and not their master. Only through reformatting the brain the individual can master its ‘Indriyas’ so that they do not lead the person into the trap laid by temptation and Maya.

7. keI koit Awqm iDAwnu Dwrih ] ka-ee kot aatam Dhi-aan Dhaareh.
Numerous individuals meditate on the essence within them.

My understanding:

Number of individuals meditates. They meditate on their inner self and seek its guidance to live a Godly life.

8. keI koit kib kwib bIcwrih ] ka-ee kot kab kaab beechaareh.
Numerous individuals express their inner thoughts through poetry.

My understanding:
Many individuals write poems praising the God as a service to the God.

9. keI koit nvqn nwm iDAwvih ] ka-ee kot navtan naam Dhi-aavahi.
Numerous individuals follow the new creed that evolves – the new Naam.

My understanding:

Many individuals start following the new philosophy or attribute that the learned individuals propagate. These individuals
dwell over it in order to reach the God.

10. nwnk krqy kw AMqu n pwvih ]1] naanak kartay kaa ant na paavahi. ||1||
O’ Nanak, none of these are able to fully comprehend the ‘The Doer’i.e. ‘The Sat’ in its totality.

My understanding:

Having listed a large number of ways people use to reach ‘The Sat’, Guru Sahib says that none of them is able to comprehend what ‘The Sat’ is. In a way Guru Sahib tells us how limited we are thus cannot grasp ‘The Sat’ which is infinite.

With this I close the post.

With love and respect for all.

Amarpal Singh