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The Sword of Wisdom
- Harsimrat Kaur Khalsa
Shlok Seheskritee, First Mehl (Ung 1353)
You study the scriptures, say your prayers and argue;
you worship stones and sit like a crane, pretending to meditate.
You speak lies and well-ornamented falsehood,
and recite your daily prayers three times a day.
The mala is around your neck, and the sacred tilak mark is on your forehead.
You wear two loin cloths, and keep your head covered.
If you know God and the nature of karma,
you know that all these rituals and beliefs are useless.
Says Nanak, meditate on the Lord with faith.
Without the True Guru, no one finds the Way. ||1||
The mortal's life is fruitless, as long as he does not know God.
Only a few, by Guru's Grace, cross over the world-ocean.
The Creator, the Cause of causes, is All-powerful. Thus speaks Nanak, after deep deliberation.
The Creation is under the control of the Creator. By His Power, He sustains and supports it. ||2||
The Shabad is Yoga, the Shabad is spiritual wisdom; the Shabad is the Vedas for the Brahmin.
The Shabad is heroic bravery for the Khshaatriya; the Shabad is service to others for the Soodra.
The Shabad for all is the Shabad, the Word of the One God, for one who knows this secret.
Nanak is the slave of the Divine, Immaculate Lord. ||3||
The One Lord is the Divinity of all divinities. He is the Divinity of the soul.
Nanak is the slave of that one who knows the Secrets of the soul and the Supreme Lord God.
He is the Divine Immaculate Lord Himself. ||4||
“You study the scriptures, say your
prayers and argue.”
Why
do people study scriptures? What is prayer, and arguing? Who was Guru Nanak
addressing in this Shabad? The language and literary style of this hymn is
elite and classical grammar. The Guru blends this Seheskriti language combined
with Sanskrit, Parkriti, Punjabi, Hindi, Farsi, and other languages. It appears
as if Guru Nanak was addressing pakhandi (hypocritical) religious
scholars of the time, in a region dominated by Brahmanism. Brahman pundits
(priests) publicly argued about their knowledge of scriptures and spiritualism.
Often they would exploit people with superstitious rituals that were contrary
to the faith of the scriptures that they taught. If you study this shabad
(hymn) more closely, you will see that Guru Nanak did not criticize the
Brahmans directly. The Guru only uses corruption among the Brahmans as an
example of human weakness. Our ego and the five vices confuse us, causing
self-centeredness that makes us clever, greedy, and corrupt people constantly
looking for opportunities to main gains at the expense of others.
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“You worship stones and sit
like a crane, pretending to meditate in a saintly fashion.”
Worship of a stone is foolish. Rocks have no biological function, they have no
free will, and they are non-productive. The rock as it is, is the opposite of
production and self-improvement. The rock is lifeless, passive, hard, and
stable; and very little can affect it. Likewise, the crane first appears the
same, standing one-legged in a humble, yoga position on the stone - a
foundation for its deceitful hunting pose. The bird looks colorful like a
flower, harmless and calm yet it is on lookout for an opportunity to strike.
The fish are not aware that they are a quick prey. And when the crane quickly
shovels the fish into its mouth, there is no escape. The path to the crane’s
stomach is long and slow that prolongs the suffering. The fish slides tightly
down the crane’s throat, as it cannot even wiggle or expand its gills
to gasp for breath. Unfortunately, some
Sikh leaders today are like the crane preying on the unsuspecting community.
“You
speak lies and well-ornamented falsehood.” The Guru
explains how pundits go out of their way, misleading people of a simple faith
away from reality and trick them into superstitious, meaningless rituals that
guarantee no benefit. People are lured into wasting time and effort for the
profit of the greedy. It is to the advantage of the crane that the fish remains
ignorant of the danger. Alas, most people are easily enchanted with exquisite
language full of false promises. Cranes swallow
the fish and then fly away howling in pride and satisfaction. The prayers of
the hypocritical religious leaders are nothing but expressions of their
gratitude for the blind, innocent followers who allow these leaders to feast on them. If these blind followers had known any better, they would
have avoided the pundit’s trap. Notice that the beads that hang over the
heart is mentioned before the mark on the head. This shows how corrupt
people are governed by emotions rather than intellect. Like the beauty of the
colored religious beads that cover up the evil plot of these pundit’s, the crane has a
destructive scheme hidden under its beauty - the beautiful beak and exotic,
fluffy feathers covering its chest. One cloth isn’t enough, so two are worn
to double fool those of blind faith. The loin cloths do not fit tightly around
the body. Falsehood can be easily detected if one observes with careful eyes.
Without the knowledge of Gurbani, one can easily get caught up in trusting the
very people who have no care for your well-being. The only way to know God is by learning
about His Hukam and living by it. All natural laws are God’s hukam. When we
accepts this, we learn to live truthful. So how can one become truthful? And
how can the false veil of illusion be torn away? O Nanak, it is written that you shall
obey the Hukam of His Command, and walk in the Way of His Will” and “Merits
and demerits are read out in the presence of Dharma (Righteous Judge”). “According to their own actions, some are
drawn closer, and some are driven farther away.” (Jap Ji Sahib) When one
understands hukam and karma, it is easy to recognize falsehood,
because trying to bribe God is a foolish insult. Even worse is to use religion
to intentionally mislead others. Imagine a government official lying about what
forms to fill out to receive benefits. The damage could be devastating. Take the
message of Gurbani and reflect on it, day and night. Faith is belief in
something that is beyond your understanding. Giyan/Truth will always be beyond our
comprehension. We only understand that Truth is stable, yet we will never know
all the intricate details of the universe. If we do not
follow the teachings of Guru Granth Sahib, we will be lead astray by deceivers
of truth, like the crane preying on the innocent fish. Sat Guru is
exactly the concept of God teaching us truth with the nature that He created,
because of His grace. Guru
Nanak realized this truth, and blessed humanity with this revelation. Guru
Nanak has taken the Giyan Shabad and expressed it in a more contemporary
literary style for people to understand. Satgur is not the physical form
of anyone or anything- it is the Giyan Shabad itself which is not
limited to language, form, or time. For this reason, many hymns in Guru Granth
Sahib are from different places, different times, different languages, and
different classes of people. Our Guru Granth Ji Maniyo is the Giyan
Shabad in the language of the mortal man. Gur
giyan is so deep that language can only describe it in a limited way.
To believe in God means to know and accept God’s hukam, and Guru Nanak
teaches us about hukam through the Guru Granth Sahib. Without the
foundation of the knowledge of the world we live in, how can we survive? From
infancy we learn about our environment, created and governed by God’s hukam.
Knowledge of the Guru’s teaching
is the only way to survive in this world of deception. Crossing over the sea is
a figure of speech, meaning, ”deliverance from our sufferings”. “The faithful is carried across the sea
of trouble, and also carries the Sikhs of the Guru across. ” (Jap Ji Sahib) So
why are only a few rescued? It is because only a few of us are willing to take
the challenge of looking beyond ourselves into truth. Creation undergoes an eternal process of
recycling. Molecular changes always happen within and without every object,
interacting and reacting constantly with other things. “Some are givers, and some are beggars;
God is above the heads of all.” “Oh Nanak, all are subject to birth and
death. (Jap Ji Sahib) Although it
seems out of control, everything is always in its correct place, because
everything obeys hukam. All natural
laws of the universe are eternally fully functional Just as Yoga
teaches about the body, so does Gurbani
teach the secrets of life. Just as Vedas is valuable to the
Brahmin, Gurbani is vital for
mankind. Shabad gives us the knowledge of how to
battle our five vices. When we recognize hukam, we function better. We
learn to make better decisions in life, and our behavior toward improves. Giyan
shabad is our kiyatri weapon to defend ourselves against falsehood.
It is bravery in the sense that truth need not prepare itself for battle
against falsehood. Truth is always ready and always prevails. “He is from the
beginning lover of truth and other virtues.” (Bhagat Jaidev, p. 526) Shoodr are
the lowest castes of people who serve all the other castes above them. Shabad
unlimitedly serves us. We learn that God’s Hukam of grace operates so
intricately and constantly to sustain the universe in which we reside. God is
as if our servant, yet we think that He needs our help. “The Shabad for all is the Shabad,
the Word of the One God, for one who knows this secret.” Shabad of truth is only one for all
mankind. It does not know caste or status. “Nanak is the slave of the Divine, Immaculate Lord. ||3||” Guru Nanak has devoted his life towards
making God’s shabad known to all. There is only
one God that exists and He has the power of all gods worshipped. He is
self-sufficient and almighty. God has
reserved space within Himself for all of us to exist. Only He knows Himself,
which is infinitely beyond our capabilities to understand fully. All creation
testifies to God’s majestic hukam, we are all equally blessed with the
essence of reality. This relish of Amrit is offered for everyone.
In conclusion, Guru Nanak uses the image of a crane (pakhandi Brahman pundits) only as an example to teach
us that whatever religion anyone practices, he must accept God’s hukam
and live truthful. All of us, at times, fall into this category of missing the
whole point of living faithful and saintly. Among our own Sikh religious
circles, we are blessed to have faithful raggies, preachers, and granthis.
However, there are some wealthy granthis, preachers, and greedy raggies
also.
The main criticism in Guru Nanak’s Seheskriti Shlok is against man in general.
The Guru uses Pakandi Brahmins as an example of man’s tendencies to be suckered
into his own ego trap, which ensnares him and others affected by his evil. The only way to protect ourselves from our
own self destruction is to, first, understand and live the message of Guru
Granth Sahib. Second, empower humanity
with this divine knowledge, and finally
to defend ourselves and the weak by using the sword as a first resort. I
mean, the sword of wisdom of Guru Granth Sahib.
“and recite your daily prayers three times a day.”
“The mala of sacred beads is around your neck, and the sacred
tilak mark is on your forehead.”
“You wear two loin cloths, and keep your head covered.”
“If you know God and the nature of karma,”
“You know that all these rituals and beliefs are useless.”
“Says Nanak, meditate on the Lord with faith.”
“Without the True Guru, no one finds the Way. ||1||”
“The mortal's life is fruitless, as long as he does not know
God.”
“Only a few, by Guru's Grace, cross over the world-ocean.”
“The Creator, the Cause of causes, is All-powerful. Says Nanak,
after deep deliberation.”
“The Creation is under the control of the Creator. By His Power,
He sustains and supports it. ||2||”
“The Shabad is Yoga, the Shabad is spiritual wisdom; the Shabad is
the Vedas for the Brahmin.”
“The Shabad is heroic bravery for the Khshaatriya; the Shabad is
service to others for the Shoodra.”
“The One Lord is the Divinity of all divinities.”
“He is the Divinity of the soul, the Supreme Lord who knows the
its Secrets.”
“Nanak is the slave of that. He is the Divine Immaculate Lord
Himself. ||4||”
Copyright© Harsimrat Kaur Khalsa. About the author
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