ਕਬੀਰ ਮੁਹਿ ਮਰਨੇ ਕਾ ਚਾਉ ਹੈ ਮਰਉ ਤ ਹਰਿ ਕੈ
ਦੁਆਰ ॥
ਮਤ ਹਰਿ ਪੂਛੈ ਕਉਨੁ ਹੈ
ਪਰਾ ਹਮਾਰੈ ਬਾਰ ॥੬੧॥
kabeer muhi
marnay kaa chaa-o hai mara-o ta har kai du-aar.
mat har poochhai ka-un hai paraa hamaarai
baar. 61
Kabeer, I long to die; let me die at the
Lord's Door.I hope that the Lord does not ask, "Who is this, lying at my door?"
61
Bhagat Kabeer Ji, 1367
I've noticed that this shabad is often quoted after the passing away of a Gurmukh. Is the death above, physical death Bhagat jee is talking about? Is Bhagat jee longing for a physical death?
This shabad has been on my mind for quite a while now. As I understand Sikhi, life is something positive. A chance. A chance for change. A chance to meet the eternal. So why long to die?
bhee paraapath maanukh dhaehureeaa
gobi(n)dh milan kee eih thaeree
bareeaa
This human body has been given to you.This is your chance to
meet the Lord of the Universe.
Guru Arjan Dev Ji, 12
Yet the verse by Bhagat Jee, according to the translator, is longing to die. The other Shabad by Guru Arjan Dev Ji now comes to mind;
pehilaa maran kabool jeevan kee shhadd aas
hohu sabhanaa kee raenukaa tho
aao hamaarai paas 1
First, accept death, and give up any hope of life.
Become the dust of the feet of all, and then, you may come to me. 1
Guru Arjan Dev Ji, 1102
Is this physical death though? It seems as if it is the death of vanity that is being stressed.It never was the physical death. Life is something positive. Life is a chance we human beings have been blessed with to make it a better place. To contribute to the world... To do selfless service. To Jap naam and remember Vaheguru (something I do not do much... I'm being truthful and not humble at all..)
It seems as if Bhagat Jee is longing to kill vanity, attachment, ego, hankar etc (something he himself probably killed long ago).
I got this understanding from Prof Sahib Singh Ji (Great scholar of Gurbani) who in his interpretation of Gurbani, writes that that Bhagat Jee longs to abandon Ego, and worldy attachments.. something we only can be released from when we surrender at the door of Vaheguru.
Sri Guru Granth Sahib Darpan. English translations, in my opinion, shouldn't be blindly be accepted.... The Punjabi interpretation by Prof Sahib is great!
Since I do not have much knowledge of Gurbani, I was hesitant to post this, and I request my visitors to give their input into this Gurbani Tuk by Bhagat Jee, since most (if not all) of you are more knowledgeable about Gurbani than me…
Bhull Chukk Maaf Karni.
5 comments:
Excellent post veer ji. You're desire to analyse and understand is inspiring (",)
I wrote something [http://satvinder.blog.com/524591/#cmts] about death some time ago... but it was just personal introspection having re-read the following shabad:
Kabeera, jis marnay teh jug daray, mere man anand
marnay hi teh paayiay pooran Parmanand
I too wonder if Kabeer ji is referring to physical death or death of attachment.
Much of Bhagat Kabeer ji's baani seems to be in Bairaag... as with some of Guru Tegh Bahadur ji's baani. Would be interesting to draw paralells of their bani and their lives. Maybe this would give us some more clues about their messages.
Just speculating.
I'm really inspired now. Thank you (",)
ps. I agree re: the English translations. I post them because some people have asked me to. But I agree Sri Guru Granth Darpan is awesome.
hmnn on the subject of Hingelish translations again... I think it's cool if it helps people who otherwise would not be able to understand or appreciate gurbani... but I agree they should just be used as a lead and then people should try to interprete and understand gurbaani for themselves from there because so much is lost in translation.
Hey Bhenji. Thanks for you kind comments (",)
I'm amazed I was able to inspire when I myself am not in very high spirits nowadays :P
The second line:
marney hi teh paayie pooran Parmanand, it seems, gives it all away. As I understand it, (param)anand comes from becoming jeevan mukht. There is no anand after life. Ethe hi hei sara kosh. Guru Arjan Dev Ji's Shaheedi is an ideal example. He was in eternal bliss. Whether he was with Bhai Gurdas Ji compiling Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, or on the burning hot plate, it was the same. It didn't matter. He had already obtained 'something'. It wouldn't have mattered if he was scalped or tortured in some other way, or if he was doing Jorreya di Seva - he was somewhere else, whilst physically living.
The reason most people fear death (including myself) is because there is attachment to the world. We are (at least I am)stuck in these ' bandan's ‘. Although the world itself isn't a 'bandan', since it's meant to be a positive place, we have made it into 'bandan' by attaching ourself to it.
I think the composition of all 'Bhagats, Gurus and Bhats' who have contributed to Gurbani have Bairag to some extent.. But I guess you're write... it's probably more noticeable in their rachna.
Regarding English translations; I think they're a great tool and have helped a lot of people. Sikhitothemax for example is a huge success in Gurdwarey around the globe with Gorey coming and understanding... but as you say, you should stay wary.. since they might be erroneous... But they, as you mention, give an idea about what Gurbani says (that's why I post them too (",).
Srigranth.org contains translations of Sant Singh Khalsa (Sikhitothemax and Sikhnet translation) and Manmohan Singh, so you could always check and compare those =)
Prof Sahib Singh is great though. I never get that feeling from English translations as I do from Prof Sahib’s interpretation.
I'm off to someone's place now.. Mum getting angry now....managed to turn this into an essay... so should stop =)
Thanks once again..
bhull Chukk Maaf
"Guru Arjan Dev Ji's Shaheedi is an ideal example. He was in eternal bliss. Whether he was with Bhai Gurdas Ji compiling Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, or on the burning hot plate, it was the same. It didn't matter. He had already obtained 'something'. It wouldn't have mattered if he was scalped or tortured in some other way, or if he was doing Jorreya di Seva - he was somewhere else, whilst physically living."
So true because our Gurus enjoyed bliss of Waheguru in happiness and in grief. Something inside never changed no matter what was going outside.
Thans veer! and I hope you get into high spirits very soon. As a Sikh we are always in Chardi Kallha
Thanks for your kind comments and please do Ardas for your lil bro (",)
Bhagat Kabeer Ji, ang 327;
ਐਸੇ ਮਰਹੁ ਜਿ ਬਹੁਰਿ ਨ ਮਰਨਾ ॥2॥
aisae marahu j bahur n maranaa ||2||
Die in such a way, that you shall never have to die again. ||2||
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