Guru Arjan Dev Ji in Raag Maaroo on Ang 1101
pauVI ]
pourree ||
Pauree:
ਹਰਿ ਜੀ ਮਾਤਾ ਹਰਿ ਜੀ ਪਿਤਾ ਹਰਿ ਜੀਉ ਪ੍ਰਤਿਪਾਲਕ ॥
har jee maathaa har jee pithaa har jeeo prathipaalak ||
The Dear Lord is my mother, the Dear Lord is my father; the Dear Lord cherishes and nurtures me.
ਹਰਿ ਜੀ ਮੇਰੀ ਸਾਰ ਕਰੇ ਹਮ ਹਰਿ ਕੇ ਬਾਲਕ ॥
har jee maeree saar karae ham har kae baalak ||
The Dear Lord takes care of me; I am the child of the Lord.
ਸਹਜੇ ਸਹਜਿ ਖਿਲਾਇਦਾ ਨਹੀ ਕਰਦਾ ਆਲਕ ॥
sehajae sehaj khilaaeidhaa nehee karadhaa aalak ||
Slowly and steadily, He feeds me; He never fails.
ਅਉਗਣੁ ਕੋ ਨ ਚਿਤਾਰਦਾ ਗਲ ਸੇਤੀ ਲਾਇਕ ॥
aougan ko n chithaaradhaa gal saethee laaeik ||
He does not remind me of my faults; He hugs me close in His embrace.
ਮੁਹਿ ਮੰਗਾਂ ਸੋਈ ਦੇਵਦਾ ਹਰਿ ਪਿਤਾ ਸੁਖਦਾਇਕ ॥
muhi ma(n)gaa(n) soee dhaevadhaa har pithaa sukhadhaaeik ||
Whatever I ask for, He give me; the Lord is my peace-giving father.
ਗਿਆਨੁ ਰਾਸਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਧਨੁ ਸਉਪਿਓਨੁ ਇਸੁ ਸਉਦੇ ਲਾਇਕ ॥
giaan raas naam dhhan soupioun eis soudhae laaeik ||
He has blessed me with the capital, the wealth of spiritual wisdom; He has made me worthy of this merchandise.
ਸਾਝੀ ਗੁਰ ਨਾਲਿ ਬਹਾਲਿਆ ਸਰਬ ਸੁਖ ਪਾਇਕ ॥
saajhee gur naal behaaliaa sarab sukh paaeik ||
He has made me a partner with the Guru; I have obtained all peace and comforts.
ਮੈ ਨਾਲਹੁ ਕਦੇ ਨ ਵਿਛੁੜੈ ਹਰਿ ਪਿਤਾ ਸਭਨਾ ਗਲਾ ਲਾਇਕ ॥21॥
mai naalahu kadhae n vishhurrai har pithaa sabhanaa galaa laaeik ||21||
He is with me, and shall never separate from me; the Lord, my father, is potent to do everything. ||21||
I just happened to be listening to this shabad this morning from Sukhsagar Radio Southall as I was having breakfast LOL. It was sung by Bhai Ravinder Singh Ji, Hazuri Ragi Sri Darbar Sahib.
I don’t have the capability to interpret Gurbani. I can put forward just my worthless thoughts. This shabad is extremely cooling, and so I shall attempt to think about only a few panktees in this shabad which are really thought provoking.
ਸਹਜੇ ਸਹਜਿ ਖਿਲਾਇਦਾ ਨਹੀ ਕਰਦਾ ਆਲਕ ॥
sehajae sehaj khilaaeidhaa nehee karadhaa aalak ||
Slowly and steadily, He feeds me; He never fails.
This is so soothing, so calming. It is like an answer to most of our anxieties and frustrations. At times we demand things from Vaheguru, and we want them right away! Here Gurujee says that we are fed “slowly and steadily”. A mother knows how much her infant can take in. She feeds him/her accordingly, in small spoonfuls. The other thing is “He never fails”. Its not that Vaheguru is not capable of giving us what we are asking for. Its just that He knows best when to give us, what to give us, how to give us and how much to give us. He never fails at that. also, if He doesn’t give us something, it probably means that either we are not ready to receive it, or probably we don’t deserve it, or maybe its not appropriate for us. Maybe we deserve a lot more, so He isn’t giving us just the bit that we want. SatGuru Ji never gives His Sikh anything that is bad for the Sikh, even if the Sikh demands it repeatedly. On certain instances, if we are being stubborn, SatGuru Ji gives us a small mere bite of what we want. That is also done just to wake us up that its not good for us. He saves us even then, and just in time!
ਅਉਗਣੁ ਕੋ ਨ ਚਿਤਾਰਦਾ ਗਲ ਸੇਤੀ ਲਾਇਕ ॥
aougan ko n chithaaradhaa gal saethee laaeik ||
He does not remind me of my faults; He hugs me close in His embrace.
I am not sure if “chithaaradhaa” means to remind. I thought it means “to keep in mind”, “to consider”, etc. However, this pankti is another huge solace, a big consolation and encouragement that SatGuru Ji doesn’t look at our faults. And not only that, He hugs us tightly! Our human associates (family, friends etc.) may or may not accept us if we make mistakes. If they do, at some point of time they do think about our faults, and may even hurt us by reminding us about them. This also reminds me of Bhai Joga Singh’s sakhi. Dasmesh Pita didn’t yell at him for what he was going to do. Rather, Maharaj still showered him with love, which brought Bhai Joga Singh to tears. Guru pyaareyo, this is the kind of Guru we have! He doesn’t yell, He doesn’t scold, He smiles. And that smile is so forgiving, that it brings us down to our knees, it makes us fall at His feet. Even if He gets annoyed with us, that is also His way of showing love. That is also His love.
ਮੁਹਿ ਮੰਗਾਂ ਸੋਈ ਦੇਵਦਾ ਹਰਿ ਪਿਤਾ ਸੁਖਦਾਇਕ ॥
muhi ma(n)gaa(n) soee dhaevadhaa har pithaa sukhadhaaeik ||
Whatever I ask for, He give me; the Lord is my peace-giving father.
The term “muhi ma(n)gaa(n)” literally means whatever that comes to my mind and I ask for it. Can you imagine the extent of His love, His mercy? ANYTHING that comes to your mind, He GIVES it to you! He gives it unconditionally! No matter what it costs! The Kashmiri Pandits came asking for help, for shelter, for mercy. He went to the extent of sacrificing His physical body just so that they could live. Did He ask them to become Sikhs? Did He ask them to build temples in His name? Did He say that you people can’t reach God if you don’t follow me? NO! He did NOT expect them even to thank Him! His sacrifice was unconditional. He didn’t ask for ANYTHING in return. He gave them EXACTLY what they wanted. He gave them THE BEST that they could get. And He gave it all without expecting anything back, without any promises from their side. This is the extent to which our SatGuru Ji can go when we ask something, and when He gives us something. Let us never ever doubt the simratha of such a SatGuru!
~ Mehtab Singh
March 19 2009
ਸਤਿਗੁਰਬਚਨਕਮਾਵਣੇਸਚਾਏਹੁਵੀਚਾਰੁ॥