Hymns of Guru Nanak Heroic Ballads
Asa-di-Var is a collection of hymns meant to be sung in the hours of the dawn. Composed in the form of a heroic ballad (Var) and set to the musical mode of the Raga Asa, it is divided into slokas (staves) and pauris (stanzas) following one another alternately as a statement and a commentary thereon. Except for a few verses of the second Guru Angad, the work is entirely that of Guru Nanak. The predominating idea in this work is how a man can elevate himself from his low state to a godly one and thus prepare himself for union with God...The Var opens with praise of the guru who by bringing out the best in man can make him godlike: "God first created the world and glorified His own name. Then He sat Himself upon His prayer-mat enjoy His creation. All that God has created, the cosmos and the laws by which they are governed, are true, just and real. Let us glorify His name for He alone is immortal and bountiful... "We are limited in our compre- hension of God-made phenomena - sights, sounds, colours, winds, waters, fire, forms of life, tastes. patterns of behaviour, etc. All we can do is to marvel at them and shower praise on God.. "Divine knowledge is not found by wandering about the streets; it comes by the grace of God. By God's grace man finds a true teacher (sat guru) who whispers the divine word (sabda) into the disciple's ear and helps him overcome his ego. God himself created both reality and illusion: we have to learn how to distinguish between the two. "Ego is the root of all evil. Until we overcome the ego we shall continue to stumble in ignorance without finding the true path. We can overcome ego and find the path of truth by serving and worshipping God, by forsaking evil, by performing good deeds and by being abstemious in what we eat and drink. "Since God created everyone and everything we should leave the cares of the world to Him. Performance of ritual, good deeds, giving of alms, going on pilgrimages, meditation, fighting for righteous causes, etc, are of little avail if there is no divine grace. Only sat guru can tell us how to find God and cherish truth. "Book-learning only boosts the ego. Performance of a pilgrimage only makes a person sanctimonious. Subjecting the body to penance does little good as the sense of self-hood can only be eradicated by the ivine word (sabda)... Just as a pitcher, which can only be made with water, can contain water, so can mind contain knowledge but it needs divine knowledge that the guru gives to make the right kind of mind... "Do not denigrate your women for they are conceived and born as men conceived are and born. We be friend, wed and go unto them. Why slander the sex which gives birth to kings? All who live are born of women; only God (who is truth and reality) owes not His existence to any woman. Everyone speaks of himself; mark the one who says nothing of himself in his talk. "Everyone must pay for what he does; everyone must fulfil his destiny. Knowing how brief is our sojourn on the earth, why should we flaunt our pride? Speak not evil of any man and engage not in argument with a fool... What is in the heart will come out of the mouth. If you sow seeds of poison, do not expect to reap a harvest of nectar."
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Khushwant Singh views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Khushwant Singh and Speaking Tree,Times of India
Hymns of Guru Nanak Heroic Ballads
Asa-di-Var is a collection of hymns meant to be sung in the hours of the dawn. Composed in the form of a heroic ballad (Var) and set to the musical mode of the Raga Asa, it is divided into slokas (staves) and pauris (stanzas) following one another alternately as a statement and a commentary thereon. Except for a few verses of the second Guru Angad, the work is entirely that of Guru Nanak. The predominating idea in this work is how a man can elevate himself from his low state to a godly one and thus prepare himself for union with God...The Var opens with praise of the guru who by bringing out the best in man can make him godlike: "God first created the world and glorified His own name. Then He sat Himself upon His prayer-mat enjoy His creation. All that God has created, the cosmos and the laws by which they are governed, are true, just and real. Let us glorify His name for He alone is immortal and bountiful... "We are limited in our compre- hension of God-made phenomena - sights, sounds, colours, winds, waters, fire, forms of life, tastes. patterns of behaviour, etc. All we can do is to marvel at them and shower praise on God.. "Divine knowledge is not found by wandering about the streets; it comes by the grace of God. By God's grace man finds a true teacher (sat guru) who whispers the divine word (sabda) into the disciple's ear and helps him overcome his ego. God himself created both reality and illusion: we have to learn how to distinguish between the two. "Ego is the root of all evil. Until we overcome the ego we shall continue to stumble in ignorance without finding the true path. We can overcome ego and find the path of truth by serving and worshipping God, by forsaking evil, by performing good deeds and by being abstemious in what we eat and drink. "Since God created everyone and everything we should leave the cares of the world to Him. Performance of ritual, good deeds, giving of alms, going on pilgrimages, meditation, fighting for righteous causes, etc, are of little avail if there is no divine grace. Only sat guru can tell us how to find God and cherish truth. "Book-learning only boosts the ego. Performance of a pilgrimage only makes a person sanctimonious. Subjecting the body to penance does little good as the sense of self-hood can only be eradicated by the ivine word (sabda)... Just as a pitcher, which can only be made with water, can contain water, so can mind contain knowledge but it needs divine knowledge that the guru gives to make the right kind of mind... "Do not denigrate your women for they are conceived and born as men conceived are and born. We be friend, wed and go unto them. Why slander the sex which gives birth to kings? All who live are born of women; only God (who is truth and reality) owes not His existence to any woman. Everyone speaks of himself; mark the one who says nothing of himself in his talk. "Everyone must pay for what he does; everyone must fulfil his destiny. Knowing how brief is our sojourn on the earth, why should we flaunt our pride? Speak not evil of any man and engage not in argument with a fool... What is in the heart will come out of the mouth. If you sow seeds of poison, do not expect to reap a harvest of nectar."
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Khushwant Singh views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Khushwant Singh and Speaking Tree,Times of India