Rehat

[kds1980]

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bRhmx kYlI Gwqu kM\kw AxcwrI kw Dwnu ] (1413-4, slok vwrW qy vDIk, mÚ 3)

barahman kailee ghaat kanjkaa anchaaree kaa Dhaan.

If a Brahmin kills a cow or a female infant, and accepts the offerings of an evil person,

iPtk iPtkw koVu bdIAw sdw sdw AiBmwnu ] (1413-5, slok vwrW qy vDIk, mÚ 3)

fitak fitkaa korh badee-aa sadaa sadaa abhimaan.

he is cursed with the leprosy of curses and criticism; he is forever and ever filled with egotistical pride.

pwih eyqy jwih vIsir nwnkw ieku nwmu ] (1413-5, slok vwrW qy vDIk, mÚ 3)

paahi aytay jaahi veesar naankaa ik naam.

One who forgets the Naam, O Nanak, is covered by countless sins.

according to pro sahib singhs translation of this line those who forget the name of god are earning sins like killing brahmin,killing cow ,killing infant daughter.

[Kharkoo4Life]

Sangat ji,

Please can someone help me understand the following?

I was reading the rehat maryada on the damdami taksal website and it has the following

“The following are all major sins:

a) Killing a Brahmgyani,

b) Killing a black cow

c) Killing or selling your daughter,

d) Eating from a person who has no moral discipline. Anyone who commits any of these has committed thousands of sins and this egotistical individual will be reprimanded thousands of times."

(SGGSJ Ang 1413)

Most of this makes sense to me but I do not understand the piece about killing black cows, can anyone help?

Thanks

148423[/snapback]

Fateh,

Taksali Singh has pretty much summed up what the lines referenced above actually mean when translated in english. The only thing i would add as in many cases with gurbani, the tuk is filled with metaphors which all relate to a common theme or message. In this case, the underlying message is essentially that man is busily engaged in various activities in life (making as much money as possible, trying to become powerful, increasing his own stature in society, become more beautiful etc), but all these activities serve only the ego. because while doing these activities unnecessary harm is done to all those around him. Rather than provide an exhaustive list of such acitivities, the guru uses some prime examples to send this message.

bRhmx kYlI Gwqu kM\kw AxcwrI kw Dwnu ]

Killing a brahimin, a cow or a female infant, or accepting the offerings of an evil person,

iPtk iPtkw koVu bdIAw sdw sdw AiBmwnu ]

these are all akin to committing the worst sins; he is forever and ever filled with egotistical pride.

That is why they are regarded as "sinful", for they serve only to boost the individuals ego and do not serve the one purpose which truly matters -- to remember God. Thus in the next line of the above shabad the guru ji says:

pwih eyqy jwih vIsir nwnkw ieku nwmu ]

One who forgets the Naam, O Nanak, is covered by countless sins.

It is important to understand what Naam here refers to. Naam isnt simply the "name of god" (i.e. waheguru, god, allah, or ram etc.) One of the most fundamental teachings of gurbani is that naam is True. So why is that the Guru refers to naam as being true (siqnwm)? Because naam is gunn, i.e. it is the embodiment of all virtues.

srb gux inDwnµ kImiq n g´wnµ D´wnµ aUcy qy aUcO jwnIjY pRB qyro Qwnµ ]

You are the Treasure of all virtue; who can know the value of Your spiritual wisdom and meditation? O God, Your Place is known as the highest of the high.

And by continually remembering God, one continually remembers His Divine Virtues. This is what is means to never forget naam (to never forget His virtues)

nwim rqy gux igAwn bIcwru ]

Attuned to the Naam, they contemplate the Lord's virtues and spiritual wisdom.

By always rememebring God, one is always keeping the virtues of God in his/her mind at all times and so before any thought, word or action the person thinks to themselves How would God act in this situation? Thus instead of following his own mind (ego) and engaging in wrongful immoral ways (sins) the person begins to model their life like that of God by developing the same virtues He has in their own life (i.e. love, tolerance, understanding for all).

bRhm nwm gux swK qrovr inq cuin cuin pUj krIjY ]

God's Name is the tree, and His Glorious Virtues are the branches. Picking and gathering up the fruit, I worship Him

If we forget Naam, then no virtues will enter our life and we will be doomed to repeat the same mistakes and wrongs of our past over and over (One who forgets the Naam, O Nanak, is covered by countless sins.)

In the above context, the examples given in the first line above are merely metaphors to represent all bad thoughts, actions that man engages in. They are not to be taken literally as the only sins or the most worst sins. In particular, the mention of black cow does nto mean guru ji himself considers it a sin to kill a black cow. He is merely using concepts which the average person was familiar with. To most inhabitants of india, due to various reasons, they all considered the cow to be 'sacred' and thus would not kill it. As well, killing a brahmin (the caste brahmin) was also considered one of the highest sins (according to Manuu Simratee) for the Brahmin was mans link to GOd. In the same way the guru is saying, that the Naam of God is also sacred so do not "kill it" anotherwords do not remove it from ur life (or forget it). He is trying to explain just how "wrong" it is to forget God.

To state that the guru here is saying that killing black cows specifially is a sin would be wrong. For we would all agree that the Guru was neither a hindu or muslim and did not observe or practice any of their religious customs. Yet in gurbani it explicitly states:

hku prwieAw nwnkw ausu sUAr ausu gwie ]

To take what rightfully belongs to another, is like a Muslim eating pork, or a Hindu eating beef.

Is the guru saying that killing pigs or cows is a sin for a Sikh? No. A Sikh doesnt beleive in the concept of halaal vs haraam like a muslim, nor does a Sikh consider cows to be sacred creatures like hindus worthy of worship. He is simply giving the example that opressing others, taking something forcefully from another person (be it their material possesion, money or their dignity, freedom) is like committing the worse religoius taboo.

So let us not get caught up, in whether we should or shouldnt kill cows, or only black cows and understand the underlying message of this shabad.