[salok] Bhagat Kabeer Jeo Kae

[lowest of the low singhni]

vaheguru ji ka khalsa vaheguru ji ki fateh

ਕਬੀਰ ਬਿਰਹੁ ਭੁਯੰਗਮੁ ਮਨਿ ਬਸੈ ਮੰਤੁ ਨ ਮਾਨੈ ਕੋਇ ॥

Kabīr birahu bẖuyangam man basai manṯ na mānai ko­ė.

Kabeer, the snake of separation from the Lord abides within my mind; it does not respond to any mantra.

ਰਾਮ ਬਿਓਗੀ ਨਾ ਜੀਐ ਜੀਐ ਤ ਬਉਰਾ ਹੋਇ ॥੭੬॥

Rām bi­ogī nā jī­ai jī­ai ṯa ba­urā ho­ė.

One who is separated from the Lord does not live; if he does live, he goes insane.

ਬਿਰਹੁ = separation; ਭੁਯੰਗਮੁ = snake; ਮਨਿ = mind; ਬਸੈ = stays; ਮੰਤੁ = chant, mantra; ਮਾਨੈ = obey, respond to; ਬਿਓਗੀ = separated one; ਜੀਐ = live; ਬਉਰਾ = mad.

Here Bhagat Kabeer Ji uses the analogy of a snake to represent our mind, which has become so engrossed in Maya and worldly distractions. It is so badly ensnared in this mess that it’s forgotten that there’s actually something wrong – the wrongness has now become the norm. We’re surrounded by people with lose moral values, or none at all, and this affects our own mind and eventually it becomes ‘normal’ for a person to take part in manmat-activities.

In India when someone was bitten by a snake, magic mantras were sometimes used in order for the poison to be released from the bite and the person to be cured. But sometimes there are snakes so venomous that no mantra can save the victim. Such is the strength of realisation – when we have some form of awakening, we realise that our minds are actually being fooled by the illusions which surround us, that there is more to life than just having a laugh. Once this thought has a hold in your mind, sometimes the thirst for the Truth will completely overtake that person.

For a truth-seeker their quest and love for Guru Saheb is more important than anything else. They can’t live their life the way that other people in the world do – merely for the pleasure and satisfaction of the mind and its senses. If he tries, that beautiful mind will go insane and Guru Saheb himself pulls him back onto the right path. [http://www.tapoban.org/stories/Apnay%20Say...y%20Raakhay.pdf]

Not only this, but whilst that gem of a Gurmukh is on the path of his beloved, other people will refer to him as insane through envy, confusion or ignorance because of his indifference to worldly pleasures. Guru Saheb mentions this many times in Gurbani.

ਮਾਰੂ ਮਹਲਾ ੧ ॥

Mārū mehlā 1.

Maaroo, First Mehl

ਕੋਈ ਆਖੈ ਭੂਤਨਾ ਕੋ ਕਹੈ ਬੇਤਾਲਾ ॥

Ko¬ī ākẖai bẖūṯnā ko kahai bėṯālā.

Some call him a ghost; some say that he is a demon.

ਕੋਈ ਆਖੈ ਆਦਮੀ ਨਾਨਕੁ ਵੇਚਾਰਾ ॥੧॥

Ko¬ī ākẖai āḏmī Nānak vėcẖārā.

Some call him a mere mortal; O, poor Nanak!

ਭਇਆ ਦਿਵਾਨਾ ਸਾਹ ਕਾ ਨਾਨਕੁ ਬਉਰਾਨਾ ॥

Bẖa¬i¬ā ḏivānā sāh kā Nānak ba¬urānā.

Crazy Nanak has gone insane, after his Lord, the King.

ਹਉ ਹਰਿ ਬਿਨੁ ਅਵਰੁ ਨ ਜਾਨਾ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥

Ha¬o har bin avar na jānā.

I know of none other than the Lord.

ਤਉ ਦੇਵਾਨਾ ਜਾਣੀਐ ਜਾ ਭੈ ਦੇਵਾਨਾ ਹੋਇ ॥

Ŧa¬o ḏėvānā jāṇī¬ai jā bẖai ḏėvānā ho¬ė.

He alone is known to be insane, when he goes insane with the Fear of God.

ਏਕੀ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਬਾਹਰਾ ਦੂਜਾ ਅਵਰੁ ਨ ਜਾਣੈ ਕੋਇ ॥੨॥

Ėkī sāhib bāhrā ḏūjā avar na jāṇai ko¬ė.

He recognizes none other than the One Lord and Master.

ਤਉ ਦੇਵਾਨਾ ਜਾਣੀਐ ਜਾ ਏਕਾ ਕਾਰ ਕਮਾਇ ॥

Ŧa¬o ḏėvānā jāṇī¬ai jā ėkā kār kamā¬ė.

He alone is known to be insane, if he works for the One Lord.

ਹੁਕਮੁ ਪਛਾਣੈ ਖਸਮ ਕਾ ਦੂਜੀ ਅਵਰ ਸਿਆਣਪ ਕਾਇ ॥੩॥

Hukam pacẖẖāṇai kẖasam kā ḏūjī avar si¬āṇap kā¬ė.

Recognizing the Hukam, the Command of his Lord and Master, what other cleverness is there?

ਤਉ ਦੇਵਾਨਾ ਜਾਣੀਐ ਜਾ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਧਰੇ ਪਿਆਰੁ ॥

Ŧa¬o ḏėvānā jāṇī¬ai jā sāhib ḏẖarė pi¬ār.

He alone is known to be insane, when he falls in love with his Lord and Master.

ਮੰਦਾ ਜਾਣੈ ਆਪ ਕਉ ਅਵਰੁ ਭਲਾ ਸੰਸਾਰੁ ॥੪॥੭॥

Manḏā jāṇai āp ka¬o avar bẖalā sansār.

He sees himself as bad, and all the rest of the world as good.

~l~

vaheguru ji ka khalsa vaheguru ji ki fateh

[ISingh]

Vaheguroo Jee Ka Khalsaa! Vaheguroo Jee Ki Fatheh!

Great read.

Vaheguroo Jee Ka Khalsaa! Vaheguroo Jee Ki Fatheh!