I left 3HO but have not left Sikhism

by Bhujang Singh , AMRITSAR, Saturday, March 27, 2010, 05:14 (5363 days ago) @ S. Singh

ਠਗਾ ਨੀਹੁ ਮਤ੍ਰੋੜਿ ਜਾਣੁ ਗੰਧ੍ਰਬਾ ਨਗਰੀ ॥

Break off your love with the cheaters; realize that it is a mirage.

ਸੁਖ ਘਟਾਊ ਡੂਇ ਇਸੁ ਪੰਧਾਣੂ ਘਰ ਘਣੇ ॥3॥॥

Your pleasure lasts for only two moments; this traveller wanders through countless homes. ||3||

ਓ ਜੀਵ, ਇਹਨਾਂ ਮਾਇਆ ਦੇ ਅਗਰਕਾਂ ਭਾਵ ਠਗਾਂ ਨਾਲ ਜੋ ਤੇਰਾ ਨੇਹ (ਪਿਆਰ) ਪਿਆ ਹੋਇਆ ਹੈ, ਉਹ ਤੋੜ ਦੇ ਤੇ ਮਾਇਆ ਦੇ ਰਸਾਂ ਕਸਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਗੰਧਰਬਾਂ ਦੀ ਨਗਰੀ ਵਾਂਗ ਝੂਠ ਜਾਣ। ਇਸ ਮਾਇਆ ਦਾ ਸੁਖ ਤਾਂ ਦੋ ਘੜੀਆਂ ਦਾ ਹੁੰਦਾ ਹੈ ਪਰ ਇਸ ਦੇ ਰਸਤੇ ਤੇ ਪਏ ਮੁਸਾਫਿਰਾਂ ਨੁੰ ਕਈ ਘਰ ਬਸਾਉਣੇ ਪੈਂਦੇ ਹਨ ਭਾਵ ਜਨਮ-ਮਰਨ ਦੇ ਗੇੜ ਵਿਚ ਪੈਣਾ ਪੈਂਦਾ ਹੈ।

In the first pankiti ‘Gandharba Nagri’ has been translated as mirage which is not correct. The correct meanings in my humble opinion are - to consider the maya and it’s agents as false as the mythical Gandharba Nagri.

In the second pankiti ‘wanders through countless homes’ should be elaborated and translated as wandering through several homes by taking births and rebirths.

I think we have gone through the questions that this Gursikh poster has raised but let’s go through them one by one:

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Who are the cheaters?
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The thugs here are referred to the agents of Maya. Anything that takes one away from Vaheguru is maya or it’s agent. Specifically Gurbani has listed five thugs that are very prominent agents of maya and under their influence one does not care about Vaheguru. They five thugs are as follows:

ਰਾਜੁ ਮਾਲੁ ਰੂਪੁ ਜਾਤਿ ਜੋਬਨੁ ਪੰਜੇ ਠਗ ॥
ਏਨੀ ਠਗੀਂ ਜਗੁ ਠਗਿਆ ਕਿਨੈ ਨ ਰਖੀ ਲਜ ॥

As per the first pankiti, the five prominent thugs are

Raaj (kingdom, power)

Maal (money, wealth)

Roop (beauty)

Jaat (high caste, great family)

Joban (youth).

The second pankiti states that these thugs have not spared anyone’s honour in this world i.e. everyone is under their influence.

Whoever possesses these above stated 5 thugs of maya, finds it very hard to get out of their influence. One who is handsome or beautiful stays conscious of this and develops ego because of it. One who is of high caste thinks that just because he or she belongs to a great family, he or she is superior to others and so on.

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What is the mirage?
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Maya is that mirage. One thinks one can have maya but no one can really possess it. This is why Guru Sahib has said that:

ਇਹ ਜੁ ਦੁਨੀਆ ਸਿਹਰੁ ਮੇਲਾ ਦਸਤਗੀਰੀ ਨਾਹਿ ॥1॥

This world is an enchanted world that seems real but is not. There is no dastageeri here i.e. one cannot possess anything here.

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Who is the traveller?
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Jeev of course. If this jeev goes astray from the path of Gurmat then he becomes the traveller in countless homes i.e. takes several janams.

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What are the countless homes?
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Countless homes are countless homes that we will reside in if we don’t follow Gurmat. So far, we have had countless parents, brother, sisters, daughters, sons and Gurus as per the following pankiti:

ਘਰ ਦਰ ਫਿਰਿ ਥਾਕੀ ਬਹੁਤੇਰੇ ॥
ਜਾਤਿ ਅਸੰਖ ਅੰਤ ਨਹੀ ਮੇਰੇ ॥
ਕੇਤੇ ਮਾਤ ਪਿਤਾ ਸੁਤ ਧੀਆ ॥
ਕੇਤੇ ਗੁਰ ਚੇਲੇ ਫੁਨਿ ਹੂਆ ॥
ਕਾਚੇ ਗੁਰ ਤੇ ਮੁਕਤਿ ਨ ਹੂਆ ॥

In the above pankitis Guru Sahib talks about several houses that we have wandered around. These houses that we have resided in are so many that they can’t be counted. There have been countless mothers, countless fathers, countless sons and daughters to us in our previous lives. Then we have had several gurus and several disciples. But because these gurus were not Satguru, we did not get salvation