II
Barahmaha by Guru Nanak Dev Ji
As the term suggests Barahmaha is an euology in the praise of twelve months of the year. There are two Barahmaha in Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji. One is by Guru Nanak Dev ji and the second one is by Guru Arjan Dev ji. This Barahmaha is in Tukhari Raga in the beginning of the sacred text. It is in folk poetry style that expresses the human heart’s emotions and yearning through the changing moods of nature over an year. It is one of the oldest composition in this genre and perhaps the first one to transform love poetry into spiritual one.
Taking up the analogy of lover beloved relationship like most of the Bhakti Movement saints Guru Nanak Dev Ji also considers the relationship between individual soul and and Lord or Oversoul as similar to the relationship between a lover and a beloved in which individual soul is women or beloved or bride and God or Oversoul is man, or lover or Spouse or Groom. Here he suggests that if bride (individual soul) gets the blessings and grace of Lord, through Guru, then every season is pleasing to her and even the harshest weather of the year cannot affect her, and if she does not enjoy the favour of her Groom then even the pleasantest weather of the year appears virile and uncomfortable to her causing her innumerable sorrow and agonies of separation from her lover. Similar analogy has also been traced by famous metaphysical poet John Donne in sixteenth century when in his sonnet Batter My Heart he finds lover-beloved relationship between God and individual soul. American thinker R.W. Emerson in his essay The Oversoul has examined various aspects such as the existence and Nature of Human Soul, the relationship between the soul and personal ego and relationship of one soul to another soul and ultimately the relationship between an individual soul and God or The Oversoul.
Text- Prologue
Hear You O’ Lord, each individual enjoys peace and suffers sorrow as a result of deeds done in the past. Whatever deeds You bestow is good. O’God creation is Yours. My Lord I am of no account sans You. Without You I cannot live even for a moment. Sans my Beloved I am miserable, I have no companion. It is by Guru’s grace that I get Nectar to drink. The Formless Lord is contained in His creation. This act of obeying the Lord is best of all acts.
O’Nanak, Thy bride is beholding You was Him, You O’ Omnipotent Spirit.
The sparrow hawk cries Beloved and the cuckoo sings the lays.
The bride enjoys all the pleasures and merges in the Being of her love. When she becomes pleasing to her Lord God, she merges in His being she is contented then.
Establishing the nine doors and a royal mansion above them, God the foe of ego abides in that mansion. All are Thine, You are my Beloved. Night and Day I make merry in Your love.
Nanak, the sparrow hawk of the mind cries- spouse, my spouse and the cuckoo of the tongue is embellished with His name.
Hear You O’God my Beloved, I am drenched in Your love, I utter Your Name with my body, mind and soul and do not forget it even for a moment. How can I forget You even for a moment ? I survive by singing Your praises O’Lord I am a sacrifice unto You.
No one belongs to me. To whom do I belong. Without my Lord I cannot survive even for an instant. I have grasped the refuge of God’s lotus feet and live there and my body has become immaculate. Nanak I have obtained deep vision and peace and with the Guru’s word my soul is consoled. It rains a torrent of elixir, delightful are its drops. When Guru, the friend meets in a natural way then Love with the Lord is established.
The Lord God comes into the body when it pleases Him and the bride rising up uttering His praise.
In every home, the Spouse enjoys the chaste bride. Why has Spouse forgotten me ? The threatening dark clouds have covered the sky. It rains pleasantly and the God’s love is pleasing to my soul and body. Nanak, when the ambrosial Gurbani rains, the Lord graciously enters my home.
Chetra
Indian calendar begins with the month of chet or Chetra. It is a month of splendour, flowers in the woods are in full bloom. It is springtime when nature is at its prime and the air is impregnated with joy. Every creature seems to have someone to celebrate season’s beauty with the bumblebee, its blossoms, the wood, its flower and Koel singing melodiously from a mango tree. But the Groom has not returned home so how can the bride feel comforted. She shrivels away in pangs of separation. The young bride then is the only one who stands isolated. She does not have a groom by her side. The beauty and lusciousness of springtime sharpens her sense of deprivation. Whereas everything is blooming in nature, she is withering away in separation. This state of contrast though paradoxical presents a picture of an organic structure to which she belongs and is even the centre but she cannot enjoy her status and participate in the reigning beauty of the season as her Groom is not with her. It is due to the separation and her sense of forlorn that she becomes aware of togetherness and rupture of everyone around her.
In Chet agreeable is the spring and beautiful the bumblebee. The forests are flowering in front of my door. May !my Love return home. How can the bride obtain peace, when her spouse is not at home Her body is wasting away in distress of separation. The beautiful cuckoo sings on mango tree. How to bear the pain of separation in the mind. The black bee is flitting on the blossoming branch. How can I live as I am perishing in separation O’ Mother. Nanak in chet peace is easily obtained, if the lady gets God as her Spouse in her home.
Vaisakh
Following Chet is the month of Vaisakh ( mid April and mid May) when tree branches get covered on fresh leaves. The bride sees the newness in verdure and requests the Groom to return home. As it is reaping season, peasants negotiate business deals and commerce enters the vocabulary of bride also. Without her Spouse she is not worth even a dime while with Him she is priceless. Nature, commerce, fellow human being’s spiritual quest gets synthesised in bride’s world view.
Pleasant is Vaisakh when the tree branches adorn itself anew with green foliage. The bride is anxious to see God at her door. Come my Love, come and have pity on me. Come home O’ my Beloved ferry me across the terrible world ocean. Without You I am not worth even a shell. Who can appraise my worth if I please Thee, I see and show You to others, O’ my Love. O’ Lord I know that You are not far. I believe Thee to be within me and I realise Your presence. Nanak whosoever obtains the Lord in Baisakh, his soul is satiated True Name’s meditations.
Jeth
In the month of Jeth why should the Groom be forgotten sings the bride. In the rising temperatures of Jeth month earth burns like a furnace. The external unpleasant weather (heat) drives all beings to inwardness. In search of the cool, all the creatures are looking for their farther most shelter. Bride also moves to her cool,pleasant, internal shelter and contemplates on the Divine Groom and His virtues. Geographical locale is in harmony with her psychological state.
Sublime is the month of Jeth. Why should I forget my Beloved. The Earth burns like a furnace and bride prays to the Lord. She makes supplication and utters His praise. I become pleasing to Him. The Detached Lord lives in the true mansion. With His consent bride will go to Him. Dishonoured and powerless is the bride. How can she obtain peace without Him. In Jeth, O’Nanak she who knows her Lord beams like Him and grasping virtues through His Grace, she merges into Him.
Asar
In the scorching month of Asar, the Sun blazes in the sky its fire sucks the sap of the earth. The land gets roasted and suffers. Even the cricket’s wail but the Chariot of the Sun marches on Bride seeks cool shade. Here she is a full participant in the cosmic scene like other creatures and shares the sufferings of the earth. The great Earth and tiny cricket symbolise the entire creation. All suffer and search for a cool shade to get respite including Bride.
Good is the month of Asar when the Sun blazes in the Sky. It suffers sorrow and is parched and singed with fire. The heat fries up the moisture and men die in anxiety. Even then the Sun is not tired in its task. The Sun’s chariot moves on, the wife looks for the shade and grass hopper chirps in the forest. She, who departs with the bundle of sins suffers hereafter and she, who remembers the True Lord obtains peace. Nanak my death and life are with Lord to whom I have surrendered my soul.
Savan
After the blazing heat of Asar comes the month of Savan bringing welcome rain showers. The land is cooled, quenched but not the bride as her Spouse is in far off alien land and she lies alone on her bed. Along with the fear of solitude is the fear in the lightning amidst the monsoon clouds terrifies her. Nature around her does not provide any respite. She addresses her Mother and says it is as painful as death. After losing her sleep and appetite the bride is death like life in the month of savan.
In sawan, be thou happy O’ my soul as in this season clouds bring rain providing relief to the parched land and creatures. I love my Spouse with my soul and body but He is away in some alien land. My Beloved does not return and she is dying of sorrow of separation as the flash of thundering and lightning terrifies her. Lonely is her couch and she suffers greatly and tells O’ my mother I am dying of pain of separation. Without Him sleep and appetite does not come to me and even clothes do not provide any respite. Nanak, she alone is fortunate bride who merges in the being of her beloved Spouse.
Bhadon
It is month of opulence- both land and river are in flood. During the entire dark night it rains. Birds and other creatures feel invigorated. They shriek at the fact that they cannot attain fullness within them. Peacock sings, frogs croak and Babiha cries. Overflowing with life, the snakes sneak out to bite, the mosquitoes swarm out to sting, as the pools of water overflow with water. The pulsating animate and inanimate worlds are coordinated into a vivid pattern. Juxtaposed to this bursting forth of nature is bride’s desolation. She yearningly contemplates the fullness, the energy and the joy surrounding her. She utters where is comfort for one without her Groom.
In Bhadon, bride is in the bloom of youth, strays in doubt that she regrets afterwards. The ponds and meadows are full of water. It is the cool pleasant weather of rains and the time of merry making for all the creatures of the nature. The frogs croak and peacocks shriek that young bride without her Spouse cannot attain peace. Pied cuckoo cries Beloved, O’ my Beloved and snakes sneak out of their holes to bite. Mosquitoes sting as the pools are overflowing with water but without her Lord, how can a bride obtain comfort ? I will ask my Guru and act accordingly , where ever my Lord is, thither shall I go.
Asuj ( Ashvin)
The bride’s actualisation of Asuni- the seventh month is a realisation of her own self. The cosmic time and space mirror her situation. As she is beguiled by sense of duality, she stands forsaken by her Singular Groom and remains in separation. On the land the country shrubs with white flowers are in full bloom. These white flowers represent her own white hair- the bride is greying. Furthermore the forthcoming season terrifies her as gone is the summer and cold winter is soon approaching- this makes her heart tremble. What the bride realises at this juncture of life is loss of her youth and fears of approaching old age. But with that she also sees in this autumn month some green boughs that instils optimism in her. The possibility of meeting her Groom again strikes her that lone is sweet that ripens gradually in its own sweet course of time.
In Assau come o’ my Beloved, Your wife is getting old and moving towards death. If the Lord makes her meet, then alone can she meet Him, but she is ruined by love for another (duality). When she is disfigured by falsehood then she is forsaken by Spouse. Then reed and tamarisk olivia blooms. Summer is left behind and winter is approaching. Her mind wavers at this situation. In all the ten directions branches are green as verdant. That which gradually ripens is truly sweet. You meet me O’ my Love Lord in Assau through the Guru by meditation.
Kartik (Katak)
In the month of Katak days get shorter, lamps are lit earlier in the evenings. Lamp become a symbol rich in nuance, as it signifies the refined emotional and intellectual faculties of the bride that will lead eventually to face the Divine. Traditional lamp is a tiny clay bowl and only that lamp shines steadily that is lighted with match of knowledge and which is fuelled by oil of rasa- the aesthetic essence of love. Simultaneously the lamp is essential to seeing and recognising. The powers of eyesight and insight coalesce in it. Suggesting coalition of knowledge ( kindling match) and love( Oil) in the bride’s psychological condition the dipak (lamp) connect her physically with cosmic time with the evenings of the month of Katak. In this state she feels that she is closer to attain her goal of merger with the Guru.
In Katak only that is recorded in mortal’s destiny that pleases the Lord. That lamp burns easily which is lit by quintessence of love that is in the oil of love in the lamp that unites the Groom with bride. She, who is killed by sin does not become fruitful at her death, if she is killed in virtue then she dies easily and accepted in Lord’s Court. They whom You, O’ Lord bless with Your Name and devotional service sit in comfort and peace in their own home. Even then their hope rests on You. Nanak says, open the shutters of Your door, O’ Lord and meet me. Even a moment’s delay seems like an age to me.
Maghar
In the month of Maghar or Makar, the bride listens to the praise of her Divine Groom through song, music, poetry and her sorrow of separation departs. Here the effect of aesthetics on human mind can be seen that travelling in the external atmosphere penetrates into the being of Bride. So her sorrow vanishes literally. Conspicuously her image of sitting amidst women through passage of time and relishing the celestial music and poetry can be seen. She is part of symphony of gatherings- the congregation or Sangat is in Tolstoy’s sense is community created by fine art. In this month bride is a participant within a community who cherishes the recital of Divine Being can be seen clearly.
Good is the month of Maghar for those who unite with Him by singing God’s praises. The virtuous wife utters the Lord’s praises. My ever stable Lord is pleasing to me. Stable, Prudent, Omniscient is my Creator Lord but the whole world is fickle and unstable. They who possess the virtue of gnosis and meditation merge with the Lord’s Being. The are pleasing to the Lord and He is pleasing to them. I have heard a lot of songs, music and lyrics of diverse poets but only by uttering His name, my sorrow flees. Nanak only that bride is pleasing to Groom who in His presence performs the hearty and devoted service of her Beloved.
Poh
The description of the month of Poh begins only begins with the line “ says Nanak, the bride who is in love with her Groom has the rasa of the charming Beloved to savour. In this season the cold white frost covering the land is sapping away rasa of all vegetation is in contrast to the bride, who is in love of her charming Groom, would be savouring her Rasa. Perhaps it is in this contrasting panorama that ignites bride’s imagination that warm and vibrant fantasy. In this month she also discerns the fact that she is related with all the creatures. One light permeates all the created being whether coming out of eggs, foetus, sweat (born by division of cells) , or the earth. Through singular devotion bride sees the unity of universe.
In Poh the snow falls and the sap of the grass and forest dries up. O’ Lord why do not You come and reside with my soul, body and mind. God- the Life of the world is permeating in mind and body. Through Guru’s word I relish His love. The Lord’s Light is contained in heart of all beings- egg born, foetus born, sweat born or earth born. Compassionate God, bless me with Your vision and grant me understanding so that I may attain emancipation. Nanak says, with love and pleasure He enjoys the bride., who has love and affection for the Almighty.
Magh
In Magh, the month of pilgrimage, the bride realises that pilgrim’s seat is within herself. The sacredness of all holy places and of all time would be hers, if her beautiful Groom was pleased with her. This would be my bath in the Ganga, the Yamuna, and confluence with Saraswati and in the Seven Oceans as well. All charity and worship for me is the recognition that throughout the ages (Yugas) there is One Singular Groom. Says Nanak, in the month of Majh, to taste the great essence of the meditation upon the Beloved alone worth bath in sixty eight holy rivers. The pilgrim seat is within and not anywhere out. The sacredness of all holy places and of all time, the merit of bathing at Ganga and the Yamuna and their confluence with Saraswati as well as in seven oceans, of all charity and worship would be the bride’s if she were to win the Groom’s favour. The view that external ritual is hollow and unnecessary is here artistically established. Also time is not chopped up : Ages or Yugas in literal sense yoked together by the knowledge that the Singular Beloved Lord pervades time- past, present and future.
In the month of Magh I become Immaculate by realising that the place of pilgrimage iw within me. I have easily met my Friend by enshrining His virtues and merging in His being. Hear You,O’ my Beautiful Lord. Your merits I have enshrined in my mind. If it pleases Thee I shall bath in Thine Holy pond. The Ganges, Yamuna and the confluence of Saraswati with them, seven oceans , charity, alms and worship are contained in Lord’s Name. I have realised that One Lord is pervading in each and every age. Nanak, in the month of Magh, the ablution at Sixty Eight Holy Shrines is contained in the meditation of the supreme elixir of God’s Name.
Phagun
Finally in the month of Phagun, the bride effaces her ego. With ego gone her desires have ended. Paradoxically with the integration of time and space gone what remains is the integration itself. Continuous Bliss is experienced. All the duality vanishes. Even day and night are conjoined for what is experienced continuously is utter Ecstasy. In Phagun, the soul of those whom Lord’s love is pleasing is in bloom. She , who effacing her self conceit night and day resides in spiritual bliss. What it pleases Him is that I efface the worldly love from my mind as a result of which Lord has mercifully come to my home. Though I may wear many garbs yet without love, I shall not find a place in His Mansion. When my Beloved wishes, I decorate myself with garlands, strings of pearls, perfumes and raiments of silk. Nanak says, the Guru has united me with God and I the bride have obtained my Groom in my very home. The twelve months, the seasons, the lunar days, the week, the hours, the minutes, the seconds and moments are all sublime when the True Lord comes and naturally meets me. The Sweet master has met me and mine affairs are arranged. The Creator Lord knows all the ways. I am dear unto Him, who has embellished me. I have met Him and enjoyed His Bliss. The couch of my home is graced the moment when my Beloved enjoys me. By the Guru’s grace the destiny of my forehead is awakened. Nanak says, day and night my Beloved enjoys me and obtaining God as my spouse, my married life has become eternal.
Thus the twelve months are very significant for it is within then the interaction between the Time less with time takes place. The young bride in just envisioning her Timeless Beloved within her historical context. One discerns here the foundations for the positive approach to life. In the final passage of Barahmaha, Guru Nanak Dev Ji esteems all the twelve months, the six seasons, the lunar and the solar days the hours, minutes and seconds as blessed giving their own contribution to the spiritual journey of an individual soul.
No comments:
Post a Comment