ARCHIVED FORUM: Gurdwara Tapoban Sahib
Var Explanation needed
Posted by : ns
Date: 7/14/2004 2:10 am
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Wahegur Ji ke Fateh!
could someone if possible please post a brief description of the characters like nard,sanak, vishnu, sukdev in this Vaar of Bhai Gurdaas for better understanding.
Thanks in advance
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Wahegur Ji ke Fateh!
laae thabaaree khaae chugal sadhaaeiaa||
Even being an ascetic, Narad merely talked (of here and there). Being a backbiter, he popularised himself only as a tell-tale.
sanakaadhik dhar jaae thaamas aaeiaa||
Sanak et al. got angry when they having gone to Visnu were not allowed entry by the doorkeepers.
dhas avathaar karaae janam galaaeiaa||
They forced Visnu to undergo ten incarnations and thus the peaceful life of Visnu got tormented.
jin sukh janiaa maae dhukh sehaaeiaa||
The mother who gave birth to Sukdev was caused to suffer by him by remaining undelivered by the mother for twelve years.
guramukh sukh fal khaae ajar jaraaeiaa ||a||
Only gurmukhs tasting the fruit of supreme joy have endured the unendurable (name of the Lord).
Re: Var Explanation needed
Posted by : ???
Date: 7/14/2004 7:31 am
VJKK VJKF!
What Vaar/Pauri is this from?
VJKK VJKF!
Re: Var Explanation needed
Posted by : Kulbir Singh
Date: 7/14/2004 9:30 am
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could someone if possible please post a brief description of the characters like nard,sanak, vishnu, sukdev in this Vaar of Bhai Gurdaas for better understanding.
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Please read below for brief description of these characters.
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laae thabaaree khaae chugal sadhaaeiaa||
Even being an ascetic, Narad merely talked (of here and there). Being a backbiter, he popularised himself only as a tell-tale.
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Naarad Muni is considered to be a great sage and there are many stories about him in Puraans, Ramayana and Mahabharata. He is a very interesting character and his character is sometimes very funny. When I was a kid, I used to love reading his tales. One of the most interesting tale goes as follows:
Once Naarad was visiting a famous king and he arrived at their house saying “Naraayan Naraayan”. This is his slogan that he raises wherever he goes. Anyway, he saw the princess, the king’s daughter and forgot all about his bhagtee. His mind got occupied by her beauty and could think of nothing but her. This princess whose name I can’t remember had reached the age of maturity and thus her parents were looking for a proper match for her.
In olden days, the parents had a very interesting ceremony of finding match for their girls. They used to organize swayam-var (swayam means self, var means husband). Swayamvar was a function where all potential candidates for marriage were invited and introduced to the assembly. The girl would then arrive with a flower garland in her hand and walk by every individual and whom ever she liked as her husband, she would put the garland around that person’s neck.
Anyway, the king decided to organise a swayam-var for his daughter and invited all the great kings, princes, scholars, warriors etc. to this swayamvar. Naarad Muni too wanted to get married to her but knew that with his current looks he had no chance of getting married to her. He knew that she would never choose her for marriage.
He went to Vishnu, one of the three supreme gods of Hindus and asked him for a boon. Vishnu knew what he was thinking and he kept smiling and asked him to go ahead and ask for whatever he wanted. Naarad asked him to make him very handsome. Vishnu asked back, how handsome he wanted to be. Naarad thought for a moment and said “make me as beautiful as Hari himself”.
Hari is a name of God and who can be more beautiful than God himself. Vishnu thought for a moment and said “Tathaastoo” meaning that the wish had been granted.
On the day of swayamvar, Naarad walked into the assembly of great men, with lot of pride. He was very confident that the princess would choose him as her husband since he had the face of Hari himself. He noticed that some people were giggling at him but he ignored them as he was confident that he was the most handsome person there and that the people giggling at him were probably jealous of him.
The whole assembly was eagerly waiting for the princess to come. All the great men hoping to marry her were lined up waiting for her. Finally, she walked in with a flower garland in her hand. The Puraans (Hindu religious books – 18 of them) write in great detail how beautiful she was. Many men lost consciousness after they saw her dazzling beauty. She started walking from one end to the other end, carefully looking at every candidate.
Naarad was standing very confidently towards the middle of the line-up. As she approached him, she moved away her face in disdain. Naarad got confused and did not know what to make of it. He thought that she had not seen his face properly; therefore, he ran further down the line-up to ensure she sees him this time. She saw him the second time and again moved her face away. Now Naarad was very surprised. He moved in front of her and blocked her way to ensure that she sees him. One of the prince shouted from the assembly, “get out of the way, you monkey-faced rascal”.
Then he saw Vishnu there too. As soon as the princess saw Vishnu, she put her garland around his neck. Naarad was heartbroken at first and then he got really mad at Vishnu as he had stolen his bride from him. Right at that time he happened to look at a mirror there and was horrified to look at his face. His face was that of a monkey. He got really mad and confronted Vishnu.
Vishnu and all other kings were laughing at him.
Naarad confronted him, “Hari, why did you deceive me”.
“How did I deceive you?”
“You promised that you would change my looks to that of Hari but my face looks like a monkey. Why did you do this to me?
“Muni jee, you are the greatest scholar of Sanskrit. Don’t you know that one of the meanings of the word Hari is monkey? I just interpreted that you meant to change your face to monkey’s face”.
Naarad was really furious now and was going to attack Vishnu when all of sudden everything vanished and he was left with Vishnu alone. All the princes, the palaces, music and the princess were gone. Then he realized that it was all an illusion (maaiya) created by Vishnu to teach him a lesson. Vishnu had noticed that Naarad was falling for temptations and was getting increasingly egoistic and therefore Vishnu wanted to fix him up. Vishnu created a whole world just to teach lesson to Naarad. Naarad learned his lesson and thanked Vishnu for correcting him.
There are many other similar tales of Naarad Muni. He is there in almost every tale of Hindus. Whether it is Satjug or Treta or Duapar and whether the tale is about Raam, Krishna ; he is there in all stories. If I am not wrong, he is there in folktales like Heer Ranhja, Raja Rasaaloo etc.
He is known to be a backbiter and he is known for causing fights. Even today if someone plays a double role and tries to instigate fights, we call that person Naarad Muni.
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sanakaadhik dhar jaae thaamas aaeiaa||
Sanak et al. got angry when they having gone to Visnu were not allowed entry by the doorkeepers.
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According to Hindu religious books, Sanak, Sanandan etc. are four sons of Vishnu and are greatest scholars ever born. They never physically grow and are still said to be 14-15 years old. This above pankiti is referring to one time they visited Vishnu and were not given proper treatment. Baani has reference to these 4 sons many times. Normally they are called "Sankaadik" meaning Sanak + Aadik i.e. Sanak et al. Sanak is the first Kumar or son of Brahma followed by Sanandan, Sanat Kumar etc.
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dhas avathaar karaae janam galaaeiaa||
They forced Visnu to undergo ten incarnations and thus the peaceful life of Visnu got tormented.
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Vishnu is one of the gods of Hindus. He is said to have taken incarnations of Rama, Krishna etc. This way he has taken 23 avtaars and is due to take the 24th one in the future. There is a baani by the name of “Chaubees Avtaar” in Dasam Granth that details all the 24 avtaars of Vishnu. Siri Guru Gobind Singh jee has done a beautiful translation of Hindu scriptures, from Sanskrit to Braj-Bhaasha. Amazing baani it is. Very knowledgeable too.
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jin sukh janiaa maae dhukh sehaaeiaa||
The mother who gave birth to Sukdev was caused to suffer by him by remaining undelivered by the mother for twelve years.
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Once Shiv jee, one of the 3 supreme gods of Hindus was sitting with his wife Parvati jee. Parvati jee requested him to tell him the “Amar Katha” i.e. tale of immortality. It is said that whoever listens to this tale never dies. Anyway, Shiv jee after much persuasion started telling this tale to Parvati. After a short while, she fell asleep. Shiv jee’s eyes were closed and he kept hearing Parvati saying “hoon hoon” i.e. it seemed she was awake and listening to Amar Katha.
When Shiv jee completed his katha, he found Parvati sleeping. He wondered who had been responding to him by saying hoon hoon. Then he saw a parrot who had been listening to Amar Katha. Shiv jee got very mad and started chasing it to kill it. He did not realize that how would he kill this parrot after it had listened to Amar Katha. Anyway, the parrot flew away but Shiv jee kept following it with his Trishul (a spear like weapon).
The parrot went everywhere but Shiv jee kept following it. Finally the parrot saw wife of a famous rishi (Hindu holy man) and entered inside her and rested in her womb. Shiv jee just waited there for the pigeon to get out. The pigeon stayed there for 12 years and Shiv jee waited on it for that long. Finally he realized that he would not be able to kill the pigeon as it had heard the Amar Katha.
After 12 years when Shiv jee left, Shukdeo (sukhdeo) was born and this pigeon had been changed to human form as a result of listening to Amar Katha. He had to stay in the womb for 12 years. When Shukdeo was born, he was a born scholar as he had listened to whole of Amar Katha. Shukdeo’s name has come in baani many times. There are many interesting tales of Shukdeo, one involving Raja Janak and Rishi Ashtabakkar.
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guramukh sukh fal khaae ajar jaraaeiaa ||a||
Only gurmukhs tasting the fruit of supreme joy have endured the unendurable (name of the Lord).
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Bhai Gurdas jee is comparing the old bhagats with the gursikhs of Siri Guru Nanak Dev jee and has declared that only Gurmukhs eat the mystical fruit of Naam.
Daas,
Kulbir Singh
Re: Var Explanation needed
Posted by : ns
Date: 7/14/2004 10:06 am
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Wahegur Ji ke Fateh!
Veer Kulbir Jee,
I can't thank you enough for the most excellent answer, and only pray Guru jI Blesses even more knowledge.
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Wahegur Ji ke Fateh!
