Introduction:
The term Rahaao (“ਰਹਾਉ”) is a constant fixture throughout Gurbani. Modern renditions of the Guru Granth posit the term to be an imperative, fundamentally meaning either “contemplate” or “pause.” Though seemingly disparate, these terms are historically interlinked on the grounds they are both derived from the Faridkot Teeka or Faridkot exegesis (c.1883-1918). This exegesis was commissioned by the rulers of Faridkot in the late 1800’s and compiled by an assembly of Nirmala and Udasi sophists. The aforementioned scholars adhered to derivative subsects which had proliferated among the Sikh mainstream in the post-Banda Singh, pre-Ranjit Singh era. What defined them was their commitment to one salient principle viz Gurbani was nothing more than a Vedic text and had to be comprehended in light of the latter.
Fundamentals:
The Faridkot Teeka hinged itself on the notion that Sikhi was not unique but a part and parcel of Vedism. This naturally called for the negation of the unique grammatical and idiomatic formulas laid down by the Gurus within Gurbani itself. To this end, alongside deifying Gurbani to the point of idolatry, the various regressive derivatives hijacking Sikhi also proceeded to weaponize it against the Sikhs by mistranslating it.
Faridkot:
The state of Faridkot was ancestrally born out of the Phulkian Misl’s conquests in southeastern Punjab. Alongside Patiala, it had reinforced British garrisons during the Anglo-Sikh Wars (1845-1849). Subsequently, it colluded once more with the British in empowering the Nirmalas to negate Sikhi’s emphasis on the empirical world in the hope this would nullify the faith’s militarism.
Derivatives:
Though claiming descent from the tenth Guru, the Nirmalas were a facsimile of the Udasis with the only difference being that they retained unshorn hair and claimed integration with the Khalsa.
The Udasis, contrastingly, had been founded by Guru Nanak’s contumacious elder son Sri Chand and had spent a better part of their history opposing the Sikhs and their Gurus. The Nirmalas had loopholes in their origination story, but augmented by the Udasis they infiltrated the Sikh mainstream during the atrophying of the Khalsa Misls.
The Sikh Gurus had envisioned a revolutionary policy of universal educationalism. This had proven too radical for the opportunistic converts to Sikhi who were drawn from the clerical classes of other faiths. Their designs for regressing Sikhi were further buttressed by the fact that the Sikhs had been involved in a sanguinary conflict for survival over half a century. This had disallowed them from establishing a perennial Sikh intelligentsia which could administer the Punjab.
In lieu of such a setup, Sikhi’s regressive detractors infiltrated it. The Nirmala-Udasi combine would spearhead the religious obfuscation of the faith.
Alteration:
While designing Gurbani’s literary structuralism, the Gurus inserted keys to comprehending it in its multitudinous verses. This formula is aptly summarized as,
ਗੁਰ ਕੀ ਬਾਣੀ ਗੁਰ ਤੇ ਜਾਤੀ ਜਿ ਸਬਦਿ ਰਤੇ ਰੰਗੁ ਲਾਇ ॥
“The Guru’s Bani (teachings) can only be comprehended through the Bani itself…”
-Guru Granth, 1346.
This very formula was negated by the Nirmala-Udasi combine in pursuit of nullifying Sikhi’s revolutionary departure from Vedism. To this end, convoluted simplifications and translations such as the Faridkot Teeka were produced to derail the fundamentals of Gurbani.
Rahaao:
The Gurus significantly altered the contemporary Punjabi idiom to relay their message to the masses. To safeguard against any inimical alteration, they provided key avenues to re-discovering the originality of their message in Gurbani through Gurbani itself. Rahaao is the foremost among these crucial avenues. In the Nirmala-Udasi tradition Rahaao is redefined as “contemplate” and “pause” with both being contextually interlinked. The “contemplate” is to be done through the exterior framework of Vedism while “pause” is an euphemism for the same. But in the pristine grammatical tradition of the Gurus, Rahaao denotes “gist.”
Example i:
Bhagat Kabir enunciates,
ਨਰੂ ਮਰੈ ਨਰੁ ਕਾਮਿ ਨ ਆਵੈ ॥ ਪਸੂ ਮਰੈ ਦਸ ਕਾਜ ਸਵਾਰੈ ॥੧॥
ਅਪਨੇ ਕਰਮ ਕੀ ਗਤਿ ਮੈ ਕਿਆ ਜਾਨਉ ॥ ਮੈ ਕਿਆ ਜਾਨਉ ਬਾਬਾ ਰੇ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
ਹਾਡ ਜਲੇ ਜੈਸੇ ਲਕਰੀ ਕਾ ਤੂਲਾ ॥ ਕੇਸ ਜਲੇ ਜੈਸੇ ਘਾਸ ਕਾ ਪੂਲਾ ॥੨॥
ਕਹੁ ਕਬੀਰ ਤਬ ਹੀ ਨਰੁ ਜਾਗੈ ॥ ਜਮ ਕਾ ਡੰਡੁ ਮੂੰਡ ਮਹਿ ਲਾਗੈ ॥੩॥੨॥
A conventional translation, based on the Faridkot precedent, would say:
“A deceased man holds no value for anyone. A deceased beast can still be used for ten purposes. What would I know of my own acts? What would I know oh wise men? I only sing of good and bad. My bones burn like a pile of logs catch flames. My hair withers away like hay in the wind. Kabir speaks rightly, man only awakens to reality when his death looms above him.”
-Guru Granth, 870.
The otherworldly theme of this seemingly negative verse, though, when offset against the Rahaao produces a more Gurmat oriented and proactive simplification. Keeping in mind that Rahaao means “gist,” the entire verse needs to be reinterpreted with the “gist” verse preceding its prior and subsequent counterparts. The “gist” verse here is:
ਅਪਨੇ ਕਰਮ ਕੀ ਗਤਿ ਮੈ ਕਿਆ ਜਾਨਉ ॥ ਮੈ ਕਿਆ ਜਾਨਉ ਬਾਬਾ ਰੇ ॥੧॥
More important,ਗਤਿ is not song as the Sihari (“i”) vowel is pronounced after the “t” thus becoming Gati rather than Geet. Kabir is essentially saying,
“What do I know of my acts? What do I learn from their consequences?”
This line denotes the entire theme of the verse, ergo its identification with Rahaao. Let us now look at the new and more concise translation:
“What do I know of my acts? What do I learn from their consequences? When the human within (conscience) dies then an individual becomes obsolete. However, if the animal within (individuation) dies then the individual is useful for ten purposes and more. In the end, all our bones will perish like logs in flame. Our hairs will wither away like hay in wind. Kabir askes the reader, will you only awaken then when death knocks at your door?”
It must be noted that in a bid to preserve Gurbani’s poetic aesthetics many translations will dismiss its contextual meaning and impose a literal translation. The proper utilization of Rahaao, however, allows the fundamental message of a Gurbani verse to be preserved across languages. This, however, is not to say that Gurmukhi’s originality and structural parameters should be mitigated in a bid to universalize Gurbani. A profound grasp of Gurmukhi, of literary avenues such as Rahaao and Gurbani’s numerology and Gurbani itself allows veteran Sikhs to deduce:
-The authentic meaning of a verse.
-Obliterate any deliberate translative errors which invalidate Gurmat.
-Authenticate whether the manuscript of the Guru Granth in question is valid or not.
Concentrating on Kabir’s aforementioned enunciation, it is crucial to contrast the Rahaao with the non-Rahaao based translation. The former inspires proactivity and is Gurbani based as it invites the reader to delve further in the Guru Granth. The latter, meanwhile, introduces disconnected elements (Gati is rendered Geet) and introduces reliance on exterior and highly dubious sources which contend that Kabir is asking,
“What do I know of my karma; of what is Good and Bad?”
To make the argument that Good and Bad are worldly adjectives and should be rejected because the entire empirical paradigm is illusory and worthy of renunciation. This then allows principles opposed to Gurmat to hijack Sikhi’s otherwise authentic and unique approach to life.
Example ii:
Another relevant example is Bhagat Trilochan’s verse allegedly referencing Reincarnation:
ਅੰਤਿ ਕਾਲਿ ਜੋ ਲਛਮੀ ਸਿਮਰੈ ਐਸੀ ਚਿੰਤਾ ਮਹਿ ਜੇ ਮਰੈ ॥
ਸਰਪ ਜੋਨਿ ਵਲਿ ਵਲਿ ਅਉਤਰੈ ॥੧॥
ਅਰੀ ਬਾਈ ਗੋਬਿਦ ਨਾਮੁ ਮਤਿ ਬੀਸਰੈ ॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
ਅੰਤਿ ਕਾਲਿ ਜੋ ਇਸਤ੍ਰੀ ਸਿਮਰੈ ਐਸੀ ਚਿੰਤਾ ਮਹਿ ਜੇ ਮਰੈ ॥
ਬੇਸਵਾ ਜੋਨਿ ਵਲਿ ਵਲਿ ਅਉਤਰੈ ॥੨॥
ਅੰਤਿ ਕਾਲਿ ਜੋ ਲੜਿਕੇ ਸਿਮਰੈ ਐਸੀ ਚਿੰਤਾ ਮਹਿ ਜੇ ਮਰੈ ॥
ਸੂਕਰ ਜੋਨਿ ਵਲਿ ਵਲਿ ਅਉਤਰੈ ॥੩॥
ਪ੍ਰੇਤ ਜੋਨਿ ਵਲਿ ਵਲਿ ਅਉਤਰੈ ॥੪॥
ਅੰਤਿ ਕਾਲਿ ਜੋ ਮੰਦਰ ਸਿਮਰੈ ਐਸੀ ਚਿੰਤਾ ਮਹਿ ਜੇ ਮਰੈ ॥
ਅੰਤਿ ਕਾਲਿ ਨਾਰਾਇਣੁ ਸਿਮਰੈ ਐਸੀ ਚਿੰਤਾ ਮਹਿ ਜੇ ਮਰੈ ॥
ਬਦਤਿ ਤਿਲੋਚਨੁ ਤੇ ਨਰ ਮੁਕਤਾ ਪੀਤੰਬਰੁ ਵਾ ਕੇ ਰਿਦੈ ਬਸੈ ॥੫॥੨॥
The conventional simplification runs,
“Upon nearing death, one who remembers wealth is reincarnated as a serpent; do not renounce the Name of the One who made Creation possible. Upon nearing death, one who remembers a woman is reincarnated as whore. Upon nearing death, one who thinks of his property is reincarnated as a ghost…One who remembers the Lord though will never be reincarnated.”
-Guru Granth, 526.
The moral and philosophical contradictions of such a translation aside, the entire simplification runs contrary to Gurmat. Gurbani emphatically rejects Reincarnation as evinced by the Rehraas litany. Various schools of Vedism pronounce that Reincarnation exists only while attachment to an illusory empirical world exists. Gurmat, however, declares the empirical world to be as true as its Maker thus dismissing the renunciative emphasis of Vedism. In lieu of the latter, it propounds Reincarnation to be a literary adjective for describing human behavioral modalities. Thus the behavioral aspects which form a nuclear aspect of our individuation (and not cognition) lead us astray in our day-to-day life. The Rahaao verse here is:
ਅਰੀ ਬਾਈ ਗੋਬਿਦ ਨਾਮੁ ਮਤਿ ਬੀਸਰੈ ॥
The Naam referred to in Gurbani is not Vedism’s phraseology of repeat chanting emulated by the Nirmala-Udasi combine and corollaries. Naam in Gurbani is,
ਤੀਰਥਿ ਨਾਵਣ ਜਾਉ ਤੀਰਥੁ ਨਾਮੁ ਹੈ ॥ ਤੀਰਥੁ ਸਬਦ ਬੀਚਾਰੁ ਅੰਤਰਿ ਗਿਆਨੁ ਹੈ ॥
“My pilgrimage is my own. It is within me and is my Naam. This Naam is the ever flowing fountain of Gian (wisdom) emanating from within me.”
-Guru Granth, 318.
In light of the above verse, what the Rahaao verse is proclaiming is actually:
“Do not forget the Gian installed within you by your Maker.”
Then,
“Do not forget the Gian seeded within you by your Maker. One who forgets this Gian adopts the traits of a snake said to reside atop mounds of gold. The obsession of a pimp with a prostitute and, the flagrant disregard of a prostitute. Such a one becomes as anxious as the spirit said to haunt the ruins of castles and mansions built by nobles past. Their life is as fraught with fear as a swine’s is for its multiple offspring. Yet remembering the Gian and living that Gian-one does not waste this precious life in such mental states.”
The principle of comprehending Gurbani only through Gurbani can also be applied here:
The term ਅੰਤਿ ਕਾਲਿ is literally translated as meaning “the end of life.” Yet Gurbani utilizes it to mean a final opportunity, this new definition is provided by Guru Amar Das.
ਮਨ ਮੇਰੇ ਹਰਿ ਜੀਉ ਸਦਾ ਸਮਾਲਿ ॥
ਅੰਤ ਕਾਲਿ ਤੇਰਾ ਬੇਲੀ ਹੋਵੈ ਸਦਾ ਨਿਬਹੈ ਤੇਰੈ ਨਾਲਿ ॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
“Your final opportunity is your most loyal companion. It will forever be with you. Make your mind accept its presence.”
-Guru Granth, 601.
ਅੰਤਿ ਕਾਲਿ is essentially a revamped metaphor for human life. The final opportunity here does not refer to the individual’s life being some state at the tail end of a Reincarnation circle but rather life itself.
ਭਈ ਪਰਾਪਤਿ ਮਾਨੁਖ ਦੇਹੁਰੀਆ ॥
ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਮਿਲਣ ਕੀ ਇਹ ਤੇਰੀ ਬਰੀਆ ॥
“This life, and this life alone, is the only opportunity to meet your Maker. Recognize its worth and live duly so.”
-Guru Granth, 12.
The human life is the one and only-the final-opportunity to integrate with Hukam and in doing so reflect the Creator’s virtues tangibly. There is no opportunity after this as neither Reincarnation nor any Ressurection exists ipso facto. The verse, in light of the Rahaao, is imploring the reader to comprehend that this life is a one-off. An ਅੰਤਿ ਕਾਲਿ . There is no return after it is extinguished. Why then are individuals regressing into bestial states and denying their supreme cognition; their inner Gian?
Rahaao sans Rahaao:
The usage of Rahaao throughout Gurbani is strategic. However where there is no identification of “gist,” a similar formula comes into play. This is Rahaao sans Rahaao. Here, the concluding stanzas of a particular verse act as the Rahaao.
ਜੀਅਹੁ ਮੈਲੇ ਬਾਹਰਹੁ ਨਿਰਮਲ ॥
ਬਾਹਰਹੁ ਨਿਰਮਲ ਜੀਅਹੁ ਤ ਮੈਲੇ ਤਿਨੀ ਜਨਮੁ ਜੂਐ ਹਾਰਿਆ ॥
ਏਹ ਤਿਸਨਾ ਵਡਾ ਰੋਗੁ ਲਗਾ ਮਰਣੁ ਮਨਹੁ ਵਿਸਾਰਿਆ ॥
ਵੇਦਾ ਮਹਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਉਤਮੁ ਸੋ ਸੁਣਹਿ ਨਾਹੀ ਫਿਰਹਿ ਜਿਉ ਬੇਤਾਲਿਆ ॥
ਕਹੈ ਨਾਨਕੁ ਜਿਨ ਸਚੁ ਤਜਿਆ ਕੂੜੇ ਲਾਗੇ ਤਿਨੀ ਜਨਮੁ ਜੂਐ ਹਾਰਿਆ ॥੧੯॥
“Those who are impure from within but act as pure from the without, they are the ones who forfeit this gamble of life. They thirst after the impossible and forget the humility which comes with the remembrance of death. Within the Vedas we hear nothing of the true Gian and thus we wander out of sync with life.” 19.
-Guru Granth, Anand.
Here the “19” (੧੯) indicates the conclusion of the verse whereas the prior verse’s conclusion would have been indicated by an “18.”
The Rahaao sans Rahaao verse is:
ਕਹੈ ਨਾਨਕੁ ਜਿਨ ਸਚੁ ਤਜਿਆ ਕੂੜੇ ਲਾਗੇ ਤਿਨੀ ਜਨਮੁ ਜੂਐ ਹਾਰਿਆ
“Those who forfeit the truth and attach themselves to falsity, they are the real losers.”
The entire verse in light of the above line:
“Those who forfeit the truth and attach themselves to falsity, they are the real losers. They act pure but are inherently impure, thus setting themselves up to lose the gamble of life. The fact that death is an eventuality departs their psyche rendering them thirsty for the very impossible. Within the existing scriptures we hear nothing of Gian and wander out of sync with reality.”
Of note,
ਵੇਦਾ ਮਹਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਉਤਮੁ ਸੋ ਸੁਣਹਿ ਨਾਹੀ ਫਿਰਹਿ ਜਿਉ ਬੇਤਾਲਿਆ ॥
is translated to mean:
“They do not hear of the glories of the Name in the Vedas…”
Such a simplification could only make sense if ਵੇਦਾ ਮਹਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਉਤਮੁ was succeeded by a॥. This would render it a statement that “the glories of the Name are found within the Vedas.” However the fact that a ॥ follows the entire stanza denotes that the Vedas and other scriptures are being criticized. The verse forewarns against disconnecting oneself from impartial purviews of good and bad and adhering solely to religious notions. These can be highly misleading and playing straight into the hands of the crafty clerical classes.
Instruction or Imperative:
Rahaao in its essential sense is an instruction, to pause and formulaically comprehend Gurbani’s message. Not an imperative to “contemplate” (or mis-contemplate) Gurbani externally. It is high time now that a new simplification/translation of Gurbani be undertaken with Gurbani itself being the sole contextual translative aid and not second/third party sources.