By Harmanpreet Singh Minhas | Sikh Bulletin |
There is a shabd by Guru Nanak Ji on page 472 of the Aad Sri Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS) in
relation to the people who believe in certain days or times being auspicious. Muslims
consider Friday to be a blessed day, Christians Sunday, and Hindus Wednesday. According
to the Doctrine of Gurbani all days and times are the same. Each day you are alive, doing good, remembering the Creator within is a blessed day.
ਜੇ ਕਰਿ ਸੂਤਕੁ ਮੰਨੀਐ ਸਭ ਤੈ ਸੂਤਕੁ ਹੋਇ ॥ ਗੋਹੇ ਅਤੈ ਲਕੜੀ ਅੰਦਰਿ ਕੀੜਾ ਹੋਇ ॥
ਜੇਤੇ ਦਾਣੇ ਅੰਨ ਕੇ ਜੀਆ ਬਾਝੁ ਨ ਕੋਇ ॥ ਪਹਿਲਾ ਪਾਣੀ ਜੀਉ ਹੈ ਜਿਤੁ ਹਰਿਆ ਸਭੁ ਕੋਇ ॥
ਸੂਤਕੁ ਕਿਉ ਕਰਿ ਰਖੀਐ ਸੂਤਕੁ ਪਵੈ ਰਸੋਇ ॥ ਨਾਨਕ ਸੂਤਕੁ ਏਵ ਨ ਉਤਰੈ ਗਿਆਨੁ ਉਤਾਰੇ ਧੋਇ ॥੧॥
jay kar sootak mannee-ai sabh tai sootak ho-ay. gohay atai lakrhee andar keerhaa ho-ay.
jaytay daanay ann kay jee-aa baajh na ko-ay. pahilaa paanee jee-o hai jit hari-aa sabh ko-ay.
sootak ki-o kar rakhee-ai sootak pavai raso-ay. naanak sootak ayv na utrai gi-aan utaaray Dho-ay. ||1||
AGGS Page 472
To understand this shabd, we need to understand the word “sootak” in depth. According to Hindu religious beliefs, there are a handful of days in a year which are not equal as others. If a baby is born on any of these days, the parents have the risk of dying soon. Such a child is called “manglik”. This is just one example; other examples include not eating on certain days of the week, not starting any new business on certain days, not planting crops on certain days, not bathing on certain days, not shaving or certain days, etc.
Guru Ji says here that for one second, if I were to believe in the practice of “sootak” (jay kar sootak mannee-ai), such belief is proven false immediately as everything around us is impure (sabh tai sootak ho-ay).
Guru Ji goes on to explain this statement as to why he thinks that everything around us is impure. We know now – scientifically – that life originates in awkward places. Our universe was once a disk of dust. Out of this disk came the sun, planets, water, earth etc. Then came life. Life took hundreds of millions of years to turn into the form it is now. No one knows what kind of filth and impurities life originated and evolved in. All scientists can do is speculate.
Even now life originates in various dirty and impure places. Guru Ji gives an example of life such as worms, originating in decaying matter (gohay atai lakrhee andar keerhaa ho-ay). In the next three lines Guru Ji explains that water is impure “sootak” too. We know that water is impure as fish live in it, human waste and garbage is thrown into the water. Lakes, rivers, oceans, and aquifers are all polluted. Yet water is essential for life on earth (pahilaa paanee jee-o hai jit hari-aa sabh ko-ay).
Does this then mean all the life forms on earth are impure? We keep this impure water in our kitchen (sootak ki-o kar rakhee-ai sootak pavai raso-ay). Does this mean that our kitchens are impure? Not a single grain of food can be produced without water (jaytay daanay ann kay jee-aa baajh na ko-ay). Does this mean our food is impure?
All these questions lead to the final statement by Guru Ji here. He says that it’s not the things around us or certain days that are impure. It is our mind that is impure. It is our thought process that are impure.
Nothing becomes pure by following the concepts of “sootak”. We need to purify our mind first (naanak sootak ayv na utrai). We can only purify our mind (gi-aan utaaray Dho-ay) through the enlightenment of the messages as contained within the SGGS.
In the following verses Guru Ji talks about various impurities of the mind and how to get rid of them in further detail.
ਮਨ ਕਾ ਸੂਤਕੁ ਲੋਭੁ ਹੈ ਜਿਹਵਾ ਸੂਤਕੁ ਕੂੜੁ ॥ ਅਖੀ ਸੂਤਕੁ ਵੇਖਣਾ ਪਰ ਤ੍ਰਿਅ ਪਰ ਧਨ ਰੂਪੁ ॥
ਕੰਨੀ ਸੂਤਕੁ ਕੰਨਿ ਪੈ ਲਾਇਤਬਾਰੀ ਖਾਹਿ ॥ ਨਾਨਕ ਹੰਸਾ ਆਦਮੀ ਬਧੇ ਜਮ ਪੁਰਿ ਜਾਹਿ ॥੨॥
man kaa sootak lobh hai jihvaa sootak koorh. akhee sootak vaykh-naa par tari-a par Dhan roop.
kannee sootak kann pai laa-itbaaree khaahi. naanak hansaa aadmee baDhay jam pur jaahi. ||2||
Guru Ji calls the greed as impurity of mind (man kaa sootak lobh hai) and dishonesty as the impurity of our tongue (jihvaa sootak koorh). The impurity of the eyes is lust (akhee sootak vaykh-naa par tari-a) and jealousy towards wealth and success of others (par dhan roop). The impurity of the ears is that they listen to the bad mouthing, slander, and insult of others (kannee sootak kann pai laa-itbaaree) without any regret (pai khaahi). Guru Ji ends these definitions of impurities by saying that no matter how externally cleansed a person is (naanak hansaa aadmee), with all these inner impurities, the person always falls in the cycle of mental and spiritual life and death (baDhay jam pur jaahi). To summarize the message in these lines, Guru Ji is saying that external ritualistic cleansing cannot hide the impurities of one’s mind.
ਸਭੋ ਸੂਤਕੁ ਭਰਮੁ ਹੈ ਦੂਜੈ ਲਗੈ ਜਾਇ ॥ ਜੰਮਣੁ ਮਰਣਾ ਹੁਕਮੁ ਹੈ ਭਾਣੈ ਆਵੈ ਜਾਇ ॥
ਖਾਣਾ ਪੀਣਾ ਪਵਿਤ੍ਰੁ ਹੈ ਦਿਤੋਨੁ ਰਿਜਕੁ ਸੰਬਾਹਿ ॥ ਨਾਨਕ ਜਿਨ੍ਹ੍ਹੀ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਬੁਝਿਆ ਤਿਨ੍ਹ੍ਹਾ ਸੂਤਕੁ ਨਾਹਿ ॥੩॥
sabho sootak bharam hai doojai lagai jaa-ay. jaman marnaa hukam hai bhaanai aavai jaa-ay. khaanaa peenaa pavitar hai diton rijak sambaahi. naanak jinHee gurmukh bujhi-aa tinHaa sootak naahi. ||3||
In the first line, Guru Ji calls the notions of purity and impurity; auspicious and inauspicious days or time; jootha and sucha etc as being illusionary (sabho sootak bharam hai). All human beings are impacted by this as we are all stuck in the web of materialism (doojai lagai jaa-ay). Try to recall all the impurities that a human harbors from the previous paragraph. These include greed, bad mouthing others, lust, jealousy towards wealth and success of others etc. Just pause here and think about it, what causes these impurities within us? We should recognize when these impurities manifest themselves and should try to get rid of them. We should not be greedy, but share instead. We should rid ourselves of lust and desire. We should refrain from listening to someone bad mouthing others. We should be happy when someone we know is successful etc.
The next line is like a slap on the faces of people who believe in one day being better than another. Life and death have no relationship to a particular day or time. Simply put, a person is born or dies based on the order and rules set by the Creator (jaman marnaa hukam hai bhaanai aavai jaa-ay).
Some people believe that if you pray over food, it becomes “parshad”, with some magical powers. Some others believe that if you pray over water, it turns into “amrit”, with some holistic powers. In the third line Guru Ji says that all food is good, because it is all created by our Creator to be used by us (diton rijak sambaahi). Anything created by the Creator is good and pure (khaanaa peenaa pavitar hai). Praying over food does not make it magical. It’s proven through science that more “karrah” you eat, the more your cholesterol increases and higher your chance of heart disease.
In the final line Guru Ji says that the people who understand this message (naanak jinHee gurmukh bujhi- aa), do not fall into the trap of the concepts of “sootak”. To them all days are the same. They understand that life and death is handled by the Creator, and that he does not delegate this responsibility to anyone else. Thus no one can change this.
The central message of this shabd is for us to not indulge in silly beliefs. If something sounds silly, then it is silly. Gurbani stands the test of time. Everything in it is true and overrides prevalent customs. We should read and understand what Gurbani is trying to tell us. It is filled with answers related to daily life. We need to dig deeper and look harder to understand these concepts and adopt them in our daily lives. This will help us become better humans. Just like viruses that spread through social contact, if we become better humans, society will become better through social contact with such people.
The author, Harmanpreet Singh Minhas, can be contacted at hpsminhas@outlook.com. This article appeared in the The Sikh Bulletin – 2024 Issue 1 (January-March 2024). Click here to retrieve archived copies of the bulletin.
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