GURBANI
Anand Sahib
Teachings of bliss: Re-embracing childhood and birth
Learn about Anand Sahib
The importance of Childhood
Our whole life is bracketed by two simple facts – that we are born, and that we die. As certain as these are, none of us can remember our birth and we tend to live forgetful of our inevitable death. In between these points, just as we busied ourselves as children with toys and games, we pursue all the things to have, and to do, that life presents to us growing up. It seems obvious, we guess, that religions will talk about birth and death. After all, faith traditions deal in the sacred mystery beyond our clinical understanding of these two events. They also give us prayers to ceremonially welcome new-borns and bid farewell to the departed. Yet birth and death appear in Gurbani not only to outline a philosophy or guide us to conduct our rituals. They poetically awaken in us awe and gratitude for the gift of human birth and inspire responsibility to make life ‘safal’, or fruitful, for the time we are here.
On this timeline, the childhood of humans is particularly long. Whilst, in animals, the brain’s neural networks are set soon after birth, in humans they keep developing, in a phenomenal way, over the initial years of life. After the mother’s womb, the world immediately around a child becomes another kind of ‘womb’ for this remarkable growth phase. If ‘Sikh’ means a ‘learner’ (linked to sikhnā, to learn), then in early childhood our ability to learn is at its peak, for this is when the brain’s synapses (that enable learning by connecting brain cells) can reach double the number found in any adult. In Gurbani, life does not quite begin at birth, because we have an eternal self that has journeyed over lifetimes and lifeforms before reaching the pinnacle of all species as a human being. This means we carry imprints from the experiences of our travelling soul as well as of our biological DNA. And because part of this non-material self also contains the very spark of God, children can remind us of the Divine qualities described in the Mool Mantar, by being more genuine or freer of fear or hate. As the ego establishes itself and as children observe, interpret, and learn patterns of responding to external experiences, they can take on the traits and values of the surrounding world. Yet if we are receptive, we can enable them to retain a uniqueness and express the latent qualities of the jyot or light within.
The inner joy
The miracle of birth, the critical phase of childhood and the joy of remembering the child within us are all reflected in the last prayer of the five early morning nitnem bānīs. Known as the Anand Sahib or ‘Song of Bliss’, it was composed by the oldest Sikh Guru, Guru Amardas Ji. Appointed as the third Guru in his seventies, he lived to the age of 95 and was renowned for his peacefulness, joy, vitality, and resilience.
Consisting of forty paurīs or verses, Anand Sahib follows the philosophical opening of Jap Ji Sahib, the expansive and empowering verses of Jāp Sahib, the discerning meditations of Tav Prasād Swaiye and the chants of Benatī Chaupai that seek Divine protection. Anand Sahib then returns our attention to the inner self dwelling in the home or ‘ghar’ of the body, by opening with an expression of ‘anand’ or ‘joy’ that it felt upon finding the Guru as a source of transformative wisdom. Like the coming together of jewel-like melodies (rāg ratan), this joy is felt as spontaneous vibrations that arise from a spiritually awakened state. In the very first line, this feeling is instinctively expressed to one’s mother (‘Anand bheiā merī māei’), the person through whom our soul first entered the world and who, ordinarily, has known us uniquely and intimately from birth.
This bliss which Guru Amardas describes stems from a state of ‘sachī liv’ or ‘true connection’ with God as the Source of Life. Without this connection, one’s whole body (‘deh’) misses out on experiencing its true worth (‘sachī livai bin deh nimānī’). More than the mind’s illumination, enlightenment then becomes an inspired aliveness of the entire self. This explains why Guru Amardas addresses the body directly (‘Eh sarīrā meriā’ – ‘Oh body of mine’) and transports us to the time of our physical budding within the womb. Here, our arrival in the world was only possible because of the jyot or Divine light placed within it (‘Har tum meh jyot rākhi, ta tu jag meh āiyā’), yet its life enabling presence is easily forgotten as soon as our focus gets entrenched in the world. Taking us back to the precarious environment of the womb, the verses describe how our survival hung in the balance; suspended alone and upside down, we were sustained ultimately by simran, remembrance of God as our unseen Mother and Father – the invisible force of nurture and protection behind the intricate processes that transformed us, from a dividing cell into a fully formed human being with astonishing capacities.
ਅਨੰਦੁ ਭਇਆ ਮੇਰੀ ਮਾਏ ਸਤਿਗੁਰੂ ਮੈ ਪਾਇਆ ॥
ਸਤਿਗੁਰੁ ਤ ਪਾਇਆ ਸਹਜ ਸੇਤੀ ਮਨਿ ਵਜੀਆ ਵਾਧਾਈਆ ॥
Oh my mother, I am in deep bliss, for I have found the True Guru –
The bringer of wisdom which illuminates and energises my soul.
I have connected with the True Guru with natural ease
And the mind celebrates with vibrations of joyful melodies…
– Guru Amardas Ji, Sri Guru Granth Sahib, ang 917 (Anand Sahib pauri 1)
The external fire
The risks of the delicate phase in the womb are described as ‘agan’ or fire, that is mirrored too in the outside world. When we see this world as devoid of the Divine presence and as a means to just gratify our ego, it takes on an illusory nature known as ‘māyā’. Here, different forces and entanglements become the agan that inhibits our spiritual growth, when, through birth, our ‘liv’ is broken and the cycle of ‘trishnā’ or wants and desires begins. Whilst māyā can pull us in different directions, simran helps us build inward peace, contentment, and balance to regain a state of ‘liv’, where the ego is gracefully kept in check and spiritual attributes flow. This art of living can be cultivated, not just later in life, but in the very freshness of childhood, as this paurī implies. The world adults create, both with and around children, provides the ground or ‘womb’ for this cultivation of the self and hence, in Sikh tradition, the path of marriage and family life take on a spiritual, as well as worldly purpose.
Keeping our focus on the body, Guru Amardas then speaks to the eyes (netr), ears (sravan) and tongue (rasnā), guiding them to ever see, hear and taste the True Reality and to recognise the world as ‘Har kā rūp’, the wondrous manifestation of the Divine. Beyond all forms of material consumption and the sweet pull (moh mitthā) of māyā, this awareness of Truth generates the ambrosia or amrit that keeps us spiritually nourished. As we sit in meditation, the Guru guides us to see the body as a cave (guphā), where Hari, the Creator, breathed life into us, like a melody filling an instrument. Whilst our physical self has ‘nine doors’ (nau duāre) or openings to the world, there is a subtle tenth doorway (dasam duār) that connects us to the sacred. Whilst in life we can remain very closed to the sacred, it is by coming to the Guru’s door (gur-duare) that this threshold to the Divine can be revealed and opened.
ਅੰਤਰਿ ਗੁਰੁ ਆਰਾਧਣਾ ਜਿਹਵਾ ਜਪਿ ਗੁਰ ਨਾਉ ॥
ਨੇਤ੍ਰੀ ਸਤਿਗੁਰੁ ਪੇਖਣਾ ਸ੍ਰਵਣੀ ਸੁਨਣਾ ਗੁਰ ਨਾਉ ॥
Hold deep with in yourself a loving reverence for the Guru, the Enlightener. With your tongue, chant the Guru’s name, and connect to the guiding light. With your eyes, behold the True Guru, and discern the Divine Presence. And with your ears, hear the Guru’s name, whose sound directs you to wisdom.
– Guru Arjan Dev Ji, Sri Guru Granth Sahib, ang 517
Springboard for spiritual growth
Just as the physical womb prepared us for our growth in the world, we learn that life in this world can be embraced as a springboard for our spiritual growth, by opening our mind to the inspiration, illumination and benevolence that comes from the Guru. And so, the joyous verses of Anand Sahib celebrate this very possibility, with full awareness of life’s internal and external pitfalls and challenges. Through its own melodious poetry, set to the early morning musical rag known as Rāmkalī, the Anand Sahib reaffirms the transformative power of deep listening that was introduced in the early verses of Jap Ji Sahib. Its vibrance is enriched by evoking God as ‘Harī’, the Source of Life that brings greenery both into the world and into one’s mind and body. By helping us overcome hurdles and destroy negativity, remembrance of this Source brings healing and rejuvenation.
Whilst Anand Sahib consists of forty verses, it became traditional to sing six of its verses (the first five and final, fortieth paurī) to conclude all religious services, be it in times of worldly joy or sorrow, birth, or death. In this way, the Anand Sahib symbolises, through word and sound, the treasured Sikh value of chardī kalā or ever-ascending positivity and optimism. In the final paurī, a dual interpretation of the word ‘anad’ suggests we must learn to hear the ‘unstruck sound’ (anhad) of nām, as well as the joyous message of the bānī entitled ‘Anand’. Whilst all sounds in the universe are created through some obvious or subtle form of material interaction, the ‘unstruck’ vibration of the Divine Presence transcends this. The close of Anand Sahib then reaffirms the message of its opening paurī, that by harmonising with the Divine Name the inner self comes to live and vibrate with the deepest joy. After the six verses of Anand Sahib, religious services are concluded with the same Salok as Jap Ji Sahib. This speaks in the end as a child of the universe, evoking the air, water and earth as Guru, Mother and Father. From Guru Nanak’s own childhood and that of later Gurus, we learn that wisdom is not always measured by age. By taking us back to our own birth and childhood, their teachings guide us to see and embrace life’s greater spiritual quest.
ਅਨਦੁ ਸੁਣਹੁ ਵਡਭਾਗੀਹੋ ਸਗਲ ਮਨੋਰਥ ਪੂਰੇ ॥
ਪਾਰਬ੍ਰਹਮੁ ਪ੍ਰਭੁ ਪਾਇਆ ਉਤਰੇ ਸਗਲ ਵਿਸੂਰੇ ॥
ਦੂਖ ਰੋਗ ਸੰਤਾਪ ਉਤਰੇ ਸੁਣੀ ਸਚੀ ਬਾਣੀ ॥
ਸੰਤ ਸਾਜਨ ਭਏ ਸਰਸੇ ਪੂਰੇ ਗੁਰ ਤੇ ਜਾਣੀ ॥
ਸੁਣਤੇ ਪੁਨੀਤ ਕਹਤੇ ਪਵਿਤੁ ਸਤਿਗੁਰੁ ਰਹਿਆ ਭਰਪੂਰੇ ॥
ਬਿਨਵੰਤਿ ਨਾਨਕੁ ਗੁਰ ਚਰਣ ਲਾਗੇ ਵਾਜੇ ਅਨਹਦ ਤੂਰੇ ॥
Listen, O fortunate ones, to the unstruck sound, remembered in this Song of Bliss. By such listening, all the hopes and desires of your soul shall be fulfilled. By finding at last the Supreme Creator, all my sorrows and anxieties have dissolved away.
Gone is my sense of pain, sickness and suffering, by listening to this message of Divine Truth.
I now see the sublime joy of saintly souls and their friends, who came to know the Perfect Guru.
As the message of the True Guru resounds and permeates, it purifies those who hear and utter it.
Prays Nanak, as one touches the feet of the Guru, the eternal source of all wisdom,
May the unstruck sound of celestial instruments begin to joyously vibrate.
– Guru Amardas Ji, Sri Guru Granth Sahib, ang 922 (Anand Sahib, pauri 40)