ਮਾਧਾਣਾ (maa-dhaa-ṇaa)
Meaning: noun: Churning-stick.
Quote:
ਮਾਧਾਣਾ ਪਰਬਤੁ ਕਰਿ ਨੇਤ੍ਰਿ ਬਾਸਕੁ ਸਬਦਿ ਰਿੜਕਿਓਨੁ॥
maadhaaṇaa parbat kar netr baasak sabad riṛ-kion.
Making the mountain his churning-stick and the cobra his churning-string, (Guru Nanak) has churned the ocean with the Word of the Divine. -Bhai Satta and Balvand, Guru Granth Sahib, 967
Message: The Master Churner
The verse uses terms from a legend in Hindu mythology in which:
Gods and demons joined together to churn the ocean. They used a mountain as their churning stick and the king cobra as their churning rope and thus extracted fourteen mythical jewels from the ocean.
A churning stick is part of a churning device or churn for making butter. Using this as an analogy for churning, Bhai Satta and Balvand (authors of a ballad in Guru Granth Sahib) say that, by steering his mind with the wisdom of the Divine, Guru Nanak has churned his own self.
In this way, he has acquired real jewels, i.e., the virtues and attributes of the Divine from within himself. Making such an effort, he has illuminated the entire world with divine wisdom.
By emulating the Guru’s formula, we can also strive for a continuous spiritual growth and thereby a continuous illumination of life. The divinity which we seek in the powers outside is within us.
Image: The Churning of the Ocean
Note: Women in India still use this device at home to make butter. Some are still manually operated, though you get electric ones too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=—ti2OKEqcg
Etymology: From Sanskrit manthaan (churning stick) → Prakrit maṁthaaṇ → Sindhi maadhaaṇee and Lahndi/Punjabi madhaaṇee/madhaaṇaa.
