Word Of The Day: Khaak

ਖਾਕੁ (khaak)
Meaning: noun: dust.

Quote:
ਫਰੀਦਾ ਖਾਕੁ ਨ ਨਿੰਦੀਐ   ਖਾਕੂ ਜੇਡੁ ਨ ਕੋਇ॥ ਜੀਵਦਿਆ ਪੈਰਾ ਤਲੈ   ਮੁਇਆ ਉਪਰਿ ਹੋਇ॥
phareedaa khaak na niňdeeai khaakoo jeḍ na koi. jeevadiaa pairaa talai muiaa upar hoi.
O Fareed! Do not slander the dust; nothing is as great as dust. When we are alive, it is under our feet, and when we are dead, it is above us.
– Bhagat Fareed, Guru Granth Sahib, Page 1378

Message: There is so much competition in the world. People are constantly seeking to be more successful than others. Each possession, be it a better phone, a better house, better car or a better job, adds to the ego of a person. He considers himself a higher being, and sometimes slanders the life, which he may once have been a part of. We consider ourselves more intelligent and modern than our elders. We are guilty of considering others inferior to us and look down on those not as fortunate as us.

Baba Fareed here reminds us that we are in no position to look down at anything. The use of the word dust (khaak) as something lowly, implies humility. The aim of the above couplet, using dust, as lowly material, is to signify that we are in no position to judge or fault others. When you accept your lowly position, then you are humbled. As the saying goes “Little drops of water and little grains of sand, make the mighty ocean and the pleasant land”.

Keen to Explore Further?
Etymology: From Persian khaak.

Summary of the Week:
We need to tune our mind to focus on attaining the true treasure in this lifetime itself. We need to realise that nothing is higher than self-realization and realization of the Divine in us. We do not have to scale mountains or engage in difficult ventures to attain this; we merely need to increase our mindfulness and awareness.

Our acceptance and love for His creation must supersede all else. Our true Friend is not far, nor out of reach. We need to search within us with humility. We cannot leave for tomorrow what we need to start today. Start now. Time waits for no man.

Embrace the treasure trove of divine knowledge of the Gurbani and open up your horizons!

Within one linear centimeter of your lower colon, there lives and works more bacteria (about 100 billion) than all humans who have ever been born. Yet many people continue to assert that it is we who are in charge of the world.
-Neil deGrasse Tyson, an American astrophysicist, cosmologist and author, b. 1958