ਅੰਧਕਾਰ (aňdhkaar)
Meaning: noun: Darkness, darkness of ignorance.
Quote:
ਅੰਧਕਾਰ ਸੁਖਿ ਕਬਹਿ ਨ ਸੋਈ ਹੈ॥ ਰਾਜਾ ਰੰਕੁ ਦੋਊ ਮਿਲਿ ਰੋਈ ਹੈ॥
aňdhkaar sukh kabahi na soee hai. raajaa raňk do-oo mil roee hai.
One can never sleep in peace in the darkness of spiritual ignorance. King and pauper both weep and cry in it. – Bhagat Kabir, Guru Granth Sahib, 325
Message: Can darkness be defined? Night and day, darkness and light are an inherent part of our lives. Darkness is no more than an absence of light. Mankind has evolved such that we associate light with goodness and enlightenment; darkness on the other hand is thought of as gloominess, limiting, bad and even evil. Explore this a little further and we realize that they are interdependent, almost as if blended together. You cannot understand darkness if you do not have light: one is thus no more important than the other.
Bhagat Kabir in the verse above says, one can never sleep in peace in ‘darkness’ of spiritual or inner ignorance. That is because we have not yet explored our potential.The divine spark in us, the divine qualities in us are lying dormant (in the darkness of spiritual ignorance). The divine potential in us has not yet been brought into the light.
ਅੰਧਕਾਰੁ ਮਿਟਿਓ ਤਿਹ ਤਨ ਤੇ ਗੁਰਿ ਸਬਦਿ ਦੀਪਕੁ ਪਰਗਾਸਾ॥
The darkness of ignorance is dispelled from the body, where the lamp of wisdom is lit through the Guru’s Word. – Guru Arjan Sahib, Guru Granth Sahib, 208
Etymology: From Sanskrit andhakaar (darkness) → Pali andhakaar (blindness, darkness).
