Gurbani Word Of The Day: Daras

ਦਰਸ (daras)
Meaning: noun: Vision, sight, glimpse.

Quote:
ਜਿਸੁ ਜਨ ਕਉ ਪ੍ਰਭ ਦਰਸ ਪਿਆਸਾ॥ ਨਾਨਕ ਤਾ ਕੈ ਬਲਿ ਬਲਿ ਜਾਸਾ॥
jis jan kau prabh daras piaasaa. naanak taa kai bali bali jaasaa.
Nanak! Humble before the one, who thirst only for the blessed vision of the Divine!
– Guru Arjan Sahib, Guru Granth Sahib, 266

Message: In the last four verses Guru Sahib advised us that if we desire treasures of life or want to enjoy honour or want to end our pain or remove the fear of life and death, we can achieve these by being in the company of wise and virtuous people and keeping the Divine in our mind.

In this last verse, Guru Sahib reminds us that, apart from these worldly desires, we ought to have a superior aim in life. That real aim is to understand the divine vision and become one with the Divine. Guru Sahib salutes them whose only aim in life is to spiritually elevate themselves and be closer to the Divine.

Such human beings neither ask for cardinal blessings nor yearn for glory. Neither do they have any fear of suffering nor of death (birth or death). For, they comprehend and realise that all blessings and bliss lie in a rightly oriented lifestyle.

Hence, they only long and strive for achieving right understanding and living by wisdom and virtues of Gurbani. The Guru hails such devoted seekers and salutes their spiritual desire and longing.

The doctrine of the material efficacy of prayer reduces the Creator to a cosmic bellhop of a not very bright or reliable kind. -Herbert J. Muller, educator, historian, and author, 1905-1980

Etymology: From Sanskrit darsh (sight, glimpse) and darshan (seeing)..

Summary of the Week:
In our life, we seek happiness through the fulfilment of desires – wealth, power, spirituality and some form of liberation.

To achieve these we place ourselves in the association of those who can best provide this guidance. We turn to the congregation of Guru-oriented virtuous people (sadh sangat).

Here we learn from the message of Gurbani, as to how to be more content with our lot in life and to eradicate our egoism. We learn a bit about the mystery of birth and death.

The quest to be humble and the yearning to be near the Divine becomes our primary purpose in life.  We are inspired to sing praises of the Divine and abide by the divine will.

As Sikhs of the Guru, we have to reach the stage where we remember the Creator with each and every breath of life. We can achieve this stage by regularly being in the company of Guru oriented people and seeking guidance from Gurbani.

What can be added to the happiness of a man who is in health, out of debt, and has a clear conscience? -Adam Smith, an 18th-century philosopher renowned as the father of modern economics, 1723-1790

 

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