ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>B&#256RAH M&#256H&#256</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background:#EAF1F7 url('../images/gtbh.jpg') no-repeat fixed center; color: #0066CC} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="BRAH,MH"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279B&#256RAH M&#256H&#256 or B&#256RAH M&#256S&#256, in Hindi, is a form of folk poetry in which the emotions and yearnings of the human heart are expressed in terms of the changing moods of Nature over the twelve months of the year. In this form of poetry, the mood of Nature in each particular month (of the Indian calendar) depicts the inner agony of the human heart which in most cases happens to be a woman separated from her spouse or lover. In other words, the separated woman finds her own agony reflected in the different faces of Nature. The tradition of B&#257rah M&#257h&#257 poetry is traceable to classical epochs. In Sanskrit, the B&#257rah M&#257h&#257 had the form of <i>sha&#7693 &#7771tu v&#257r&#7751an</i>, i. e. description of the six seasons (<i>sha&#7693</i> =six; <i>&#7771tu</i> = season; <i>v&#257r&#7751an</i> = description), the most well-known example being K&#257lid&#257sa's <i>&#7770tu Sa&#7749h&#257r</i>. The mode was commonly employed to depict the moods of the love-stricken woman in separation, and it became an established vogue in medieval Indian poetry. Modern languages of northern India claim several distinguished models. In Hindi, the first instance of this poetic form occurs in Malik Muhammad J&#257yas&#299's <i>Padm&#257vat</i>. In Punjabi, Gur&#363 N&#257nak's <i>B&#257rah M&#257h&#257</i> in the measure Tukh&#257r&#299 is not only the oldest composition belonging to this <i>genre</i> but also the first in which the theme of love poetry has been transformed into that of spiritual import. He made the human soul the protagonist which suffers in the cesspool of transmigration as a result of its separation from the Supreme Soul. This is followed by Gur&#363 Arjan's <i>B&#257r&#257h M&#257h&#257</i>. Later some S&#363f&#299 poets such as 'Al&#299 Haider, Bulleh Sh&#257h, H&#257sham and Sh&#257h Mur&#257d also wrote <i>b&#257rah m&#257h&#257s</i>. H&#257fiz Bar<u>kh</u>urd&#257r was the first poet in the Punjabi romantic tradition to compose a <i>b&#257rah m&#257h&#257</i> as an independent work. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, there were a number of <i>b&#257rah m&#257h&#257s</i> and <i>s&#299harf&#299s</i> written in Punjabi. Poetry in this class can be broadly divided into various types-religious, farmers' narrative (included in an epic poem), <i>v&#299rah&#257</i> (separation) and 'trial of chastity' variety. Gur&#363 Arjan's <i>B&#257rah M&#257h&#257</i> falls in the <i>virah&#257</i> category, depicting through the twelve months the pangs of the bride, i. e. the human soul separated from her Divine Essence.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>B&#256RAH M&#256H&#256 M&#256ÑJH</i> is Gur&#363 Arjan's calendar poem in the measure M&#257jh included in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib (GG, 133-36). The opening verse of the composition presents the binary theme of the poem : the factual situation of the human soul's separation from the Divine Soul (<i>kirati karam ke v&#299chhu&#7771e</i> - bound by our deeds are we parted from Thee), and its quest for union with Him (kari kirp&#257 melahu r&#257m - by Thy grace grant union, O' Lord). Torn asunder - from her Immutable Origin, she suffers; for instance: <i>&#257s&#257&#7771u tapand&#257 tisu lagai hari n&#257hu na Jinn&#257 p&#257si</i> - the month of &#256s&#257&#7771 burns for her who does not have her Divine Husband close to her. These individuals are tortured by duality : they see themselves apart from the Eternal One. Thus they remain victims to Yama, the god of death, and keep migrating from one birth to another. This existing tragedy is attributed to <i>karma</i>, past deeds, which are referred to as <i>malu</i> or filth which accumulates through successive births. But time passages. One month passes into the next. The Bikaram&#299 year begins with Chet and ends with Phaga&#7751 (Phalgu&#7751a) only to begin again with Chet (Chaitra). As one sows so shall one reap. With good deeds then, the chasm can be bridged. Time - these very twelve months - offers opportunities to unite with the Timeless One. But two conditions apply - first, initiative on the part of the individual in the form of an intense longing (8), keeping company of the holy (2, 6, 12), reciting the Divine Name (4, 6, 8, 10), singing the praises of the Infinite (13) and realizing that He is indeed with the self (2); and second, the favour, the grace of the Lord Divine. Throughout the composition we hear Gur&#363 Arjan beseech Him for His mercy, His benevolent glance (<i>nadar</i>). Once united, ultimate liberation is achieved and one is freed from the cycle of birth and death. Through the months, months are transcended. Time takes one into the state of Timeless everlasting bliss.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Excluding the opening stanza which serves as a prologue and the concluding one which serves as epilogue, each of the intervening stanzas commences with the name of the month, beginning with Chet. By cherishing the Lord in the month of Chet one attains bliss abundant. Bais&#257kh the month following Chet, becomes gladsome only if one meets the Lord's devotees who help him end his duality (3). &#256s&#257&#7771 is scorching for those separated from the Spouse (5) and S&#257va&#7751 is blessed for such of the united wives as cherish in their hearts the Name Divine (6). However, man's own forgetfulness of God is the cause of all his suffering. All duality and pangs end as one by excelling good fortune attains union with the Lord (9). In the month of M&#257gh, man must 'bathe' in the dust of the feet of the holy and remember His name, for thus alone can he wash off the dirt of past deeds (12). The poem concludes with the statement that for him upon whom rests the Lord's grace, all months and days and all timings are auspicious (14). It is this Divine <i>nadar</i> or benevolent glance coupled with the individual's own initiative which helps him break the cycle of transmigration and win acceptance at the Lord's portal.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The <i>B&#257rah M&#257h&#257</i> has its philosophical structure. It artistically celebrates the existence of the Singular Reality and reiterates that there is none other besides Him: <i>Prabh binu avaru na koi</i> (3); <i>prabh tudhu bi&#7751u d&#363j&#257 ko nah&#299</i> (5); <i>prabh vi&#7751u d&#363j&#257 ko nah&#299</i> (8). This adumbrates the basic tenet of the Sikh faith. The poem also poses the Sikh paradox that while He is in everything and is everywhere: <i>Jali thali mah&#299ali p&#363ri&#257 ravi&#257 vichi va&#7751&#257</i> - He pervades waters, the earth and the spaces and He is in the woods and glades (2), He is utterly unfathomable and unknowable - <i>agam ag&#257hu</i> (11). Thus fully Immanent as well as Transcendent is He. The Sikh understanding of the world is here affirmed as a "separation" in which there is no essential gap between the Creator and His creation, but because of the illusionary vision, the human ego, the self is seen as apart from its ontological core. The soteriological goal thus is the "unity" which rather than being a physical merging is fundamentally a realization of That One within. Furthermore, in keeping with the Sikh metaphysical postulate, God is compassionate and merciful, and He will by His grace (<i>nadar</i>) end some day all duality and suffering. In fact, so caring is the Lord Master that "He will draw you unto Himself by the arm for union everlasting - <i>karu gahi l&#299n&#299 p&#257rbrahmi bahu&#7771i na vichhu&#7771&#299&#257hu</i> (11). The concluding verses recall towards the phenomenal world. One must participate in life, discarding hesitation. All beginnings will be made auspicious for him were he to have trust in the Divine favour. Optimism is the keynote of this poem of <i>virah&#257</i> or the pang of separation. The philosophical ideals of the Sikh faith have thus been mirrored most poetically in the <i>B&#257rah M&#257h&#257</i>. The reader is struck immediately by the enthralling rhythm of the composition. Both assonance and consonance have been employed to telling effect. The lines in the different stanzas run in rhyme. For instance, in the opening passage, "<i>&#257m</i>" is repeated throughout; in the second, "<i>&#7751&#257";</i> in the last &#8220re". Gur&#363 Arjan's <i>B&#257rah M&#257h&#257</i> is recited ceremonially at Sikh congregations or by individuals at their. homes on the first day of each of the Indian solar months. This is a way of announcing the beginning of the new month and invoking Divine blessing.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>B&#256RAH M&#256H&#256 TUKH&#256R&#298</i>, Gur&#363 N&#257nak's twelve-month hymn in R&#257ga Tukh&#257r&#299 in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib, stands out in Sikh literature for its poetic splendour and philosophical import. The movement of the twelve months, including the lunar and solar days, and the effect of their transition upon beings of diverse species - those born from the egg (<i>a&#7751&#7693aj</i>), those born from the foetus (<i>jeraj</i>), those born from the sweat (<i>setaj</i>), and those born from the earth (<i>utbhuj</i>) - have been poignantly and picturesquely portrayed in this poem. Herein, time and space - universal as well as particular - have been richly fused in the person of a young bride ardently searching for her Divine Bridegroom through the cameos of the changing reality of the twelve months.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Indian calendar begins with the month of Chet or Chaitra (mid-March to mid-April). It is a month of splendour. Flowers in the woods are in bloom, the bumblebee hums rapturously, the koel sings on the mango tree, the bee hovers around the bush fully in blossom. Chet is springtime when Nature is at its glorious best and the air is saturated with joy. Every creature seems to have someone to celebrate the season's beauty with - the bumblebee its blossoms, the wood its flowers, the koel its mango tree. . . . But,</p> <blockquote class="C1"><p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>piru ghari nah&#299 &#257vai dhan kiu sukhu p&#257vai birahi birodh tanu chh&#299jai</i></p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Groom hasn't returned home;</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;then how will the bride be comforted?</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She shrivels away in pangs of separation.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; (GG, 1108)</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</blockquote></p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The young woman, then, is the only one who stands isolated. She is the one who does not have her Groom by her side. The beauty and lusciousness of springtime sharpen her sense of deprivation. Whereas everything in Nature is blooming, she in separation is withering away. Paradoxical though it may sound, this state of contrast with the surroundings presents the picture of an organic structure to which she belongs and of which she indeed is the centre. But unfortunately she cannot participate in the reigning beauty of the season, for her Groom is not with her. Perhaps because of her separation and forlornness, she becomes all the more aware of the togetherness and rapture of everyone and everything around her and who all seem to her to fit into a perfectly integrated joyous "system. "</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Following Chet is the month of Vais&#257kh (mid-April to mid May) when the tree boughs get clothed in fresh leaf. The bride "sees" (<i>dhan dekhai</i>) the newness in verdure and begs the Groom to come home. Since this is the month of harvest, the farmers negotiate business deals. Commerce enters the bride's vocabulary too : ". . . <i>tudhu binu a&#7693hu na molo k&#299mati kau&#7751 k&#257re tudhu bh&#257v&#257&#7749</i> - without you I am not worth a dime, but if you are with me, I become priceless" (GG, 1108). She then wishes that someone, somehow, would see her Beloved and help her to see Him - <i>dekhi dikh&#257vai &#7693holo </i>. Nature, commerce, fellow human beings, spiritual quest become synthesized in the bride's world view.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In the month of Je&#7789h "Why should the Groom be forgotten? - <i>pr&#299tamu kiu bisarai</i>" (GG, 1108) sings the bride. In the heat of Je&#7789h, the earth burns like a furnace. This external heat drives all beings to inwardness. In search of the cool, all creatures are on the lookout for the farthest interior. The bride too - like St. Teresa - moves into her Interior Castle, contemplating upon the Divine Groom and His virtues. The geographical locale is in harmony with her psychological state.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In the scorching month of &#256s&#257&#7771, the sun blazes in the skies. Its fire sucks the sap of the earth. The earth roasts and suffers. Even the crickets wail. But the chariot of the sun marches on. The bride seeks shade - <i>chh&#257i&#257 dhan t&#257kai</i>. Here the bride is a full participant in the cosmic scene: she shares the suffering of the earth, of the cricket. The great earth and the tiny cricket are representatives of the entirety of creation. All suffer. Their search for the cool shade is quintessentially reflected in the bride's search for <i>chh&#257i&#257</i> (shade).</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;After the blazing heat of &#256s&#257&#7771 comes the month of S&#257va&#7751 bringing welcome rainshowers. The earth is cooled and quenched, but not the bride, for her Groom is still in the far-off land - <i>pir pardesi sidh&#257e</i>. She lies alone on the bed. Along with the pain of solitude is the fear: the lightning amid the monsoon clouds terrifies her. Nature around her does not soothe the pain of her heart. She addresses her mother: "<i>mara&#7751u bhai&#257 dukhu m&#257e</i> --- O' mother, it is death for me" (GG, 1108). Having lost her sleep and appetite, the bride in the month of S&#257va&#7751 lives a death-like life. The integration of polarities - life and death, lightning in the skies and the bed on which she, alone, tosses and turns in darkness - is accomplished in the person of the bride.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Bh&#257do&#7749 is the month of opulence: both land and river are in flood. During the entire dark night it rains. Birds and animals feel invigorated. They shriek as if they cannot contain the fullness within : peacocks sing, the frogs croak, the <i> pap&#299h&#257 </i> cries forth, "<i>priu priu</i>- Love O' my Love. " Overflowing with life, the snakes sneak out to bite; the mosquitoes swarm out to sting. And the pools overflow with water. The pulsating animate and inanimate worlds are co-ordinated into a vivid pattern. Juxtaposed to this bursting forth of Nature is the bride's desolation. She yearningly contemplates the fullness, the energy, the joy surrounding her. Standing in the centre of it all, she exclaims, "<i>binu hari kiu sukhu p&#257&#299ai</i> - where, where is comfort for one without the Groom?"</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The bride's actualization of Asuni (As&#363j), the seventh month, is, in fact, a realization of her own self. The cosmic time and space mirror her situation. Because she is beguiled by a sense of duality, she stands forsaken by her singular Groom and remains in separation. On the ground, "<i>kukah k&#257h si ph&#363le</i> - the country-shrubs bearing white flowers are in bloom" (GG, 1109). These white flowers represent her own white hair; the bride is greying. Furthermore, the coming season frightens her: "<i>&#257gai gh&#257m pichhai ruti j&#257&#7693&#257 dekhi chalat manu &#7693ole</i> - gone is the summer and cold winter is soon to come; this makes my heart tremble" (GG, 1109). What the bride realizes at this seasonal juncture is the loss of her youth and the setting in of old age, and she becomes apprehensive. But she also sees in this autumn month some green boughs which instil optimism in her. The possibility of meeting with her Groom again strikes her. "<i>sahaji pakai so m&#299&#7789h&#257</i> - that alone is ripe sweet which ripens slowly in its own sweet time" (GG, 1109), the bride tells herself.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In the month of Kattak or K&#257rtik, the days begin to get shorter. Lamps are lit earlier in the evenings. The lamp becomes in the poem a symbol rich in nuance. It represents the refined emotional and intellectual faculties of the bride which will eventually lead her to apprehend the Divine. The traditional lamp or <i>d&#299pak</i> is a tiny clay bowl, pointed at one end, with a cotton wick and filled with oil. But only that lamp shines steadily which is lighted by the match of knowledge - <i>d&#299paku sahaji balai tati jal&#257i&#257</i>, and whose oil is <i>rasa</i>, the aesthetic essence of love - <i>d&#299pak rasa telo</i> (GG, 1109). Simultaneously, the lamp is essential to seeing, to recognizing. The powers of eyesight and insight coalesce in it. Suggesting coalition of knowledge (kindling match) and love (oil) in the bride's psychological condition, the <i>d&#299pak</i> connects her physical with "cosmic" time, with the evenings of the month of Kattak. In this state she feels she is closer to achieving her goal - union with the Groom.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In the month of Maghar, the bride listens to the praise of her Divine Groom through song, music, and poetry, and her sorrow departs-- "<i>g&#299t n&#257d kavit kavai su&#7751&#299 r&#257m n&#257mi dukhu bh&#257gai</i>" (GG, 1109). Here can be discerned the effect of aesthetics upon the human mind: music/sound which travels in external atmosphere penetrates into the very being of the bride. Thereby, her sorrow (<i>dukhu</i>), literally vanishes away (<i>bh&#257gai</i>). Vividly comes through the passage: the picture of the bride sitting amidst other women and men, listening to song, music and poetry. She is part of a symphonic gathering, the congregation or <i>sa&#7749gat</i> in Sikh terminology - in the Tolstoyan sense, a community created by art. We thus see in the month of Maghar the bride as a participant within a community which cherished the recital of the Divine Name.</p> <blockquote class="C1"><p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The description of the month of Poh or Pokh begins with the line :</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>pokhi tukh&#257ru pa&#7771ai va&#7751u tri&#7751u rasu sokhai</i></p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In Pokh the snow falls, sapping the <i>rasa</i> from woods and grass. </p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; (GG, 1109)</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And it ends with :</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>n&#257nak ra&#7749gi ravai rasi ras&#299&#257 hari siu pr&#299ti saneho</i></p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Says N&#257nak, the bride who is in love with her Groom has the <i>rasa</i> of the charming Beloved to savour. </p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; (GG, 1109)</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</blockquote></p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The contrast between the opening and the final line of the hymn is conspicuous: the cold white frost covering the earth sapping <i>sway rasa</i> of all vegetation is juxtaposed to the bride who, in her love for the charming Groom, would be savouring its <i>rasa</i>. Perhaps it is the panorama of the starkly white frost which ignites in the bride's imagination that warm and vibrant phantasy. Also, in the month of Pokh, the bride discerns herself to be related with all other creatures :</p> <blockquote class="C1"><p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>a&#7751&#7693aj jeraj setaj utbhuj gha&#7789i gha&#7789i joti sam&#257&#7751&#299.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;darsanu dehu dai&#257pati d&#257te gati p&#257vau mati deho. </i></p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; (GG, 1109)</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</blockquote></p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The one light (<i>jyoti</i>) permeates (<i>sam&#257&#7751&#299</i>) all hearts (gha&#7789i gha&#7789i), be they egg-born (a&#7751&#7693aj), foetus-born (<i>jeraj</i>), sweat-born (<i>setaj</i>), or earth-born (<i>utbhuj</i>). Through the singular <i>elan vital</i> the bride perceives the unity of the universe. From within this linked circle, she, in a lovely alliteration of the "d"-"d's" creating a circle of their own, ardently implores her Compassionate Groom (<i>dai&#257pati d&#257te</i>) to bestow upon her a vision of Himself (<i>darsanu dehu</i>).</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In M&#257gh, the month of pilgrimage, the bride realizes that the pilgrim seat is within herself. The sacredness of all holy places and of all time would be hers, if her beauteous Groom was pleased with her :</p> <blockquote class="C1"><p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>pr&#299tam gu&#7751 a&#7749ke su&#7751i prabh ba&#7749ke tudhu bh&#257v&#257 sari n&#257v&#257</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Ga&#7749g jamun tah be&#7751&#299 sa&#7749gam s&#257t samund sam&#257v&#257</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;pu&#7749n d&#257n p&#363j&#257 parmesur jugi jugi eko j&#257t&#257</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;n&#257nak m&#257ghi mah&#257rasu hari japi a&#7789hsa&#7789hi t&#299rath n&#257t&#257</i></p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This would be my bath in the Ga&#7749g&#257, the Yamun&#257 and confluence with the Sarasvat&#299 and in the Seven oceans as well.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; All charity and worship for me is the recognition that, throughout the <i>yugas</i>, there is but One Singular Groom.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Says N&#257nak, in the month of M&#257gh, to taste the great essence of the meditation upon the Beloved is alone worth bath in the sixty-eight holy rivers. </p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; (GG, 1109)</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</blockquote></p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The pilgrim seat is within and not anywhere without. The sacredness of all holy places and of all time, the merit of bathing at the Ga&#7749g&#257 and the Yamun&#257 and at their confluence with the Sarasvat&#299 as well as in the seven oceans, of all charity and worship would be the bride's if she were to win the Groom's favour. The Sikh view that external ritual is empty and unnecessary is here artistically established. Also, time is not chopped up : "<i>yugas</i>" are, in the literal sense, "yoked together" by the knowledge that the Singular Beloved pervades time past, present, and future.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Finally, in the month of Phalgun, the bride effaces herself - "&#257pu gav&#257i&#257. " With the ego gone, her desires are ended "<i>man mohu chuk&#257i&#257</i>. " Paradoxically, with the "integrator" of time and space gone, what remains is the integration itself. Continuous bliss is experienced. All duality vanishes. Even night and day are conjoined, for what is experienced continuously is utter ecstasy : "<i>andinu rahasu bhai&#257</i>. " (GG, 1109).</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The twelve months thus are very important, for it is within them that the "interaction of timeless with time" takes place : the young bride remains in quest of envisioning her Timeless Beloved within her historical context. One discerns here the foundations for the positive approach to life and living in the Sikh faith. In the final passage of the <i>B&#257rah M&#257h&#257</i>, Gur&#363 N&#257nak esteems all the twelve months, the six seasons, the lunar and the solar days, the hours, the minutes, the seconds as "<i>bhale</i>" - blessed. Gur&#363 Arjan in his composition <i>B&#257rah M&#257h&#257</i>, in R&#257ga M&#257jh, reiterates this affirmative view of the phenomenal world in identical terminology. According to N&#257nak I, it is sometimes now, somewhere here that the Singular Being pervading all time and space is instantaneously found :</p> <blockquote class="C1"><p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>be das m&#257h rut&#299 thit&#299 v&#257r bhale</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;gha&#7771&#299 m&#363rat pal s&#257che &#257e sahaji mile. </i></p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; (GG, 1109)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p></blockquote></p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Zbavitel, D. , <i>The Development of the Baramosi in the Bengali Literature</i>. Archiv Orientalni 29, 1961<BR> <li class="C1"> Vaudeville, Charlotte, <i>Barahmasa in India Literature</i>. Delhi, 1986<BR> <li class="C1"> Gunindar Kaur, <i>Guru Granth Sahib: Its Physics and Metaphysics</i>. Delhi, 1981<BR> <li class="C1"> Padam, Pi&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh, <i>Pañj&#257b&#299 B&#257r&#257 M&#257he</i>. Patiala, 1959<BR> <li class="C1"> Gurmukh Si&#7749gh, <i>B&#257rah M&#257h&#257</i>. Ludhiana, 1986<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Gunindar Kaur<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>