ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>HAUMAI</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: 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="HAUMAI"> <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">&#65279HAUMAI is a term which recurs frequently in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib in reference to the spiritual state of those who have not discovered the way of liberation and peace. Literally, the word means 'I am', implying egoism reckoned as a spiritual and moral disease. It is, says Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s, a filth which clings to man, a polluting presence which torments its victims while resisting all attempts on their part to wash it away : "<i>jagi haumai mailu dukhu p&#257i&#257 malu l&#257g&#299 d&#363jai bh&#257i; malu haumai dhot&#299 kivai na utarai je sau t&#299rath n&#257i</i> - in this world the filth of <i>haumai</i>, the clinging dirt of worldly affection, bring suffering. The foulness of <i>haumai</i> will not be removed, though one may bathe at a hundred places of pilgrimage" (GG, 39) . It would not let its victims turn to God for, says Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s again, "<i>Haumai</i> and remembrance of God's Name are at variance with each other. The two will not live in the same abode -- <i>haumai n&#257vai n&#257li virodhu hai dui na vasahi ik &#7789h&#257i</i>" (GG, 560). <i>Haumai</i>, declares Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s is "<i>man antari rogu</i>" -- an inner disease within the human <i>man</i> (psyche) which afflicts the obstinate <i>manmukh</i> (ego-centred man). In the <i>man</i> is the canker of <i>haumai</i>, the source of confusion and apathy in the self-willed and the base (GG, 301). It is, according to Gur&#363 N&#257nak, an ever-present condition, dominating the whole of a man's life as it lays hold of him : "In <i>haumai</i> he comes and in <i>haumai</i> he goes; in <i>haumai</i> he is born and in <i>haumai</i> he dies;... in <i>haumai</i> he pays regard, sometimes to virtue and sometimes to vice..." (GG, 466). There is, however, a remedy and Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s, having identified <i>haumai</i> as an inner disease, proceeds to name the infallible antidote: "<i>Man antari haumai rogu hai bhrami bh&#363le manmukh durajan&#257 / N&#257nak rogu gav&#257i mili satigur s&#257dh&#363 sajan&#257</i> -- the disease is overcome, N&#257nak, as one meets the true Gur&#363 in company with the truly devout" (GG, 301). Kab&#299r describes the result : "Mere words achieve nothing; One finds inner peace only as <i>haumai</i> flees" (GG, 325).</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <i>Haumai</i> is thus a spiritual disease, a condition which dominates the <i>man</i> or psyche of the <i>manmukh</i>. From it flow all the ignorance, selfishness and depravity which mark people dwelling in sequestration from the Gur&#363 and God. To overcome its fatal effects, the <i>manmukh</i> must become a <i>gurmukh</i>, turning his affections away from his <i>man</i> (mind) and fastening them instead upon the Gur&#363, i.e. God. Those who do this by regular disciplined meditation on the Divine Name and by singing His praises in fellowship with the devout purge themselves of the evil which chains them to the wheel of suffering. Liberated from its bonds, they find that peace and total tranquillity which endure forever.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The fundamental importance of the concept of <i>haumai</i> in Sikh teaching is easily understood when one observes with what frequency the word occurs in Scripture and what emphasis it receives. It is also relatively easy to understand the general sense in which the word is used -- i.e. to designate the primary affliction of unregenerate mankind. Finding an English translation is, however, much more difficult; no precise equivalent in fact exists. What seems accessible though is a cluster of approximate terms which may communicate an understanding of <i>haumai</i>. Although it appears in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib as a single word, <i>haumai</i> was in fact formed by juxtaposing two words, a verb and a noun. Its two syllables are made up of <i>hau&#7749</i>, being a verb, in the first person, and <i>ma&#299</i> (&#7749), the equivalent of 'I' in Kha&#7771&#299 Bol&#299 and Punjabi. The result might therefore be translated as 'I am'. This immediately suggests 'ego' as an appropriate translation, one which certainly comes as close to a literal rendering as English will provide. Many writers have, for this reason, used 'ego' when translating <i>haumai</i> into English. This is, however, open to two objections. The first is that 'ego' has already been appropriated as a translation for the distinctively different Sanskrit word <i>aha&#7749k&#257ra</i> which is merely descriptive and not qualitative. The second is that the word has become progressively less precise in English usage and may now be employed in at least three different senses, none of which truly corresponds to <i>haumai</i>.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A stronger possiblity is pride, the word which was used by Max Arthur Macauliffe as a translation and which obviously met with the approval of Bh&#257&#299 K&#257hn Si&#7749gh of N&#257bh&#257. In his <i>Gurmat M&#257rta&#7751&#7693</i>, K&#257hn Si&#7749gh lists <i>haumai</i> and <i>ha&#7749k&#257r</i> as a single category, adding to them other closely related terms such as <i>abhim&#257n, <u>kh</u>ud&#299</i> and <i>gum&#257n</i>. Their choice implies, however, an exact identity, and whereas this does occasionally seem to apply to the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib usage of both words, the relationship normally appears to be one of intimate cause and effect rather than precise correspondence. Whereas <i>haumai</i> describes the basic affliction of the <i>manmukh</i>, words such as <i>garab</i> and <i>ha&#7749k&#257r</i> are characteristically used to designate pride as an inevitable result rather than as the actual seat of the problem. It must, however, be remembered that 'pride' (<i>aha&#7749k&#257ra</i>) is reiterated in Gurb&#257&#7751&#299 as the most insidious of the Five Evils and <i>haumai</i>, being its origin, is therefore a malignant and deep-seated spiritual and moral disease. Considered in this way, the connotation of the term becomes clearer, though its rendering as 'egoism' and even 'pride', in default of a more precise term, has to remain. Other possibilities include 'self-willed obstinacy,' 'self-centredness'. The conclusion which seems most appropriate is that <i>haumai</i> is not precisely translatable. One must therefore seek to understand these terms in their Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib context. In this manner we may hope to understand the Gur&#363's concept of the human <i>man</i> and the disease of <i>haumai</i> to which it is subject.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Sher Singh, <i>The Philosophy of Sikhism</i>. Lahore, 1944<BR> <li class="C1"> Nripinder Singh, <i>The Sikh Moral Tradition</i>. Delhi, 1990<BR> <li class="C1"> Nirbhai Singh, <i>Philosophy of Sikhism</i>. Delhi, 1990<BR> <li class="C1"> K&#257hn Si&#7749gh, Bh&#257&#299, <i>Gurmat M&#257rta&#7751&#7693</i>. Amritsar, 1962<BR> <li class="C1"> Prat&#257p Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257ni <i>Gurmati Phil&#257sph&#299</i>. Amritsar, 1971<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">W. H. McLeod<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>