ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>R&#256MKAL&#298 SADU</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 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">&#65279<i>R&#256MKAL&#298 SADU</i>, by Sundar, is an "elegy" (<i>sadd</i>, in Punjabi) included in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib in R&#257ga R&#257mkal&#299, eighteenth of the thirty-one musical measures used in Sikh Scripture. <i>Sadd</i> is a form of folk poetry prevalent in rural Punjab. Literally the term means an invocation call, hark or cry. Originally, it was used to denote songs addressed by lover to beloved expressing his heart's anguish. With the passage of time, it turned into a dirge sung in love and adoration of the dead. Sundar, a great grandson of Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s, N&#257nak III, recaptures in this six-stanza verse the advice the Gur&#363 gave to his followers and members of his family just before he passed away. Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s tells them not to weep and wail for him, nor to perform the customary mourning rites. Since death is an opportunity for the individual soul to get united with the Supreme Soul, it is not a moment for lament. The poem opens with an invocatory line wherein God is called the Beneficent Lord of this universe and one who cares for His devotees in all the three worlds. If one follows the Gur&#363's word, duality ends and one gives oneself to the contemplation of the Name of the Supreme Being alone. It was this gift of <i>n&#257m-simran</i> which Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s received from his predecessors, Gur&#363 N&#257nak and Gur&#363 A&#7749gad and which helped him achieve the Supreme status. When the call of death came, Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s was absorbed in the meditation of His Name. The imperishable, immovable and immeasurable Lord could be realized only through <i>n&#257m-simran</i> (1). The second stanza summarizes the Gur&#363's injunctions to his followers to face the sombre moment of his death with calm serenity. One is adjured to rejoice in the Lord's Will. It is only the Name that will help man in his journey to the next world, not the traditional funeral rituals meant to guide the soul hereafter. The next two stanzas, written in the first person, constitute the Gur&#363's last advice to his followers and relations. Since the "death summons from God cannot be returned uncomplied" (3), none should feel sad or weep at the time of his death: rather, the moment should be taken as an opportunity for the soul to become united with the Lord (4). In the concluding two stanzas, Sundar sums up the advice given by the Gur&#363 calling upon his Sikhs to chant the hole hymns instead of resorting to the customary rituals (5). The <i>Sadu</i> concludes with Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s bidding his son Mohr&#299 and all the Sikhs to pay obeisance to Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s whom he had anointed his successor "by placing himself into him&#8221(6).</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The <i>Sadu</i> is commonly recited at the conclusion of a reading of the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib as part of the obsequies.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"><i> &#346abad&#257rth Sr&#299 Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib</i>. Amritsar, 1964<BR> <li class="C1"> S&#257hib Si&#7749gh, <i>Sad Sa&#7789&#299k</i>. Amritsar, 1935<BR> <li class="C1"> Sard&#363l Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Sadd Sidh&#257nt</i>. Amritsar, n.d.<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Kuld&#299p Si&#7749gh Dh&#299r<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>