ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>SORA&#7788HI K&#298 V&#256R</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>SORA&#7788HI K&#298 V&#256R</i>, or <i>R&#257gu Sora&#7789hi V&#257r Mahale Chauthe K&#299</i> as is the full title recorded at the head of the text in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib contrasting the short title in the index, is one of the eight <i>v&#257rs</i> composed by Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s. It comprises twenty-nine <i>pau&#7771&#299s</i>, i.e. stanzas of five verses each, interspersed with fifty-eight <i>&#347lokas</i> three of them being by Gur&#363 N&#257nak, one by Gur&#363 A&#7749gad, forty-seven by Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s and seven by Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s, the author of the <i>V&#257r</i>.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The <i>V&#257r</i> opens with Gur&#363 N&#257nak&#8217s line : <i>"sora&#7789hi sad&#257 suh&#257va&#7751&#299 je sach&#257 mani hoi</i>--- agreeable always (to sing) is R&#257ga Sora&#7789hi provided one's mind is to truth attuned" (GG, 642). The concluding stanza begins with the line <i>"tu kara&#7751 k&#257ra&#7751 samrathu hahi karate mai tujh binu avaru na ko&#299 --</i> Thou, Creator-Lord, art the Cause of causes; for me there is none other besides Thee" (GG, 653). This is the running theme of the <i>V&#257r</i>. The Supreme Being is the Creator of all that exists; all creation is His manifestation. From Him is the True Name which is all-pervading. He is the dispenser of grace. Union with Him is achieved through company of the holy-- <i>satsa&#7749gat</i>-- but by His grace alone will one be so disposed. Man should take to repeating the True Name which would make him worthy of God's favour. Subject of critical notice are the rulers of the day and those others given to luxurious ways caring little for the common man.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"The Creator--among the terms used for him by Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s are Hari and Brahm---is conceived as both formless and without attributes (<i>nirgu&#7751a</i>) and with attributes (<i>sagu&#7751a</i>). He is the ultimate and absolute truth. He is the Creator, the creation and the creature all in one. He is both the cause and the effect. The world moves at His will. He is the Giver, the Bestower, the Friend. He is the Ultimate Bliss. In merging back into the Divine Essence lies the liberation of the human soul. But man's <i>haumai</i>, the finite ego, keeps him in bondage thwarting his spiritual instinct. The contrasting tendencies mark the conflict upon which the theme of a <i>v&#257r</i> is characteristically built. In the <i>&#347lokas</i> added to the <i>V&#257r</i> by Gur&#363 Arjan, who prepared the first recension of the Scripture, the parallelism is maintained and <i>manmukhs</i> (the self-willed) are placed in juxtaposition to <i>gurmukhs</i> (those who follow the Gur&#363's teaching). The former afflicted by ego remain engrossed with the mundane while the latter quaff the nectar of the Lord's Word; the former find neither post nor protection, while the latter rejoice attached to the Gur&#363's feet; the former enticed by <i>m&#257y&#257</i> are consumed away by worldly allurement while the latter in the true Name absorbed are saved. Such devotees are befriended by God himself, says a <i>&#347loka</i>. God is in their power and they are the same. Totally, the <i>V&#257r</i> is a fine specimen of poetry of spiritual devotion.</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, 1975<BR> <li class="C1"> Amole, S.S., <i>B&#257&#299 V&#257r&#257&#7749 Sa&#7789&#299k</i>. Amritsar, 1944<BR> <li class="C1"> Narai&#7751 Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>B&#257&#299 V&#257r&#257&#7749 Sa&#7789&#299k</i>. Amritsar, 1975<BR> <li class="C1"> Bishan Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>&#7788&#299k&#257 B&#257&#299 V&#257r&#257&#7749</i>.<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Manmohan Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>