Translation

Beloved Friend
‍Who to tell our condition?

‍Khyal Sovereign 10
To the Beloved Friend, tell the condition of the disciples.
Without You: using a comforter is like being ill, living in the house is like being with snakes.
Flask is like a spear; glass is like a dagger; separation-pang feels like a butcher’s knife.
Friend’s earth-bed is pleasing to us; pleasing the body-village is like living in the kiln.

Commentary

Khyal is a musical style that establishes emotion in a slow tempo and then presents the mood and emotions of the musical mode in a fast tempo.

Khyal, or Khayal, is a Perso-Arabic word that means imagination, thought, idea, or reflection. In Hindustani classical music, early musical styles were Dhrupad and Dhamar. While scholars debate on the first known evidence of the Khyal style by Qawwals during the Mughal period, they ignorantly or deliberately omit the Khyal of the Tenth Sovereign. Khyal connotes a song that is creative in nature and execution, in both lyrics and music, as it is also an improvisation; it is an interpretive singing. Its composition is usually short, romantic, or devotional, and sung solo. It has been the dominant style since the mid-1800s.

In 1705 in Panjab, Guru Gobind Singh Sahib, the Sovereign, in a worldly perspective, is separated from the Khalsa, the Sikhs, the family, the forts, the literature, the wealth, the Nila (blue steed), the Baj (hawk), the wealth, and so much more, after leaving the city of Anandpur. The Sovereign is in the forests of Machhiwara in late December. The Sovereign is alone but not lonely. I imagine, in that scenario where concerns and worries are heightened to great anxieties and stress in human terms, what mattered most to Our Sovereign?

Our Sovereign sings the most cherished words to date by the Sikhs and the admirers of the Sovereign, which captures the emotions embedded in Panjabi and South Asian psyche: “To the Beloved Friend …”!  The call is to the 1-Beloved-Friend. The call is for the condition of the disciples. On Vaisakhi Day 1699, the Guru was the Sovereign. The disciples were the Sikhs who became the Khalsa. Since that Vaisakhi moment, the Guru also became the disciple of the Khalsa. My Sovereign calls on the 1 on behalf of the Khalsa!

Our Sovereign continues: O 1-Beloved-Friend, without You, without Your remembrance and connection, nothing matters. To rest or sleep under the comforter or blanket this winter is like having a real illness or sickness. To rest or live in the house this winter is like living in the snake’s den or pit. My Sovereign equates living comfortably during the cold nights of late December while the Khalsa struggles to be a reflective mental condition or escapism. Is the venom within me not paining me? When will I come out of my hellish pit?

Our Sovereign continues: Drinking the water from the glass-dagger poured from the flask-spear is like feeling the pain from the separation-butcher’s knife. My Sovereign can live without the water necessary for an average person, but not without the immortal nectar-connection of the 1-Beloved-Friend. My Sovereign considers the pangs of separation from the 1-Beloved-Friend to be much more than those from the spear, dagger, or butcher’s knife. The physical wounds are no match for the emotional wounds. Do I feel the separation from the 1? Do I feel the intensity of the pain? How am I quenching my thirst?

Our Sovereign continues: I am pleased with sleeping on my Friend’s bed on the bare earth. No earthly mattress matters, 1’s natural mattress is all right!  Pleasing or making this village-body happy in this cold December is like living in the kiln. The body is the village and is already burning in the 1’s separation. Why even consider putting it in the kiln? Do I know what element or dimension of the Friend is good for me? Where is my warmth coming from? Will I feed khera-happiness for the body, or will I feed hal-condition for friendship? Am I able to call the 1 my Beloved Friend?

Note: We are very finite; our understanding is finite too. We aspire to deepen our relationship with the Guru. In this translation and commentary, we focused more on meaning, context, and message and less on literalism and poetics. We aspire to learn and live the message to end our separation from the 1.

Art

This artwork, inspired by Guru Gobind Singh’s composition, depicts an interpretation of the historical moment following the battle of Anandpur Sahib when the Guru has just lost his elder sons to the battlefield and his younger sons and Mata Gujri to the cruelty of Wazir Khan. He is by himself in the Machhiwara jungle, shown with many layers of green trees and other plant life meant to extend into the background. The composition references the pain of separation and absence, saying that even seeking comfort is like illness, poison, and pain. It is like sleeping in a bed of snakes, which I’ve drawn with the light silhouettes of snakes curling around some tree trunks. The always present ੧/IkOankar/the One is glowing in the background. I chose to leave out the classic symbols that usually appear in the artwork of Guru Gobind Singh Sahib: there is no falcon nor blue horse; there is just the Guru. The Guru is shown lying on the ground, only recognizable by his kalgi– with his arm tucked under his head reflectively, in a state of not being careless but carefree.

‍Note: Where there is greenery, there is ‘natural life.’  I situate the readers, the learners, and seekers, those engaging with the composition there. In every artwork, I have placed ੧, a reference to IkOankar, the One, without limiting it to an object-based depiction such as a sun or a moon. The colors are chosen intentionally to evoke a particular interpretation or adhere to a cohesive color palette to show the relationship between the ten compositions of Guru Gobind Singh Sahib.

Gurmukhi

ਖਿਆਲ ਪਾਤਿਸਾਹੀ ੧੦
ਮਿੱਤ੍ਰ ਪਿਆਰੇ ਨੂੰ   ਹਾਲੁ ਮੁਰੀਦਾਂ ਦਾ ਕਹਿਣਾ॥
ਤੁਧੁ ਬਿਨੁ ਰੋਗੁ ਰਜਾਈਆਂ ਦਾ ਓਢਣੁ   ਨਾਗ ਨਿਵਾਸਾਂ ਦੇ ਰਹਿਣਾ॥
ਸੂਲ ਸੁਰਾਹੀ ਖੰਜਰੁ ਪਿਆਲਾ   ਬਿੰਗੁ ਕਸਾਈਆਂ ਦਾ ਸਹਿਣਾ॥
ਯਾਰੜੇ ਦਾ ਸਾਨੂੰ ਸੱਥਰ ਚੰਗਾ   ਭੱਠਿ ਖੇੜਿਆਂ ਦਾ ਰਹਿਣਾ॥੧॥੧॥੬॥

Transcription

khiāl pātisāhī 10
mittra piāre nūṁ   hālu murīdāṁ dā kahiṇā.
tudhu binu rogu rajāīāṁ dā oḍhaṇu   nāg nivāsāṁ de rahiṇā.
sūl surāhī khañjaru piālā   biṅgu kasāīāṁ dā sahiṇā.
yāraṛe dā sānūṁ saththar caṅgā   bhaṭhṭhi kheṛiāṁ dā rahiṇā.1.1.6.

Sabad Kirtan

Bhai Balbir Singh

Sabad Recitation

Harjinder Singh

‍