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Sabad Hajare Patisahi 10 - Sabad 04: Divine Protector

What is the Divine?

Tuesday
,
31
January
2023

In this fifth podcast, Harinder Singh and Jasleen Kaur explore Guru Gobind Singh Sahib’s many invocations of divine names and attributes and their contexts in larger Indic systems.

Introducing Sabad Hajare Patshahi 10, new translations and commentaries of Guru Gobind Singh Sahib's composition. Harinder Singh (Innovation Director) and Jasleen Kaur (Research Associate) discuss their learnings and challenges while engaging with the words of this composition. The unique contexts and subversions these compositions reveal are a treat for those who yearn to get to know Guru Gobind Singh Sahib and those who yearn to celebrate Guru Gobind Singh Sahib.

In the fourth composition of the “Sabad Hajare Patisahi 10” (popularly Shabad Hazare Patshahi 10) series, Guru Gobind Singh Sahib proclaims to the world that he seeks the protection from only the 1-Divine; his honor and dignity are with the 1. Guru Sahib equates 1-Divine with all deities; 1 has all their attributes and more, as texts and people identify with. 

In this fifth podcast, Harinder Singh and Jasleen Kaur explore Guru Gobind Singh Sahib’s many invocations of divine names and attributes and their contexts in larger Indic systems. They then discuss Guru Gobind Singh Sahib’s reframing of these names within the larger understanding of IkOankar as the Ocean of compassion, the One who protects our honor.

Sabad

ਸੋਰਠਿ ਪਾਤਿਸਾਹੀ ੧੦
ਪ੍ਰਭੁ ਜੂ   ਤੋ ਕਹ ਲਾਜ ਹਮਾਰੀ॥
ਨੀਲਕੰਠ ਨਰਹਰਿ ਨਾਰਾਇਣ   ਨੀਲਬਸਨਿ ਬਨਵਾਰੀ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ॥
ਪਰਮ ਪੁਰਖੁ ਪਰਮੇਸੁਰ ਸੁਆਮੀ   ਪਾਵਨ ਪਉਨ ਅਹਾਰੀ॥
ਮਾਧਵ ਮਹਾਜੋਤਿ ਮਧੁਮਰਦਨ   ਮਾਨਿ ਮੁਕੰਦ ਮੁਰਾਰੀ॥੧॥
ਨਿਰਬਿਕਾਰ ਨਿਰਜੁਰ ਨਿੰਦ੍ਰਾਬਿਨੁ   ਨਿਰਬਿਖ ਨਰਕਨਿਵਾਰੀ॥
ਕ੍ਰਿਪਾਸਿੰਧੁ ਕਾਲ ਤ੍ਰੈ ਦਰਸੀ   ਕੁਕ੍ਰਿਤਿ ਪ੍ਰਨਾਸਨਕਾਰੀ॥੨॥
ਧਨੁਰਪਾਨਿ ਧ੍ਰਿਤਮਾਨ ਧਰਾਧਰ   ਅਨਿਬਿਕਾਰ ਅਸਿਧਾਰੀ॥
ਹਉਂ ਮਤਿਮੰਦ ਚਰਨ ਸਰਨਾਗਤਿ   ਕਰ ਗਹਿ ਲੇਹੁ ਉਬਾਰੀ॥੩॥੧॥੪॥

Translation

Divine Protector
What is the Divine?

Sorath Sovereign 10
O Divine, You protect my honor.
You are Nilkantha, Narhari, Narayana, Nilbasan, and Banvari. Pause-reflect.
O Supreme Being, Supreme Ruler, Owner, Auspicious, Air-Consumer,
Madhava as the Great Light, Madhu-killer, Mandhata, and Mura-Killer as the Emancipator.
Vice-free, age-free, sleep-free, poison-free, hell-savior,
Ocean of compassion, seer of three-tenses, destroyer of bad-deeds.
Bow-wielder in hand, patience-possessor, earth-embracer, vice-free, sword-possessor.
I, of bad intellect, take refuge in Your feet; hold my hand to save me.

In This Podcast

Harinder Singh

Senior Fellow, Research & Policy
Senior Fellow, Research & Policy

Harinder Singh is the Senior Fellow at the Sikh Research Institute. He holds a BS in Aerospace Engineering from Wichita State University, an MS in Engineering Management from the University of Kansas, and an MPhil from Punjab University in the linguistics of the Guru Granth Sahib. 

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Jasleen Kaur

Research Associate
Research Associate

Jasleen Kaur is a Research Associate at the Sikh Research Institute. She has received a Religious Studies B.A./M.A. from the University of Virginia, focusing on South Asian Religions through the lens of literature and poetry.

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