What is Name?
As we get started, we always know what is the Mool-mantar given to us by Guru Nanak. Some people debate on the Mool-mantar itself, some say it is till Gurprasad, and some say it is till "Hausi Bhi Sach". Well, as we know, every Baani in Sri Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS - I will use the abbreviation SGGS to save time, extremists, please pardon me) starts with a name of the Raag and before that, there is a Mool-mantar which is till Gurprasad, grammatically it is correct to have Gurprasad as the end of Mool-mantar and the beginning of the new Baani is "Jap".
Well, let us come to the word "Satnaam". I tried to understand the meaning of "Ik Onkar" earlier, now I will try to think over the meaning of Satnaam, as given by Guru Nanak...
As we say Satbachan, when we are over-exaggerating our emotions, so that the other person who is saying, should be convinced that what he is saying, appears true to us... What is Guru Nanak trying to tell us in the word Satnaam? Whose name? After all, Naam means name, isn't it? As we know already, the mool-mantar is about the One GOD, so Satnaam is only related to Him...
What is Naam, I have always been confused over this word when referred in Gurbaani... Naam just appears as Name in literary meaning. But I am sure, Guru Nanak always has a special message in every literal he wrote. Sometime, I just feel that we can simply distinguish each other by just saying the name. Just imagine, playing dumb-charades, how difficult it becomes, when we just have to show the signs and symbols for the word that we want to convey? And once, somebody gets click, he says that word, and then anybody who knows that name, can just think exactly what the participant was acting about! Even, when some people are walking with their back towards us, and when we want to call one, and if know his/her name, we simply just call him/her by the name, and get response (if he/she is not deaf! heh!) This means Name has definite status in the world, every thing in this word has name, even if we cannot feel or touch, as I mentioned ealier, the EM Waves, they too have name! We earthlings, cannot think somebody without a name, if we find an animal, that animal would belong to a class of animals, which would have a name! So name is an integral part of us... Guru Nanak knew that we just cannot think somebody without a name, hence he called the One as Satnaam.. or somebody whose name is Truth... What is truth? We can get a lot of posts which says Death is Truth, yes, literally it is, but then Birth is also truth, without birth, there could not be any death!! This is true that one who has taken birth, has to die, this is eternal truth, but is this God's name? Then Guru Nanak must have written as Maut-Naam. But no, he wanted to convey some other message! He wanted to convey that there is somebody present always, whose name is same always, because He never dies...
I know I will come to the literary meanings of what we have already read, but where is our own effort of understanding the meaning? Guru Nanak wanted each and everybody to think of One and think over it again and again...
I can ask the readers, to put some broad light on my doubt....
Well, let us come to the word "Satnaam". I tried to understand the meaning of "Ik Onkar" earlier, now I will try to think over the meaning of Satnaam, as given by Guru Nanak...
As we say Satbachan, when we are over-exaggerating our emotions, so that the other person who is saying, should be convinced that what he is saying, appears true to us... What is Guru Nanak trying to tell us in the word Satnaam? Whose name? After all, Naam means name, isn't it? As we know already, the mool-mantar is about the One GOD, so Satnaam is only related to Him...
What is Naam, I have always been confused over this word when referred in Gurbaani... Naam just appears as Name in literary meaning. But I am sure, Guru Nanak always has a special message in every literal he wrote. Sometime, I just feel that we can simply distinguish each other by just saying the name. Just imagine, playing dumb-charades, how difficult it becomes, when we just have to show the signs and symbols for the word that we want to convey? And once, somebody gets click, he says that word, and then anybody who knows that name, can just think exactly what the participant was acting about! Even, when some people are walking with their back towards us, and when we want to call one, and if know his/her name, we simply just call him/her by the name, and get response (if he/she is not deaf! heh!) This means Name has definite status in the world, every thing in this word has name, even if we cannot feel or touch, as I mentioned ealier, the EM Waves, they too have name! We earthlings, cannot think somebody without a name, if we find an animal, that animal would belong to a class of animals, which would have a name! So name is an integral part of us... Guru Nanak knew that we just cannot think somebody without a name, hence he called the One as Satnaam.. or somebody whose name is Truth... What is truth? We can get a lot of posts which says Death is Truth, yes, literally it is, but then Birth is also truth, without birth, there could not be any death!! This is true that one who has taken birth, has to die, this is eternal truth, but is this God's name? Then Guru Nanak must have written as Maut-Naam. But no, he wanted to convey some other message! He wanted to convey that there is somebody present always, whose name is same always, because He never dies...
I know I will come to the literary meanings of what we have already read, but where is our own effort of understanding the meaning? Guru Nanak wanted each and everybody to think of One and think over it again and again...
I can ask the readers, to put some broad light on my doubt....
Comments