Ardas

I had a hard time remembering the sequence of Ardaas. Following is the technique I used. Off course you have to learn each stanzas

Before the first stanza starts remember

Ik Onkar, Waheguru ji ki fateh Sri Bhagauti ji sahaaye Vaar Sri Bhagauti Ji ki, Paatshaahee 10

then in the first stanza all the ten gurus and SGGS and it should start like ..

Pritham Bhagautee simar kai Gur Nanak layee{n} dhyaaye ...

then in the second stanza remember all the panj pyare , 40 mukte, remember their contribution/shaheediPanj piyaare

char sahibzaade, chaali mukte, hathhiyaan, japiyaan..

Now that all the gurus, panj pyares are done, in the third stanza meditate on the achievement of the all the male and female members of the Khalsa who laid down their lives for the religion

Jinha Singhaan, Singhaneeyaan ne, Dharam het sees dittey, bandd-bandd kataaye ..

In the fourth stanza a brief mention about the five takhts and other gurdwaras

Panjaa{n} takhtaa{n}, sarbat Gurdwareyaa{n} da dhyaan dhar ke bolo ji 'Waheguru'."

In first four stanzas of the Sikh prayer, there is no demand. We only remember our Gurus, martyrs, lovers of the God, our holy religious places etc. Now starting from fifth stanza we start requesting/begging (Yes we are literally beg in front of the guru )

Prithmey sarbat Khalsa ji kee ardaas hai ji....


In the sixth stanza we request the akal poorakh (Immortal being) for some gifts starting from Sikhee daan (Grant to Sikhs; the gift of discipleship), kes daan (the gift of hair),

In the seventh stanza we request for some qualities

Sikhaan da mann neevan, matt uchche..

In the eight stanza we ask guru to give us the darshan of all the seperated gurdwaras (e.g. nankana sahib in the partition of 1947)

Hey Akaal Purkh (O Immortal being), apney Panth dey sada shaayee daataar jeeo.......

and in the final stanza we do the ardaas for the keertan/path we did, prashad, birthday, bhog, etc. In this section i have seen different people using different quotes like


1.
asee khathae bahuth kamaavadhae a(n)th n paaraavaar
har kirapaa kar kai bakhas laihu ho paapee vadd gunehagaar
jaethaa samu(n)dh saagar neer bhariaa thaethae aougan hamaarae
dhaeiaa karahu kishh mihar oupaavahu ddubadhae pathhar thaarae
jeearraa agan baraabar thapai bheethar vagai kaathee
pranavath naanak hukam pashhaanai sukh hovai dhin raathee

This is my all time favorite. It depicts my mind so well. My grand-mom (dad's mom -dadhi) uses this during ardaas

2.
jagath jala(n)dhaa rakh lai aapanee kirapaa dhhaar
jith dhuaarai oubarai thithai laihu oubaar
(Page - 853 )

3.
aapae jaanai karae aap aapae aanai raas
thisai agai naanakaa khalie keechai aradhaas
(Page 1093)

4. This can be quoted when you mention about someone's sad demise
ghalae aavehi naanakaa sadhae out(h)ee jaahi ||1||
(Those who are sent, come, O Nanak; when they are called back, they depart and go)

Thoughts dump

kabeer maeraa mujh mehi kishh nehee jo kishh hai so thaeraa
thaeraa thujh ko soupathae kiaa laagai maeraa

Such a simple verse, so true yet so difficult to implement for your entire life. One tries to implement it, attains success for some time but soon mind gets caught in the wind of distress, doubts and frustration. They say thoughts are faster than electricity. At one instant we are thinking of family and the other instant we are working, in the next moment we find and decide on buying a new car but before the thought gains momentum we cancel the idea in light of its performance, finance, mileage , and so on. The beauty is: all this happens in a second just like dreams. My childhood teacher once told me, the entire experience of your dream at any night happens in less than a second, probably our entire life is quite similar when watched at an altitude of 100 years....

meaera mujh meh kishh nahee jo kishh hai so thaeraa
thaeraa tujh ko soupathee kiaa laagai maeraa

Its yours o almighty whatever you gave, If i submit it back to you then nothing stays with me

Life becomes simple with this thought..

Do we really chant ?

rwmu rwmu krqw sBu jgu iPrY rwmu n pwieAw jwie ]

raam raam karathaa sabh jag firai raam n paaeiaa jaae ||

The entire world roams around, chanting, ""Raam, Raam, Lord, Lord"", but the Lord cannot be obtained like this.

Agmu Agocru Aiq vfw Aqulu n quilAw jwie ]

agam agochar ath vaddaa athul n thuliaa jaae ||

He is inaccessible, unfathomable and so very great; He is unweighable, and cannot be weighed.

kImiq iknY n pweIAw ikqY n lieAw jwie ]

keemath kinai n paaeeaa kithai n laeiaa jaae ||

No one can evaluate Him; He cannot be purchased at any price.

gur kY sbid ByidAw ien ibiD visAw min Awie ]

gur kai sabadh bhaedhiaa ein bidhh vasiaa man aae ||

Through the Word of the Guru's Shabad, His mystery is known; in this way, He comes to dwell in the mind.

nwnk Awip Amyau hY gur ikrpw qy rihAw smwie ]

naanak aap amaeo hai gur kirapaa thae rehiaa samaae ||

O Nanak, He Himself is infinite; by Guru's Grace, He is known to be permeating and pervading everywhere.

Awpy imilAw imil rihAw Awpy imilAw Awie ]1]

aapae miliaa mil rehiaa aapae miliaa aae ||1||

He Himself comes to blend, and having blended, remains blended. ||1||

Monty - lived up to the expectation

Lot of eyes must have got relaxed
Lot of boiling blood must have calmed down
Lot of questions must have got answered
Lots of anxiety converted into tranquility
Lot of family members must be rejoicing

Okay, let me cut the crap :). Madhusudhan Singh (Monty Panesar) finally performed and gave a befitting answer in first hour of the third test match. I am quite glad for one reason, at least he did not fumble like our Indian team and lived upto everyone's expectations. Although he managed to pick up 5 wickets, things don't look optimistic at the end of the day
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20929697-5001505,00.html

My first Ticket

The way I drive, this was expected. I had got this speeding ticket somewhere in september and yesterday was the trial/arrangement (thats what the judge likes to call it) day. I had decided that I am going to plea for "No Lo", found out from the options listed on the Alpharetta site. Based upon earlier experiences of some of my friends i was expecting some kind of racisim especially during the entrance but I was glad that alpharetta court security judge didn't come up with any thing stupid/racialist like "you need to remove your turban", etc the way it happened for Tarun Singh
The court proceedings was pretty much a cake walk, spoke to the solicitor, she approved me for a NO LO, spoke to the judge, paid the fine and walked out.
I know I can't be careful, I can only hope that I atleast follow some basic rules of how to prevent from being noticed whenever you speed ;) Here's something which I got it from a website

" As a serving police officer, I can tell you when you are most likely to get stopped. There are a few rules you need to know in order not to get stopped.

Firstly motorway driving:
The rules on speeding are that no-one will take any notice of you if you are within 10% over the speed limit. ie 70mph + 7 = 77mph.
If you are in a group of cars that are, say, doing 85mph again we wouldnt take any notice.
But if you were on the motorway and doing 85-90mph on your own then we would be interested.
Anything over 85-90mph and you are deffinately going to get stopped.
Also a real old car doing 85mph+ will get stopped.
If you look really young and in a BMW for example, you will get stopped.
Weaving from one lane to another or staying in the outside lane all on your own, you will be stopped.
Having defective lights, indicators or a smoking exhaust, we will also have a chat with you.

City driving:
Same as the above as speed limit + 10% any over and your going to be pulled over.
Really slow driving, no lights etc.. youll be surprised what some people do.
Any swerving around indicates you just left the pub.
Any lads hanging out of the back window will also attract our attention.
Hope this helps and safe driving! "

Madhusudhan Singh, My wishes

http://saabt.com/article.asp?article=1763

I agree with Amar Duggal on the news of racial discrimination against Monty Panesar. Fareed ji in Gurbani has said

ਫਰੀਦਾ ਬੁਰੇ ਦਾ ਭਲਾ ਕਰਿ ਗੁਸਾ ਮਨਿ ਨ ਹਢਾਇ ॥
फरीदा बुरे दा भला करि गुसा मनि न हढाइ ॥
fareedaa buray daa bhala kar gusaa man na hadhaa-ay.
Fareed, answer evil with goodness; do not fill your mind with anger.

So whomsoever made those remarks, god bless him

Monty, may Waheguru give you enough strength to accept all the discriminatory behaviour as Guru's Hukum and move on you with your karma. As always, something good has to come out of this. Shall pray that you come out Victorious from these tough times and victory for us means abiding by your faith, sticking to sikhi and its principles and continue to do what you are suppose to do. You are one of those individuals who will probably be looked upon as a Sikh pioneer and the next generation will draw inspiration from you and your game.

Nanak Naam Chardi kala Tere Bhaane Sarbat Da Bhala

2nd Pauree of Japji Sahib

hukumi hovan aakkar hukum na kehaya jaai
- Only as per the instructions and order of the almighty, all the elements of the nature take different shapes and sizes. Every element in this universe like mountains, birds, human beings, plants have their distinct and unique features in terms of shapes, size, behaviour, etc. Everything carries its own significance and has its own limits.
- the command/order of the almighty is so huge that it is not possible to describe it (hukum na kehaya jaai) but still lets try to describe it in some way/

- Science has progressed to a great extent but even today it has not been able to create blood, still today it takes blood from different people and stores it in blood banks, in short it has to be believed that everything whatever happens in this world is with his order and with his wish.


hukumi hovan jee hukam mille vadi-aa-ee
- every soul is created by his command, and only by his command and wish a soul attains glory or becomes great.
Amongst every kind of species in this universe, you will find that some are really good and some are really bad. For example amongst stones diamonds are adored and admired but others are wandering around and do not carry as much significance/value. Flowers are of humongous types but rose and lotus are the ones which are loved by everyone.In birds, Cuckoo has a honey sweet voice and all love to hear it but if a crow speaks people hate it and will try to scare it away. In animals Cow is said to have a saintly nature and is treated holy but dog/pigs are used as a metaphor for bad deeds or. So in this way the almighty has the power to create and destroy souls and to glorify or condemn anyone.

hukum uttam neech hukum likh dukh sukh paayi
- only as per his command some are adored/admired and some are looked upon as downtrodden/low. Only as per his command one gets happiness or grief.
delete

ekna hukumi bakhsees ek hukumi sada bhavaiye
- As per the command of almighty, some get forgiven and are blessed while some wander aimlessly

hukmai andar sabh ko baahar hukam na ko-ay.
- Fish can only swim from one end of the ocean to the other end of ocean. If it wants to swim outside the ocean/river it cannot do it. So whatever limit or command has been given by almighty, one can only do that much and nothing beyond that. Even if someone is getting killed or doing good deeds it is all with his command and wishes. Nothing beyond his command can be done. No one can do anything without his wishes.

naanak hukmai jay bujhai ta ha-umai kahai na ko-ay.
- One who understand the command of almighty, then ego vanishes, "Main" mith jaandi hai.

about ego, kabeer ji has beautifully said in gurbani "jab lag meri meri kare tab lag kaaj ek nahi saare, jab meeri meeri mith jaaye tab kaj savare aaye". When "I" dies "You" (almighty) is born and then the almighty comes to solve all your problems and issues

- the moral of this pauree is everything is happening by the command of the universal creator, people have this illusion that they are doing or it is happening because of their capabilities but it is just a mental delusion and nothing else. So one who understands this universal truth that no one is capable of doing anything with his capabilities its everything because the almighty is doing it and it is absolutely as per his command then life becomes beautiful