SUKH and DUKH
Question from a satsanggi – how do we find a balance in sukh and dukh, is it all pre-ordained?
In Gurbani, ‘dukh’ and ‘sukh’ are intertwined. Since ‘dukh and sukh’ are part of the experiences of this world, Bani says one must follow the other, as anything caught in ‘kaal’ will have a limited time span. But Bani does not say there will be an equal amount of dukh if you have a great amount of sukh now.
The amount depends on God as He is the Judge of each action. Each karma we do, will put into operation certain Cosmic laws. It may be a ‘neutral’ karma. One may decide to go to the market to buy some vegetables. He drives his car there, buys the vegetables and comes home without incident. The act of going to the market, meeting people along the way, choosing and buying the right amount of vegetables, coming home safely is really a series of karmas. But because they were done without any ‘excess’ of passion like anger lust or greed, they are ‘neutral’ karmas. But, if along the way to the market, he has a fight with someone over a parking lot, heartily curses the other, threatening to do this and that, that will attract karmic weight. It is impossible to say that he will only have to receive the equal amount of curses and threats some other time. With what scales God weighs our actions is known only to Him. In Raag Sorath M.4 (604), we are told it is
‘apay kandaa aap taraji prabh apay toll tollaieya’
(He Himself is the balancing scale, He Himself is the Weigher, He Himself weighs the weights)
It is this that Bhagat Kabir Ji refers to at Ang 870, when He says
‘apnay karam ki gatt mai kya jaanu’
(what do I know about the state of my karma – the consequences of my actions?)
To avoid this cycle of dukh and sukh, Gurbani tells us we have to become detached from worldliness. It is in this context that Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji tells us in the Slok M.9
‘dukh sukh jai parsay nahin lobh moh abhimaan, kaho Nanak sun ray manaa so murat bhagwaan’
(One who is neither touched by pleasure or pain, greed or emotional attachment and egotistical pride, says Nanak. listen O my mind, he is the very image of God)
Such detachment is known in sahaj avastha or chautha pad. It is a state of mind and spirituality where one is detached from the three ‘gunas’ or qualities of maya known as ‘trai gun’. In the ‘tria gun’ stage, where most of humanity resides, there will be the alternation between dukh and sukh. Detachment is a slow process and is achieved ‘sahaj subhai’ with the grace of the Guru. Any ‘manhath’ attempt will bring further karmic consequences. In japji we are told in pauri 33,
‘jor na jugti chutay sansaar’
Bhagat Kabir Ji with His classic clarity, says of dukh and sukh,
‘sukh mangaat dukh aagay avaai, so sukh hamhu na mangeeaya bhaavai’
(people beg for pleasure but pain comes instead; I would rather not beg for such pleasure)
When one takes to naam however, you find that all kinds of sukhs will be your lot. Thus at Ang 385 Guru Arjun Dev Ji declares
‘sarab sukha banay teray olaay’
(all comforts are obtained at Your Shelter)
In Sukhmani we are given the Divine wisdom,
‘jay ko apnaa dukh mitavay Har Har naam riday sadh gaavai’
(If you wish to rid yourselves of sorrow, sing the name of the Lord within your heart)
Thus sorrows can be erased by naam and the grace of the Satguru. In the absence of naam, sukh must inevitably be followed by dukh but not necessarily in equal amounts.
A first step towards constant sukh is to start accepting His bhana, i.e His Will. At Ang 364 Guruji says
‘bhana mannay sadaa sukh hoiye’
(one who surrenders to the Will of God finds eternal peace)
If you commit yourself to sincere sewa of the Guru and you obtain His grace, then dukh cannot scorch you. At Ang 651, Guru Amardas Ji says
‘gur sewa tay sukh upjai firr dukh na laagay aaye’
(serving the Guru, one obtains peace and pain does not come even near you)
At Ang 490 Guru Amardas Ji again says
‘kurhay ki paal vechoh niklay ta taan sadaa sukh hoiye’
(if the veil of falsehood is removed then one obtains lasting peace)
The sadh sangat is one sure place where you can obtain this sukh. At Ang 42 we find
‘bhaee ray sukh sadh sang paieeya’
Naam is the only ‘agency’ by which sukh can be found. At Ang 430, Guruji says
‘bin naavay sukh na paaiey ay’
In Majh Ki Vaar, Guru Nanak Dev Ji at Ang 149 declares,
‘sukh dukh doee dar kaphray pahray jaaiiye manukh’
These are like clothes worn by us. These are garments of karma. They keep changing and alternating. As stated above, this will continue until you obtain the Guru’s grace through naam and abide in a higher spirituality where you are detached from these sukhs and dukhs. God Himself is beyond dukh and even sukh. At Ang 785 we find the the amazing line
‘sabh kay madh sabhu tay bahaar raag dokh tay niaro’
(He is in all, yet detached from all; He is untouched by happiness or sorrow)
Raag does not just mean melody. Depending on the context ‘raag’ means happiness.
Our earlier actions would determine to an extent our present circumstances. To that extent it is pre-determined. What acts you do today will determine what you do for eg. 2 weeks from now. But naam and the Guru’s grace can release one from karmas. Thus you have Guru Nanak Ji telling us at Ang 56,
‘bin Gur karam na chutsee’
(without the Guru one cannot find release from karmas)
Beyond that, we all have free will to do acts. Whatever acts we do will however be caught in the laws of karma and will determine what happens to us in the future depending on how God had weighed those acts and attributed karmic weight in His absolute discretion.
Manjeet Singh
