Japuji: Pauree1

ਸੋਚੈ ਸੋਚਿ ਨ ਹੋਵਈ ਜੇ ਸੋਚੀ ਲਖ ਵਾਰ ॥
Socẖai socẖ na hova▫ī je socẖī lakẖ vār.

ਚੁਪੈ ਚੁਪ ਨ ਹੋਵਈ ਜੇ ਲਾਇ ਰਹਾ ਲਿਵ ਤਾਰ ॥
Cẖupai cẖup na hova▫ī je lā▫e rahā liv ṯār.

ਭੁਖਿਆ ਭੁਖ ਨ ਉਤਰੀ ਜੇ ਬੰਨਾ ਪੁਰੀਆ ਭਾਰ ॥
Bẖukẖi▫ā bẖukẖ na uṯrī je bannā purī▫ā bẖār.

ਸਹਸ ਸਿਆਣਪਾ ਲਖ ਹੋਹਿ ਤ ਇਕ ਨ ਚਲੈ ਨਾਲਿ ॥
Sahas si▫āṇpā lakẖ hohi ṯa ik na cẖalai nāl.

ਕਿਵ ਸਚਿਆਰਾ ਹੋਈਐ ਕਿਵ ਕੂੜੈ ਤੁਟੈ ਪਾਲਿ ॥
Kiv sacẖi▫ārā ho▫ī▫ai kiv kūrhai ṯutai pāl.

ਹੁਕਮਿ ਰਜਾਈ ਚਲਣਾ ਨਾਨਕ ਲਿਖਿਆ ਨਾਲਿ ॥੧॥
Hukam rajā▫ī cẖalṇā Nānak likẖi▫ā nāl. ||1||

Here Nanak talks about what humans do to try to attain the divine. How humans struggle with things and then feel that those actions of theirs would lead to the real truth.

He says that bathing in rivers is not going to make one pure. If it was so, then the purest thing would have to be toads, turtles, etc which spend most of their lives in water. He emphasizes that holy sarovars and rivers are never a way to salvation. Isn't it common sense that a bad deed can never be redeemed by just a dip in water, or by fasting or even by bowing in front of someone. No, says Nanak. these (holy dips) are not the ways to become pious!

Same is the case with meditation. You may chant a million prayers a day but that is not going to make you come closer to god. The same can be said of silence. Maun vratas are not the way to the truth. Having that that, meditation may be a good thing for physical or mental well being of an individual, but that is it. If it gives you happiness to meditate, then do it, but don't start projecting it as a way to God. As different humans have different moods, different ambitions, different physical capabilities, in the same way different things might be working to make different people happy. You may derive happiness from meditation, while another may be getting it from physical exercises, from music or someone from eating. So, Nanak has disregarded meditation as the means to achieve truth!

Then he highlights the foolishness of peoples thoughts that the fulfillment of a desire would be an end in itself. The fact is that fulfillment of a desire leads to another desire fulfillment of which is the beginning of the next one and the process is never ending. Greed can never be satiated by materialistic achievements. It can just lead to further greed and it is even higher at each successive step. Nanak spoke that greed can never be removed by worldly riches!

Then comes wisdom. We might have overestimated the power of wisdom as a tool to set us free. If that was so, then the happiest people should have been the greatest scientists. But the fact is that more wisdom one attains, more complex the things become for him and although he is working at a much higher mental level than an ordinary person, but this knowledge has not made him contented and truly happy. In fact it has further enslaved him in the complexities of nature, life, etc. So, Nanak says that achieving heights of wisdom cannot set a person free!

Nanak then questions how can the real truth be achieved? how can the veil of illusions be shattered and the light beyond, the real truth beyond the obvious, the real happiness and the real goal of existence be realized?

The answer, says Nanak, is submission to gods will. He says that gods will is the real truth and everything is predestined in a way. Things happen to us and Nanak says that they happen because they were so destined to. We didn't decide to take birth nor do we know when we are going to die. We can worry all we can about our problems, but they are going to be solved only when they have to. The best approach is to go on doing what you feel is going to make you happy. This way you -1. become happy 2. take a step towards a preordained goal, which may or may not be the solution to the problem. So, Nanak spoke that submitting yourself happily, willingly, and totally to gods' will is how true happiness can be achieved.

It is not materialistic riches, or religious rituals or scientific knowledge which can make us truly happy. True happiness is achieved only by a willing submission to god's will!!