Sikhism·Raag Tukhaari·Shabad 10
Verse 1 of 6

The True Bath Is Seeing the Guru

ਤੁਖਾਰੀ ਮਹਲਾ ੪ ॥
tukhaaree mehlaa 4.
ਨਾਵਣੁ ਪੁਰਬੁ ਅਭੀਚੁ ਗੁਰ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਦਰਸੁ ਭਇਆ ॥
naavan purab abheech gur satgur daras bha-i-aa.
ਦੁਰਮਤਿ ਮੈਲੁ ਹਰੀ ਅਗਿਆਨੁ ਅੰਧੇਰੁ ਗਇਆ ॥
durmat mail haree agi-aan anDhayr ga-i-aa.
ਗੁਰ ਦਰਸੁ ਪਾਇਆ ਅਗਿਆਨੁ ਗਵਾਇਆ ਅੰਤਰਿ ਜੋਤਿ ਪ੍ਰਗਾਸੀ ॥
gur daras paa-i-aa agi-aan gavaa-i-aa antar jot pargaasee.
ਜਨਮ ਮਰਣ ਦੁਖ ਖਿਨ ਮਹਿ ਬਿਨਸੇ ਹਰਿ ਪਾਇਆ ਪ੍ਰਭੁ ਅਬਿਨਾਸੀ ॥
janam maran dukh khin meh binsay har paa-i-aa parabh abhinaasee.
ਹਰਿ ਆਪਿ ਕਰਤੈ ਪੁਰਬੁ ਕੀਆ ਸਤਿਗੁਰੂ ਕੁਲਖੇਤਿ ਨਾਵਣਿ ਗਇਆ ॥
har aap kartai purab kee-aa satguroo kulkhayt naavan ga-i-aa.
ਨਾਵਣੁ ਪੁਰਬੁ ਅਭੀਚੁ ਗੁਰ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਦਰਸੁ ਭਇਆ ॥੧॥
naavan purab abheech gur satgur daras bha-i-aa. ||1||

Tukhaari, Fourth Mehl:

To receive the Blessed Vision of the Darshan of the Guru, the True Guru, is to truly bathe at the Abhaijit festival.

The filth of evil-mindedness is washed off, and the darkness of ignorance is dispelled.

Blessed by the Guru's Darshan, spiritual ignorance is dispelled, and the Divine Light illuminates the inner being.

The pains of birth and death vanish in an instant, and the Eternal, Imperishable Lord God is found.

The Creator Lord God Himself created the festival, when the True Guru went to bathe at the festival in Kuruk-shaytra.

To receive the Blessed Vision of the Darshan of the Guru, the True Guru, is to truly bathe at the Abhaijit festival. ||1||

# Raag Tukhaari, Shabad 10 — The True Bath Is Seeing the Guru

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

People travel far to bathe in holy rivers at festival time, but simply seeing the Guru is the truest bath of all.

In that moment the dust of a troubled mind rinses away, and the dark of not-knowing lifts.

The instant I catch sight of the Guru, confusion falls off me and a light switches on deep inside.

Old aches and fears melt in a heartbeat, and I find the One who never fades.

There was a great festival, and the Guru set out to bathe at the sacred grounds of Kurukshetra.

Just seeing the Guru: that was the real festival, the real washing-clean.

The truest washing-clean is not in any river; it is the light that switches on when you meet the Teacher.
The deeper layer

This begins a true story set to music: Guru Ram Das sings of a journey his own Guru made to the great pilgrimage sites. Kurukshetra was one of the most famous places to bathe during a solar-eclipse festival (abheech / abhijit). The stanza turns the whole idea of pilgrimage inside out: the truest "holy bath" is daras, seeing the Guru, which rinses a troubled mind clean and lights the jot, the divine light, within. Pilgrimage is honored, not mocked; its meaning is simply located in the heart. "The pains of birth and death" are rendered gently as old aches and fears that melt away.

A Question to Sit With

What is a moment that made your mind feel suddenly clear, like fog lifting?

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI

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