SALOX VARAN TE VADHIK
SALOX VARAN TE VADHIK is the title given to a miscellany comprising 152 slokas or couplets appearing in the concluding portion of the Guru Granth Sahib. Guru Arjan, when compiling the Holy Volume introduced slokas by the Gurus he had collected into the texts of vars, another favored form of composition. The couplets left over in the process were assembled under the caption Salok Varan Te Vadhik, i.e. slokas in excess of the vars. The first chapter in this section consists of 33 slokas 32 by Guru Nanak and one (No 28) by Guru Amar Das forming a sequel to Guru Nanak`s sloka 27.The second chapter contains 67 slokas by Guru Amar Das, the third 30 by Guru Ram Das, and the fourth 22 by Guru Arjan.Guru Nanak`s slokas touch upon themes of moral conduct, social behavior and spiritual transformation. More pointedly they stress that egoity must be overcome. The only way to attain this goal is to take a mentor, the Guru, who will release one from dubiety and teach him to love God.
Man in misguided company does not realize the need of a mentor. Body need not be tormented. Those afflicted with ego remain devoid of wisdom, discernment and true learning. Absorption in God keeps life green forever. Only He and His actions are complete, and the gurmukh, i.e. one who towards Him leans, alone merges in the Complete whole.
Guru Amar Das` slokas reaffirm the value of the mentor.They who are so destined meet with the Guru. A believer in the Guru achieves nam, i.e. absorption in the remembrance of God, and thereby completes himself. Of the wayward, discarded brides lost in the cycle of transmigration, the true Guru alone can be the redeemer. The Guru dispenses nam and he promotes virtue.
Maya is a poisonous Snake ; the antidote is the Lord`s Nam. Thus are they saved who are blinded by maya. Guru leads one to God. Association with gurmukhs helps, but all depends on the grace of God, ultimately.
Loving faith in the Guru is central to the slokas of Guru Ram Das.The Guru`s guidance removes all the impediments. The egoridden burn in the fire of craving and the cycle of coming and going is not sundered for them. Only by seeking refuge in the Guru is one emancipated.
According to Guru Arjan, those imbued with the Lord`s love never turn their faces away from Him. The Guru`s word rescues man from the five enemieslust, anger, avarice, attachment and ego. Myriad`s are asleep in ignorance and they alone awake who constantly remember Lord`s Nam.
References :
1. Sabdarath Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Amritsar, 1969
2. Sahib Singh, Sri Guru Granth Sahib Darpan. o Jalandhar, 1962-69
3. Kohli, Surindar Singh, A Critical Study of Adi Granth. Delhi, 1961
4. Macauliffe, Max Arthur, The Sikh Religion : Its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authors. Oxford, 1909
5. Gurbachan Singh Talib, tr., Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Patiala, 1991