Waheguru ji ka khalsa, waheguru ji k fateh, i don't understand what this shabad is trying to say, cud some one help please???? Thanx in advance :)

Fareedhaa rottee maeree kaat(h) kee laavan maeree bhukh ||

Fareed, my bread is made of wood, and hunger is my appetizer.



jinaa khaadhhee choparree ghanae sehanigae dhukh ||28||

Those who eat buttered bread, will suffer in terrible pain. ||28||



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/27/2007 12:37PM by admin.

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Fareedhaa rottee maeree kaat(h) kee laavan maeree bhukh ||
jinaa khaadhhee choparree ghanae sehanigae dhukh ||28||
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Kaath means wood and laavan means sabjee or daal that we eat with roti. Chopree roti is that roti on which ghee or butter is applied.

No one eats wooden roti. Some historians made up stories like Baba Farid jee used to hang a piece of wood around his neck and whenever he felt hungry he used to chew on that wood. This is absurd and not eating food is not acceptable in Gurmat.

Baba jee is teaching us to be satisfied in whatever kind of food we can afford by earning honestly i.e. food that is bought using honest earnings is the only food acceptable in Gurmat. One’s who eat delicious and rich food prepared through dishonest earnings will go through a lot of suffering.

In the light of above introduction, the meanings of this pankiti would be as follows:

O Farid, My roti is hard like wood (roti prepared using cheap grains like Jau or Bajra as opposed to soft wheat roti) and my hunger is so strong that it serves as daal or sabjee for me. (When one is extremely hungry, one does not care about taste. Tasteless food too tastes very tasty when one is hungry. So Baba Farid jee’s hunger serves as his daal and sabji). Ones who eat delicious soft wheat rotis applied with ghee or butter (and earned through dishonest means) will suffer immensely.

To interpret this to mean that one should avoid applying ghee on roti is not understanding this pankiti. If ghee was bad, Guru Sahib would not have used it in langar. It is known that Guru ka Langar was very rich during the Guru period and they even used to put ghee in kheer as written in Ramkali ki Vaar – Langar Daulat vandiye, Rass Amrit Kheer Gheaali||. The issue here is to be contented in whatever Guru Sahib has blessed us with. One can do ardaas but to covet someone else's food or to resort to dishonest means to get what you want is not right.

Baani is Agam Agaadh Bodh. May Guru Sahib forgive my mistakes in interpreting the above pankiti.

Daas,
Kulbir Singh

I did not clearly understand the meanings esp. "my hunger is so strong that it serves as daal or sabjee for me." If hunger is like daal or sabjee then what satisfies the hunger? How could daal or sabjee be hunger? Roti being hard like wood or rukhee missi makes sense but hunger being daal or any food is not clear to me. Please explain more.

Bijla Singh jeeo,

There is a pankiti that goes as follows:

"Je bhukh deh taa itt hee Raajja, dukh vich sookh manaayee||"

Siri Guru jee is saying that if you give me hunger i.e. keep me hungry, I will satiate my hunger this way (i.e. by remaining hungry, I will satiate my hunger) and I will enjoy sukh in dukh in this manner.

If you think of it, how can you satiate your hunger by remaining hungry? Same way, Baba Farid jee is writing that his hunger will serve as his laavan i.e. sabji or daal. In other words Roti alone without sabji or daal would satiate him because in hunger, extremely modest food feels like the most delicious food. Meri bhukh hee mera laavan hai. I will have roti and my bhukh will serve as my laavan i.e. roti alone will satiate me.

I hope this helps.

Daas,
Kulbir Singh

Now it makes sense. Thanks a lot