Suneai Dookh Paap Ka Naas (Punjabi)
(Listening to God Relieves Pain, Dispels Sin)
Published by: Guru Teg Bahadur Naam-Simran Foundation
303/1, Avery Tower, Juhu Road, Mumbai-400 049
Pages:195. Price: Rs. 70.00
Reviewed by Kulwant Singh
Suneai dookh paap ka naas is an explanatory treatise, dwelling on the meanings of four specific cantos of Japji Sahib, starting from the 8th - 'Suneai sidh-pir sur nath'. The writer has devoted a chapter to each line of these stanzas, starting with the above terse statement. He builds up a theme pivoting around 'Hukam' , God's order. According to him, it is this 'Hukam' ,which is to be heard through the inner voice. The entire universe is hearing this 'Hukam' and silently obeys it and moves on smoothly. It is only man who often disobeys His 'Hukam' and thus suffers from sins and sorrows. He says, 'Hukam na sunan wale nu dukh milda hai': So an inference is arrived at this argument that if one hears 'Divine Hukam' he gets all the merits of his spiritual practices and gets emancipated from the sins and sorrows of life. Thus 'Suneai dookh paap ka naas'
His is an excellent style of taking one line of 'suneai' and devoting a full chapter to it, covers up with very simple and lucid explanations, annotating the mythical words, followed by ample quotations from Gurbani, which enriches the information of reader who wish to expand his knowledge, which is not normally available in the translation books of Jupji Sahib.
Here and there, the writer in order to justify his explanation takes the support of the modern science and philosophy like Gravitational pull and consciousness of mind (as on page 177). This is where he is explaining ' Suneai andhe pavai raho'.
The author gives an example of a historical event where Prithvi Chand hit an arrow at Mohammad Ghori only by listening to his voice, since he could not see. The writer justifies that that simply by hearing through his sixth sense a blind man can seek his path. Hence, 'suneai andhe pavai raho'.
At another place (page 75) he has reasonably argued to justify a controversial meaning of the line 'suneai mukh salahan mand'. Some translators translate it as "By listening even the vile are led to worship God". According to him, he disagrees that this word 'mand' is for low and 'Salahan' is for praises of God. Rather, Salahan-mand is a complex word meaning 'worth praising' that is Salahan-yog. He quotesd 'Nanak te mukh oojlay' meaning those who remain listening to God through inner voice, get their faces shine with resplendent beauty. Hence the word 'Salahan-mand'. (It is just the complex word daulat-mand). However it remains still controversial and deserves the attention of scholars and this reference by Joginder Singh Sethi must be looked into.
Suneai dookh paap ka naas is the line followed by yet another important line, i.e. 'Nanak Bhagatan sada wigaas'. These twin lines being the repetition in all the four stanzas, is explained only once from page 38 to 62. In addition, to giving ample quotations from Gurbani, he takes a turn to enter the philosophical aspect of body, mind and soul, and even touches the sphere of 'Faith Healing' and 'Hypnotism'.
The author says, to hear the voice of the soul, it is important that the shadow of the mind should not fall on it. There is a switch in the hands of Guru and once it is operative, the bhagat-jan listens to the voice of soul and shuts out the dictates from the mind--'Phir na dukh hai, na paap hai (page 62).
Courtesy: The Sikh Review, September 1998