Begam Pura-ਬੇਗਮ ਪੁਰਾ

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To create a world as ‘Begam Pura‘ (‘ ਬੇਗਮ ਪੁਰਾ ‘) was the dream of the Gurus and Bhagat Ravidas. When the entire humanity becomes walking ‘Begam Pura‘, the entire world becomes ‘Begam Pura‘ world where only the Divine Hukam (Cosmic System-Law-Rule-Order of Nature with which the Kudrat functions – ਕੁਦਰਤੀ ਨਿਯਮ) is followed, not of any scheming priest/clergy (Pujaaree), rulership etc. To create this ‘Begam Pura‘ world demands great courage and unparalleled self-efforts.

The entirety of the Gurbani enshrined within the Sri Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS) addresses the human Mind. All contributors of the Bani (ਬਾਣੀ) who are included in the SGGS were excellent communicators, poets, and presenters. Their unique and revolutionary Bani effectively expresses the subtlety of their spiritual experiences. They draw the reader’s attention, awaken slumbering mind, amplify enlightening Message contained within the Guru Shabad, capture subtle nuances of spirituality – they create imagery in the mind and make the reader see things in a new way resulting in improved understanding.

Literally,
– Begam or Begum (ਬੇਗਮ), from Arabic/Persian ‘Be-ਬੇ’ = without, and ‘Gam-ਗਮ’ = sorrow, anxiety etc.
– Pura (ਪੁਰਾ) = from Sanskrit ‘Pur’, and from Prakrit ‘Pura’ (pronounced Puraa), (town, city).

Consider the following Shabad composed by Bhagat Ravidas and recorded on page 345 of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS) within ‘Gaure’ Raag:

  • ਬੇਗਮ ਪੁਰਾ ਸਹਰ ਕੋ ਨਾਉ ॥ ਦੂਖੁ ਅੰਦੋਹੁ ਨਹੀ ਤਿਹਿ ਠਾਉ ॥ ਨਾਂ ਤਸਵੀਸ ਖਿਰਾਜੁ ਨ ਮਾਲੁ ॥ ਖਉਫੁ ਨ ਖਤਾ ਨ ਤਰਸੁ ਜਵਾਲੁ ॥੧॥ ਅਬ ਮੋਹਿ ਖੂਬ ਵਤਨ ਗਹ ਪਾਈ ॥ ਊਹਾਂ ਖੈਰਿ ਸਦਾ ਮੇਰੇ ਭਾਈ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥ ਕਾਇਮੁ ਦਾਇਮੁ ਸਦਾ ਪਾਤਿਸਾਹੀ ॥ ਦੋਮ ਨ ਸੇਮ ਏਕ ਸੋ ਆਹੀ ॥ ਆਬਾਦਾਨੁ ਸਦਾ ਮਸਹੂਰ ॥ ਊਹਾਂ ਗਨੀ ਬਸਹਿ ਮਾਮੂਰ ॥੨॥ ਤਿਉ ਤਿਉ ਸੈਲ ਕਰਹਿ ਜਿਉ ਭਾਵੈ ॥ ਮਹਰਮ ਮਹਲ ਨ ਕੋ ਅਟਕਾਵੈ ॥ ਕਹਿ ਰਵਿਦਾਸ ਖਲਾਸ ਚਮਾਰਾ ॥ ਜੋ ਹਮ ਸਹਰੀ ਸੁ ਮੀਤੁ ਹਮਾਰਾ ॥੩॥੨॥: (Bhagat Ravidas says) ‘Baygum Pura‘, ‘the abode of the sorrowless’ – SPIRITUAL STATE OF MIND (ਆਤਮਕ ਅਵਸਥਾ) – in which I now reside. In that place there is neither any pain nor apprehension. In that place there are no worries of taxes and nor are material commodities there. In that place there is no fear, no wrong doings, no spiritual decline, and hence no need for compassion by anyone. ||1|| I have now settled in this most wonderful place (i.e. the state of Being). Brother, your wellbeing is forever guaranteed in this realm. ||1||Pause|| This sovereign state of mind is permanent. No one is treated there as a second or third class citizen, all are considered EQUAL there – Oneness. This realm is forever glorious because it is in abundance. Those who reside there are truly wealthy because they are content with what they have. ||2|| In that realm they go about as they please (without any fear). None can prevent them from entering their All-knowing Creator’s mansion. So proclaims Ravidas the liberated cobbler (Chamaar: a tanner-member of the low castes), only the citizens of this realm – Enlightened State of Mind – are my dear friends. ||3||2|| (sggs 345).

Begam Pura (ਬੇਗਮ ਪੁਰਾ) cannot be found on Google Maps!

This Begum Pura city is NOT to be found on Google Maps!

Also, it’s NOT a future township, or a political project, or a commune, or a society yet to be built. It’s HERE AND NOW. Bhagat Ravidas proclaims he has already moved/arrived/settled in this abode of ‘Begam Pura‘, in the present tense – the exalted inner state, inner awakening, sovereign, exceeding the dimensions of time and space. A sovereignty that cannot be crushed by any outside forces. Bhagat Ravidas declares only those are his friends who dwell in this realm of Sach Khand, Here and Now. In his Above Shabad, Bhagat Ravidas is describing a transformation of the self. A spiritual war on man’s base self.

The literal reading/interpretation of the Gurbani (SGGS) presents insurmountable problems that Sanatani interpretations of the various anti-Gurmat forces and agenda-oriented modern earn-a-living Sikh clergy (Pujaaree) simply ignore.

That said, ‘Begam Pura‘ is not about a city to be built in the future, or a physical place or location out there somewhere. It is the Awakened/reformed State of the mind or the Vision that external conditions cannot touch.

More revealing still is the Shabad that follows immediately the foregoing Shabad in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS). This journey is like chewing steel balls with the teeth of wax! In the following Shabad, Ravidas is using the ox as a metaphor for his physical self or mind sans of Virtues, a creature of impulse, spiritually unrefined, prone to going wherever its appetite leads. He is describing the difficulty of inner discipline: the self-efforts of refining the self, of carrying one’s spiritual earnings safely through the life without surrendering to the worldly temptations and their corrupting influences, fear etc.

  • ਘਟ ਅਵਘਟ ਡੂਗਰ ਘਣਾ ਇਕੁ ਨਿਰਗੁਣੁ ਬੈਲੁ ਹਮਾਰ ॥ ਰਮਈਏ ਸਿਉ ਇਕ ਬੇਨਤੀ ਮੇਰੀ ਪੂੰਜੀ ਰਾਖੁ ਮੁਰਾਰਿ ॥੧॥ : The rout to realize God is very treacherous, its difficult terrain is full of mounds; to traverse this path, all I have is this worthless ox like mind which is sans of Divine Virtues. Therefore, O God, I pray to You: please safeguard my capital (of spiritual efforts/earnings and Divine Virtues). (sggs 345).

(ਬੇਗਮ ਪੁਰਾ) is the sorrowless Realm of the mind Here and NOW, NOT in future!

In a nutshell, to put it in words, it’s about becoming a walking Begampura, Here and Now – creating that space in my mind which is a mental sorrowless world for myself. The Gurbani (SGGS) assures we all have this power within each person to create and become a walking ‘Begam Pura‘. Creation of ‘Begam Pura‘ at the microcosmic world of each and every human-individual will turn into the macrocosmic ‘Begam Pura‘ of the world.

Imagine such place where there is neither sorrow, anxiety, suffering, misery, worry, terror, caste-based hierarchy of Sanatani caste society, burden of paying taxes, danger of committing transgressions, nor fear of any sort etc. Such inner transformation precedes and enables outer fearlessness.

‘Begam Pura‘ signifies the abode of happiness, freedom, Joy, peace, bliss, Divine Virtues, inner calm, truthfulness etc. In such dwelling of ‘Begam Pura‘ one realizes what real liberation is. In a nutshell, it is a spiritual Avastha of Turiya pada, Sach Khand etc where their is Anand and oneness with the All-pervading Creator and the entire humanity. In this ideal state, no one would face discrimination based on caste (Jaat Paat), color, sex, faith or other factors. no fear, No resentment, no dominance of ego (Haumai) etc. Everyone is treated equally there. With such change, there everyone can exercise their human rights there.

Message of Universal Oneness, Brotherhood…

The enlightening Message of the Gurbani enshrined within the Sri Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS) is that the One Creator shines through all of creation: rivers and mountains, plants and animals, the sun, the moon and all the stars, and you and I — all are expressions of this One Reality.

That said, the Gurmat’s (teaching/Wisdom of the SGGS) ONENESS is relational, ethical and participatory because Creation, individuality, and sentient experience are real and significant, not illusory, impersonal, and abstract. In other words, ONENESS in Sikhi/Gurmat of Guru Nanak refers to the sole existential framework within which Creation functions (Hukam that permeating our very existence) rather than some impersonal oneness grounded in insentience.

‘Begam Pura‘ is the casteless, classless and stateless society that we need today. The Gurbani (SGGS) proclaims:

  • ਹੁਣਿ ਹੁਕਮੁ ਹੋਆ ਮਿਹਰਵਾਣ ਦਾ ॥ ਪੈ ਕੋਇ ਨ ਕਿਸੈ ਰਞਾਣਦਾ ॥ ਸਭ ਸੁਖਾਲੀ ਵੁਠੀਆ ਇਹੁ ਹੋਆ ਹਲੇਮੀ ਰਾਜੁ ਜੀਉ ॥੧੩॥ : Now the Merciful (Truth-Creator) has issued His Hukam (Cosmic System-Law-Rule-Order of Nature) that no one would be persecuted or harassed by anyone. All would live harmoniously in peace under the benevolent Cosmic Rule/regime of co-existence in humility. ॥13॥ (sggs 74).
  • ਭੈ ਕਾਹੂ ਕਉ ਦੇਤ ਨਹਿ ਨਹਿ ਭੈ ਮਾਨਤ ਆਨ ॥ ਕਹੁ ਨਾਨਕ ਸੁਨਿ ਰੇ ਮਨਾ ਗਿਆਨੀ ਤਾਹਿ ਬਖਾਨਿ ॥੧੬॥ : One who neither frightens anyone nor is afraid of anyone else: Says Nanak, listen, O mind! Call that person as a spiritually Wise. ॥16॥ (sggs 1427).
  • ਕਬੀਰ ਜੋਰੁ ਕੀਆ ਸੋ ਜੁਲਮੁ ਹੈ ਲੇਇ ਜਬਾਬੁ ਖੁਦਾਇ ॥ : Kabir, to use force on anyone is an act of cruelty and such act of cruelty will deny me God Realization. (sggs 1375).

This Message of universal oneness and brotherhood is the basis of Sikhi or Gurmat (SGGS). Guru Nanak presented a philosophy that rejected all existing religions and their crafty priest classes. He instead offered a universal humanitarian perspective that recognized all creation as functioning under one law (the Divine Hukam). Thus, Guru Nanak united the world under one understanding and described all people as brothers and sisters with One Father – the One Creator.

  • ਪਰਥਾਇ ਸਾਖੀ ਮਹਾ ਪੁਰਖ ਬੋਲਦੇ ਸਾਝੀ ਸਗਲ ਜਹਾਨੈ ॥ : Great persons may be speaking about or addressing certain narrative, but the Teaching/Message in those is applicable for the spiritual betterment of ALL of mankind/humanity. (sggs 647).
  • ਸਭੇ ਸਾਝੀਵਾਲ ਸਦਾਇਨਿ ਤੂੰ ਕਿਸੈ ਨ ਦਿਸਹਿ ਬਾਹਰਾ ਜੀਉ ॥੩॥ : (O God!) All are part and parcel of You. None is beyond You. ||3|| (sggs 97).
  • ਨਾ ਕੋ ਬੈਰੀ ਨਹੀ ਬਿਗਾਨਾ ਸਗਲ ਸੰਗਿ ਹਮ ਕਉ ਬਨਿ ਆਈ ॥੧॥ : No one is my enemy, no one is a stranger to me, I have BECOME ONE with the entirety of the humanity. ||1|| (sggs 1299).

The entire world as ‘BEGAM PURA’

Gurmat is a beacon of unity in the entire world, and envisions this entire world become ‘BEGAM PURA‘. Therefore, the Gurmat or Sikhi of Guru Nanak asks the humanity to develop and realize that STATE OF MIND of ‘BEGAM PURA’ in which NO one is treated as a second or third class citizen, all are considered EQUAL…‘ – ‘ਦੋਮ ਨ ਸੇਮ ਏਕ ਸੋ ਆਹੀ’.

The most precise and concise definition of ‘heaven‘ is found in the foregoing Shabad of the revolutionary Bhagat Ravidas. While going through this Shabad ‘Begam Pura Sehar Ko Nau’ (‘ਬੇਗਮ ਪੁਰਾ ਸਹਰ ਕੋ ਨਾਉ’), one easily gets the feeling of ‘what heaven can be like’ – a state of the mind in which no sorrow can reach. And this state is Here and Now, NOT after death or somewhere in the sky!

A person who instills the Divine Virtues/Qualities within oneself and performs his/her duties truthfully is always residing in ‘heaven’, Here and Now. There is no other heaven, above, below, to the left or right.

Such heavenly abode – ‘Begam Pura‘ – can not be realized by mere singing ‘Begum Pura‘ alone, listening to Kirtan, nonsensical religious rituals, Nagar Kirtans on the birth anniversary of Gurus/Bhagats, waving naked swords at another section of the society, waging wars, inciting hatred and killing in the name of religion and God, destroying harmony and brotherhood, and so on.

Ending

Devoid of basic principles of the Gurmat, the earn-a-living clergy (Pujaaree) rob gullible people of everything by confusing and manipulating them giving them false beliefs. The Gurbani asks the entire humanity to learn and wake up from the slumber of ignorance. The words of Bhagat Ravidas convey a profound invitation to the entire humanity to shift from a world of suffering to a realm of the Divine bliss/joy, Here and Now.

  • ਕਾਦੀ ਕੂੜੁ ਬੋਲਿ ਮਲੁ ਖਾਇ ॥ ਬ੍ਰਾਹਮਣੁ ਨਾਵੈ ਜੀਆ ਘਾਇ ॥ ਜੋਗੀ ਜੁਗਤਿ ਨ ਜਾਣੈ ਅੰਧੁ ॥ ਤੀਨੇ ਓਜਾੜੇ ਕਾ ਬੰਧੁ ॥੨॥ : The clergy of the Muslim faith was corrupt, the Brahman was murderous and the Yogi UN-Enlightened. These three (clergy) had become the root cause for the Spiritual wreckage and desolation that mankind had come to endure. (sggs 662).

As we know it, Guru Nanak set off on long journeys (ਪ੍ਰਚਾਰ ਫੇਰੀਆਂ) to different countries and foreign lands, teaching entire humanity to become settled in ‘Begam Pura‘ within.

Let us all – by reading the Gurbani ourselves, understanding it and accepting the enlightening Message of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, and living it in daily life – establish brotherly harmony within and without and become worthy of being called residents of ‘Begam Pura‘ world.

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