The Importance Of Suchamta In Guru Sahib's Hazoori!

[Ragmaala]

After going through some posts here regarding suchamta I wanted to write something about it, especially when in close vicinity of Dhan Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji Maharaj. This writing will be based purely on my understanding so far. Everyone is welcome to take from it whatever they like or conforms to their understanding and reject what doesn't sit well with them. Most of my understanding is from sakhis that happened in times of Dhan Baba Nand Singh Ji Maharaj, Dhan Dhan Baba Ishar Singh Ji Kaleranwale and some other Nanaksar Mahapurakhs I came in touch with.

It is very important that we maintain purity when in presence of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. This is to show utmost respect to Guru Ji and to see Guru Granth Sahib Ji as 'Pargat Guran Ki Deh'. Just wanted to mention here that throughout their lifetime, Baba Nand Singh Ji himself fed Prashada to Guru Nanak Dev Ji in partakh form. Whenever we enter into the room of Guru Ji, we are supposed to take permission to enter. This is done by saying ' Satnaam Ji'. Before entering the room our feet must be washed. Now if we are to do close seva of Guru Ji, our clothes should be clean meaning they shouldnt be worn during normal activities of the day. If someone has gone to washroom he/she shouldnt wear those clothes. Even if someone goes to sleep , he should change those clothes before doing personal seva of Guru Ji. When person sleeps , he dies temporarily and this is considered impure as per Baba Nand Singh Ji. So suchamta of clothes, of the body is important .

There is also a stricter maryada when it comes to Akhand Paths and certain Sampat Akhand Paths as conducted by Baba Nand Singh & Baba Ishar Singh Ji. Not sure how strictly it is enforced today. Pathi Singhs were to do keshi ishnaan & wear clean/pure clothes each time they went to do their raul. They were not allowed to talk about anything except Gurmat. This was the suchamta of the mind. Also , if a pathi was physically handicapped/ missing a limb he was not allowed to partake in Sampat Path as it had affect on the shakti of the path. Singhs were not allowed to look at themselves in mirrors, and were always accompanied by 2 sword carrying Singhs when they were going outside in the jungle to carry out their bodily functions.

Sampat Paths used to be done in peoples personal homes. But if the maryada was broken somehow ,it had a negative effect on the family. I think its alsmot impossible to do a sampat path with proper maryada at home. So I think sampat paths are only done in nanaksar thats by Mahapuraksh who are capable of doing it for Sarbat Da Pala.

One time a pathi singh was participating in a 28 day mahasampat akhand path. Apparently, he didnt do ishnaan when doing his raul. He ended up dying of suffocation from a fire in his room shortly after, Such is the effect of not keeping suchamta during a MahaSampat Path.

Baba Nand SIngh JI were strict on keeping suchamta/respect in presence of Sri Guru Granth Sahib JI. He wouldnt allow Pathi SInghs to change the rhythm of the path, it was to be kept in the same rhythm throughout 48 hours, they were not allowed to lean on the bed of Guru Ji and neither to raise their knees in front of Guru Ji. No bodily air was to be let out in presence of Guru Ji. They were asked to step out so.

To summarize, utmost care should be taken when it comes to physical body purity/suchamta when performing sewa of Guru Ji. This includes ishnaan, keshi ishnaan, clean/pure clothes during sewa. So this is the physical aspect of purity. This is one of many angs of Bhagti. Obviously maintaining outer purity alone without keeping the mental rehit will become useless and a cause of haumai. So this has to go hand in hand with other angs of bhagti such as shradha, prema, love , devotion, etc.

So, the purpose of this post was that physical purity/suchamta indeed is important when doing sewa of Guru Ji. And it depends on the individual level, how far can that person go to please Guru Ji. If one of the greatest Mahapurash emphasized suchamta then there must be some weight to it.

Thus,open minded individuals will take whatever they want from this post.

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On a side note, I wanted to comment on something. This is purely my thoughts/imagination/views.

The waste is inside us. There is waste in ears, eyes, mouth, and other orifices. The bones, marrow and whats inside the intestines is dirt and waste. Physically we can never be pure. We are sweating all the time. There is waste in our nose. When Jeev leaves the physical body rots and smells. There is urine being made inside the kidneys and store in bladder. Our Skin cells are shedding and the lining of the endometrium sheds every 28 days for some human beings. If we go to minute details , our mind cannot handle it grasp it and will go mad.

But given all that, all the above I said, as long as our bodily functions are maintained and contained within the physical boundaries of our bodies which is set by our skin, we should feel okay in maintaining some suchamta/purity of this body. So we should take care that our bodily fluids and bodily air is not leaking outside the boundaries of skin. And this could either be urine, post processed food, or visble red cells and lining of the endometrium.

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Usually I refrain from commenting about female activities esp when it comes to their bodily functions.

But my mother never did sewa of Sri Guru Granth Sahib during certain times when I was a kid. She forced me to do Sukhasana, at that time I didnt know why, but later on understood it. This was a conscious decision on her part. So this is a decision best left to them.

Sorry for the long and broken thoughts. But had to write about it.

Hopefully some Guriskh Females can give their input about this, so it doesnt look like that Sikhi is being controlled by men. Are there none on this forum? lol

Fateh!

Edited August 27, 2014 by Ragmaala

[Singh123456777]

A+

[savinderpalsingh]

anand agaya paaji

[CdnSikhGirl]

Agreed...

(you asked) As I said there are methods to keep those things within the female body, even during that time...yes entirely within the zone of the skin.

I realize back in time, there weren't the products available today, but there are now several that *ahem* keep *female red blood cells* within the confines of the body until said product is removed. Im sure you can google and figure them out. With those products there is not a single chance that anything would leave the body at the wrong time.... Marvels of modern hygene product industry... and then there are females like myself who take injection (myself because I was experiencing problems, but others take it because they have had as many children as they want) and it completely stops female cycles alltogether. Then, there are older aunties, who do not have that issue anymore at all anyway.

Either way it's totally possible in this day and age to remain just as clean as any other time. So it should not be an issue to barring women from anything at all. That same guy I posted the FB screenshot from, he told me that the women where excluded all the time because the men would never be able to tell if she was or not... that's just wrong. It's a private issue between the woman and Waheguru Ji. Its not up to the men to enforce, any more than they stand guard and make sure every man washes his hands or changes their clothes etc.

Hmm you reminded me of seeing a photo recently of a Singh who fell asleep during akhand paath, mid recital. The photo made it all over the net. Obviously he was not pure of mind to allow that to happen.

[Ragmaala]

Just for the sake of argument, here it goes:

1) Even if you use artificial methods of keeping the "stuff" within the boundaries of the skin, and prevent it from coming out, the endometrium has already sloughed off, its just being kept in there. The natural state of the body is that endometrium keeps on piling up so it can support the zygote, and then when it finds nothing it sloughs off. So once it has already sloughed off, and you are trying to conceal it with whatever methods tampons, cups or whatever...what once was part of the body is no more a part of body, the endometrial cells have separated off from the lining. They are more like urine, sweat, or excreta. So personally for me, if someone sits on Tabya, it does not look clean to me.

As for women who have reached menopause , it is not a problem for them since this process of sloughing off doesn't happen in them. Same thing with injections.

I dissected human bodies, both male and female, during my anatomy classes in medical school. The bodies and their functions don't embarass me.

[This is my personal opinion, and I am not enforcing it on anyone. Moreover, I am not female so I can't physiologically or psychologicaly relate to the process. That's why I wanted opinions of any Gursikh Females here. In the end, it truly is an individuals own responsibility. If a bibi is sitting on Tabya, I wouldn't ask her if she is menstruating or not. I think it is assumed that Bibis who do seva are mature & responisble enough to know whats best]

It's a private issue between the woman and Waheguru Ji. Its not up to the men to enforce, any more than they stand guard and make sure every man washes his hands or changes their clothes etc.

I agree, it is totally personal between the individual and Guru Ji. Again, I haven't seen men harassing Bibis regarding this issue. It is generally assumed that Bibian knows what is best. I haven't come across such situations.

[Ragmaala]

Hmm you reminded me of seeing a photo recently of a Singh who fell asleep during akhand paath, mid recital. The photo made it all over the net. Obviously he was not pure of mind to allow that to happen.

I am not sure what you mean by that.

Obviously, the Singh was wrong for doing that. He was foolish enough not to call someone when he was feeling extremely sleepy. Or he had no fear for keeping the sanctity of the path, and decided to take a little nap.

[Ragmaala]

And just to re-emphasize once again, physical purity is just one of the many angs of the whole deal/ Bhagti.

It is necessary but not everything on its own. If one doesn't have a mental rehit, it is useless.

If he just focuses on the outer aspect, then it is just a cause of haumai/ego and obstruction in one's path.

When doing seva of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji,utmost suchamta should always be kept. Both physical and mental.

[Ragmaala]

In my lifetime, I have not seen Bibis being discriminated against when doing Sewa of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

My Naani Ji, after moving from Pakistan, ran the Gurudwara on her own, She did Prakash everyday.

There is a Bibi at my local Gurdwara, who does Sukhmani Path from Guru Granth Sahib Ji everyday, no body has stopped her from doing so. And this is a famous "hardcore DDT gurudwara" in Toronto. All the langar is always made by Bibias here.

[Singh123456777]

There is a Bibi at my local Gurdwara, who does Sukhmani Path from Guru Granth Sahib Ji everyday, no body has stopped her from doing so. And this is a famous "hardcore DDT gurudwara" in Toronto. All the langar is always made by Bibias here.

Is it malton?

[Ragmaala]

^ Hanji

[Singh123456777]

^ Hanji

Yes they are really hardcore.

[savinderpalsingh]

malton gurudwara , should put it in my checklist to visit

My grandma is jathedar of female kirtan jatha . and my grandpaa was very hard core in rehat he used to make shastars

Edited August 28, 2014 by savinderpalsingh

[jaikaara]

One thing good about all this being discussed is , we are maturely put our views across . Savinderpalsingh veer ji and Satkirinkaur ji I want to thank you from my heart . We had debate maintaining a human approach. We might disagree on certain things however in the end we are all students of the same Aad Guru Siri Akaal Purakh ji ..and our Guardian Gurus the 10 Guru Sahibaan whose knowledge is encrypted in Siri Guru Granth Sahib ji , Siri Guru Dasam Granth Sahib ji and Siri Guru Sarabloh Granth Sahib ji Maharaaj .


Hey Akaal Purakh ji Sadaa Sahaai Daatar Jeeyo ..Iss Sangat 'ch Prem Sadbhaavna baanye rakkhna ji ..

[tania]

It's a natural process which waheguru ji has set in women. And no need to stop it by using injections or any other means as this step would go against  waheguru ji's hukam. Morever there is no pankti in gurbani which says that women r not allowed to visit gurudwara during their periods. not even in bhai gurdas ji's or any mahapurakh gursikhs hand written scriptures. Not even in rehat maryada which is uttered by Dhan Sri Guru Gobind Singh ji. Yes, a women must keep herself very much clean during that time but she must not abandon going to gurudwara.

Even Dhan guru nanak dev ji patshah also says 'SOCHAI SOCH NA HOVAI JE SOCHI LAKH WAR'. Ki jinni mrji suchamta rakhan di soch lo ya rakh lo fer v suchamta nahi hundi.' Islyi j sade guru bani ch nahi ucharde is chiz bre ki ik aurat nu allowed hai ya nahi then sanu apne walo jada dimag nahi lagana chahida. Jo likhya unna hi khatt layiye taan guru di boht waddi khushi aa. Apne aap nu chhoti chhoti kirya karan toh bad v saaf rakhna boht aukha kamm hunda. Jogi apne time te boht wde wde tap krde san.  Te sade lyi tap svere amrit vele uth k thanda pani sir te paana, choti choti chiz ch suchamta rakhni eh han. I've a mildi juldi photo related to the topic. And please finish the topic and spread this awareness that waheguru ji de lyi aurat te aadmi iko samaan han. Dona bina duniya chalni namumkin hai. And eda da kuj ni ki aurat nu allowed ni ohde ik life de stage te gurudware jana.

Waheguru ji ka khalsa, Waheguru ji ki fateh.