Keeping the body externally clean by bathing it is a good practice in personal hygiene — a common sense. But what about the mind? The Gurbani says that the dirt of our mind cannot be washed away with water or any other material product. This "filth" of our instinctive mind is responsible for our repeated suffering and delusion. It's called by many names including Haume or false ego-sense, love of Maya, restlessness, veil of ignorance, delusion, doubts, conditioned consciousness, duality, selfishness, desires and fear, falsehood, lust, anger, greed, emotional attachment, false pride, enviousness, stubborn mindedness, corruption, and so on. The physical bathing can remove the outer dirt and odor of the body, but, as the SGGS indicates, it can never remove this "filth" of the mind.

• min mYlY sBu ikCu mYlw qin DoqY mnu hCw n hoie: Mani mailai sabh kish mailaa tani dhotai manu hashaa na hoe: When the mind is filthy, everything is filthy; by washing the body, the mind is not cleaned (sggs 558).
• bwhir mlu DovY mn kI jUiT n jwey: Baahari malu dhovai mann kee jooth na jaaeae: Outwardly, one washes off the filth of his body, but the impurity of his mind does not go away (sggs 88).
• AMqir mYlu loB bhu JUTy bwhir nwvhu kwhI jIau: Antari mailu lobh bahu jhoote baahari naavahu kaahee jeeou: O man, within you is the great filth of greed and falsehood; why do you bother to wash your body on the outside? (sggs 598).
• mnmuKu sdw bgu mYlw haumY mlu lweI]iesnwnu krY pru mYlu n jweI]jIvqu mrY gur sbdu bIcwrY haumY mYlu cukwvixAw: Manamukh sadaa bagu mailaa houmai malu laaee. Isanaan karai paru mail na jaaee. Jeevat marai gur sabadu beechaarai houmai mail chukaavaniaa: The Manmukhs (materialists or ego being) will always be filthy cranes, smeared with the filth of ego. They may bathe, but their filth is not removed. One who dies while yet alive, and contemplates the Word of the Gur-Shabad, is rid of this filth of ego (sggs 129).
• Doqy mUil n auqrih jy sau Dovx pwih: Dhotae mool na outarahi jae sau dhovan paahi: By washing, their inner pollution is not removed, even though they may wash hundreds of times (sggs 149).
• mlu haumY DoqI ikvY n auqrY jy sau qIrQ nwie: Malu houmai dhotee kivai na outarai jae so teerath naai: This filth of egotism cannot be washed away, even by taking cleansing baths at hundreds of sacred shrines (sggs 39).
• jig haumY mYlu duKu pwieAw mlu lwgI dUjY Bwie: Because of the love of duality, the world is polluted with the filth of egotism, and suffering in pain (sggs 39).

Why cannot the external bathing remove the inner "filth" that sticks to our mind? Because this "filth" that stains the mind is subtle and stubborn like the "oily rag". Also, as indicated in the Gurbani, since the mind is accumulating this"filth" for time immemorial, the mind has become "pitch black". Such subtle and stubborn "filth" cannot be removed by just bathing the body in waters of wells, ponds, rivers etc. This is the Gurbani's edict. The SGGS logically asks "If salvation can be obtained by bathing in water, then what about the frog, which is always bathing in water? As is the frog, so is that mortal".

• jl kY mjin jy giq hovY inq inq myNfuk nwvih]jYsy myNfuk qYsy Eie nr iPir iPir jonI Awvih: Jal kai majani je gati hovai nit nit menduk naavahi. Jaise menduk tese oyi nar phiri phiri joni aavahi: If salvation can be obtained by bathing in water, then what about the frog, which is always bathing in water? As is the frog, so is that mortal; he is reincarnated, over and over again (sggs 484).
• KMnlI DoqI aujlI n hoveI jy sau Dovix pwhu: Khanalee dhotee ujalee na hovee jae so dhovan paahu: The oily rag cannot be cleaned by merely washing it, even if it is washed a hundred times (sggs 651).
• jnm jnm kI iesu mn kau mlu lwgI kwlw hoAw isAwh: Janam janam kee is mann kayu mal laagee kaalaa hoaa siaah: The scum (i.e., impurity) of so many births is attached to this mind and it has become pitch black (sggs 651).
• AMqir mYlu loB bhu JUTy bwhir nwvhu kwhI jIau: Antar mailu lobh bahu jhoothe bahari naavahu kaahee jeeyu: Within you is the great filth of greed and falsehood; why do you bother to wash your body on the outside? (sggs 598).
• min jUTY qin jUiT hY ijhvw jUTI hoie ]muiK JUTY JUTu bolxw ikau kir sUcw hoie ]ibnu AB sbd n mWjIAY swcy qy scu hoie: Mani joothai tani jooth hai jihavaa joothee hoi....: If the mind is polluted, then the body is polluted, and the tongue is polluted as well (i.e., all senses become defiled with Bikaars). With false mouths, people speak falsehood. They cannot be made pure (by external Karamkaand).Without the Holy Water of the Shabad, they are not cleansed. From the True One alone comes (this) Truth (of Naam-Simran) (sggs 56).

However, the majority of us, in our Manmukhtaa, try be clever. The Gurbani says that our material cleverness is of no avail; for it's not possible to circumvent the Divine System or Hukam. Nonetheless, in a futile bid to purify ourselves, on account of our Manmukhtaa, many of us go and take a dip in the so-called holy rivers and ponds, and boast about it! The Gurbani says that man's all such dealings are in duality (Doojaa-Bhaav, corruption of the conditioned consciousness or foolishness). The Gurbani says that "The gourd may be bathed at sixty-eight pilgrim places, but even then, its bitterness is not removed."

• kWieAw mWjis kaun gunW]jau Gt BIqir hY mlnW]laukI ATsiT qIrQ n@weI]kaurwpnu qaU n jweI: Kaya manjas kayun gunaa. Jayu ghat bheetar hai malnaa. Layukee athsath teerath naayee. Kauraapan tayu na jaayee: Of what avail is to wash the body, when the mind is full of filth? The gourd may be bathed at sixtyeight pilgrim places, but even then, its bitterness is not removed (sggs 655).
• nwvx cly qIrQI min KotY qin cor]ieku Bwau lQI nwiqAw duie Bw cVIAsu hor]bwhir DoqI qUmVI AMdir ivsu inkor]swD Bly AxnwiqAw cor is corw cor: Naawan chale teerthee man khote tan chor. Ik bhaayu lathee naatiyaa duyi bhaa chreeus hor. Baahar dhotee tumree andar vis nikor. Saadh bhale annaatiyaa chor si choraa chor: Men of evil mind and thievish bodies, go to bathe at the pilgrim places. The one part of their body filth is washed off by bathing, but they accumulate twice as much of mental filth. Like a gourd, they may be washed off on the outside, but on the inside, they are still filled with poison (of egoism). A saintly soul is blessed, even without such bathing, while a thief is a thief, no matter how much he bathes (sggs 789).
• mnmuK mugD krih cqurweI]nwqw Doqw Qwie n pweI: Manmukh mughad kare chaturaayee. Naataa dhotaa thaaye na paayee: The idiotic Manmukhs try to be clever, but in spite of their bathing and washing, they will not be acceptable to God (sggs 114).
• sqguru purK n mMinE sbid n lgo ipAwr ]iesnwnu dwnu jyqw krih dUjY Bwie KuAwru: Satgur purakh na manniou sabad na lago piaar. Isanaan daan jetaa karahi doojai bhaai khuaar: Those who do not have faith in the the Satguru, and who do not enshrine love for the Shabad, such people take their cleansing baths, and give to charity again and again, but they are ultimately consumed by their love of duality (sggs 34).
• puMn dwn Anyk nwvx ikau AMqr mlu Dov: Punn daan anek naavan kiyu antar mall dhov: How can giving donations to charities and countless cleansing baths wash off the filth within the Heart? (sggs 243).
• koit qIrQ mjn iesnwnw iesu kil mih mYlu BrIjY: Koti teerath majan isnaanaa is kali mahi mailu bhareejai: Millions of cleansing baths at sacred shrines of pilgrimage only fill the mortal with filth in this Dark Age of Kali Yuga (sggs 747).
• nHwq iPirE lIey swq smudRin lok gXo prlok gvwieE: Naat phiriyo leeyai saat samundaran lok gayo parlok gavaayo: Those who have bathed even in seven oceans (i.e., all places of pilgrimages in the entire world) would loose this world as well as the next one (Tenth Paatshaahee, Tavprasaadi Savaiye 9).
• Ktu swsq ibcrq muiK igAwnw]pUjw iqlku qIrQ iesnwnw]invlI krm Awsn caurwsIh ien mih sWiq n AwvY jIau: Khattu saasath bicharat mukhi giaanaa. Poojaa tilak teerath isnaanaa. Nivalee karam aasan chouraaseeh in mahi saant na aavai jeeo: People recite from memory the wisdom of the six schools of philosophy; they perform worship services, wear ceremonial religious marks on their foreheads, and take ritual cleansing baths at sacred shrines of pilgrimage. They perform the inner cleansing practice with water and adopt the eighty-four Yogic postures; but still, they find no peace in any of these (sggs 98).

The Gurbani tells us that without cleansing the mind (eradication, annihilation, killing or destruction of the Haume-mind), it's not possible to link with one's True Nature within, the Supreme Essence. The SGGS reveals to us as to exactly how one can go about bathing and cleansing the mind. The Gurbani says that when our body or clothes become dirty, they can be cleansed with soap and water, but when the mind becomes dirty, it can be cleansed with the "Love of the Divine Name".

• BrIAY hQu pYru qnu dyh]pwxI DoqY auqrsu Kyh]mUq plIqI kpVu hoie]dy swbUxu leIAY Ehu Doie]BrIAY miq pwpw kY sMig]Ehu DopY nwvY kY rMig: Bhareeai hath pair tanu deh. Paanee dhotai outaras khaeh. Moot paleetee kaparr hoi. Dae saaboon layeeai ouhu dhoi. Bhareeai Mati paapaa kai sangi. Ohu dhopai naavai kai rangi: When the hands, feet and the body are dirty, water can wash away the dirt. When the clothes are soiled and stained by urine, soap can wash them clean. But when the intellect is stained and polluted by sin, it can only be cleansed by the Love of the Divine Name (sggs 4).
• gurmuiK mnu inrmlu sq sir nwvY: Guramukh manu niramal sat sar naavai: Immaculate and pure is the mind of the one has become the Gurmukh; he bathes in the Pool of Truth (sggs 1058).
• nwnk nwmu vsY mn AMqir gurmuiK mYlu cukwvixAw: Nanak naam vasai mann antar gurmukh mailu chukaavaniaa: Says Nanak, let the Naam abides deep within the minds; by becoming the Gurmukhs, cleanse your filth (sggs 121).
• gurmuiK mjnu cju Acwru: Gurmukh majan chaj achaar: The Gurmukh's cleansing bath is the performance of good deeds (sggs 932).
  
• nwm ibnw sBu jgu hY mYlw dUjY Brim piq KoeI: Naam binaa sabhu jagu hai mailaa doojai bharami pati khoee: Without the Divine Name, the whole world is polluted; wandering in duality, it loses its honor (sggs 1234).
• nwim iesnwnu krih sy jn inrml sbdy mYlu gvweI: Naam isnaan karahi sae jan niramal sabade mailu gavaaee: Those who cleanse themselves through the Divine Name are the most immaculate people; through the Shabad, they wash off their filth (sggs 909).
• haumY AMqir mYlu hY sbid n kwFih Doie]nwnk ibnu nwvY mYilAw muey jnmu pdwrQu Koie : Haumai aantar mailu hai sabadi na kaadhahi dhoi. Nanak binu naavai mailiaa muye janam padaarath khoi: People are filled with the filth of egotism; they do not wash it away with the Word of the Shabad. O Nanak, without the Divine Name, they die in their filth; they waste the priceless opportunity of this human life (sggs 1415). nwmu hmwrY mjn iesnwnu: Naam hamaarai majan isnaan: The Naam is my cleansing bath and purification (sggs 1145).
• pRB kY ismrin qIrQ iesnwnI: Prabh kai simaran teerath isanaanee: In the remembrance of God are purifying baths at sacred shrines of pilgrimage (sggs 262).
• gur siqgur kw jo isKu AKwey su Blky auiT hir nwmu iDAwvY]audmu kry Blky prBwqI iesnwnu kry AMimRq sir nwvY: Gur satgur kaa jo sikh akhaaeae su bhalakae othi har naam dhiaavai. Uddam karae bhalakae parabhaatee isnaan karae amrit sari naavai: One who calls himself a Sikh of the Guru, the Satguru, will rise in the early morning hours and meditate on the Divine Name. Upon arising early in the morning, he is to bathe in the pool of the Amrit-Name within (sggs 305).
• sMq kw drsu pUrn iesnwnu: Sant kaa daras pooran isanaan: The Blessed Vision of the Divine is the perfect cleansing bath (sggs 189).
• rwmdws srovir nwqy ]siB auqry pwp kmwqy ]inrml hoey kir iesnwnw ]guir pUrY kIny dwnw ]1]siB kusl Kym pRiB Dwry] shI slwmiq siB Qok aubwry gur kw sbdu vIcwry]rhwau]swDsMig mlu lwQI]pwrbRhmu BieE swQI ]nwnk nwmu iDAwieAw ] Awid purK pRBu pwieAw: Raamadaas sarovar naatae. Sabh utarae paap kamaatae niramal hoeae kar isanaanaa. Guri poorai keene daanaa. sabh kusul khaem prabh dhhaarae. Sahee salaamat sabh thok ubaarae gur kaa sabad veechaarae. Pause. Saadhsangi malu laathee. Paarabrahm bhaeio saathee. Nanak naam dhiaaeiaa. Aadi purakh prabh paaeiaa: Bathing in the Holy Company of the God's devotees, all sins are erased. One becomes immaculately pure, taking this cleansing bath. The Perfect Guru (God or Self) has bestowed this gift. By focussing his consciousness on the Gur-Shabad (Divine Word or Name) within, who has thus preserved his Divine Virtues safe and sound, God has blessed him with Spiritual Peace and Bliss. Pause. In the Saadh Sangat, the Holy Company within and without, mental filth is washed off. The Supreme Being becomes our Friend. O Nanak, whosoever meditates on the Divine Name, he finds God, the Primal Being, the Source (sggs 625).

Thus the SGGS reminds us that, in addition to bathing the body in the morning, our mind also needs a morning bath, before we start our day. This internal cleanliness can only be attained through meditation ("bathing in the pool of the Amrit-Name within") and other spiritual practices (such as keeping the Company of the saints orthe Gurmukhs, becoming the Gurmukh, living truthfully, performing good deeds, and so on). Because until the mind is so bathed and cleansed daily, mere bathing of the body-frame will not be enough.

— T. Singh
www.gurbani.org

Updated on Saturday, August 2, 2008 1:03 PM (PST)

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