The path of ‘darwaishi’ is tedious. [While] I walk the way of the world
I am carrying a bag (of worldliness) where do I dispose it off?
Explanation
The opening of the bait makes it clear that without any doubt the path of darwaishi (Sufism) is the most tedious one. The world used for difficult ‘gakhna’ also means evaluating or measuring. In both cases the basic reality remains the same: the path of darwaishi is very difficult. But what is so difficult?
The basic difficulty is the life style we lead. In the second line the basic problem of life pattern is identified as the bag of worldliness that we are carrying. How one can dispose off this bag? The throwing away of the bag is the ultimate achievement of life because, apparently, one cannot imagine a societal life devoid of this ‘worldly’ bag.
The bag is comprised of commodities one has collected in the war upon life. These commodities include things, offspring and the relative for whom one is always prepared to impinge upon other people’s right. The collection is undertaken to compete with the rest of the world where every human is a competitor and an enemy. Therefore, the worldliness is a process of alienation and separation. This is the basis of game of average societal life.
In the game of life the children and every relationship is a commodity. My son, my wife, mine and mine overshadows everything. Every relationship is a commodity which competes in the market with other commodities. The owner of the commodities tries to beautify and polish them so they look better and more attractive than others. For this the kids are sent to the best schools and all methods are adopted to improvise them. In this process no one gives any thought to inner soul of these commodities. The main thing is to satisfy one’s ‘I amness’, the ego. Therefore the essence of worldly baggage is ‘I amness’, the ego.
Eventually, the baggage becomes the being or the personality of an individual. If someone destroys this baggage, one falls to nothingness. This is why it not only difficult but impossible to throw off the baggage which encompasses all the hopes, aspirations, fears and challenges.
A historical episode can elucidate this point where Baba Guru Nanak is being followed by his singer companion Mardana through a jungle. Mardana finds a piece of gold and puts it in his pocket. After a while Mardana cries out to Baba that he is being taken over by fear. Baba tells him, to be free of fear, he should throw away what he has picked up.
Farid himself was not a hermit living in woods. He led a married life and had four sons and two daughters. He exactly knew the nature of worldly baggage. This is the reason he never had any property or other possessions. His family would eat what the rest of his Sangat would, even if it is boiled berries without the luxury of having salt.
His offspring could never use his name and influence to further their careers or other gains. This was the reason one of his son adopted agriculture and another one joined the army like other commoners. On the contrary, because of Baba Farid’s philosophy, his sons were mentally tortured by the city Qazi and the ruler. As a matter of fact one of his sons was killed at an early age by the goons hired by city Qazi.
In this backdrop, one really realizes the difficulty of traveling on the path of darwaishi. Baba Farid could live a luxurious life like his contemporary Sufi Baha-ud-Din Zikria Multani. He could have amassed wealth for his descendants like Multani. But Farid by remaining a life without possessions and showed the world the real path of darwaishi: To live in the world without carrying a worldly baggage.
