Charitar 4
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The moral of stories in Charitropakhyan are based on Gurmat, Guru's wisdom. There is no historical significance of these stories. A Gurmukh will interpret, analyse and learn from the Gurmat issues and morals highlighted in these stories. No Manmat ideas are acceptable or should be linked to these stories. If you have any comments, please discuss them here |
Chritar 4: Tale of Ghurki
This short tale is about a poor man called Mahan Nand and his wife, known as "Ghurki" or literally "scolding" as she was always reprimanding her husband about one thing or another. Ghurki was promiscuous and due to the husband's blindness in one eye would indulge in extra-martial relations literally behind his back! When he would return to the house at a time a lover was present, she would play tricks with him and show uncanny tenderness towards him; the poor man was unaware that she was cheating on him right in front of his bad eye!
Background of Charitropakhyan
Charitropakhyan is conversation between a wise adviser (minister or "manteree" ਮੰਤਰੀ s ) to Raja (king) Chitar Singh; each charitar or trick is mainly in connection with the wiles of women (plus a few connected with men) and other worldly tales of life, in order to save his handsome son Hanuvant from the false accusations of one of the younger ranis (queens). The minister tries to explain to the Raja that there can be trickery in human behaviour and that one needs to analyse the situation carefully before drawing any quick conclusions. Charitar means Function or behavior
Guru Gobind Singh has given these "opakhyan" (already told) stories to Khalsa, as a guide to upholding morality. The tales highlight Human psychology and behavior, by people driven by desires, lust, jealousy and/or greed, ignorance etc. and tell how these evil doers can utilize tricks or deception or charm or other activity to cover their tracks. The purpose of the stories is for us to learn about negative(Manmat) and positive(Gurmat) human behaviour by people who are driven by evil intent. One needs to tread carefully in life and understand the many negative traits exist in some evil doers. These Charitars includes Male and Female Charitars.
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The first part of Charitropakhyan is Chandi Charitar. This is the writing of Guru Gobind Singh describing the positive Charitars of Chandi (Vivek Budhi) and asking for blessing of Almighty before the rest of this bani is narrated. The second tale, Charitar 2 is the narration of the conversation between the The Wise Minister and Raja Chiter Singh. He has a long communication with his Minister on Charitropakhyan lasting for many days. The First charitar ends with ਇਤਿ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਚਰਿਤ੍ਰ ਪਖ੍ਯਾਨੇ ਚੰਡੀ ਚਰਿਤ੍ਰੇ ਪ੍ਰਥਮ ਧ੍ਯਾਇ ਸਮਾਪਤਮ ਸਤੁ ਸੁਭਮ ਸਤੁ ॥੧॥੪੮॥ਅਫਜੂੰ॥ (iti sree charitr pakhyaanay chandee charitray pratham thhyaai samaapatam (ends)- satu subham satu ॥1॥48॥afjoon॥) which means "Here Sri Charitr-pakhyan's Chandi Charitar the first citation ends - true good and true". All the other charitars end with ਇਤਿ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਚਰਿਤ੍ਰ ਪਖ੍ਯਾਨੇ ਤ੍ਰਿਯਾ ਚਰਿਤ੍ਰੇ ਮੰਤ੍ਰੀ ਭੂਪ ਸੰਬਾਦੇ ਦੁਤਿਯ ਚਰਿਤ੍ਰ ਸਮਾਪਤਮ ਸਤੁ ਸੁਭਮ ਸਤੁ ॥੨॥੭੮॥ਅਫਜੂੰ॥ (iti sree charitr pakhyaanay triyaa charitray mantree (minister) bhoop (king) sanbaathay (between) thutiy charitr samaapatam (ends) - satu subham satu ॥2॥78॥afjoon॥) which means "Here Sri Charitr-pakhyan's Triyaa Charitar between Minister and King duality trickery ends - true good and true" This itself shows that these Charitars from number 2 onwards were the discourse between King Chitra Singh and his minister. Charitar number 2 tells us how a foolish and quick decision which a person takes with their eyes closed, without analysing the situation and not going into the fact of reality; acting foolishly according to the words of their wives, girl-friends or other loved ones can lead to serious injustice and distortion of the truth. Guru Ram Das said such person is foolish - ਜੋਰਾ ਦਾ ਆਖਿਆ ਪੁਰਖ ਕਮਾਵਦੇ ਸੇ ਅਪਵਿਤ ਅਮੇਧ ਖਲਾ ॥ ਕਾਮਿ ਵਿਆਪੇ ਕੁਸੁਧ ਨਰ ਸੇ ਜੋਰਾ ਪੁਛਿ ਚਲਾ ॥ Jorā ḏā ākẖi▫ā purakẖ kamāvḏe se apviṯ ameḏẖ kẖalā.Kām vi▫āpe kusuḏẖ nar se jorā pucẖẖ cẖalā. Men who dance to the orders of overbearing women are impure, filthy and foolish. Enslaved by lust, these impure men walk according to their women's wishes. |
Charitar - the Tale
Chaupaee
The King had put his son in the prison and in the morning he called him back. The Minister conversed again and the Raja paid attention.(1)
Dohira
A poor man called Mahan Nand had a wife, with whom numerous Hindus and Muslims used to indulge in making love.(2)
Mahan Nand’s wife was known as Ghurki (literally scolding) because she always scolded her husband.(3)
He was blind of one eye and much older in age than his wife. The wife despised him but he felt as if she was his life and soul.(4)
As soon as he would go out of the house to work, his wife would get entangled with a young man to make love.(5)
When she would notice Mahan Nand coming back, she would ascertain to embrace him and felicitate him with pleasant talks and ravishing action.(6)
She would kiss his both the ears and eyes, and, finding a right moment with trickery, to bid goodbye to her (hidden) lover.(7)
Mahan Nand’s ears would be alerted with some noise (of the lover leaving) but, being blind of one eye, he would not fathom the mystery.(8)
The wife would express to him, ‘I was overwhelmed with your sensuality and that is why I kissed your ears and eyes in passion.’(9)
Hearing this Mahan Nand would get exhilarated, and without understanding the enigma, would revel in making love.(10)
Fourth Parable of Auspicious Chritars Conversation of the Raja and the Minister, Completed with Benediction. (4)(101) - To be continued.
What does a Gurmukh learn from this?
Many lessons can be learnt from this short tale. Ponder over the following questions that are raised by this tale and you will find issues that need to be resolved?
- Isn't compatibility in marriage of utmost importance? If the partners are not compatible, it will be impossible for the two to live in harmony for all their lives. In this tale, the husband was much older than the wife; further the wife appears to be outgoing and highly active while the husband appears slow and quiet. These are questions that need to be considered before one step into the path of householder - Grist Marg
- Did his blindness in one eye result in this breakdown in relationship?
- As Sikhs we live as house-holder so the institute of marriage is very important to us and making it work optimally must be our goal. What lesson do we learn regard this important aspect of life?
References
- English Translation of Chritropakhyaan From Dasam Granth Volume-1 English Adaptation by Pritpal Singh Bindra; Publisher: B. Chattar Singh Jiwan Singh Amritsar (India)
Charitropakhyan : List of Charitars |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 100 |
