Sukhmani Sahib

Today the line 'Char Padarath Kamal Pragas' struck my attention at Sukhmani Sahib path at the gurdwara. 'Sikhi to the Max' website translated Char Padarath as the four cardinal blessings. What are these four blessings? I tried to find the meaning in the Bhai Sahib Singh's translation. It didn't help. It said they were Dharma, Kaam, Mokh and something else. It didn't make much sense to me.

khaem saa(n)th ridhh nav nidhh ||

Comfort, peace and tranquility, wealth and the nine treasures;

budhh giaan sarab theh sidhh ||

wisdom, knowledge, and all spiritual powers;

bidhiaa thap jog prabh dhhiaan ||

learning, penance, Yoga and meditation on God;

giaan sraesatt ootham eisanaan ||

The most sublime wisdom and purifying baths;

chaar padhaarathh kamal pragaas ||sabh kai madhh sagal thae oudhaas ||

the four cardinal blessings, the opening of the heart-lotus;

in the midst of all, and yet detached from all;

su(n)dhar chathur thath kaa baethaa ||

beauty, intelligence, and the realization of reality;

samadharasee eaek dhrisattaethaa ||

to look impartially upon all, and to see only the One

eih fal this jan kai mukh bhanae || gur naanak naam bachan man sunae ||6||

these blessings come to one who, through Guru Nanak, chants the Naam with his mouth, and hears the Word with his ears. ||6|| http://www.sikhitothemax.com/page.asp?ShabadID=1084 I was searching for what are the nine treasures and found this blog post which is useful but am not sure of others. http://kamalroopsingh.blogspot.com/2010/05/peepaa-peepaa-kaayo-dhaevaa-kaaeiao.html Why can't we stop ourselves from praising the Sargun saroop? A blogpost just above this one on the same blog is Doing Arti of Guru Nanak. I don't think Guru Nanak would ever approve of people praising him instead of the formless creator, the Nirankar. Here is another blog I just found, http://www.neo-sikhism.blogspot.com/ I am so glad there are people trying to keep the Sikhs on the right track . Copied below is the bit from the above blog. Wednesday, 20 April 2011 An attempt to take the warrior tradition out of the Sikh Panth The Panj Baniya read when a Sikh takes amrit to join the Khalsa, and become a Singh and Kaur are: Japji, Jaap, Sudh Svaiye, Chaupai, and Anand Sahib. Then the Ardas from Chandi di var is read. This means that 3 out 5 baniya are from the Dasam Granth plus the Ardas.