Gurbani Word Of The Day: taaṅbaa
Posted: 13 Jul 2019 07:33 PM PDTਤਾਂਬਾ (taaṅbaa)
Meaning: noun: Copper.
Quote:
ਪਾਰਸ ਕੈ ਸੰਗਿ  ਤਾਂਬਾ ਬਿਗਰਿਓ॥ ਸੋ ਤਾਂਬਾ  ਕੰਚਨੁ ਹੋਇ ਨਿਬਰਿਓ॥
ਜਿਹੜਾ ਤਾਂਬਾ ਪਾਰਸ ਦਾ ਸੰਗ ਕਰਕੇ ਵਿਗੜਿਆ, ਉਹ ਤਾਂਬਾ ਸੋਨਾ ਹੋ  ਨਿਬੜਿਆ।
paaras kai saňg  taaṅbaa bigrio. so taaṅbaa  kaňchan hoi nibrio.
The copper, which ‘ruined’ (its own self and transformed) itself by coming into contact with the philosopher’s stone, that copper became just like gold. -Bhagat Kabir, Guru Granth Sahib, 1158
Message: The copper loses itself completely by coming into the contact of paras, the philosopher’s stone, as it is melted in the crucible to become gold.
The process of becoming one with the Divine involves losing oneself (one’s egoism) completely. It involves sacrificing the self, the self-centredness, which will then lead us to inner transformation. The world might see such a person undergoing suffering for nothing and term him or her as spoilt. But does it really matter because the end result for the individual is that he or she has immersed himself or herself in the Divine?
Etymology: From Sanskrit taamra (dark red, copper coloured, copper) → Pali tamb (red) → Prakrit taṁb (red) → Punjabi taambaa (copper).