Dasam dvar, the tenth door opens into the abode of God, the Creator

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Dasam Dvar

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DASAM DVAR (Sanskrit Dasamadvara), literally meaning " tenth gate " ,

has been refered to in SGGS signifying the door to enlightenment and

vision being only through NAAM DAAN & ISHNAAN.

 

This term originate from the Hathayogic system, where it is also

known as brahmrandhra, moksadvara, mahapatha and madhya marga, the

terms frequently used in the esoteric literature of medieval India.

Also sometimes written as " Dasam DUara "

 

It is a term of religious physiology and its significance lies in its

being a concept in the framework of soteriological ideology. Nine

apertures (navdvaras) opening towards outside the body serve the

physical mechanism of human personality but when their energy,

normally being wasted, is consciously channelized towards the self,

the tenth gate or the dasamdvar opens inside the body and renders a

hyper-physical service by taking the seeker beyond the bondage of

embodied existence.

 

The human body is endowed with nine doors also called holes or

streams. These nine are: two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, mouth,

anus, and urethra. All these are vital organs of living organism

called human being. The Pali Suttanipata (verse 199. In Khuddak

nikaya, vol. 1, p. 297) is perhaps one of the very first Indian texts

which mentions the idea of nine `holes' in the body. It is from a

philosophically ascetic or Sramanic standpoint that the human body is

described in this text as a mass of bones, sinews, flesh, etc. and as

a bag for belly, intestines, liver, heart, bladder, lungs, kidneys,

blood, bile, etc. " Ever from its nine streams (navahi sotehi) the

unclean flows. " The Svetasvatara Upanisad (III. 18) and the

Bhagavadgita (V. 13) refer to human body as " a city with nine gates "

(nava dvara pure dehi) in which the Self dwells, neither acting nor

causing to act....

 

The notion of dasam dvar, written as dasam duar, occurs several times

in the Guru Granth Sahib. Sikhism is a strictly monotheistic system

belief and it must be stated at the outset that according to Sikh

view of the dasam dvar, the tenth door opens into the abode of God,

the Creator — dasam duara agam apara param purakh ki ghati (GG, 974),

and again—nau ghar thape thapanharai dasvai vasa alakh aparai (GG,

1036)....

 

The nine doors (nau daryaje) and the tenth door are often mentioned

together to show their differences. The unstruck sound is heard at

the tenth door when it is freed from the shackles of nine doors in

the body—nau darvaje dasvai mukta anahad sabadu vajavania (GG, 110).

It is believed that the tenth door is closed by a hard diamond-like

door (bajar kapat) which is haumai (self-centredness). This hard and

strong door is opened and the darkness of haumai is dispelled by the

instruction of the Teacher (Guru). In other words, the tenth door is

the door of enlightenment and it opens only when the door consisting

of haumai is broken. It is taken for granted in Sikhism that the

tenth door is the supreme state of the mind. It is certainly not a

physical door; it is that state of purified consciousness in which

God is visible and all contacts with physical existence are cut off.

It is called a being's own house (nij-ghar), that is to say, a

being's real nature which is like light (joti sarup). One hears day

and night the anahad sabda there when one dwells in one's own house

through the tenth door—nau dar thake dhavatu rahae, dasvai nijghari

vasa pae (GG, 124).

 

At few places in the Gurbani, the term dasam duar has been used to

denote ten organs—five sensory organs and five organs of action, i.e.

jnanendriyas and karmendriyas. Says Guru Nanak: " Hukami sanjogi gari

das duar, panch vasahi mili joti apar " —in the fortress of the body

created in his hukam are ten doors. In this fort five subtle elements

of sabda (sound), sparsa (touch), rupa (sight), rasa (taste) and

grandha (smell) abide having the infinite light of the Lord in them

(GG, 152). The amrit which flows at the tenth door is the essence of

Divine name (nam ras) according to the Guru; it is not the physical

elixir of immortality conceived by the Siddhas, nor is this amrit to

be found by awakening kundalini or by practising khecari mudra; it is

to be found through the Teacher's instruction. When the Satguru is

encountered then one stops from running (after the nine doors) and

obtains the tenth door. Here at this door the immortalizing food

(amrit bhojan), the innate sound (sahaj dhuni) is produced—dhavatu

thammia satiguri miliai dasva duaru paia; tithai amrit bhojanu sahaj

dhuni upajai jitu sabadi jagatu thammi rahaia (GG, 441).

 

This wholesome spot is not outside the physical frame. The second

Guru also refers to the fort (kotu) with nine doors; the tenth door

is hidden (gupatu); it is closed by a hard door which can be opened

by the key of the Guru's word (GG, 954). According to Guru Amar Das,

Nanak III, he alone is released who conquers his mind and who keeps

it free from defilement; arriving at the tenth door, and staying

there he understands all the three spheres (GG, 490).

 

The importance of dasamdvar is of considerable theological interest.

Here at the tenth door the anahad sabda (unstruck sound) is heard;

here the divine drink of immortality trickles down; and here the

devotee meets with the invisible and inaccessible transcendental

Brahman who is described by the sages as unutterable (GG, 1002). The

devotional theology of Sikhism requires that the gateway of ultimate

release can open only by God's will. The tenth door is closed with

the adamantine hard door (bajar kapat) which can be opened duly with

the Guru's word. Inside the front (i.e. the body) is the tenth door,

the house in the cavity (gupha ghar); in this fort nine doors have

been fixed according to Divine ordinance (hukam); in the tenth door

the Invisible, Unwritten, Unlimited Person shows Himself—bhitari kot

gupha ghar jai nau ghar thape hukami rajai; dasvai purakhu alekhu

apari ape alakhu lakhaida (GG, 1033). This is the view expressed by

the founder of Sikhism and he repeats it at another place also. He

says that the Establisher has established nine houses (nau ghar) or

nine doors in the city of this body; the Invisible and Infinite

dwells at the tenth house or tenth door (GG, 1036)....

 

For the most part, however, the Sikh Scripture stresses the need for

realization of the dasam duar, apart from God's ordinance (hukam) and

Teacher's compassion (kirpa, prasad) and the necessity of

transcending the realm of three-strand nature (triguna maya).

 

[edit] BIBLIOGRAHPY

1. Sher Singh, The Philosophy of Sikhism. Lahore, 1944

2. Dasgupta, Sasibhusan, Obscure Religious Cults. Calcutta, 1962

3. Hathyoga-Pradipika. Adyar, 1972

4. Briggs, George Weston, Gorakhnath and the Kanphata Yogis, Delhi,

1973

5. Jodh Singh, Religious Philosophy of Guru Nanak. Varanasi, 1983.

 

 

Above adapted from article By L. M. Joshi

 

Concepts In Sikhism - Edited by Dr. Surinder Singh Sodhi

www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Dasam_Dvar

 

 

At 11:40 a.m. Kash sat down and went into Nirvikalpa Samadhi. The

Surati (Kundalini) rose from the base of his spine through the

Sushumna and opened his Dsam Duar (Brahmarandhra), and he emerged

through the blue clouds of the Great Lotus Forest of the Sahasrara.

He hovered in mid-air above the soft cloud cover and saw his spirit

self in Samadhi beside the Eternal Throne of the Great Adi Shakti.

Gently he floated down into his spiritual body, which was of the

exact shape and size of his physical body, and merged into it.

 

He then got up and bowed to Shri Bhagavati seated on Her Golden

Throne. Shri Govind (Krishna) and Shri Ganesha were sitting on both

Her sides. Kash bowed to them and offered the honey-flavored milk

that his father had prepared and left on the altar. The Great Adi

Shakti, Shri Ganesha, and Shri Gopal (Krishna) got up and picked a

glass of milk each before sitting down again. Shri Parvati Mai

requested all to meditate first. They raised their Kundalinis and

began meditation.

 

Shri Adi Shakti: The Kingdom Of God, page 2135