Dasam Dvar, the tenth door opens into the abode of God, the Creator
Dasam Dvar
From SikhiWiki
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 dasam dvar 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).
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, G. Weston, Gorakhnath and 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
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