Hari ke jan satigur, satpurkha binau karau gur paasi.
– Shri Guru Granth Sahib, 10
{O humble servant of the Lord, O true Guru, O true primal being, I offer my humble prayer to you, O Guru!}
Question: What is prayer? Is there a need for another thing or another body separate from you for praying?
Acharya Prashant: The word ‘praying’ is beautifully understood when you also take its counterpart in Sanskrit *Pra–arth–na*.
Arth means desire. Whenever you usually pray – and we all keep praying – our prayers are to the world, our prayers are to people, to situations. Whenever we normally pray, there is a desire behind it: arth. The desire is obviously a product of conditioning; it is obviously material, as all desires are bound to be. It is about a thing, a person, or an idea.
*Pra–arth–
