Shabad Veechaar-9-Ang32-1

Shabad veechaar-9-Ang 32-1


If He blesses or casts glance of grace then the Gurmukh [i.e those who are in the sanctuary of the Guru and lead the life as per Gurmat/Guru Shabad] can engage himself in the devotion of the Lord. It is to be noted that as per Bani, devotion to the Lord is not possible without the guidance and instruction of the Guru. It is the first step toward the higher spiritual journey. Guru becomes the stepping-stone in guiding one as to how the devotion is to be carried out. Devotion is also stated to be a gift of Lord. Not every one is blessed with such a gift. Besides, there are some other essential ingredients that are needed for devotion.

Bibek Budhi

Devotion has to be carried out with love of Lord and with some bare minimum spiritual knowledge or ‘Bibek’ or ‘Bibek Budhi’. Without this devotion is meaning less. All these bare minimum standards are attained by constant practice of the guidance provided in bani that is our Guru and without Guru there is darkness in the life. Devotion carried out in ‘Haumein’ is also meaningless. Further discussion may cause digression and is avoided for the time being.

Importance of Guru

One get many instances to this effect in bani that there is darkness without Guru.
gur ibnu Goru AMDwru gurU ibnu smJ n AwvY]
ibnu gur pUry Gor AMDwr

The significance of the Guru has been emphasized at many places in positive manner as well. And, It is through the Guru that we come to know ourself. gur kY sbdy Awpu pCwxY. It is through Guru sabad that we have a chance to meet Him or experience him. gur sbdI mylwvw hoie ]And yet again the same concept is reiterated. It is through the Guru’s shabad that we find Him .gur sbdI hir pweIAY hir pwir lGwie
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/sikh-sikhi-sikhism/29165-shabad-veechaar-9-ang32-1-a.html

Bani the medium to Meet Him

Devotion invokes His grace. His grace is also obtainable if it is pre-destined. One who understands this has a chance to find the merger with the Lord. Lord is ever-present and so are the praises of the Lord. Bani is the jewel of spiritual guidance and is full of devotion to the Lord. Thus a seeker can practice the Bani in real life and attain the supreme or have an experience of the Lord. This experience cannot be expressed in words nor can it be written down, it is just an experience and one who has experienced this generally does not make it known to the world. One who has attained the Lord in this fashion does not make tall claims about this.


Oh Dear! Addresses the guru, as to why the one who lacks devotion, has even come to the earth as this life is meant for spending the time to meet him and one should constantly endeavor to make considered efforts in this direction. The first step would be, naturally, to get engaged in the devotion of the Lord and that is feasible through the Guru. In effect, the person has been stated to be the poor creature only that has not sought the sanctuary of the guru [i.e. sabad-guru for us that teaches us to be in constant devotion of the Lord.] The same essence is found in the second line of Rahao i.e. those who do not serve the Supreme Lord stated be perfect Guru waste away their lives.

Service of Lord

[The message has been given time and again in Bani. The service of the lord is an essential ingredient of the Sikhism and its philosophy and one can find many stances where the service of the Lord has been stated in positive manner. Bani states them to be very fortunate who are in service of the lord. siqguru syvin sy vf BwgI ] Those who serve the Him are blessed as they are able to contemplate the reality of life. siqguru syiv qqu vIcwrY By serving Him one can experience Him as well. siqguru syiv sdw pRBu pwieAw AwpY Awpu imlwiedw]The term Guru has been at many places been employed for the Sat as well. However, at many places the bani employs the term other than Guru like satguru, Poora Guru etc., it is the context that makes the meaning of the term clear. No precise rule can be formulated to state as to where it means God and as to where the term refers to the Guru only i.e. the sabad Guru. It is with practice that one may be able to know for oneself as to the exact meaning of the word.

Not in devotion and consequences

Those who do not serve the Guru has been stated to be very unfortunate. kbIr jw Gr swD n syvIAih hir kI syvw nwih ] qy Gr mrht swrKy BUq bsih iqn mwih ] (kbIr, 1374-16) The devotion is obtained by His Grace only. Awpy syvw lwieAnu Awpy bKs kryie ] sBnw kw mw ipau Awip hY Awpy swr kryie] And what is Service/devotion is explained as gur kI syvw gur Bgiq hY ivrlw pwey koie] Impressing upon the service of the One Guru Sahib have stated that: ijs dI syvw kIqI iPir lyKw mMgIAY sw syvw AauKI hoeI ] nwnk syvw kr krhu hir gur sPl drsn kI iPir lyKw mMgY n koeI] Thus one should be in the devotion and service of the One , the kartaar , the Nirankaar, the akaal , the ajuni and the saibhung and none else. gur kw syvku pwrbRhmu iDAwey]

The Successful life

The life of those who remain in remembrance of the Lord has been appreciated by the Guru sahibs.
ey srIrw myirAw iesu jg mih Awie kY ikAw quDu krm kmwieAw ] ik krm
kmwieAw quDu srIrw jw qU jg mih AwieAw ] ijin hir qyrw rcnu ricAw so hir min n vswieAw ] gur prswdI hir mMin visAw pUrib iliKAw pwieAw ] khY nwnku eyhu srIru prvwxu hoAw ijin siqgur isau icqu lwieAw (3, 921-19)


Realizing that there is nothing in the hands of the poor /wretched creatures who have come here as some artists/puppets of His play the Guru sahibs do console in the fashion, ‘ O My Dear seeker, do not get disheartened and believe that He is merciful and he forgives everyone and He will unite you some day by His grace.’ And one day when you will become a Gurmukh He shall, himself, honor you and shall bless you with His devotion.
The term gurmukh has been employed extensively in the bani.


Expressing distress over those who are lost in Illusion and who are emotionally attached to their families/kith and kins, Guru sahibs states that all these things are but distractions and the construct of mind and nothing that one is attached to shall go with him. It is only the praises of Lord that are permanent and are also beyond the grip of time shall accompany with them. So one should be engaged in this.How this treasure can be obtained has been explained in the second line of this ‘stanza-3’.It is by serving the Supreme that one gets the wealth of naam / the sift –salah and that its value cannot be estimated. It is through this naam that one remains in the constant praise of the Lord. Remember Him as your best friend and companion who shall be very kind to you at the end i.e the transitional phase of the soul i.e. when it shall seek some new clothing as new garb in its onward journey to the Lord.


Again signifying the Guru it is stated that the notion of ‘ego’ always chases the mind and the mind cannot shed of this without the help of Guru. One may say that one can do it of his own is a false statement as the fact is that it is impossible for mankind to achieve this of one’s own. It is through the Guru that one can caste off the ego that has become the veil between the self and the supreme. The self is a reflection of the Supreme and the self cannot know the self unless the mind becomes pure or the mind factor is eliminated.

Some Consequences of Ego

One way of doing is to remove ‘ego’ that is stated to be a disease and till it is present, it is not possible to get usefully engaged in the service of the lord as well.
haumY nwvY nwil ivroDu hY duie n vsih iek Twie]
jb kCu pwvY qb grbu krqu hY ] mwieAw geI qb rovnu lgqu hY ] (rivdws, 487-6) and haumY ivic sd jlY srIrw ]

Overcoming Ego

How to overcome ego has been stated as :

hir hir nwmu iDAweIAY haumY AigAwnu gvwpY ] (3, 1092-12)

Achieving the state of Egolessness and His Grace

In the second Line, it is innate loving nature of the God that finds an expression. He loves His devotees and it is by His grace only that he dwells in mind. The condition put in by the first line that one should caste off ego is not necessarily bye-passed although His grace can do anything. But to invoke His grace there should be some basic bare minimum levels of knowledge and spirituality and the author is of the opinion that since the devotion is to be carried out in the state of egolessness , the Grace can be invoked only after ego is lost under the guidance and the instruction of the guru , the store house of wisdom that is contained in the Guru shabad and guru vaaks. Thus it is by becoming a Gurmukh that one can get enlightened or have the experience of His majesty. Thus the Lord himself gives such an honor on the devotee. Blessed are such souls who have such a destiny.

Sikhism as differentiated from Hinduism

The para is not a part of Shabad but it is added in view of the various thread that are being posted that is related to Brahamanvaad or Shaktism either in positive or negative way in relation to Sikhism.


An idol cannot substitute a God who is responsive and fully conscious.
jo pwQr kau khqy dyv ] (1160-5, BYrau, mÚ 5)

Those who call a stone their god
qw kI ibrQw hovY syv ] (1160-6, BYrau, mÚ 5)
- their service is useless.

jo pwQr kI pWeI pwie ] (1160-6, BYrau, mÚ 5)
Those who fall at the feet of a stone god

iqs kI Gwl AjWeI jwie ]1] (1160-6, BYrau, mÚ 5)
- their work is wasted in vain. ||1||

Twkuru hmrw sd bolµqw ] (1160-7, BYrau, mÚ 5)
My Lord and Master speaks forever.
srb jIAw kau pRBu dwnu dyqw ]1] rhwau ] (1160-7, BYrau, mÚ 5)
God gives His gifts to all living beings. ||1||Pause||

And
n pwQru bolY nw ikCu dyie ] (1160-8, BYrau, mÚ 5)
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=29165
The stone does not speak; it does not give anything to anyone

 
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