Ik Oankaar Sat Naam Satgur Parsaad.
Dhan Dhan Gur-Guru-Satgur-Gurbani-Sat Naam-Sat Sangat
Kottan Kot Dandaut Parvaan Karna Ji; Gur Fateh Parvaan Karna Ji
With the Anant Beyant Gur Kirpa Gur Parsaad we are trying to dedicate following Seva at the Shree Charans of Dhan Dhan Guru and Dhan Dhan Akal Purakh and Dhan Dhan Sat Sangat Ji.
This is a serious of short articles to explain the difference between Naam, Gur Manter, Guru Manter and Gur Shabad.
THE DIVINE MEANING OF THE VAHIGURU MANTER BY BHAI GURDASS JI
“Sathijug sathigur vaasadhaev vaavaa vishanaa naam japaavai.
Dhuaapar sathigur hareekrishan haahaa har har naam dhhiaavai.
Thraethae sathigur raam jee raaraa raam japae sukh paavai.
Kalijug naanak gur gobind gagaa gobind naam japaavai.
Chaarae jaagae chahu jugee panchaaein vich jaae samaavai.
Chaaro ashhar eik kar vahiguru jap manter japaavai.
Jehaa thae oupajiaa fir thehaa samaavai.”
This Shabad by Dhan Dhan Bhai Gurdass Ji explains how the Shabad Vahiguru came into existance and what it really means. Bhai Gurdass ji is saying that the first letter “V” in the Shabad Vahiguru, represents the Mahima – praise, of Lord Vishnu as a Satgur in Sat Yug. Then Bhai Gurdas Ji says that the second letter “H” represents the Mahima of Lord Krishna as a Satgur in the Dwaaper Yug. Lord Krishna was and still is remembered as Hari-Krishan by the masses and this divine name gives us the letter “H” of the Shabad Vahiguru. Then Mahima of Lord Ram as a Satgur in the Treta Yug gives the letter “R” in the Shabad Vahiguru. Then Bhai Gurdass Ji descibes the Mahima of Guru Nanak Patshah Ji as a Satgur in the Kal Yug as being Gobind – God Himself – Nirankaar, “Nanak Gur Gobind.” This gives us the letter “G” in the Shabad Vahiguru. This means that the Shabad Vahiguru represents all of the Satgurus – Vishnu, Ram, Hari-Krishan, and Nanak Gur Gobind from all four ages – Sat Yug, Treta Yug, Dwaaper Yug and Kal Yug.
When we recite the Shabad Vahiguru we are praising these Satgurus. Hence, the Shabad Vahiguru is not the Naam, but it is the Mahima of these Satgurus, the praise of these Satgurus. The most important thing to understand here is that nowhere in his Vaars has Bhai Gurdass Ji said that Naam is the Shabad Vahiguru. Even in this Pauri he has just called it a Manter, “chaaron ashhar eik kar vahiguru jap manter japaavai.”
Most people nowdays think of the Shabad Vahiguru as Naam, which is contrary to what Bhai Gurdass Ji has explained. He has already explained in Vaar 1 Pauri 1 that the Shabad Sat Naam is the Manter that leads us to Jivan Mukti and beyond Maya. The fact that the Shabad Sat is the Naam, Sat Naam, was announced by Dhan Dhan Shri Guru Nanak Patshah Ji in the Mool Manter.
THE DIVINE MEANING OF SAT NAAM VAHIGURU SIMRAN
In the Shabad Sat Naam Vahiguru, note that the Shabad Sat Naam leads the Shabad Vahiguru. When we recite the Shabad Sat Naam Vahiguru then we mean that Sat is the Naam and the Satgurus Vishnu, Krishna, Ram and Nanak are the Mahima, praise, of this Naam. This means that when we do Sat Naam Vahiguru Simran then we remember the Nirgun Saroop of Akal Purakh and also His Mahima in terms of these Satgurus. This also means that the Mahima of Akal Purakh are the Satgurus and they are the result of Naam.
At the end of this verse, Bhai Gurdass Ji has said that when we recite the Shabad Vahiguru, we go back to the Origin, “Jehaa thae oupajiaa fir thehaa samaavai.”
Let us explain the process of how we go back to the Origin by reciting the Shabad Vahiguru. Akal Purakh came into existance first, then His Naam came into existance and then the Mahima came into existence – this is written in Asa Di Var, “Aapinay aap saajio aapeenaay rachiya nao. Duyee kudrat saajia kar asan dita chao.” This means that Naam is bigger than the Mahima and that the Mahima will lead us back to the Naam. The Naam will in turn lead us back to Akal Purakh. This is exactly what happened to us. We started with Vahiguru Simran. Then we were blessed with the Gur Parsaad of Naam, Puran Bandgi and Seva, so Simran switched to Sat Naam Vahiguru. Next it became just Sat Naam Simran. Then it moved onto Sat Sat Sat Simran and eventually even Sat disappeared to no name, just complete silence, “Namastang Nirnaameh. – Greetings to the One who has no name,” as described by Dhan Dhan Dassam Patshah Ji in Jaap Sahib. It is important to mention that when we say the Manter switched, it happened by Gurprasad as our spiritual stage changed. What we recite is the Hukam we are automaticlly made to follow at a certain time, the key is the Gur Prasad.
VAHIGURU IS A GUR SHABAD
“Vahiguru gur shabad lai piram piaa laa chup chalolaa.” Vaar 4.
“Vahiguru saalaahanaa gur shabad alaa-eae-aa.” Vaar 9.
“Vaedh kathaeb agochar aa Vahiguru gur shabad sunaayaa.” Vaar 12
All these verses by Bhai Gurdass Ji highlight that Vahiguru is a Gur Shabad. That is an absolute divine truth, because the Shabad Vahiguru is a part of the Gurbani. And Gurbani is the:-
· language of Akal Purakh
· story of Akal Purakh – Akath Ki Katha,
· Mahima of Akal Purakh,
· Mahima of Naam,
· Mahima of Sants and Bhagats, Satgurus and Brahmgianis, Sadh and Junn.
So it is the Mahima and not the Naam. Vahiguru has emanated from Naam, hence it is the Mahima of Naam. For that matter the entire Gurbani is a Gur Shabad. But, the the Gur Shabad Vahiguru contains the Mahima of the Satgurus of all four ages and when we recite the Shabad Vahiguru we remember the Satgurus of all four ages – Vishnu, Ram, Hari-Krishan, and Nanak.
We have also seen copies of some original Hukam Namas of various Guru Sahibans that were published in a book. They have preached to the common Sangat to “Guru Guru Japna.” Meaning recite “Guru Guru” i.e. Vahiguru. This shows that everybody didn’t get Naam right away from the Guru Sahibans. There were probably a few fortunate ones who were blessed with the Gur Parsaad of Naam, Naam Simran, Puran Bandgi and Seva.
Why didn’t the Guru Sahibans bless everyone with the Gurprasad of Naam right away? Because, Vahiguru is the first step on the ladder and leads you to Naam. Then Naam – Sat Naam, is the Gur Prasad that leads you and takes you to the Sat – the Nirgun Saroop and merges you with the Nirgun. There is no Naam at that level. When you merge into Akal Purakh then there remains no Naam. When we started meditating in the early stages many a time another Shabad from Gurbani would come within us and we would keep on medidating on that particular Shabad and so on until we automatically switched to Sat Naam. This is the sequence of the Hukam we were automatically made to follow, the key was the Gur Prasad.
1. Vahiguru,
2. Sat Naam Vahiguru,
3. Sat Naam,
4. Ik Oankaar Sat Naam,
5. Sat Sat Sat, and
6. then nothing.
The Shabad Vahiguru is called a Gur Shabad, but not the Naam. The Gur Parsaad of Naam is very difficult to handle for most beginners because it is so powerful. It puts you on a real fast divine track where all of the spiritual experiences come really quickly, but also where the tests of Maya come in really hard. That is exactly what happened to a lot of people in our Sat Sangat. They went up so fast and then when the tests of Maya came, they failed miserably. So that is the reason why the Brahmgianis will tell most beginners to do Vahiguru Jap for a long time. Then they will only give the Gur Prasad of Naam to a few rare ones who are ready to handle it. They only exceptions are the ones who already have a lot of Bandgi from their past lives. Their Brahmgiani will know that and give them Gurprasad of Naam right away.
THE DIVINE MEANING OF VAHIGURU JI KA KHALSA VAHIGURU JI KI FATEH
The divine meaning of the Shabad Khalsa has already been explained several times and that is that a Khalsa is a Puran Brahmgiani. So this Vahiguru Ji Ka Khalsa Vahiguru Ji Ki Fateh means that the Puran Brahmgiani is Dhan Dhan and is a winner.
Winner of what? The winner over Maya. The winner over Panj Doots and desires. The winner over His mind. The winner of the 14 Lok Parlok. The winner of the internal compliance. The winner of the Puran Sachyari Rehat, the Anderli Rehat, the internal compliance. So this Fateh is the praise of a Puran Brahmgiani.
THE GUR MANTER AND NAAM
Most people nowadays think that that Gur Manter is Vahiguru and that is the Naam. They think we are twisting GurBani and have changed the Gur Manter to Sat Naam. This is not true. When we ask people why they think Vahiguru is the Gur Manter, they quote Bhai Gurdass Ji and say, “Vahiguru gur manter hai jap haumai khoee.” However, after taking this Shabad in context of everything Bhai Gurdass Ji has said in other Shabads as explained above and in context of GurBani, we know that he means that Vahiguru is the Manter that praises the Gurus of the four Ages, so Gur Manter here actually means Guru Manter and not the Naam.
The divine truth is that Sat is the Naam and Naam is the Gur Manter. As stated earlier, the fact that the Shabad Sat is the Naam, Sat Naam, was announced by Dhan-Dhan Shri Guru Nanak Patshah Ji in the Mool Manter. The fact that the Gur Manter refers to the Naam is told to us be Dhan-Dhan Guru Arjun Dev ji here, “Gur manter avakhadh naam dheenaa junn nanak sankatt jon n paae.” This means that the Gur Manter is called the Naam and only the Gur Manter of Naam can cure us of all the sicknesses. This is on page 1002 of Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.
Let us understand the true meaning of Gur Manter by taking a deeper dive into the Mansarovar. First, we realize that the Shabad Gur Manter comprises of two Shabads – Gur and Manter. The Gur used here means Akal Purakh and Manter means the Shabad which is given by Akal Purakh to lead us to salvation. Manter means that which brings your mind under control. In Punjabi we say “Munn nu taar deyndaa hai.” This is the divine meaning of Gur Manter as used in this Salok, “Gur manter avakhadh naam dheenaa junn nanak sankatt jon n paae.”
Let us dive a little bit deeper into this Salok. The Gur Manter is Naam and only the Gur Manter of Naam can cure us of all the sicknesses. What are these sicknesses? They are the Panj Doots and desires. These mental sicknesses lead to physical ailments. So what can cure all of these ailments? The answer is the Gur Manter of Naam. Once we are cured of these mental sicknesses then we will be relieved of the biggest sorrow of the birth and death. That means we will become Jivan Mukt – achieve salvation. So in this Salok, it has been very clearly explained that the Gur Manter is the Naam and Naam will lead us to salvation.
If we dive a little deeper still into the Mansarovar we gain further divine wisdom about where we get the Naam. The Junn is the source of Naam. Akal Purakh is addressing Dhan-Dhan Guru Nanak Patshah that the Junn is the source of Naam, which is the Gur Manter. This will make us pure and pious by relieving us of the shackles of Maya. This leads us to salvation and saves us from reincarnating through the biggest sorrow of birth and death. So with that said, this one Salok has the Puran Braham Gyan in itself. It is telling us how we can achieve salvation.
Vahiguru is the Guru Manter and that will remain so, nobody can change it, but the Gur Manter is Naam – Sat Naam. All we have tried to do is bring out this Puran Sat – divine truth to the masses and nothing else. This doesn’t mean that you cannot meditate on the Shabad Vahiguru, you can continue to do so until you get the Gur Prasad of Naam, Puran Bandgi and Seva and then as we said you will automatically switch to Sat Naam Vahiguru and so on. So please remove that misunderstanding from your minds and be clear about the eternal divine truth that the Gur Manter is also called the Naam, that Sat is the Naam, that Sat is the Guru and that Vahiguru is the Guru Manter as described above and signifies the Mahima of Akal Purakh and His Bhagats, the Mahima of SatGur.
WHAT IS THE DIVINE MEANING OF GUR MANTER?
Let us understand the true meaning of Gur Manter by taking a deep dive into the Mansarovar. First, we realize that the Shabad Gur Manter comprises of two Shabads – Gur and Manter. Gur used here means Akal Purakh and Manter means the Shabad which is given by Akal Purakh to lead us to salvation. Manter means that which brings your mind under control. In Punjabi we say “Munn nu taar deyndaa hai.” Now let us reveal the divine meaning of Gur Manter as used in the following Saloks of Gurbani.
gur manter avakhadhh naam dheenaa jan naanak sankatt jon n paae || SGGS 1002.
The Gur Manter is Naam and only the Gur Manter of Naam can cure us of all the sicknesses. What are these sicknesses? They are the Panj Doots and desires. These mental sicknesses lead to physical ailments. So what can cure all of these ailments? The answer is the Gur Manter of Naam. Once we are cured of these mental sicknesses then we will be relieved of the biggest sorrow of the birth and death. That means we will become Jivan Mukt – achieve salvation. So in this Salok, it has been very clearly explained that the Gur Manter is Naam and Naam will lead us to salvation.
If we dive a little deeper still into the Mansarovar we gain further divine wisdom about where we get the Naam. The Junn is the source of Naam. Akal Purakh is addressing Dhan Dhan Guru Nanak Patshah that the Junn is the source of Naam, which is the Gur Manter. This will make us pure and pious by relieving us of the shackles of Maya. This then leads us to salvation and saves us from reincarnating through the biggest sorrow of birth and death. So with that said, this one Salok has the Puran Brahmgian in itself. It is telling us how we can achieve salvation.
dhukh kalaes n bho bi aapai gur manter hiradhai hoe || SGGS 51.
This Shalok gives us another glimpse of the Mahima of Naam. When Naam goes into the Hirda, then that is the stage when we become fearless. That is when the fear of death is gone, when the fear of anything and everything is gone and we get relieved of all the sorrows and pains. These sorrows and pains are the mental sicknesses. When Naam goes into the Hirda then salvation is attained, Mukti from Maya is achieved.
When the Gur Manter of Naam, the Gur Parsaad of Naam goes into the Hirda the the Hirda Sarovar is illuminated. This means that the internal source of Amrit is activated and the Hirda Kamal (Lotus) blossoms. Then Maya is conquered completely, the soul goes beyond Maya, “Trihu Gun Tey Parey” – beyond three attributes of Maya and the soul merges in the Nirgun Saroop. This is a very high spiritual stage that happens in Karam Khand and Sach Khand.
When Naam goes into the Hirda that is the stage of Karam Khand. Following that, the soul goes into Sach Khand when complete control over Maya is achieved and the soul gets liberated from the influence of Maya and goes back to the Nirgun Saroop.
kahu naanak gur manter chithaar || SGGS 186.
This is another Hukam of Dhan Dhan Paar Braham Parmesar to us instructing us to replace the mind by using the Gur Manter of Naam as explained earlier. Akal Purakh is addressing Guru Nanak Patshah Ji. These divine words came from the Guru Patshah Ji, but look at the Nimrata – humbleness and humility of the Guru Sahibans, they gave all the Wadyaee (praise) to Akal Purakh, whereas Akal Purakh gives all the Wadyaaee to the Sants and Bhagats. But still, the Sants and Bhagats keep on giving all the Wadyaaee to Akal Purakh Himself. This happens when there is no Haumai left, then the all of the praises are for the Guru and Akal Purakh, “Kaho Nanak Sabh Teri Wadyaaee Koi Nao Naa Janey Mera.”
When the mind is replaced by Naam, then the divine sixth sense takes over and all five senses come under the divine Hukam. When that happens then salvation is achieved. so There is the Gur Parsaad of Naam, Naam Simran, Puran Bandgi and Seva hidden in each one of these Saloks. You can feel this Puran Tat Gian only when you have actually physically experienced this happening within yourself. Another way of explaining it is that whatever Guru Sahibans experienced physically was recited by them, which was then put into writing.
kahu naanak gur manter dhrirr aaeiaa || SGGS 188.
This is another Hukam of Dhan Dhan Paar Braham Parmesar, which is about the implanting of the Gur Manter of Naam directly into the Surat, Hirda, all of the Sat Sarovars and Rom Rom. This again leads us to the Gur Parsaad of Naam, Naam Simran, Puran Bandgi and Seva, only then is this Hukam is carried out in full.
har maarag saadhhoo dhas iaa japeeai gura manth || SGGS 321.
This is the Hukam about where will you get the Gur Parsaad of Naam, Naam Simran, Puran Bandgi and Seva. Only a Sadhu, the one who is one with God, who is beyond Maya, can help you get the Gur Parsaad.
The Shabad Gur Manter refers to the Gur Parsaad of Naam, Naam Simran, Puran bandgi and Seva. Whatever you may look at in Gurbani, when you go deeper into the divine meanings, you end up in the Mansarovar – Nirgun Saroop, Param Jyot Puran Parkash.
Har Marag means the passage to Sach Khand is found and followed in the Sat Sangat of a Sadhu. A Sadhu is the one who has straightened out His Hirda amd made it a Khalas Hirda meaning a pure Hirda – a Sant Hirda and filled it with all the divine qualities.
The Shabad Sadhu takes us deep into the Mansarovar. The Shabad Har Marag takes us deep into the Mansarovar. Japnaa takes us deep into the Mansarovar. Gur Manter takes us deep into the Mansarovar. Every Hukam leads us ultimately into the depths of the Mansarovar. Every Shabad takes us deep into the depths of the Mansarovar – Nirgun Saroop of Akal Purakh.
chalath baisath sovath jaa gath gur manter ridhai chithaar || SGGS 1006.
This Hukam leads us to Rom Rom Naam Simran – Ajapaa Jaap Naam Simran. It is physically not possible to keep on doing Naam Simran while walking, sitting, sleeping and at all times. But, when we go into Ajapaa Jaap and Rom Rom Naam Simran only then is this Hukam fulfilled. So again this Hukam is talking us to the depths of the Mansarovar. This can happen only when you are saturated with Amrit in the Mansarovar.
So achieving every Shabad leads us to salvation and again this is all Gur Parsaad of the Gur Manter of Naam, Naam Simran, Puran Bandgi and Seva that takes us to the heights of the spiritual world as described in this Hukam.
chahu dhis fool rehee bikhiaa bikh gur manter mookh garurraaree || SGGS 1209.
This Shabad is talking about Maya. Bikhiaa is the Maya – the poison of Maya that is eating the entire world. That is why this current Age is called the Dark Age – Kal Yug. It is at its peak. Maya is operating at its peak in this Dark Age and our Karni wrapped in the scum of Maya is causing us to drink this poison on a continuous basis. The Amrit is the Gur Manter of Naam, Naam Simran, Puran Bandgi and Seva, which can help us break through this dark scum of the Maya and go beyond the Maya and back to the Origin.
So this Salok describes the current situation we are in and how can we get out of this darkness of Maya and go into the Puran Parkash – Nirgun Saroop. This divine Hukam is again telling us how we can go and touch the depths of the Mansarovar with the Gur Prasad of the Gur Manter of Naam, Naam Simran, Puran Bandgi and Seva.
The bottom line is that the Shabad Gur Manter used in these Saloks means the Gur Prasaad of Naam, Naam Simran, Puran Bandgi and Seva. All the above divine Hukams lead us to the depths of the Mansarovar, which can only happen through the Gur Prasad of Naam, Naam Simran, Puran Bandgi and Seva.
Dassan Dass