This article is written with the blessings of God and Guru (the Gur Parsaad and Gur Kirpa of Agam Agadh Agochar Anant Alikh Adikh Beyant Dhan Dhan Shri Paarbraham Parmesar).
Let us pray
from the inner core of our soul and mind with utmost humbleness
with full and complete belief and commitment
with utmost faith and trust God and Guru
with folded hands at Their Lotus feet (Charan Kamal)
doing countless prostrations (Kot Kot Dandaut Bandana)
doing countless salutations (Kot Kot Namaskaar)
giving endless thanks (Kot Kot Shukrana)
forever keeping our head at their lotus feet full of love (Munn Preet Charan Kamlaa Rey).
to be blessed with continuous Divine Blessings (Gur Parsaad)
to understand and take a glimpse of the description (Mahima) of the highest eternal treasure: NAAM.
no nidhh a(n)mrith prabh kaa naam ||
The nine treasures are in the Ambrosial Name of God.
SGGS 293
a(n)mrith naam nidhhaan hai mil peevahu bhaaee ||
The treasure of the Naam, the Name of the Lord, is Ambrosial Nectar; meet together and drink it in, O Siblings of Destiny.
SGGS 318
The Naam of Akal Purakh is the foundation of the Creation. Every part of the Creation is based on the Naam. Every living being’s existence is due to the divine light of Naam. There is no place without Naam:
naam kae dhhaarae sagalae ja(n)th ||
The Naam is the Support of all creatures.
naam kae dhhaarae kha(n)dd brehama(n)dd ||
The Naam is the Support of the earth and solar systems.
SGGS 284
jaethaa keethaa thaethaa naao ||
The created universe is the manifestation of Your Name.
vin naavai naahee ko thhaao ||
Without Your Name, there is no place at all
SGGS 4
What is Naam?
Naam is the:
most powerful Shabad Guru
the source of the Mool Manter
the greatest of all Manters (Maha Manter)
the seed mantra (Beej Manter)
the origin of the entire creation.
What is Gurbani? The entire Gurbani is the description (Mahima) of Naam.
But why is Naam the most important eternal entity for us?
What is the importance of the Naam in our current human life?
Why is it necessary to understand this divine Shabad "Naam"?
What is the Eternal Truth hidden behind this highest command from God’s Court (Dargahi Hukam of Naam) Eko Naam Hukam Hai – The One Name is The Command?
What wonders can Naam bring into our current human life?
What are the unlimited spiritual and divine powers of the Naam?
What happens to those who are eternally blessed with Naam?
What happens to those who are without the Gur Parsaad of Naam?
These are several simple practical questions which prevail in the minds of the people who are interested on the path to eternity. The answers to these questions can be learned only with the Gur Parsaad and Gur Kirpa of Dhan Dhan Akal Purakh:
jin ko nadhar karam thin kaar ||
Such is the karma of those upon whom He has cast His Glance of Grace.
naanak nadharee nadhar nihaal ||38||
O Nanak, the Merciful Lord, by His Grace, uplifts and exalts them.
SGGS 8
jis no kirapaa karai this aapan naam dhaee ||
He Himself gives His Name to those, upon whom He bestows His Mercy
SGGS 281
Let us all pledge our souls and minds for a continuous prayer to the Almighty for His continuous Gur Parsaad and Gur Kirpa on us all.
The best way to understand the importance of the Naam and get a motivational force to focus on this issue of vital divine and spiritual importance is to find out what happens to those who are without the Gur Parsaad of Naam.
The Guru Sahibans have been very kind to their generations, on all generations that have come after them and for all generations to come in future by giving us the divine wisdom through the Gurbani. Gurbani explains what happens to those souls which are without Naam. Some glimpses of the divine wisdom:
jal jaao jeevan naam binaa ||
Without the Naam, the Name of the Lord, life might just as well be burnt down.
SGGS 1332
According to the divine wisdom – Gurmat (Gurmat is only Gurbani and nothing less than Gurbani), this time period in the history of mankind is known as the dark age – Kal Yug.
This darkness is created by strong influences of the negative forces of Maya on our soul and mind.
Perhaps this darkness is at its peak in the current time period. This darkness relates to the darkness in which our souls and mind are absorbed. We are unaware of the divinity, the eternal truth, the Param Tatt, the Braham Tatt, the divine light, the Param Jyot, the Nirgun Saroop. This age of darkness has been described as the:
kalajug rathh agan kaa koorr agai rathhavaahu ||1||
In the Iron Age of Kali Yuga, fire is the chariot and falsehood the charioteer. ||1||
SGGS 470
This time period of utmost darkness is described as a burning carriage, which is burning the entire world in the fire.
The fire of desires: Asa, Trishna, Mansha (desires being responsible for our actions and deeds for our sorrows and grieves).
The fire created by the Panj Doot: Kaam (lust), Krodh (anger), Lobh (greed), Moh (attachment) and Ahankaar (ego).
This fire is responsible for all kinds of distractions of our five senses:
Roop (beauty – cause of distraction through eyes)
Rus (distraction by the taste of tongue),
Gandh (distraction by the smell)
Raj (distraction caused by the greed of worldly positions causing ego clash)
Joban (distractions caused by the young beauties)
Dhan (distractions caused by the greed of amassing wealth by fair or foul means)
Maal (distractions caused by the greed for worldly possessions by fair or foul means)
Sparsh (distractions caused by the feelings of touch).
This burning carriage is carrying the entire world. That means that the entire world is burning in these fires as stated above and this carriage is being driven by the untrue actions and deeds (kood) as a result of all the negative forces of Maya as described above.
These fires are created by the dangerous forces of Maya. They are responsible for
burning our soul and mind,
the instability of our mind,
maintaining a curtain of darkness between our soul, mind and the divine light, the Nirgun Saroop, the Gur Gurparsaad, the Naam, the "Ik Oankaar Sat Naam", the Sat Saroop, the Aad Sach Jugaad Sach Hai Bhi Sach Nanak Hosi Bhi Sach.
Basically our life is burning in these fires on a continuous basis without the access to the divine light being curtained by this darkness of the Kal Yug. This is how our current human life (excluding all the previous lives which we have also wasted like this) is also being wasted. And unless we take action we will carry on burning in these fires of Maya. And we will carry on revolving in the cycle of the birth and death through the 8.4 million species forever.
The source of the divine light, the Param Jyot Nirgun Saroop is the Gur Parsaad the Naam "Ik Oankaar Satnaam". Only this Gur Parsaadi Naam and Naam Simran can bring the divine light inside our soul and mind. Only the Naam & Naam Simran can save us from this darkness of the Kal Yug and from burning in these fires of Maya. That is why Guru Nanak Patshah Ji told us:
ab kaloo aaeiou rae ||
Now, the Dark Age of Kali Yuga has come.
eik naam bovahu bovahu ||
Plant the Naam, the Name of the One Lord.
SGGS 1185
The advent of Kal Yug is believed to be after the departure of Krishna, which marked the end of Dwaper Yug. In fact even during Krishna’s life time the foundation of the Kal Yug was laid down due to famous Mahabharta War.
The Korvas went to the height of meanness, no morality, inhumanity and depth of abuse of their power by trying to undress their own sister-in-law Panchali (aka Dropti). She was the queen of five Pandavas in the royal congregation. But they were totally influenced by the negative forces of Maya and didn’t do anything to save her from being disrespected. However being a disciple of Krishna, she was saved by the Naam:
pa(n)chaalee ko raaj sabhaa mehi raam naam sudhh aaee ||
Dropadi the princess of Panchaala remembered the Lord’s Name in the royal court.
SGGS 1008
Guru Nanak Patshah Ji very kindly advised us to sow the Naam, because only Naam can save us from these fires created by the hatred, ego, desires, lust, greed, selfishness due to attachment and anger.
When the Gur Parsaadi Naam goes in to our mind and spiritual heart centre (Surat and Hirda), it activates the “Ek Boond Amrit” in the third eye (Trikuti) resulting in deep meditation (Smadhee). Then all our divine doors are opened.
When the Naam Amrit activates all seven seas of spiritual energy (seven chakras) in our body, then our Dassam Duaar opens and a direct connection with the Nirgun Saroop is established.
When the Naam goes in to Rom Rom, then the soul goes in to Sach Khand.
The Sargun meets and merges in to the Nirgun. It breaks all the boundaries of the darkness of Maya, all the fires created by Maya are extinguished with the Amrit, and the soul reaches the salvation.
naam visaar man than dhukh paaeiaa ||
Forgetting the Naam, the Name of the Lord, the mind and body suffer in pain.
maaeiaa mohu sabh rog kamaaeiaa ||
Attached to the love of Maya, he earns nothing but disease.
bin naavai man than hai kusattee narakae vaasaa paaeidhaa ||9||
Without the Name, his mind and body are afflicted with leprosy, and he obtains his home in hell. ||9||
SGGS 1064
Maya is like a scum that contains the bacteria for all kinds of mental diseases. Acting under the influence of Maya, our soul and mind become prey to these bacteria and gather all of the mental sicknesses. Believe it or not, there is not a single person who is not being attacked.
Only a Puran Sant is beyond these mental sicknesses, everybody else is suffering from them. That is the only soul which is beyond the reach of Maya. That soul has won Maya by virtue of doing Bandgi. They are not affected by this scum of mental sicknesses:
jo jo dheesai so so rogee ||
Whoever I see is diseased.
rog rehith maeraa sathigur jogee ||1|| rehaao ||
Only my True Guru, the True Yogi, is free of disease
SGGS 1140
That is why Guru Nanak Patshah has made it very clear that the entire world is buried under the scum of these mental sicknesses:
naanak dhukheeaa sabh sa(n)aar ||
O Nanak, the whole world is suffering.
ma(n)nae naao soee jin jaae ||
He alone is victorious, who believes in the Lord’s Name.
aouree karam n laekhai laae ||1||
No other action is of any account.
SGGS 954
When a child is born, he is unaware of these mental sicknesses. He doesn’t have Panj Doots and desires, and from that point of view is beyond the shackles of Maya and is mentally healthy. It is believed that a new born has his tenth gate (Dassam Duaar) open as well, but overtime he gets trapped in the net of Maya. Gradually his pure soul and mind is attacked by these “bacteria” contained in the scum of Maya. He starts to gather these mental diseases and within a few years is under the complete influence of the Maya.
He only survives maya if he is lucky enough to be born to Sant parents and is raised in a Maya free environment.
For most people though the following sequence of events occur:
the mental sicknesses come
these sicknesses go deeper inside the mind and make them sick,
then slowly other symptoms of bodily sicknesses start to appear such as depression, anger, hatred, blood pressure,
in many cases these diseases become fatal both for the mind and body and ultimately the soul, which makes our life no better than living in hell:
naam binaa kaisae sukh leheeai ||
Without the Naam, the Name of the Lord, how anyone find peace?
SGGS 200
This all happens to our soul, mind and body when we are living without the Gur Parsaad: the Naam of Akal Purakh.
That is why Gurbani, which is in fact an eternal prescription for all these mental and bodily sicknesses, says:
sarab rog kaa aoukhadh naam ||
The Naam is the panacea, the remedy to cure all ills.
SGGS 274
The strongest and sure prescription for recovering ourselves from these mental and bodily diseases is the Gur Parsaadi Naam "Ik Oankaar Satnaam" only. Nothing else can cure us, only Gur Parsaadi Naam and Naam Ki Kamai can cure us :
prabh kaa simaran sabh thae oochaa ||
The remembrance of God is the highest and most exalted of all.
SGGS 263
By doing Naam Simran we are cured by being taken to the Spiritual heights where we are relieved of all these mental and bodily sicknesses.
Only Gur Parsaadi Naam can bring us the eternal peace, the eternal joy, the everlasting Chad Di Kala:
sukhamanee sukh a(n)mrith prabh naam ||
Sukhmani: Peace of Mind, the Nectar of the Name of God.
SGGS 262
The everlasting stability of our mind, the winning of the Maya and desires, complete control over the mind:
Munn Jeetey Jug Jeet
By Conquoring the Mind you have conquored the Wordl
Jap Ji
and turning the mind and soul to merge and become a part of the Param Jyot:
man thoo(n) joth saroop hai aapanaa mool pashhaan ||
O my mind, you are the embodiment of the Divine Light – recognize your own origin.
SGGS 441
The only reason for all the sorrows of the life is the lack of the Gur Parsaadi Naam. The biggest sorrow of our life is the sorrow of the cycle of birth and death. This with the other mental and bodily sicknesses and sorrows will continue to be so until we get the Gur Parsaad.
Another very important mental sickness is the duality, the delusions and illusions, the Dubidha, the doubts and this is caused due to a lack of commitment, belief, trust and faith in Gur, Guru and Gurbani. Due to a lack of practicing divine wisdom in our daily life.
Only Gur Parsaadi Naam can help us go in to a single vision and remove the duality from our mind.
Duality is “Pakhand” – hypocrisy and Single Vision is the highest realm of eternal truth
Ek Drisht is Sach Khand
The secret to becoming single vision is the Gur Parsaadi Naam and its service.
The person who kills his duality becomes a Braham Gyani:
breham giaanee sadhaa samadharasee ||
The God-conscious being is always impartial.
breham giaanee kee dhrisatt a(n)mrith barasee ||
Nectar rains down from the glance of the God-conscious being.
SGGS 272
samadharasee eaek dhrisattaethaa ||
to look impartially upon all, and to see only the One
eih fal this jan kai mukh bhanae || gur naanak naam bachan man sunae ||6||
Nanak : these blessings come to one who, through the Guru chants the Naam with his mouth, and hears the Word with his ears. ||
SGGS 296
eaek dhrisatt kar samasar jaanai jogee keheeai soee ||1|| rehaao ||
One who looks upon all with a single eye, and knows them to be one and the same – he alone is known as a Yogi. ||1||Pause||
SGGS 730
Single vision will make you Nirvair, no hatred, no anger, no animosity, clean hearted, which are very important divine qualities.
naam binaa sabh koorr gaalhee hoshheeaa ||1||
that without the Naam, everything is false and worthless. ||1||
SGGS 761
Our life is an abuse without Naam. Only with Naam can we make our life sublime. Everything else except Naam is perishable and will diminish and die. Only a soul with Naam can live in the Dargah forever:
breham giaanee sadh jeevai nehee marathaa ||
The God-conscious being lives forever, and does not die.
SGGS 273
Any thing that has a limited life is counted as untrue. It is living under the darkness of the Maya. It is rotting in the scum of Maya. Without the Naam, everything is false and worthless.
It has been very clearly explained by Dhan Dhan Shri Guru Nanak Patshah Ji in Asa Di Vaar that everything except Naam is False (Koorh) "Koorh Sabh Sansaar – The whole world is false".
This means everything but Naam, is untrue. Everything else is perishable and has a limited life and by virtue of being so is with in the shackles of Maya.
Only Naam is beyond the three attributes of Maya (Rajo, Tamo & Sato), so only Naam can take us out of the Shackles of Maya and make us one with Almighty.
birathhaa naam binaa than a(n)dhh ||
Useless is the body of the spiritually blind, without the Name of the Lord.
SGGS 269
A spiritually blind person’s body is useless, because it will be absorbed in the darkness of Maya. The purpose of the human life given to us is to obtain salvation, to be one with Almighty, to realize and follow His Hukam:
hukam boojh param padh paaee ||
obeying the Lord’s Command, the supreme status is obtained.
SGGS 292
naanak hukamai jae bujhai th houmai kehai n koe ||2||
O Nanak, one who understands His Command, does not speak in ego. ||2||
SGGS 1
To become relieved of the Haumai, obtain Param Padvi and be Jivan Mukt. To relieve ourselves from the highest sorrow of the birth and death.
According to the divine wisdom – Gurmat – Gurbani the highest sorrow is to remain revolving in the cycle of birth and death. To understand this please look at your own life for a minute; you were born as a child in this life, then you have to go through your childhood, schooling, then find a job and work all your life, then get married, have children, raise the children, take care of your old parents, take care of your sisters and brothers, and go through the moments of all kinds of worldly sorrows and happiness, successes and failures.
sa(n)jog vijog dhue kaar chalaavehi laekhae aavehi bhaag ||
Union(sanjog) with Him, and separation(vijog) from Him, come by His Will.
We come to receive what is written in our destiny.
SGGS 6
Sanjog means meeting eg birth and marriage;
Vijog means departure eg death in the family.
And then finally your own time comes and you leave this world to be born at some other place and go through the same cycle again.
If you are lucky and you had good accumulation of good deeds you might get another human life otherwise who know what form of life will be your next birth and how long you have to stay in that form before you get another chance.
That is why Gurbani says:
maanas janam dhula(n)bh hai jag mehi khattiaa aae ||
This human birth is so precious; one must earn the right to come into the world.
SGGS 565
The bottom line is this cycle of reincarnation continues until the time you have a complete realization of the Almighty. And only Naam the Gur Parsaad “Ik Oankar Satnaam” can get you this salvation, so that is why it is said that without Naam this body is a total waste.
naanak naam binaa ko mukath n hoee ||4||10||30||
O Nanak, without the Naam, the Name of the Lord, no one is liberated. ||4||10||30||
SGGS 161
Only Naam can bring us liberation from the cycle of reincarnation.
Naam:
is the “Sat” – Eternal Truth
is not perishable,
never dies,
is the Amrit – ambrosial nectar,
is God in Itself,
is the foundation of the Almighty Himself,
is the foundation of Sat – eternal truth
is the basis of His Own Creation and the creation of the universe.
It is very simple to understand: if you can remain as clean inside you as you when were born then you will remain absorbed in Him.and keep the 32 divine qualities of a Sada Suhagan
When the end comes you will go back to Him forever.
That is what happens in case of the born Braham Gyanis and born Sants, but not for a normal person. The moment a baby is born he slowly is taken over by the negative forces of Maya and eventually comes under the complete influence of Maya and gets absorbed in the scum – darkness of the Maya, and then to get Mukti – liberation from Maya only Naam can help.
If our inside, our mind (munn) and spiritual heart (Hirda) was a clean piece of white and shinning cloth when we were born, and at the time of our birth God told us “If you keep your this white cloth as clean as it is now I will accept you back. If it becomes dirty you will be rejected and sent back to make it clean.”
Now as soon as we are absorbed in the dark scum of Maya this white cloth gets stained by our bad and untrue deeds. It gathers the stains caused by our sins on a daily basis. Eventually it gets so dirty, that it looses its own identity. Now it thinks it is a dirty rag. (Ed Note : For example I think of myself as Flanna Singh and I am a proud Jat. But I wasn’t born with a name or a caste, I have stained myself with that belief. And the older I got the more I forgot my original identity. And now I am so old and set in my ways that I have totally forgetten that my real identity, my real name was and still is TRUTH: SAT NAAM).
All our bad deeds and untrue deeds performed under the Rajo (desires) and Tamo (evil) attributes of Maya get written on the white sheet. Gurbani calls it your “Chitr Gupt” which literally means “Memories & Secrets”.
It is a detailed account of your own deeds, and once it becomes dirty then you loose your chance of being accepted back in the Dargah of Akal Purak. If it becomes too dark & dirty because you didn’t perform any good deeds and true deeds, any Sato Karams, then you even loose your chance of being born as a human. Instead you are sent back in to the 8.4 million life forms for a longer period of time. If you are lucky and kept your true deeds intact then the dirt on this piece of cloth doesn’t look so bad and as a result you are given another chance to wash your stains and sent back to the human life again.
If you continue to outweigh your bad deeds with your good deeds and continue to do so then a time comes when the Almighty is pleased with your efforts to keep this white cloth – your mind and Hirda clean and at this time He blesses you the Gur Parsaad, His Naam Ik Oankaar Satnaam. By His divine means and He puts you onto the Path Of Loving Devotion (bandagi).
This Naam when meditated upon in Smadhee and Sunn Smadhee brings tremendous results. All your previous sins are cleaned:
har ko naam kott paap pareharai ||
The Name of the Lord washes off millions of sins.
SGGS 264
All the stains on this piece of cloth are removed, and eventually it regains its original form: shining white light. This orginal form is the Nirgun Saroop, the Sat Saroop, the param Jyot. Merging completely with Akal Purakh you are accepted back by Him with dignity and honor.
maerae man naam binaa jo dhoojai laagae thae saakath nar jam ghutteeai ||
O my mind, without the Naam, the Name of the Lord, and attached to duality,
those faithless cynics are strangled by the Messenger of Death.
SGGS 170
Everything that is not ONE (IK) is duality. Duality means “in two”. Only "IK" is the Eternal Truth, the Almighty Himself. Duality is:
Dubidha – delusions,
illusions,
doubts,
lack of faith,
lack of trust,
lack of commitment and belief,
lack of true love and sense of devotion,
"IK" gives a single vision, that is why He is "Nirvair" – God and the one who is God-Like does not hate anyone because He sees everyone as the ONE. As long as the mind is in duality Gurbani calls us an unbeliever (Sakat) and a worldy person (Munnmukh).
Only a soul absorbed completely in "Ik" is not in duality and is not in hypocrisy (Pakhand) but in God’s Realm Of Truth (Sach Khand). Believe this that every single person that is not in Sach Khand is in Pakhand. Therefore every person who is in duality is a worldy person (Munmukhs). The only ones with single vision are the God-like person (Gurmukhs). Only Gurprasadi Naam can take us out of this duality.
If we are without Naam then we will remain in duality, we will never be able to unite with "IK" Oankaar Satnaam. We will remain in hypocrisy and will remain a wordly person. Therefore only Naam can take us out of the duality and make us single vision.
naam binaa naahee mukh bhaag ||
Without the Naam, no one’s face shows good fortune.
SGGS 192
The “good fortune” or bhaag, comes only with Naam. What is the “good fortune”?
It is the attainment of the highest level of the eternal peace, the highest level of the silence of mind.
There are, no distractions, no delusions, no illusions and no duality.
There is single vision, fearless, no animosity, humbleness, forgiveness, no five thieves, no desires and complete stability of mind.
There is the perfect Light Of The Supreme (Puran Jyot Parkash) in your spiritual heart (Hirda).
There is Naam Simran in the mind (surat) and spiritual heart (hirda) and in every cell (Rom Rom).
There is the highest level of eternal enjoyment, Chad Di Kala and all this comes only with Naam.
The person who doesn’t do Naam Simran has been called suicidal in Gurbani:
naam n japehi thae aatham ghaathee ||1||
Those who do not meditate on the Naam, the Name of the Lord, are murderers of the soul. ||1||
SGGS 188
har kae naam binaa jag dhha(n)dhhaa ||
Without the Name of the Lord, the world is in turmoil.
SGGS 358
Without Naam the entire world is in turmoil. Everybody is in some kind of trouble, every one has some kind of a sorrow in his life. Wherever there is human involvement, there is trouble. There is trouble in a single person’s life, in their family, in their community, in their government and at international levels.
There seems to be never ending trouble everywhere. Everybody wants to beat everybody else and move ahead. They want to gain worldly comforts by fair or foul means. Bribery, extortion, cheating, fighting, abusing, dishonesty, hatred, anger, misbehavior and so on has become a way of life.
naam binaa dhhrig dhhrig jeevaaeiaa ||3||
Without the Naam, cursed, cursed are their lives. ||3||
SGGS 366
Life has been called a curse without the Naam. If you look at the above discussion, it shows that life is a curse if we are not blessed with Gur Parsaadi Naam. We are surrounded, engulfed and drenched in the scum of all bad and untrue deeds.
In Gurbani whenever the word (Shabad) "Naam" is used it does not mean just any name of God. It means GurParsaadi Naam: – the Naam (“Ik Oankar Sat Naam”) that is a Blessing from God (“Gur Parsaad”).
That is why that it is the first and foremost message at the beginning of most of the verses (Shaloks) of Gurbani. It comes in one of the four the invocations (mangla charan):
Ik Oankaar Sat Gur Parsaad;
Ik Oankaar Sat Naam Gur Parsaad;
Ik Oankaar Sat Naam Karta Purakh Gur Parsaad;
Ik Oankaar Sat Naam, Karta Purakh, Nirbhao Nirvair, Akaal Murat, Ajunie Saibhung, Gur Parsaad.
Without God’s Blessed Name (the Gur Parsaad of Naam) our life will just go to waste. We will have to come back again and again unless we are blessed with the Gur Parsaad.
naam binaa maattee sa(n)g raleeaa ||1||
but without the Name, he mingles with dust. ||1||
SGGS 385
Gurbani has also called the Naam as being the Amrit (immortality) and the priceless diamond (Amolak Rattan)
naam amolak rathan hai poorae sathigur paas ||
The Naam is a Priceless Jewel; it is with the Perfect True Guru.
SGGS 40
Calling Naam “Amrit” means it
never dies,
is not perishable,
is the essence of the eternal truth,
it is the Param Jyot Nirgun Saroop of Akal Purakh.
Akal Purakh has been called
Ajunie – it never takes birth and never dies. It is beyond the cycle of the birth and death,
Saibhung – doesn’t need any support, is self created and self supported, is Nirgun Saroop divine light.
Everything else except the Naam is just a dust. Without this priceless diamond in the Hirda our life just mingles with the dust. Maya is just a dust, it is the scum, it is the abuse, it is the fire of Kal Yug, it is the darkness of the Kal Yug, it keeps our distance from the Almighty, and only Naam can bring us back and closer to God.
Only Naam can merge us with Akal Purakh Paar Braham Parmesar.
naam binaa kaisae outharas paaraa ||3||
Without the Naam, how can I cross over to the other side? ||3||
SGGS 478
The entire world is strangled in the net of Maya. It is a deep sea full of this dust and scum of Maya. A normal person is just drenched and drowned in this sea of darkness.
Only Naam can ferry us across this sea of scum. Baba Farid Ji has called it as: “Galyae Chikkar” – such as when we try to walk through the streets that are full of the dirty and bad smelling mud. This means that when we try to escape out of this dirty mud it pulls us back. It spoils our clothes and body parts.
Which means that when we try to do Bandgi by switching to Naam Ki Seva, Simran and Parupkaar type activities in our life, then the dirty mud comprising of distractions caused by the Panj Doot, desires, and other worldly elements starts to strangle us and tries to spoil our mind and soul MORE AND MORE.
That is why doing Bandgi is to fight against this dirty mud and scum of Maya. But at the same time we can get through these streets full of dirty smelling mud only with the Naam. Only Naam and Naam Ki Seva, Simran and Parupkaar can clean us of this scum and move us out completely to a safe heaven – the Dargah of Akal Purakh.
naam binaa sabh jag bouraanaa sabadhae houmai maaree ||
Without the Naam, the Name of the Lord, the whole world is insane; through the Shabad, the ego is conquered.
SGGS 568
The Shabad is the Guru, which brings us the divine light. And this divine light cleans the passage for us by removing the dirty smelling mud from our path to unite with the Almighty. The highest spiritual value of the Shabad is the Gur Parsaad – the eternal blessings. That constitutes the highest Hukam of Akal Purakh and that Hukam is Naam Hukam:
eaeko naam hukam hai naanak sathigur dheeaa bujhaae jeeo ||5||
The One Name is the Lord’s Command; O Nanak, the True Guru has given me this understanding. ||5||
SGGS 72
The entire Gurbani is the description and praises (Mahima) of Naam. Naam is the Origin of the creation, it is the Beej Manter, is the foundation of the entire universe, and is represented by the Shabad "SAT". The Gur Parsaad Shabad "SAT" is the NAAM of Akal Purakh, the priceless diamond. And only Naam can kill our Haumai – ego, which is the most serious mental sickness:
houmai dheeragh rog hai dhaaroo bhee eis maahi ||
Ego is a chronic disease, but it contains its own cure as well.
SGGS 466
Only the Naam can cure us from this chronic mental sickness.
har kae naam binaa dhukh paavai ||
Without the Name of the Lord, you shall only find pain.
SGGS 830
naam binaa sabh jhoot(h) paraanee ||
Without the Naam, the Name of the Lord, everything is false, O mortal.
SGGS 890
naam binaa gath koe n paavai hat(h) nigrehi baebaanai ||
Without the Naam, no one attains salvation. Stubborn self-discipline and living in the wilderness are of no use at all.
SGGS 243
In a nutshell it is impossible to describe the greatness of Naam, Gur Parsaad and Gur Kirpa. These are just limitless eternal entities like Akal Purakh Himself. It is the story of the indescribable – Akath Katha; it can only be experienced:
kehibae ko sobhaa nehee dhaekhaa hee paravaan ||121||
I cannot describe its sublime glory; it has to be seen to be appreciated. ||121||
SGGS 1370
So we should all pray on a continuous basis for the Naam, for the Gur Parsaad and for the Gur Kirpa. We need to continue to strive for them by conducting ourselves on the Sato qualities:- True Deeds only such as:
Sat Santokh – contentment;
Sanjam – patience, humbleness;
Daya – kindness and forgiveness;
Dharam – the service of Akal Purakh;
Naam Simran;
practice Gurbani in our daily lives,
don’t hurt anybody’s heart,
watch yourself & stay away from Rajo and Tamo qualities of Maya;
complete commitment, belief, faith and trust in Gur, Guru and Gurbani;
Bring in all the 32 divine qualities of a Suhagan and Sada Suhagan and this way you are bound to meet your spiritual dreams and achieve salvation.
Dassan Das (Slave Of God’s Slaves)