With the Gur Parsadee Gur Kirpa of the Anant Beyant Agam Agochar Aprampar Dhan Dhan Shri Paar Braham Parmesar and the Guru let us pray to them to give us all the Gur Parsaad, the eternal blessings, for understanding the eighth Ashtpadi of Sukhmani Bani.
In this Ashtpadi, Dhan Dhan Pancham Patshah Ji has very kindly given us the Brahmgian, the divine wisdom, about the Mahima of a Brahmgiani. Guru Patshah Ji has explained what a Brahmgiani is and what His super spiritual powers are.
Let us make a very humble and sincere effort to understand what a Brahmgiani is. It is extremely important to mention that if we are able to understand and believe what Gurbani says about a Brahmgiani, then we are sure to benefit and advance in our spiritual journey to Sach Khand. The key is a full and complete understanding and belief, which will lead us to commitment and dedication, devotion and love, trust and faith, which are the mandatory elements of Puran Bhagti.
The divine qualities of a Brahmgiani have been very nicely presented here by Pancham Patshah Ji. Brahmgiani is the highest spiritual status of a soul, Atmik Awastha, that a person can achieve. Such a high spiritual condition can only be achieved by the Gur Parsaad, the eternal blessings of Akal Purakh. Eternal blessings are bestowed by Him upon very rare souls. In other words, such souls are very rare. There remains no difference between the Almighty and such a soul. Such souls are Sada Suhagans and are full of divine qualities. Here is a glimpse of these divine qualities.
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salok.
man saachaa mukh saachaa so-ay. avar na paykhai aykas bin ko-ay.
naanak ih lachhan brahmgiani ho-ay. ||1||
These are some of the divine qualities of a Puran Brahmgiani. He is a person :
· whose soul and mind have become completely truthful.
· who is serving nothing but Truth.
· who is seeing the Truth, listening to the Truth, speaking the Truth and delivering the Truth.
· whose actions and reactions are Truthful.
· who is in Puran Sachyari Rehat, internal compliance of winning over Maya.
· who is beyond Maya, because Maya is all non Truth.
· is an absolutely purified soul who has Puran Parkash in His Hirda. Only Puran Parkash in Hirda by the Nirgun Saroop of Akal Purakh can purify the Hirda and produce a Sada Suhagan. Only such a Hirda who has been eternally blessed with Puran Param Jyot Parkash can be a Khalsa. Only such a soul can get the Gur Parsaad of Tatt Gyan – Brahmgian and can become a Puran Brahmgiani.
· who is serving the Akal Purakh Paar Braham Parmeshwar continuously.
· who engages himself in the praise of the Almighty.
· who is completely in the service of the Almighty.
· who is delivering the Eternal Truth to everyone.
· who is giving the Gur Parsaad of Naam, Puran Bandgi and Seva.
· who sees God everywhere and in everyone.
· who is Nirvair – without animosity.
· who is Ek Drisht – single vision.
· who is Nirbhao – fearless.
· who has experienced and achieved complete and full divine wisdom and divinity.
That is what the Truth is, everything else is just perishable.
Ashtpadi
brahmgiani sadaa nirlayp.
jaisay jal meh kamal alayp.
brahmgiani sadaa nirdokh.
jaisay soor sarab ka-o sokh.
brahmgiani kai darisat samaan.
jaisay raaj rank ka-o laagai tul pavaan.
brahmgiani kai Dheeraj ayk.
ji-o basuDhaa ko-oo khodai ko-oo chandan layp.
brahmgiani kaa ihai gunaa-o.
naanak ji-o paavak kaa sahj subhaa-o. ||1||
Brahmgiani is beyond the three attributes of Maya: Rajo; Tamo; and Sato. Just as the Nirgun Saroop is beyond the three attributes of Maya, so is a Brahmgiani. He has completely won over Maya. Maya serves a Brahmgiani. Whereas everybody else in this world serves the Maya.
The Brahmgiani is ever and always clean from inside out. Just like alotus flower which grows in dirty muddy water, yet still stays bright, shining and clean. Living in this dark age of Kalyug, with so much dirt hanging around in the entire word due to the deep mental sicknesses, a Brahmgiani stays clean from inside out.
The Bramhgiani’s mind and soul are always stable and nothing can distract Him from serving the Truth. He is like a sun which absorbs all the darkness and lightens up the entire universe with its unlimited light. The Brahmgiani whose inside is full of divine light, takes away all the darkness of the mind and soul, and all the sins are diminished with the Braham Parkash.
The Brahmgiani is like the air. The air is said to be one of the first and foremost creations of Akal Purakh and is termed as Pawan Guru in Gurbani. It is the most essential element of life on this Earth. We can’t survive without air for more than a few minutes. Life exists because of air, so its importance should be understood. The Brahmgiani is like the air which doesn’t discriminate against anybody or anything whatever it may be. The air reaches all of us equally, so does the Brahmgiani. He is single vision, meaning for Him all are equal. For Him a king or a beggar are the same. For him there is no difference between sorrow and happiness. There is no difference between gold and the soil for Him. This means He is always in complete stability and nothing can distract Him for moving on the path of Truth.
The Brahmgiani is always in full contentment. He is not shaken by any distractions around Him. He is as unaffected by the worldly affairs as is the Earth in this universe. This means his truthful hirda becomes so big and Dana Dina, that he gets the power to remain silent under all circumstances.
The Brahmgiani is like a fire which burns everything by its very nature. In the presence of such an enlightened soul, all the sinful thoughts, all the distractions, doubts, dubidha, bharams, all of the Panj Doots, and other such mental sicknesses are burnt away.
Wherever a Brahmgiani is present there is absolutely no effect of Maya. The place and Sangat of Brahmgiani remains beyond the effect of Maya. The Sangat of a Brahmgiani is where we can experience the Dargah of Akal Purakh here on Earth.
brahmgiani nirmal tay nirmalaa.
jaisay mail na laagai jalaa.
brahmgiani kai man ho-ay pargaas.
jaisay Dhar oopar aakaas.
brahmgiani kai mitar satar samaan.
brahmgiani kai naahee abhimaan.
brahmgiani ooch tay oochaa.
man apnai hai sabh tay neechaa.
brahmgiani say jan bha-ay.
naanak jin parabh aap karay-i. ||2||
The Brahmgiani is absolutely clean, pure and pious inside and out. He is a Puran Sachyara from inside and out. His Hirda is a Puran Sachyara Hirda, full of all divine qualities of a Sada Suhagan. This makes His Hirda as infinite as Akal Purakh Himself.
A Brahmgiani is like the water which washes away the dirt, but upon evaporating returns to its pure form. Similarly, the Brahmgiani washes all the dirt from our mind and soul. The dirt that has accumulated on our soul and mind from all of our previous lives. The Brahmgiani washes all the dirt from our mind and soul and still stays absolutely clean, pure and pious. He remains in his original form, completely enlightened with Brahmgian and Puran Parkash.
The Brahmgiani is the source of the Gur Parsaad of Naam, the Nirgun Saroop Puran Parkash. The Brahmgiani has infinite spiritual powers and has the capacity to wash and clean up all of the people that go into His Sangat with full belief and commitment, faith and trust, devotion and love.
His Hirda and soul remain lit by the Almighty, like a sun that keeps the entire universe lit. Infact a Puran Brahmgiani who resides in Paar Braham Khand, (the part of Sach Khand where there is complete Silence) will have His Hirda lit with as much divine light as 21 spiritual suns.
The Brahmgiani doesn’t regard anyone as an enemy. He doesn’t have any kind of animosity with anyone at all. For Him everybody is equal. He sees everyone with a single vision. He is full of complete humbleness at all the times. His mind and soul are always down to earth. He considers Himself as the dust of the feet of the entire universe, Kot Brahamand. This quality of extreme humbleness makes Him spiritually very high in the Dargah of Paar Braham Parmeshwar.
Humbleness is the key element in the life of a Sikh. A person doesn’t deserve to be called a Sikh if he is not full of utmost humbleness and humility. Garibi Ves Hirda is the mandatory divine quality of a Sikh, a Gursikh and a Gurmukh. Humbleness and humility of the mind and soul is the key to the Dargah of Akal Purakh. At many places in Gurbani, Guru Nanak Patshah Ji has called Himself a Neech:
Nanak Neech Kahey Veechaar
Guru Nanak Patshah Ji has called Himself a Dassan Dass too. It means “slave of the slaves.” That is the kind of humbleness Guru Nanak Patshah Ji has taught us we should be earning in our soul and mind.
Guru Nanak Patshah Ji has called Himself a Dassan Dass too. It means “slave of the slaves.” That is the kind of humbleness Guru Nanak Patshah Ji has taught us we should be earning in our soul and mind.
The Gurus envisioned Gursikhi as a Halimi Raj. A society full of love and respect for each other. The utmost humbleness and humility brings in the sense of respect and love for everyone in the society and eliminates the feelings of hatred and animosity. Ego is the worst enemy of a person. It is also called Haumai or Ahankaar in Gurbani. This is the deep mental sickness as described in Gurbani:
Haumai Deeragh Rog Hai.
Ego brings in and promotes anger in our mind and body which is our worst enemy. Anger leads to hatred, fighting, war, revenge and selfishness. Anger is also a deep mental sickness. Ego resides in the head of a person. It takes us away from the Almighty, whereas humbleness and humility brings us closer to the Almighty.
Love is the essence of spirituality and divinity. Love is the Truth. Love prevails forever. Love is the language of Akal Purakh:
Ego brings in and promotes anger in our mind and body which is our worst enemy. Anger leads to hatred, fighting, war, revenge and selfishness. Anger is also a deep mental sickness. Ego resides in the head of a person. It takes us away from the Almighty, whereas humbleness and humility brings us closer to the Almighty. Love is the essence of spirituality and divinity. Love is the Truth. Love prevails forever. Love is the language of Akal Purakh:
Bhakhyeaa Bhao Apaar
Jap Ji
This means:
· Bhakhyeaa – language, way of communication, way of talking to each other, dialogue.
· Bhao – unconditional love, love with sacrifice, love for giving, love for removing others sufferings and pains.
· Apaar – who is limitless, who is unlimited, who is infinite.
Love is supreme,
love is infinite,
love has no dimensions,
love has no boundaries,
love is the sacrifice,
love is selfless living,
love is to give,
love is to surrender everything to the Akal Purakh,
love is to serve others,
love is to diminish sufferings and pains of others,
love is to give Amrit and take out the poison from the heart of a person,
love is to give our heart to the Gur, Guru and Gursangat,
and humbleness and humility will remove ego, anger, revenge, hatred,
animosity and adverse feelings
and will bring in love, will bring in God inside us.
Gurbani says:
Jin Prem Keeo Tin Hi Prabh Paayeo
Meaning only love can make us realize God. Our love for God is not complete if we have not loved all His creations as much as we love Him. Only love can take us out of the shackles of Maya and unite us with Almighty, and that is the purpose of the life of a Sikh.
We should all exercise utmost humility and humbleness in all our deeds, actions, reactions, communications – written or oral. By doing so we will learn the language of love, sacrifice, faith and trust in the Gur, Guru and Gurbani and become closer and closer to the Almighty by eliminating ego and anger from our soul mind and body.
This is a Gur Parsaadi game so only such a person can reach this level of spirituality and become a Brahmgiani who is eternally blessed with the Gur Parsaad of Naam, Puran Bandgi, Seva-Parupkaar and Mahaparupkaar. In other words Almighty Himself creates a Brahmgiani for the benefit of the Sangat. A Brahmgiani is the Mahima of Akal Purakh Himself.
brahmgiani sagal kee reenaa.
aatam ras brahmgiani cheenaa.
brahmgiani kee sabh oopar ma-i-aa.
brahmgiani tay kachh buraa na bha-i-aa.
brahmgiani sadaa samadrasee.
brahmgiani kee darisat amrit barsee.
brahmgiani banDhan tay muktaa.
brahmgiani kee nirmal jugtaa.
brahmgiani kaa bhojan gi-aan.
naanak brahmgiani kaa barahm Dhi-aan. ||3||
The Brahmgiani always remain very humble. He is so humble that He remains the dust of the feet of the entire creation. Infact he remains the dust of the feet of entire universe. For Him everybody else is higher than Him. His Hirda is full of Garibi, full of utmost humbleness. This quality of extreme humbleness comes only when one’s ego, Ahankaar, completely vanishes. This is the key to the Braham Khand where a Puran Brahmgiani resides in the charans of Akal Purakh.
That is why he recognizes Atam Rus, which is higher than the highest Amrit, Naam Amrit. The Atam Rus is the Param Jyot Puran Parkash – Nirgun Saroop of Akal Purakh and only a Brahmgiani can see, feel and enjoy it continuously. That is why Khalsa is a Puran Brahmgiani, because according to Dassam Patshah :
Atam Rus Jeh Janye So Hi Khalas Dev,
Prabh Meh Moh Meh Taas Meh Ranchak Nahin Bhed.
Atam Rus is the real internal compliance, Rehat. Puran Jyot Parkash inside the Hirda is the real Rehat. Iinternal compliance makes a person a Khalsa or a Brahmgiani.
The Brahmgiani showers every one with complete happiness. His face, mind and soul will always remain in complete happiness and He showers this happiness upon all who come into contact with Him. The real happiness is in winning over Maya and desires. That is what happens in the Sangat of a Puran Brahmgiani. In their sangat we can get the Gur Parsaad of Naam, Puran Bandgi and Seva and eventually become like Him and achieve the everlasting eternal happiness.
The Brahmgiani never thinks bad of nor does bad to anyone. His Hirda is full of divine love for everyone. He never sees anybody with hatred. There is no hatred in His Hirda at all. He loves everyone as much as He loves the Creator. He is always very kind to everybody, Dana Dina, due to His highest divine quality of single vision. He sees the entire universe with single vision. He has one pure and pious thought, one and only one true thought and that is always with an objective of diminishing the suffering of the others. He provides the Sangat with His blessings and helps them move on the path to salvation.
His eyes are always full of Amrit, Puran Parkash and He showers this Amrit on all those who come to His Sangat. The Brahmgiani is free from all the ties that are created by Maya. He is not affected by anything that happens around Him. He is above all worldly ties, Bandhans, wether these are family ties, social ties, or other relations, cast and creed, dharam and karam. In summary, nothing can come between Him and the Creator.
He always stays in complete stability of soul and mind and nothing can distract Him. All of His actions and reactions, deeds, and His lifestyle are pure and pious. All of his deeds are truthful. He is always serving the truth. The food for His soul and mind is the divine knowledge. He is always engaged in distributing this divine knowledge, Brahmgian, that keeps on continuously flowing into Him from the Almighty. Basically, there is a direct connection of all His five senses at all the times with the Akal Purakh.
Whatever he speaks is absolute Truth and are the words of Almighty Himself. By virtue of this divinely blessed quality, He is always one on one with Paar Braham Parmesar. His soul and mind are always connected to the Creator.
brahmgiani ayk oopar aas.
brahmgiani kaa nahee binaas.
brahmgiani kai gareebee samaahaa.
brahmgiani par-upkaar omaahaa.
brahmgiani kai naahee DhanDhaa.
brahmgiani lay Dhaavat banDhaa.
brahmgiani kai ho-ay so bhalaa.
brahmgiani sufal falaa.
brahmgiani sang sagal uDhaar.
naanak brahmgiani japai sagal sansaar. ||4||
The Brahmgiani is always one on one with God. God loves Him so much that He blesses Him to never be destroyed. The one who gets enlightened with Tatt Gyan can never be destroyed. No evil force can hurt or destroy such a soul. Brahmgiani has a completely humble hirda. His heart is always steeped in deep humility, Garibi Ves Hirda. Such divinely blessed qualities make Him think and do only good for others. He derives full enjoyment out of this. His job is to bring Sangat together, bring them closer and closer to Akal Purakh through His bhagti. His job is to move the Sangat on the path to salvation and achieve salvation. He does everything to help the Sangat and blesses them with salvation. This is the highest level of service to God and mankind on this Earth. That is what a Brahmgiani does.
His mind and soul are always in control and in complete obedience to the Almighty, Puran Hukam. He gets the highest level of happiness by obeying His orders. Nothing else can distract His mind. He is always of stable mind and soul. The Panj Doots all serve Him and can’t distract Him. They are under His control.
Through his divine actions and deeds of doing good for others, He makes His life sublime. Anybody who comes in contact with a Brahmgiani and becomes a part of His Sangat with trust and faith, love and devotion, achieves salvation. Akal Purakh is addressing Nanak and telling Him that with the blessings of such a Brahmgiani the entire world unites with Naam and meditation.
brahmgiani kai aykai rang.
brahmgiani kai basai parabh sang.
brahmgiani kai naam aaDhaar.
brahmgiani kai naam parvaar.
brahmgiani sadaa sad jaagat.
brahmgiani ahaN-buDh ti-aagat.
brahmgiani kai man parmaanand.
brahmgiani kai ghar sadaa anand.
brahmgiani sukh sahj nivaas.
naanak brahmgiani kaa nahee binaas. ||5||
The Brahmgiani is always absorbed in the Almighty. This means his soul and mind are always saturated with Atam Rus and God is always within Him. God Himself and a Brahmgiani are one and the same. This has been further clarified in the following Shaloks of Sukhmani. Naam is everything for a Brahmgiani. That is His foundation. His personality and character are built on the Naam Santa, and Naam means God Himself. All of His Sangat is Naam Pariah, meaning His real congregation. Those people who are united with Naam are His real family. His soul and mind are always awake, meaning He is always in Truth and is always serving the Truth. All of his actions and deeds are to serve the Truth. He is always engaged in the service of Satnaam, of Paar Braham Parmeshwar.
Since, the Brahmgiani is always connected to the Creator, there is nothing left of his own wisdom. All the wisdom that comes to him is divine wisdom, Brahmgian. All His deeds are based on this divine wisdom. This happens because He kills His ego, Haumai amd Ahankaar. Hence, he always operates and stays in complete humbleness.
Due to such divine qualities the Brahmgiani is always in the highest state of enjoyment and happiness. The Brahmgiani has complete silence in His mind and soul. The Brahmgiani is always stable and nothing can distract Him from serving the Truth. Nothing can distract His soul and mind. No evil thoughts can even come near Him. There is nothing that can harm Him or destroy Him.
brahmgiani barahm kaa baytaa.
brahmgiani ayk sang haytaa.
brahmgiani kai ho-ay achint.
brahmgiani kaa nirmal mant.
brahmgiani jis karai parabh aap.
brahmgiani kaa bad partaap.
brahmgiani kaa daras badbhaagee paa-ee-ai.
brahmgiani ka-o bal bal jaa-ee-ai.
brahmgiani ka-o khojeh mahaysur.
naanak brahmgiani aap parmaysur. ||6||
The Brahmgiani knows the Almighty. He has discovered God. He has learned about Paar Braham Parmeshwar. By virtue of this and other spiritual and divine qualities and spiritual powers that have been blessed by the Creator to him, he becomes a representative of God. His unlimited love for God takes Him to a high spiritual condition. He is always carefree, meaning He doesn’t think about the past or future. He lives in the present, acts in the present and always does so under Hukam of Akal Purakh.
All his deeds in the present are truthful and for serving the Truth. All His words and advice are always very pious and pure and spiritually of a very high value. His words are Amrit Vachans. He holds a very high position in the spiritual universe and Dargah. Only that soul becomes a Brahmgiani which has been blessed by Akal Purakh Himself. Those people are very fortunate who get to meet such a Brahmgiani. Only very fortunate people get the chance to be blessed to be the Sangat of such an enlightened soul. So they should always be very very thankful to the Almighty for getting such a golden opportunity. Even the Devtas like Shiv Ji look for the Sangat of such a Brahmgiani. The Almighty is telling Nanak that such an enlightened soul is a living God Himself on the face of this earth. This means that He has all the spiritual powers of Akal Purakh Himself.
brahmgiani kee keemat naahi.
brahmgiani kai sagal man maahi.
brahmgiani kaa ka-un jaanai bhayd.
brahmgiani ka-o sadaa adays.
brahmgiani kaa kathi-aa na jaa-ay aDhaakh-yar.
brahmgiani sarab kaa thaakur.
brahmgiani kee mit ka-un bakhaanai.
brahmgiani kee gat brahmgiani jaanai.
brahmgiani kaa ant na paar.
naanak brahmgiani ka-o sadaa namaskaar. ||7||
The Brahmgiani is blessed with all the divine qualities of Akal Purakh, such as Akal Purakh has no boundaries and limits. His divine qualities can’t be evaluated or estimated by any person, therefore, it is of prime importance to understand that we should all bow before such an enlightened soul. The Brahmgiani’s Mahima, divine qualities, are so many, like Almighty Himself, that no matter what we say in His praise, we can’t describe His divine qualities. The Brahmgiani is like the Creator Himself. The Brahmgiani is also a God for all. Nobody can estimate and describe the spiritual powers of a Brahmgiani. Only a Brahmgiani can describe another Brahmgiani. Otherwise, there is no-one that can describe His divine qualities and spiritual powers. Therefore, we should always offer our Namaskaar & Dandaut Bandhna when greeting such an enlightened soul who is one with God Himself.
brahmgiani sabh sarisat kaa kartaa.
brahmgiani sad jeevai nahee martaa.
brahmgiani mukat jugat jee-a kaa daataa.
brahmgiani pooran purakh biDhaataa.
brahmgiani anaath kaa naath.
brahmgiani kaa sabh oopar haath.
brahmgiani kaa sagal akaar.
brahmgiani aap nirankaar.
brahmgiani kee sobhaa brahmgiani banee.
naanak brahmgiani sarab kaa Dhanee. ||8||8||
The Brahmgiani Himself is the creator of this universe and runs the universe, and who can run the universe? Only Akal Purakh. The Brahmgiani is above the cycle of life and death. He is always alive and existent. He is the Truth. He is the one who can show the path to salvation and the giver of the highest spiritual condition. This means that a Brahmgiani has the capability to institute a person in highest spiritual condition – Sach Khand. Only God can do this so that means the Brahmgiani is Himself the Almighty.
Brahmgiani is the father of all of the orphans. We are all orphans. The ones who are not Suhagans are considered to be orphans. Everything that we see is owned and operated by the Brahmgiani. HE HIMSELF IS LIKE GOD. Only a Brahmgiani can know a Brahmgiani’s divinity and spirituality, His actions, reactions and deeds, because he is the owner of the entire universe.