THE JEWEL OF HAPPINESS

                        The Sukhmani of Guru Arjan


                              a commentary by

                                AJAIB SINGH

                        
                                 Chapter 12

                        THE ORNAMENT OF THE SAINTS


            He who is humble and removes his self, lives happily.
            Nanak says, Great proud ones are consumed by their pride.

Once a Seeker came to Guru Arjan Dev asking for Initiation, and the
Master told him, "I will give you Initiation, but first you will have
to do something. I have written a letter to one of my disciples; take
it to him and bring back the reply." That dear one obeyed the Master
and took the letter to the disciple. Now that disciple was very devoted
to Guru Arjan Dev, and he was very poor. The Master was testing him,
and he had told that seeker, "Give him this letter only if he gives you
one hundred rupees. Otherwise, you should not give it to him."

    So then the dear one came to the disciple of Guru Arjan Dev
and told him that he had brought him a message from the Master but he
would get that message only if he gave one hundred rupees. He had
no money in his home. But he sold all his ornaments and whatever
possessions he had, and somehow he collected one hundred rupees. So he
gave the one hundred rupees, and he got the message from Guru Arjan Dev;
but when he opened that letter and read it, he found that Guru Arjan had
ordered him to send five hundred rupees for the langar! Before reading
that, it had been very difficult for him to collect one hundred rupees;
and now, when he received that message, not only didn't he have any
money, he didn't have any belongings left to sell! So he said, "It's
all right. I will obey my Master." He didn't get upset at the Master
because he had so much faith and devotion for Him. So he told that
messenger, that dear one who had gone to Guru Arjan Dev for Initiation,
"You wait here; I am going out and I will earn this much money and
bring that to you. Please wait for me for some time."

    So that dear one who had been sent by Guru Arjan Dev waited for
that disciple of Guru Arjan Dev. When that disciple went out to search
for a job so that he could earn five hundred rupees, he heard an
announcement in which it was said that anyone who would fight with the
wrestler Muskinya would be rewarded one thousand rupees if he could
beat him. But even if he was defeated by Muskinya, he would still get
five hundred rupees. Now Muskinya the wrestler was very strong and
very popular and nobody had enough strength to fight with him, because
they knew they would be killed if they did.

    But this disciple of Guru Arjan Dev, because he had so much faith
and love for the Master, and he wanted to get that money for Him,
thought, "No matter if I have to die; still I will go and fight with
Muskinya the wrestler, because anyway I will get five hundred rupees
and I will give that for the langar." So he didn't worry about his life
or his body, and he thought only of fighting with Muskinya the wrestler.
On the way to Muskinya's place he went to a well, where many people were
gathered and they were all waiting to drink water. Because this dear
one was so excited and he wanted to go to Muskinya and fight with him
as soon as possible to get that money, he told the other people, "Please,
let me drink water first because I am in a hurry."

    Muskinya the wrestler was also present by that well, but this
disciple of Guru Arjan Dev didn't know that because he had never seen
him before. So Muskinya asked him, "Why do you want to drink water so
soon? Where are you going?" So he said, "I am an initiate of Guru
Arjan Dev and he has sent me the order that I should send him five
hundred rupees for the langar very soon, and since I don't have any
money I am going to that town where Muskinya lives and I'm going to
fight him. No matter if he kills me, still I will fight him because I
want five hundred rupees to give to my Master." So Muskinya heard that,
and he was so impressed by the faith and love that the disciple had
for Guru Arjan Dev that he told him, "You see, I am Muskinya, the
wrestler whom you are going to fight. You can see that you are not
strong enough for this, because you are just a skeleton and you won't
be able to conquer me. But, looking at your faith and devotion, I am
so impressed that I will pretend that you have defeated me, and in
that way you will get one thousand rupees from which you can send five
hundred rupees to your Master and five hundred you can keep for
yourself, But there is one condition," the wrestler said. "After you
defeat me, or after the show is over, you should take me to your Master,
because I also want to see that great Master for whom you are ready
to sacrifice your life."

    So when Muskinya and that disciple of Guru Arjan Dev started
wrestling in front of all the people, at that time kings and queens
and everyone was present there. In the first few rounds Muskinya was
winning, but after a few minutes Muskinya pretended that he was defeated
by the disciple of Guru Arjan Dev. And when people saw that Muskinya
was defeated, the dear one was given one thousand rupees.

    So after the show was over, Muskinya accompanied that disciple of
Guru Arjan Dev to Amritsar where the Master was living, and at that
time Guru Arjan was composing this particular hymn of Sukhmani Sahib.
So when He came to know about Muskinya, how much he had helped His
disciple, how much he had effaced his egoism and removed his pride, how
he had become the low and humble one, Guru Arjan Dev wrote his name in
this bani. He wrote, "Muskinya the wrestler effaced his egoism and thus
gets much respect from me. But those who are proud of their wealth will
have a hard time in the womb of the mother." So, those who give up
their egoism get much honor and respect in the court of God; whereas the
proud people, those who are proud of their worldly property, always have
a hard time in the womb of the mother. Sometimes they have to lose their
existence before time, and sometimes they have to suffer great hardships.
That's why Guru Arjan Dev Ji says, "Those who remove their egoism, they
get much honor; and those who are proud of worldly possessions have pain."

    The dear one who, with the Master's order, had brought that letter,
was very impressed with the faith and devotion of Guru Arjan Dev's
disciple; he got Initiation from Guru Arjan Dev, and so did Muskinya.

            He in whose heart lies the pride of kingdom
            Is a dog and goes to hell.

Now Guru Arjan Dev Ji is addressing Muskinya the wrestler, saying, "Those
who are proud of their kingdom, what happens to them? What prize do they
get if they are proud of the kingdom which they got from God?" He says
that they go into hell and they are even liable to become dogs.

            He who thinks, "I am beautiful,"
            Becomes the worm of dirt.

What does God give to those who are proud of their beauty, who are
proud of their youth? They become insects of dirt.

            He who calls himself "virtuous"
            Takes birth and dies again and again, wandering
              in many bodies.

After doing good deeds, those who become proud of them and those
who think that they have done these good deeds, what happens to them?
They are made to wander in many different bodies.

            He who is proud of his wealth and land,
            Is an idiot, blind and ignorant.

Now Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj says that those who are proud of much
wealth, those who are proud of possessing a lot of property, are blind
fools.

            Showering His grace within him in whose heart
              He causes humility to reside,
            Nanak says, He is liberated here and gets happiness
              in the beyond.

If anyone has a kingdom, he has gotten that only by the grace of God;
God has given him that. If anyone has good health, that also is from
God; God has given him that. If we become proud of the things which
are given to us by God, we will find no place in this world, and in the
world beyond we will find no honor. Those who recognize that kingdoms
and good health, and all other bounties, are of God - because God has
given them to us - those who always remember that whatever they have
is from God, those who have developed humility within themselves, and,
living in this world and enjoying all the things of the world which are
given by God, remember God and do His devotion - Guru Arjan Dev Ji says
that they are liberated while living; because those who remember that
all the things they have are of God have no bondage or attachment in
this world and they are the truly liberated ones.

    Even after achieving God, becoming the form of God, and becoming One
with God, Saints and Mahatmas always understand Themselves as lowly ones;
They always call Themselves the servants of the sangat, the sweepers of
the sangat, because they have so much humility in them. Guru Nanak Sahib
said, "Poor Nanak is the lowly one who has come to Your door, and this is
Your greatness - that You should unite me with God." Humility is the
ornament of the Saints.

    Hazur Maharaj Ji used to say that you should come to God carrying
humility, because He is the All-Owner, and He doesn't need to become
humble before anyone - He has everything except humility. That is why
He loves those who are humble in their heart.

            He who becoming wealthy is proud of his riches,
              should know:
            Not even so much as a straw will go with him.

Those who are proud of the wealth which is given by God should think
about death. Not even one straw or needle will go with us when we
leave the body.

    King Karu had collected a lot of wealth. In those days all the 
money which his people had, all that money was taken away by the people 
of King Karu, and he didn't leave even a single penny for the people of
his kingdom. It is said that he wanted to make sure that nobody else
except him had any money. So he sent out an elephant with his men, and
announced that anyone could buy that elephant for a penny. There was
a young boy who wanted to buy that elephant, but he didn't have any
money. He asked his mother to give him a penny. But she replied, "The
king hasn't left us a single penny; how can I give you anything?" But
that boy wanted very much to buy the elephant. So his mother finally
told him, "Go and dig up the grave of your father." In those days when
the Muslim people left the body and were buried, one silver rupee was
put in their mouth first. So that boy's mother told him to go and take
out the silver coin from the mouth of the dead body of his father.

    So that boy went to the graveyard, found the rupee, and bought the
elephant. When Karu came to know that there was someone who had
one rupee, he called him before him and asked him where he got that
money from, because he thought he had plundered it all. And when
he came to know where he had found that rupee, he ordered his people
to dig up all the graveyards and take out the silver coins from the
mouths of the corpses. The King was not satisfied with the wealth he had;
he wanted to collect every single penny on this earth. And he collected
forty billion.

    In those days Guru Nanak Sahib was living on this earthly plane,
and when He came to know about King Karu, how much trouble he was
giving to his people and how he was collecting the wealth, Guru Nanak
came to his palace. And when King Karu came to know about the fame of
Guru Nanak, he came to have His darshan and asked Him if he could do
any seva. So Guru Nanak gave him a needle and told him to keep it until
the next life, telling him, "I will come and take this from you in your
next life."

    Karu didn't have any knowledge. He didn't know that not even the
body would go with him when he left. So he at once accepted that needle
from Guru Nanak. But the king's wife was very intelligent. She told him,
"You are not even sure that you will take your body with you when you
leave. Then how can you be sure that you can give this needle back to
the Saint in your next lifetime? You should think this over; because up
until now, I have seen that those who leave their bodies, and go away
from this world, they leave even their bodies in this world - they don't
take anything with them."

    King Karu realized the truth of it and he told Guru Nanak that he
could not do that seva; he should be given some other seva. Guru Nanak
asked him, "Why don't you want to do this seva?" Karu replied, "Because
not even my body will be going with me when I leave this world, so how
can I carry your needle and give it back to you in my next life?" Guru
Nanak Sahib asked him, "Are you sure that nothing will go with you?"
Karu replied, "Yes, I am sure." So Guru Nanak Sahib asked him, "Since you
are sure that nothing will go with you, why have you collected so much
wealth and why are you troubling your people? You should share all the
wealth you have with the people; you should give it all to the poor and
needy." So Karu gave out all his wealth and gave back everything he had
collected from the people.

    So that is why Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj says, "Why are you proud
of this wealth which you have collected, when not even a single penny,
not even one needle, will go with you when you leave this world?" That
is why you should not be proud of the wealth you have collected; truly
speaking, whatever wealth or property you have, that is all given by
God. So why should you be proud of such things which are given by God?

            He who relies on his large army and many men,
            Will be destroyed in a moment.

Now He says that a man may become the owner of many armies, and
he may rely on those armies to protect him. But Guru Arjan Dev says
that the experience of the Master is that the time comes when such a
mighty man who owns armies turns to ashes in a minute when the Negative
Power comes and takes him over from within.

            He who thinks of himself as the strongest of all
            Will become ashes in a moment.

One who considers himself the most mighty one, if it comes in the Will
of God, in just one minute that mighty man becomes a heap of ashes.

            The proud one who doesn't care for anyone -
            Dharam Rai troubles him a lot.            

Those who don't care about others, those who think, "Who is like me?
I can smash the world"-they are troubled by the Lord of Judgment
who sends them into many different bodies and makes them suffer a lot.

    Kabir Sahib says that this body is just like a piece of paper: if
water is dropped on paper it will lose its existence. And Kabir says
that without Naam and the Master, we will repent in the end.

            He whose pride is finished by the grace of the Master,
            Is accepted in God's court - Nanak says so.

Now Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj says that those on whom Masters are
gracious, who meditate on Naam and who live in this world but are not
affected by its dirt, only such souls are accepted in the Court of God.

    Masters do not tell us to leave our daughters and sons; they don't
tell us to throw away what property and wealth we have; they don't
even tell us to give up the honor and respect we have in this world.
But they do tell us: "Whatever you have been given by God, you should
be grateful for that; you should think that all the things which you
have received are of God, and you should be grateful to Him. And,
recognizing that these things are of God, you should use them and never
let egoism come in your mind."

    Hazur Maharaj Ji used to say that the world and the worldly things
are not bad, but you should not understand them as your own.

            He who performs millions of religious deeds
              and is proud of it,
            Does only hard work bearing no fruit.

No matter if a man performs austerities and does recitation, and no
matter how much worship and reading of the holy scriptures he does,
no matter how many good deeds he does - if after doing all these things
he is proud of what he has done, he gets nothing except embarrassment
in the end. Master Sawan Singh Ji used to say that if after doing many
good deeds one becomes proud of them, it is just like making a good meal
and then spreading ashes on it. That is why Master Sawan Singh Ji used
to say, "When you are doing good deeds with your right hand, you should
do it in such a way that not even your left hand should know that you
have done it. Guru Nanak says, "If one becomes proud after donating a
lot, after going on many pilgrimages and after doing many good deeds,
all the fruit which he has earned by doing all this will be gone." It
is just like the bathing of an elephant. The elephant goes and bathes;
then he covers himself with sand and dirt. In the same way, if one
becomes proud of the good deeds he has done, all the fruits of those
deeds are gone astray.

            He who is proud of his many austerities
            Will be incarnated in hells and heavens again and again.

If one is proud of the meditation he is doing and of the austerities
which he has performed, what happens to him? He continually wanders back
and forth from hell.

    There is a very famous story in Rajasthan which tells of four 
sadhus who came to an old woman's house to ask for some food. Even thirty
or fifty years back this land was not very fertile because there was not
much water here; but now, since the government canal has come, people
can grow a lot of food and they are prosperous. But in the old days
when there was not much water here, people did not have much food to eat,
and it was a rare thing to find good food in some houses.

    So when the four sadhus came to the old woman's house they were very
hungry. So the old woman, because she was a very good woman, prepared
food for them and served them, and they became very happy and were very
pleased. Those sadhus were able to go to Heaven, so they told that old
woman, "Sit on the bed, close your eyes and we will take you to Heaven."
So the old woman sat on the bed and closed her eyes, and after some time
she was in Heaven, with her bed. She was sitting on the bed and had been
brought to Heaven by those four sadhus.

    So when the souls who were already present in Heaven saw that 
this old woman had been brought there by those four sadhus, they said 
to her, "You must have done some very good karma for these four sadhus
to have brought you here; because it is a rare thing to reach Heaven."
But that old woman wasn't grateful to the sadhus for carrying her there;
instead she became proud of the good deeds she had done, and said,
"They have not brought me here out of any grace or any pity. I gave
them each four chapattis to eat, that's why they have brought me here!"
When she became proud of the good deed she had done, those four sadhus
started losing the strength they had and they were not able to carry
that bed; so they told the old woman, "Close your eyes." And when she
closed her eyes she was brought back from Heaven to earth.

    So the meaning of this story is that if we become proud of the 
good deeds we are doing, then even if we get to Heaven by doing good
deeds, that pride, that egoism, can bring us back to earth.

            If the within is softened by making many efforts,
            How can one go to the court of God?

No matter how many practices we do, no matter how many efforts we make
for realizing God, if we are not devoting our time in the meditation
of Shabd Naam, we can never get to God and we can never realize Him,
no matter how many other practices we do.

            He who calls himself virtuous,
            Goodness shall not even come near him.

Now Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj talks about those people who all day
long waste their time in proving themselves the good ones and the true
ones, and who are always criticizing and blaming others and trying to
prove that the other people are bad. Guru Arjan Dev says that those
who are involved in criticism of others and who are trying to prove
themselves true, goodness is millions of miles away from them. They
cannot be called good people, because whatever good qualities they have
are all transferred into the accounts of those whom they are criticizing
and blaming.

    Masters have so much humility in them that they call themselves
sinners even after attaining Sach Khand. Farid Sahib says, "Black are my
clothes, and black are my deeds. I am fallen in illusion, but people call
me the messenger of God."

            He whose mind is the dust of the feet of all,
            Nanak says, He obtains the real glory and fame.

Those who are humble in the company of the Master, who surrender
themselves completely to the Master and who understand that all that
they have is from the Master, only they get real fame, only they are
truly glorified, only they are the real bani of the Master.

            As long as man thinks, "I can do something,"
            He has no happiness.

So long as one thinks that he is the doer, he is millions of miles away
from happiness. A man cannot find peace after getting worldly riches,
kingdoms, worldly property. Peace is in Naam, and resides in the
union with God.

            As long as he thinks, "I do something,"
            He wanders in wombs and bodies.

So long as one is intoxicated by the thought that whatever respect and
honor he has got, he has earned that, and whatever wealth he has, that
is all created by him - so long as he is intoxicated by egoism or I-hood -
he wanders here and there in different bodies and in the wombs of
mothers.

            So long as he thinks any person his enemy or friend,
            He does not have a pure, stable mind.

So long as one thinks that one is an "enemy" and another is a "friend,"
so long as one is involved in duality like this, he can never become pure
or holy. All the souls who have come into this world are of God; soul
is the essence of God. Masters have equal respect and love for men
and women, for rich and poor; and for all the castes and creeds they
have equal respect-because they love the souls, understanding them
as souls, and not as rich or poor or low or high caste.

    We call people "good" or "bad" as long as we are away from God.
When we become one with God we do not call people "good" or "bad"
because we see that God is residing everywhere and God is within
everybody, and therefore if we call anyone "bad," it means that we are
calling God "bad" and not that person.

            As long as he is intoxicated by maya and attachment,
            He gets punishment from the Lord of Judgment.

As long as he is involved in maya, as long as he is absorbed in the
attachments of the world, what happens to him? The Lord of Judgment
punishes him.

            With the grace of God the attachments get broken;
            Nanak says, By the grace of the Master the egoism
              is removed.

Now Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj says that those whom God wants to forgive,
and those on whom God wants to shower His grace, He brings them into
the company of the Master. And when we come in contact with the Master,
Master gives us the Initiation into Naam. And when we do the meditation
of Shabd Naam, even though we live in this world we become free from
the attachments of this world; we become free from the bonds of the maya
of the material world, and egoism also goes away from within us. The veil
of egoism is the only veil between us and God, so when we come into the
company of the Master, get the Initiation from Him, and do the
meditation of Shabd Naam, and when that veil of egoism is lifted, we
become one with God.

            If a man earns thousands, he runs after lakhs,
            He is never satisfied and keeps running after Maya.

If a man collects a thousand rupees, the desire for acquiring a lakh
or a hundred thousand rupees arises within him; and if he somehow
collects a hundred thousand rupees, the desire for more comes to him.

            He enjoys many evil pleasures,
            But gets no satisfaction, and dies by working hard.

For peace of mind man collects different materials for enjoying the
pleasures of the world, but there is no peace in the pleasures of the
world and there is no satisfaction in the materials of the world. So in
the end, after enjoying the materials and pleasures of the world, man
finishes his existence in the material.

            No one can be satisfied without contentment,
            All his works are useless like dreams.

Once in the court of King Bhoj, a man came to ask one question: "What
is that well from which, if a man goes into it, he cannot come out?"
King Bhoj was a great scholar of Sanskrit literature and language, and
he had many good scholars in his court, so he asked everybody the answer.
But the answers he got were not satisfactory. There was one pundit in
his court who was a great scholar and who was honored many times by
King Bhoj for his answers and judgments. So King Bhoj asked him the
question, but he told him, "I am giving you one week's time, and you
have to give me a satisfactory answer; if you don't, whatever honors
you have received in this court will be taken back and you will be
thrown out - you will not remain in the service of the king anymore."

    That scholar became very worried, and he went into the forest to
search for the answer to that question. He was wandering here and there
in the forest, worried because he couldn't find the answer, when he met
a shepherd who was an initiate of a Perfect Master. The shepherd saw
that this scholar from the king's court was very worried and unhappy,
and he asked him, "Pundit Ji, why are you unhappy? You look very
worried." So the pundit told him that he was searching for the answer
to a question which had been asked by a man in the king's court. The
shepherd said, "Maybe I can help you. But let me tell you something:
I have a philosopher's stone, and if I give it to you, you can turn any
piece of iron into gold, and in that way you can change all the iron
in this world into gold, and you will become very rich. So why do you
need to be in the service of the king? But -if you want to get that
philosopher's stone you will have to obey me; whatever I tell you, you
have to do it." The pundit said, "All right, whatever you tell me I will
do, but please give me that philosopher's stone." So the shepherd said,
"All right, I'll give you this philosopher's stone; but you have to
understand me as your Master."

    Now the pundit thought, "He is just a shepherd and I am a great
pundit. It is not good for me to take someone who is lower than me
as my Master." So he said, "No, I can't do that." But then he
remembered that he had to get that philosopher's stone, so he said, "All
right," and thought that he would repent later, according to the Hindu
religion, for taking a low-caste man as his Master. So just for his greed,
he belittled himself in order to become the disciple of that shepherd.

    But the shepherd said, "No. You should have said 'Yes' as soon as
I told you; now the time is gone. But I will still give you the
philosopher's stone, if you drink the milk of a sheep."

    Now that pundit thought that drinking the milk of a sheep is not
good according to the Hindu religion. Because he was a great pundit
he said, "No. That is against my religion." So then the shepherd said,
"Okay, whatever you want." Then the pundit remembered that to get the
philosopher's stone he had to do anything the shepherd asked; "Yes,
I'm ready to drink the milk of a sheep."

    But the shepherd replied, "No, the time is gone. Now, if you want
to get the philosopher's stone, you will have to drink the milk of a
sheep from the same cup in which I drink the sheep's milk." The shepherd
was of low-caste and the pundit was high-caste, and again he said, "No,
I don't want to do that; it will be a sinful thing." But then he at once
remembered that he had to get the philosopher's stone at any cost, so
he said, "All right, I'm ready." But the shepherd said, "No. Again the
time has gone. Now, if you want to get the philosopher's stone, you
will have to drink the sheep's milk from my cup, except first my dog
will drink milk from that cup. If you are ready to drink contaminated
milk, you will get the philosopher's stone."

    Now that pundit felt very strange, and he thought, "What is this
man doing? He wants me to drink the milk from his cup after a dog has
drunk from it?" He said, "No, that's too much. I can't do that." But
at once he remembered that he had to get the philosopher's stone, so
he should do whatever the shepherd said. So he said, "Okay, I'm ready."

    But the shepherd said, "No. Again your opportunity has gone. If
you want to get the philosopher's stone now, you will have to drink
the milk from my cup after the dog has drunk from it; and then I will
put some dirt in the milk, and then I will pour that milk into the skull
of a human being, and you will have to drink from that skull."

    By now that pundit had learned the lesson. He wanted to get the
philosopher's stone, so he said, "All right, whatever you say I will do
it." So then the shepherd fixed the milk and heated it all, and gave it to
the pundit to drink, but when he was just about to drink it, the shepherd
said, "Wait. Listen to what I say. This is the well. Desire is the well
from which a man can never come out. If a man jumps into the well of
desire, he can never come out of it. You see? Just to get the
philosopher's stone, just to turn iron into gold, just to become wealthy,
how much you are ready to sacrifice! It is only because you desired to
get it. Desire is that well from which a man cannot come out, once he
has jumped in."

    Guru Nanak says, "Never rely on the greedy man. Even at his final
hour he will go to any place from where he might get wealth."

    Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj says that without contentment, nobody
can get satisfaction. And one who is contented may not have anything,
but still he is satisfied. Master Sawan Singh Ji also used to say, "One
who doesn't want anything, he is the true emperor."

            All comforts and happiness come by the color of Naam;
            But all these are obtained by rare fortunate ones.

If there is any peace, it is in Naam; if there is any satisfaction, that
also is in Naam. Only they get this peace and satisfaction within whom
the Naam is manifested; and only they get Naam on whom God has
showered grace and on whom Master is gracious.

            God Himself is the doer and gets things done;
            Nanak says, Ever and ever repeat His Naam.

God Himself does everything. He Himself plans for all the souls. He
knows which souls are ready for liberation and which souls must come
in His contact. That is why we should always devote ourselves in the
meditation of that God, and why we should always worship Him. Whatever
is happening is happening in the Will of God, because everything is
in His Will, and He Himself has kept all things in His hands.

            The Creator is the Doer and accomplishes all things;
            There is nothing in the hands of man.

This is the bani Of that Master Whose inner eye was opened, and that
is why He says, "Man has nothing in his hands. God does everything.
He is the Perfect Doer." He Himself is doing all things, and there is
nothing which a man can do.

            Man becomes such as God casts His sight upon him.
            God Himself is everything.

When the Perfect God casts His Gracious Eyes on anyone, according
to His Grace, that person begins to do good or bad things. When God
inspires men from within themselves for His devotion, they are inspired
from within and they come to the Path of Naam and start meditating
on Naam. Whereas those who are not inspired by God - on whom God
has not cast His Gracious Eyes -they do not come to the Path of
Devotion.

            Whatever He has done is according to His own wish.
            He is far from all, yet He is with all.

Whatever has happened has all happened in the Will of God; God Himself
has done everything. He resides very near to the gurumukhs; in fact,
He lives within the gurumukhs. Whereas for the manmukhs, God is far
away, because the manmukhs never believe that God lives within them;
they don't know where God resides. That is why God resides far away
from them.

            He Himself understands, sees and discriminates;
            He Himself is One, yet He is many.

God Himself decides which soul is ready to be brought to Sach Khand;
He resides within everybody in the form of the Shabd, and He Himself
comes in the form of the Master and makes the soul understand about
Him.

            He neither dies, perishes nor comes and goes;
            Nanak says, He is ever absorbed in the creation.

God is never born, He never dies, He never perishes, He never comes,
He never goes. He always remains present in everybody. In this creation,
there are only two Powers Which are always present and are never
destroyed - one is God and the other is Satguru. When Satguru comes
in this world, He comes for the benefit of other people, and He is above
birth and death. Guru Arjan Dev Ji says that Masters come into this
world for the benefit of other people. Giving the donation of Their
own life, They make the souls unite with God.

            He Himself instructs, He Himself understands,
            He Himself is blended with all.

Now he says that God Himself comes as the Master and preaches the
Path, and He Himself becomes the disciple and understands that Path.
It means that cotton is in the thread as well as in the piece of cloth.
Everywhere there is cotton. God comes as the Master and teaches the
Path, and He Himself comes as the disciples and understands the Path.
The only difference is that we can do the devotion of God through the
Master; but truly speaking, it is God Who is functioning at every place.

            He Himself created, He Himself expanded His creation;
            Everything is His, He is the creator.

No one advised God that He should create sixteen powers; no one advised
Him to create the Negative Power and tell the Negative Power to create
this Creation; no one advised Him that He should inspire the Negative
Power to do His devotion so that He might give the boon to the Negative
Power to create this world. Whatever has happened, it has all happened
in the Will of God, and God Himself has done all the expanse of this
creation without anyone's counsel or advice.

            Tell me, can there be anything other than Him?
            The One God is present at every place.

There is no power other than God which is functioning in this world.
Death comes in His Will, in His orders, and a person gets birth in His
orders. He is functioning in the crow, He is functioning in the man;
in the people living in India, He is working, and for the people in
America or Africa or other places, the same God is working.

            He Himself is the player of His own dramas;
            He exhibits limitless kinds of dramas.

God Himself plays all the dramas which He has created; He Himself
performs all the actions which He is doing, and there is no one who
can give advice to God. Kabir Sahib says that no one can know the
secret of God. Only the Saint Who has become the slave of God knows
His secret. Kabir Sahib says that the people of this world can never
know the secret of God, how God is arranging for all this. Only the
Master Saints, Those Who have become one with God, can know. But
the thing is, when the Saints become One with God, there is no
difference between Them and God. That's why it is said that no one can
know the secret of God.

    Kabir Sahib says, "A piece of salt went into the ocean to find out
the place of its origin, but when she was dissolved in the ocean, she
couldn't come back and tell people her origin."

            He is in mind and the mind is in Him.
            Nanak says, His value cannot be measured.

Now Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj says: It is God within you by Whose
presence you are glorified and people love you and care about you -
and as soon as that God goes away from your body nobody pays any
attention to it, and the same people who used to love you, start hating
you just a moment after God has left. Once God has withdrawn from the
body, the bad smell starts coming from it and our dear ones don't
recognize any connection with it. So that's why Guru Sahib says that
you should thank and be very grateful to God by Whose Presence you
are glorified and cared about.

    When God withdraws Himself from our body, our eyes and other
parts of the body are still present there, but our eyes, hands, etc.,
stop functioning. The condition of our body becomes like an engine which
has all its parts but doesn't have any current or fuel to make it work.

            True - True - True is the Lord -
            By the grace of Master rare ones can describe this.

The Guru says that God is true - He never perishes(*). But only the rare
ones, rare gurumukhs who have the grace of their Master and who have
realized God, can know this secret. And only those rare, great
personalities came and told us that there is one Power Which exists in
this world always, Which never perishes, and is never destroyed. And that
is God.

            Truth - Truth - Truth; all He has created -
            Some rare person out of millions recognizes this.

God is always present - He is never destroyed. He is above birth and
death. But rare are the Mahatmas who come into contact with God,
and rare are those who become one with God. Kabir Sahib says that
lions are not found in groups; nor are swans. As you cannot find bags
full of gems, in the same way you cannot find groups of saints.

(*Sat means both "true" and "that which exists.")

            Bhalla - Bhalla - Bhalla is Your form:
            Exquisitely beautiful, limitless glory.

The Master of Guru Arjan Dev, Guru Ramdas, belonged to the Bhalla
family, and bhalla also means "beautiful" or "noble"; and that is why
Guru Arjan says, "The form of God has come to the Bhalla family
and He is the most beautiful One; there is nobody more beautiful than
He." The dear one always considers his Master the most beautiful; to
him nobody looks more beautiful than his Master.

    Swami Ji Maharaj has written about his Master: "If anyone sees the
form of my Master, he will even forget the beauty of the fairies." No
doubt the fairies are very beautiful; but if anyone sees the form of the
Master he will forget them.

            Pure - Pure - Pure is Your Bani,
            Which purifies those who hear it within.

Now the Master is singing the praise of God. He says, O God, You
are pure, sacred, holy; and Your bani which is coming from Sach Khand
is also pure, sacred and holy. And those who hear that bani Which
is coming from Sach Khand, they also become pure and holy.

            Holy - Holy - Holy - Most Holy One!
            Nanak says, Those who have love in their mind
              meditate on Naam.

God is holy. If we call anything "Holy" three times, it is because it
is most holy. So here he says that only the most holy one can do the
meditation on Naam, and only those who are pure in heart can come to
the devotion of God and do meditation.

    When we do meditation on Naam we are not doing a favor to anybody;
we are doing that for our own sake. That is why we should never become
lazy in doing the meditation; we should never feel that it is a burden
to do meditation. In order to do meditation on Naam. and the devotion
of God, we must have love for God and love for Master. When we have that
love, we will definitely get up in the morning for doing meditation;
because if we love the Master, we will do anything to please Him. We
will become pure because we know that God is pure and our Master is pure,
and we know that if we refuse to meditate on Naam or do any bad thing,
and become impure, our Master will become displeased with us. So, if we

have love for the Master within us, only then will we be afraid of Him,
and only then will we be able to do the devotion of God.

    Masters say that, moment after moment, one should remember God
within himself, and keeping quiet within himself, he should remain in
the remembrance of God, because, except for the remembrance of Master,
every other thing is false.

    "The Master has embraced me, and there is no distance between me
and the Master. After mixing with the sugar, I have also become sugar.
There is no difference between me and my Master."

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