THE JEWEL OF HAPPINESS
The Sukhmani of Guru Arjan
a commentary by
AJAIB SINGH
Chapter 14
ON THE WILL OF GOD
O good people, give up cleverness and remember God,
the True King.
Keep only one hope in your heart. Nanak says:
All the pains and illusions will go away.
Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj says, "O good people! Rely on God and
do the devotion of God." Because if we do devotion of God, the pain
of birth and death will go away and real peace will be manifested within
us. And with that real peace will come the radiance of God.
Understand that reliance on man is useless.
God alone is the Giver.
Man is in illusion, and because of that he is relying on relatives and
friends and seeks support from other men. But he doesn't realize that
God is the only Giver, and relying on others is useless.
By Whose gifts we remain content and don't feel
thirsty again.
To whomever God gives the wealth of Naam, he becomes satisfied,
and after that he has no desire for the world. Where the Naam is
manifested, non-desire of the world comes, because when God gives
the wealth of Naam the person to whom He gives it becomes satisfied.
Master Sawan Singh Ji used to say that the desires of man keep him
a pauper, but when the Naam is manifested he doesn't remain a pauper
because he no longer has any desire. Those who are desireless are
the real emperors.
The One God Himself causes death and saves;
Nothing is in the hands of man.
God is the One Who causes death, and He is the only One Who saves us.
To destroy or save is all in His hands. There is nothing in the hands
of man; everything is kept by God Himself. We think that we are the
ones who are nourishing ourselves and we are the ones who are taking
care of ourselves, but the Mahatmas whose inner eyes are opened know
that there is Somebody Else, Whom they call God, Who takes care of
them and Who nourishes them. They see clearly that they do not do
anything; it is all done by Him.
By understanding His Will happiness comes;
Keep His Naam strong within you.
The understanding of the Hukam or Will of God can bring real happiness
to man. If one understands that Will, then day and night, awake or
asleep, that Naam will reverberate within him, and he will get real peace.
Remember, remember, remember such a God;
Nanak says: No obstacle will come.
While sitting, while standing, whether asleep or awake, whether day
or night - one should go on doing Simran. Even when he is asleep, in
his dreams also he should do Simran. Those who develop the habit of
doing Simran in this way, all their pains and troubles vanish, nothing
comes in their way, and all their obstacles are removed.
Kabir Sahib says of those who do the Simran of God even while
sleeping - those who repeat the Simran in their dreams: "I am ready
to make shoes out of my skin for their feet."
Praise the Formless One in your heart;
O my mind, do true acts.
We should always sing the glory of God, because God has given many
good things for our benefit. What is left which He has not done for
us? He has done everything for us; He has given us this human birth
and He has made us the leader of the eighty-four lakhs species of
Creation. What else can He do for us? When He has done everything
for us, we should also become grateful to Him.
Drink the nectar with your pure tongue;
Always make your soul comfortable.
Simran is a broom for purifying our soul. You know when we sweep a
floor it becomes clean. In the same way, when we go on repeating
the Simran it purifies our soul. When our soul becomes pure and holy
it becomes one with God. So if we want to purify ourself and join with
God, it is very important to do Simran. Simran is the only means by
which we can unite with God.
See the colors of the Lord with your eyes.
In the company of Sadhus, the effect
of others' company vanishes.
With our own eyes we have to see God. When we go into the company
of the Saints, the effect of the bad company of the world goes away.
if we come near the fire, all our cold gradually goes away; in the
same way, in the world we are affected by bad company, but when we
come in the good company of the Master, that has a stronger effect.
Walk with your feet on the path of God;
By remembering God even for a moment,
the sins are erased.
If there is any medicine by which we can remove the sins, that is
the meditation on Shabd Naam. Guru Nanak Sahib says that Naam is the
only medicine for removing all disease.
With your hands do the deeds for the Lord,
with your ears hear the Story of God.
Nanak says: This way your forehead
will be brightened in the Court of the Lord.
With our hands we have to do the service of the Master and the Sangat;
with our ears we have to hear the Shabd which is coming from Sach Khand
and is reverberating within us. When we will listen day and night to
that Shabd, what will happen? Eventually our countenance will become
radiant and we will get honor in the Court of God.
They are the very fortunate ones in this world,
Who sing the praise of God always.
Who are the most fortunate ones? Who have good fate? Only those who
are doing the meditation of Shabd Naam. and who are going in the good
company of the Master and the sangat; they are the fortunate ones.
Tulsi Sahib says, "Even the sinners have wealth - daughters, sons,
and family. Tulsi says, The company of the Saints and the discourses
about God are very precious, and only the fortunate ones get the
opportunity to attend them."
Those who meditate on the Naam of the Lord
Are the true rich ones in the world.
All the material of this wealth is connected with our body, and when
our soul leaves the body it is all left behind in this world; not even
our body goes with us. That is why Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj says, "Who
are the truly rich ones? Only they who do the meditation of Shabd Naam."
Those who have worldly riches cannot be called truly rich, because when
they leave this world they go empty-handed. Kabir Sahib says, "O Kabir!
Only they are the poor ones who don't have Naam in their hearts."
They who speak the Naam of the Lord
with their mind and body;
Know them to be ever and ever happy.
Peace is in Naam. Only they are peaceful who have Naam. within them
and who have manifested that Naam. Their mind is at peace, and moreover,
their body is also at peace. They always remain in a state of
peacefulness in this world because they have manifested Naam within.
Sehjo Bai says that rich people are very unhappy, and the poor people
are also the form of unhappiness. Sehjo Bai says that only the Sadhus
or Master Saints are happy - those who have knowledge of the
Inaccessible Plane.
He who recognizes only one God
Comes to know about this world and that.
Those who recognize that One God, that unique God, have the knowledge
of this world as well as the world beyond. One foot is in this world,
and the other foot is in Sach Khand; if they want, they can go to Sach
Khand in a moment and come back into this world.
He whose mind is attached to the Naam
Realizes the Pure God, says Nanak.
Those who have contacted that Naam and manifested it within themselves,
they have realized God and have recognized God, because Naam is God
and God is Naam. Naam is the Power of God, and Naam Himself is God.
With the grace of the Master one comes to realize
his own Self.
Understand that his thirst is quenched.
We cannot achieve the Power of Naam. by ourselves, by our own efforts.
We can do it only by the grace of the Master. He says that if we get
any Perfect Master, and if He showers grace on us, only then can we
have the understanding and recognition of Naam.
In the company of Sadhus one sings the praise of God.
Such a beloved of God becomes free from all diseases.
Only after meeting some Sadh or Master can we sing the glory of God,
and only then can we do the meditation on Naam and realize It.
He who sings and hears the unceasing music
day and night,
Becomes liberated while living with his family.
Who becomes liberated, even while living the householders life? Only
he who is hearing the Sound Current day and night.
He who puts all his hopes in God alone,
His noose of death will be cut.
Those who have hope only in one Satguru, and who always remain
happy in the will of the Satguru whether happiness comes or pain,
whether they are rich or poor, to them not even the Angel of Death
will come. Master used to say that we should not become devoted to
one place and then change our devotion when we change our place.
When we have come in the Path of the Masters and become the disciple
of one Master, we should be very strong in our devotion to Him;
no matter what happens, whether happiness comes or pain, we should
remain strong and determined in our devotion to the same Master.
He who has the hunger for Par Brahm.
Will have no suffering, says Nanak.
Those who have the hunger, thirst and desire for realizing God, will
not have the fear of birth and death.
He who remembers the Lord in his mind and heart,
Is a true Saint and He never wavers.
We should always remain strong, no matter what happens. We should
always remain happy in the Will of God, whether happiness comes or
pain. Only those who do that can be called real disciples. It is
very difficult to do this. It is very easy to say it, but it is very
difficult to do it. When the storm comes, even strong trees get
uprooted. So in life, when ups and downs come, it is very difficult
for one to remain steady in his devotion. Only a Mahatma can do that.
When we are praised by a few people, we become very happy, and
God, Who is residing within us, sees that. Then if He puts us to the
test and makes some people criticize us, sometimes we even leave the
Path. But the Mahatmas know that the same God resides in the friend
and in the enemy. That is why they don't mind when they are criticized
or when they are praised - they always remain steady in their goal.
This is the way of the Saints.
He on whom God is gracious,
Of whom will such a disciple be afraid?
How can the one on whom God is gracious be afraid of the world?
He will never become afraid of the world, because he knows that God
is greater than the world. The world is a little thing in comparison
to God. That is why the one who has God as his protector will never be
afraid of anyone. He will always go on giving the message of God no
matter how many problems the worldly people put in front of him.
You know that Christ was not afraid of the world, because He had
realized God and He knew that God is greater than the world. Even
when He was crucified, happily He climbed the cross and He never
minded that. In the same way, Guru Arjan Dev, Whose writings we
are reading now, was made to sit on hot coals and hot sand was poured
on His head, and He was tortured to death in that way; but still He
didn't mind because He knew that God was on His side and He had
the protection of God. Those who have God's protection are never
afraid of the world.
God appears as He in fact is;
He Himself is within His creation.
God is seen in the Form as He is, and He is within everybody.
By thinking, thinking, thinking one succeeds;
With the grace of Master one realizes everything.
Now Guru Arjan Dev Ji says, "We have thought about this very clearly,
and we have considered all aspects of it, and we have gone through
this very thoroughly, and we have come to this conclusion: that we
cannot achieve anything except by the grace of the Master. Whatever
understanding we have achieved is all due to the grace of my Master,
Guru Ramdas."
When I see, I find Him the root cause of everything;
Nanak says: He Himself is in the subtle form,
He Himself is in the physical form.
In the waters God resides, and in the land also God resides: He resides
in all the creation He has made. Even in the creations which we cannot
see with our eyes - the astral planes, etc. - there also the same God is
residing.
No one takes birth, no one dies;
God Himself plays His drama.
The soul is never born, and the soul never dies. Soul just changes bodies
as we change our clothes. God has made this play in which the soul
changes the body, but in fact the soul never dies nor is she ever created.
The coming and the going, the visible
and the invisible,
Are supported and controlled by Him.
The coming and the going of the souls in this world is like a play which
is created by God; everywhere God's sight is pervading and He sees
everything that happens. He is looking even at those Creations which
we cannot see with our eyes. God has created all this Creation in His
Will, and all the happenings in this world are happening in the Will
of God. He Himself is the Doer of all of this.
He Himself is within everything.
In many ways He makes and unmakes the things.
God is everywhere. In the ant, God is present, and in the elephant, the
same God is present. All that we see is the play created by God, and
God is present everywhere in the play which He has created.
He is indestructible and Indivisible;
He creates the whole Creation.
God is indestructible, and He is never destroyed. Nor can the Creations
which He has created be destroyed if it is not in His Will. No one can
destroy that which God has created; it is destroyed only if God Himself
does so.
He is the Unseen, Unfathomable and Glorious.
Nanak says: If He makes one repeat His Naam,
only then can one repeat His Naam.
God is unfathomable, and we cannot fathom him. We cannot understand
God if we don't get a Perfect Master, and if that Perfect Master
doesn't shower grace on us we cannot realize God and we cannot have
any knowledge of Him. It is not in the control of a blind man to go
and catch hold of the person who has eyes; unless the person who has
eyes calls the blind man, he cannot catch hold of him. In the same way,
unless God showers grace on us we cannot do His devotion and we
cannot have any knowledge of Him, because we are the blind ones and
He has the eyes.
Dadu Sahib said that there is clarified butter in the milk, but
unless we churn it, we cannot get butter from it, and unless we heat up
that butter, we cannot get the clarified butter. In the same way, God
is within us, but unless we analyze ourself we cannot realize Him.
Those who have manifested God are Glorious;
The whole world will be saved by Their mantra.
Those who have manifested God within themselves are glorified in this
world. Even when they leave this world, still they are glorified and
honored. The entire Creation can be liberated by taking the mantra or
charged words of those Mahatmas who have manifested God within
themselves. Guru Nanak Sahib says that just by giving one particle of
his Naam, a Gurumukh can liberate millions of souls. Swami Ji Maharaj
also says that the glory of the Gurumukh is very high, because just by
one particle of his Naam he liberates millions.
Saints and Mahatmas do not give the mantra from hearsay. They
do not learn the mantra by reading books. They give the holy words,
the sacred words, which they have earned, and which they have meditated
upon. And behind the words which the Master gives, works His charging.
The servants of God liberate all.
The servants of God remove the pain.
Those who become the servants of God, the devotees of God, and manifest
God within themselves, come into this world for the benefit of other
people; they come into the world to liberate us. Only those who have
good fortune can come in contact with them and take advantage of them;
otherwise it is not in our hands. Only the most fortunate ones contact
them. There is no law that only a few people can come to them, or that
they can liberate only so many people; God has given them the great
treasure of Naam and told them to bring as many souls as they can, as
many souls as will come to them. That is why all the fortunate souls -
those who come in contact with them - get liberation.
Once Narada went to God and requested Him, "The people of the
world are in much suffering and in miserable conditions - You should
let them come and reside in Your Heavens where there is so much
happiness." God told him, "All right, I will give a place to all those
who will come with you. You go and bring as many as you can." So Narada
went to one shopkeeper who was very old. He was coughing and he was in
a very miserable condition. His sons were at their homes and he was
taking care of his shop and doing his business. So Narada thought, He
is suffering much, let me tell him about Heaven and I am sure that he
will get ready and come with me.
So Narada told him, "O old man, do you want to go to heaven? I
see that you are suffering very much; you should go to heaven. I have
come to take you." The old man asked him, "Who are you?" He replied,
"I am Narada, the devotee of God." You know how the worldly people are
always against the devotees of God because they don't understand them
as good people, because mostly the devotees of God don't deal in the
worldly things and they always remain in the remembrance of God and
they always inspire people towards God. That is why most of the worldly
people don't like the devotees of God. So the old man said, "Right now
I cannot leave this shop because my children are not here, and I can't
leave without having a responsible person take over for me. I don't
want to go to heaven right now, but maybe someday I will think about
going there." So Narada became very sad because that old man was not
ready to go with him.
Then he went to one very old farmer who was also in a very
miserable condition, and he was plowing his fields. Narada had pity on
him and told him, "0 old man, come on with me to the heavens." But that
old man said, "No, I can't go to the heavens now because my children
are very young, and they cannot take care of the land, and I am doing
this work because they are not able to do it. I don't want to go to the
heavens."
So again Narada became very sad. And then he thought, since no
man is ready to go to heaven, let me go to the animals. So he went
to the pigs, who live in a very miserable condition, eating garbage and
dirt. He thought because of that they would be very unhappy and would
want to leave this world and go to heaven. So he asked one pig, "Do
you want to come to heaven?" The pig asked, "Will I get any garbage
to eat in heaven?" Narada said, "What is the use of going to heaven
if you still have to eat garbage?" Then the pig asked him, "Will I get
as many children in heaven, as I have here?" So Narada said, "What
is the use of going to heaven if you still have to deal with children
and problems like that?" So the pig said, "Well, I don't think that any
wise person will go with you to heaven. If there is no garbage and no
children there, what is the use of it? Only foolish persons will go with
you. I don't want to go."
So Narada became very sad, and when he went back to God, God
asked him why he was sad. Narada replied, "Lord, I have seen in the
world that everybody is suffering and they are wailing like anything;
but when I tell them to come to heaven and do the devotion of God,
nobody will do it."
The Merciful One Himself unites the souls with Him;
Those who meditate on the Shabd of the Master
become happy.
When God showers grace on mankind, He comes in the body of a man and
He comes and dwells among men. And He tells them in which Form that
God is residing within them, and He tells them to do the practices
by which they can realize God. And those who obey Him and practice
the Path according to His teachings, they get the real Peace and
Happiness because they get united with God.
Only those do their seva,
On whom God showers His grace.
They are most fortunate ones.
When God showers grace on people, He comes in the body of the Master,
and lives in this world. And only the most fortunate ones get the
opportunity to be in the service of that Mahatma.
By meditating on Naam one gets rest.
Nanak says: Understand such a man as the ideal.
The soul gets rest and peace only by doing the meditation of Naam.
Those who do the meditation of Naam. become the ideal people in this
world, because of that rest and peace.
Whatever he does, he does it in the Will of God;
He always resides with God.
Those who manifest that God within them, even for once, always have
God residing with them after that. Whatever that person does, he does
in the Will of God and by the orders of God.
Masters do not become the equal of God. They live in this world
as the dear Sons of God. And those who are the dear children can make
their father work as they want. And since the Masters live in this world
as dear children, whatever they want they can make God do that.
He who remains happy in what happens normally,
Recognizes the Doer.
Those who remain happy with whatever comes of itself - no matter if
pain or happiness comes - those who always remain happy in the Will
of God, manifest God within them.
Whatever God does is pleasing to the devotees;
God appears to them as in fact He is.
The devotees of God savor the Will of God as a sweet thing; they are
always happy by living in His Will.
They are absorbed in Him from Whom they were created.
They become the Treasurer of happiness.
He Himself gives honor to Himself -
Nanak says: Understand God and His servants as One.
God Himself gives honor to Himself, because God Himself comes in
the body of the Master and lives among men. And He Himself resides
within the disciples and makes them also win honor in this world. God
resides everywhere; in all the particles, in all the creatures in this
world He resides. That is why we should always do His devotion. Only
they are the ideal people, who do the meditation on Shabd Naam. Guru
Nanak says, "If we want to find the ideal ones in this world, we will
find only a few."
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