THE JEWEL OF HAPPINESS
The Sukhmani of Guru Arjan
a commentary by
AJAIB SINGH
Chapter 8
THE KNOWERS OF GOD
He whose mind is true and face is true,
And who does not look at any other,
Nanak says, These are the qualities of the Brahm gyani.
This is the eighth Ashtapadi of Sukhmani Sahib. In this section Guru
Arjan Dev Ji will tell us about the Brahm gyani or knower of God.
He says that such a knower expresses the same thing on his face as he
has in his heart. He is true in his mind and he never worships anyone
other than his Master.
The Brahm gyani is always unaffected,
just as the lotus, remains unaffected in the water.
The Brahm gyani always remains unaffected by the worldly things, in
just the same way as the lotus is unaffected by the muddy water it
remains in.
The Brahm gyani is always free from sins
As the sun burns up the impurities of others.
The Brahm gyani lives in this world like the sun. You know that the
sun absorbs the impurity of the impure water as well as drying up the
pure water. The sun is not affected by the impurity of the impure
water, and in the same way the knower of God is not affected by the
impurities of the world, and remains unaffected by them.
The Brahm gyani's sight is the same for all,
As the wind blows on the king and the pauper alike.
In the sight of the Brahm gyani, the poor and the rich are both alike,
and for him, the man and the woman are also alike. Whether one is
rich or poor, or whether one is man or woman, all are looked on the
same by the knower of God.
The Brahm gyani remains amazingly patient
Like the earth, whether one digs it
or puts sandalwood on it.
The Brahm gyani has amazing patience in him. He is just like the earth:
whether one removes earth, or dumps it, or puts sandalwood on it, still
the earth doesn't curse him; she doesn't do any bad thing to those people
who are doing bad things to her. In the same way, no matter what one
does to the knower of God, he always remains patient.
These are the qualities of the Brahm gyani,
Nanak says, like the nature of fire.
No matter if an old man or a young man sits near the fire, or if any
animal sits near it, the work of the fire is to give warmth to everybody.
In the same way, whether a friend or an enemy or anyone comes to
the Brahm gyani, his work is to give love to all the people who come
to him. And they all receive according to the feelings they have for the
knower of God.
The Brahm gyani is the purest of the pure,
Just as the water cannot be affected by dirt.
The mind of the Brahm gyani is pure like the ocean water is pure. Water
removes the impurities of things, but the ocean still remains pure.
The mind of the knower of God is like that.
Within the Brahm gyani the light is manifested,
As it is between the earth and sky.
Within the Brahm gyani there exists so much light, it is as the sun
illumining the earth. It makes no difference to him whether it is day
or night. Once Guru Nanak said to his son, "Now the sun has risen, you
go and watch the sheep." But at that time it was night outside. And
so his son said, "You are not in your senses: it is not yet dawn and
you are telling us to go and watch the sheep." But when Guru Nanak
told it to Bhai Lena (later called Guru Angad) and asked him to do
that work, he said, "Yes, Master, the sun has risen and it is already
midday." Because within him the sun used to rise, and he knew the
inner secret of Guru Nanak. And that is why he said, "Yes, Master,
it is midday and I will go and watch the sheep."
So within the knower of God there is always light, as there is always
sunlight on the earth.
In his last days, Master Sawan Singh also said, "Now the sun has
risen - are the people of Jullundur seeing that?" Master Kirpal replied,
"What to speak of the people in Jullundur - all the people who have
Your Grace, they have all seen that the sun has risen."
To the Brahm gyani, friends and enemies are alike;
The knower of God does not have any pride.
In the sight of the Brahm gyani both enemies and friends are alike and
he looks at both of them with the same eyes and same feeling. And
after getting something, the Brahm gyani is not proud of that. Pride
or vanity doesn't come within him. You know that if a Satsangi is
respected by some people, he starts thinking, "I have something within
me; that's why people are respecting me." He becomes proud of his
being a Satsangi.
The Brahm gyani is the highest of the highest;
Yet in his mind he is the lowest of all.
The Brahm gyani is so high that he is higher than the gods and goddesses,
and he has become the form of God. But in his mind he always understands
himself as the lowest one. Humility is the ornament of the Saints, and
that's why Saints never want praise. Whenever Saints are praised, They
say that it is all the grace of Their Master. They call themselves the
servants or the sevadars of the Sangat.
Those people become Brahm gyanis
Whom God Himself makes - so says Nanak.
Who can become the Brahm gyani? Other people cannot make anyone a Brahm
gyani. No party can establish a knower of God, nor can he be brought
into existence by a handful of people. Only he on whom God showers mercy,
and only he whom God makes His knower, can become so.
If some people call a horse an elephant, the horse will not turn into
the elephant. And if some people say that an elephant is a horse, the
elephant is not going to turn into a horse; the elephant is what it is
and so is the horse; no matter if some people don't believe it. In the
same way, the one who has become the Brahm gyani, even if he is opposed
by the people, and even if some people say that he has not become that,
still he is not going to lose the status which he has achieved. In the
same way, if one's inner vision is not open and he has not become a
knower of God, he will not become that just because some people say he is.
Bulleh Shah has said, "I have become the Beloved of God, and I am
serving God. But people call me an atheist. So I say, 'O.K., I'm an
atheist.'"
The Brahm gyani is the dust of everyone's feet;
The knower of God enjoys the inner nectar.
The Brahm gyani always understands himself as the dust of the other
people's feet. Because he has realized the inner nectar and his soul has
become immortal from drinking the inner nectar, that's why he always
understands himself as the dust of other people's feet.
The grace of the Brahm gyani rests on all;
Nothing bad happens because of the knower of God.
The Brahm gyani always showers Grace on everybody; he thinks ill of
no one. He becomes pleased when he does something good for anyone, and
he always does good things for others, never bad.
The Brahm gyani looks on all with an equal eye;
Nectar rains from the eyes of the knower of God.
The Brahm gyani sees every creature in every part of this creation. One
foot is in this world, and the other is in Sach Khand. Whenever he closes
his eyes he is in Sach Khand, and when he opens his eyes he is back
in this world. Through his eyes the nectar is flowing. And whenever
he becomes pleased with anyone and looks at him, because the nectar
is flowing through his eyes, he gives that nectar to the people.
The Brahm gyani is free from all attachments;
The practice of the Brahm gyani is pure.
The knower of God doesn't have any attachment in this world; he is
free. So the devotional practice which he shows the people is also
without any attachment and it is pure.
Knowledge of God is the food of the knower of God;
Nanak says, the Brahm gyani's contemplation
is the Supreme Lord.
Even if he doesn't eat food, he doesn't feel hungry like the worldly
people do. You know when worldly people feel hungry and they don't get
food, how bad they feel. But it makes no difference to the knower of
God, even if he doesn't eat food for many days; because his food is
the Inner Knowledge and his attention is always diverted toward God.
The Brahm gyani hopes only from Him;
The Brahm gyani never perishes.
The knower of God relies only on the one God; he doesn't rely on anybody
in this world. And the knower of God never dies: he is never born, and
he remains immortal. Master never dies, Master is never born. Those who
say that their Master has died, they should be brought into court and
asked, "Why did you take someone as the Master who was going to die?"
Kabir Sahib says that people have taken the body as the Master, but
they have not realized the real Satguru who is working in that body.
And because they have not realized Him, they will continue to wander
in the cycle of births and deaths. What we recognize is the body of
the Saint, but we do not recognize the Power Which is working in the
Saint and Which is above births and deaths.
Guru Nanak says, "My Satguru always exists. He never comes and
never goes. He is indestructible."
Shabd takes up the human body and comes and dwells among us.
And as long as it is in the Will of God and as long as He has the order
of God, He remains among us and gives us the knowledge of Naam. And when
the time comes He withdraws from that body and goes into another body.
But the Power Which is working in the body of the Saint, That is never
gone and That never dies; It only changes the body. That's why the
Saints always say, "Your Master is Shabd, your Master is Naam," and They
always connect us with Shabd Naam.
The Brahm gyani is dressed in humility,
The Brahm gyani lives for the benefit of others.
Now he says that the knower of God is poor in spirit. Even though
he has many things outside, he is always poor in spirit, and he always
works for the benefit of other people. The one who is the friend of
God, he eats half of the food he has, and the other half he shares with
those who want it.
The Brahm gyani does not have any worldly business;
The Brahm gyani controls the wandering mind.
The knower of God doesn't have any worldly business; he doesn't run
any business in this world, because his only business is to do Satsang,
to give Naam, and to meditate on Naam.
The Brahm gyani always does good for others;
The Brahm gyani always gets the fruits.
Whenever the knower of God works, he always works for the benefit
of other people. He will never work for their harm.
Master Sawan Singh asked for one boon from Baba Jaimal Singh:
"My work should always prove a boon to the people and not a curse."
All are saved in the company of the Brahm gyani;
Nanak says, All the world meditates on the Brahm gyani.
All the world can get liberation through the company of the knower
of God. No one should ever think that the Brahm gyani can only take
one thousand souls, or ten thousand, or five million, or more than that;
all the world can go with him if they go in his company, because God
has given him full power. If he wants to liberate all this world at once,
he can do that. Guru Nanak says that once God has given him the key
to the store of Naam, then after that He doesn't ask for the account.
He can give to the people whatever he wants. Those who don't believe
in the knower of God when they come into this world, and those who
don't get initiation into Naam from him, only those souls stay back.
The Brahm gyani has always one color:
God lives with His knower.
Always the mind of the knower of God is colored in the color of God.
He doesn't remain in the color of God for a while, and then leave it:
the color of God never leaves his mind. He always remains dyed in it.
God resides with the Brahm gyani like the shadow lives with the person.
God is always with His Knower.
The Naam of God is the support of the Brahm gyani;
The Naam of God is the family of the Brahm gyani;
The Brahm gyani always has the support of Naam and he always understands
Naam as his family.
The Brahm gyani is always wakeful;
The Brahm gyani renounces egoism.
The Brahm gyani doesn't sleep. He is not controlled by sleep, and he
is not bothered by sleep. He always remains awake in respect to God,
and he sleeps in respect to the world. And from within himself the
knower of God renounces egoism.
In the mind of the Brahm gyani
dwells the Supreme Joy;
In the house of the Brahm gyani
there is always happiness.
God always dwells within the Brahm gyani. The Supreme Joy always
resides within the knower of God, and he always remains happy and
blossoms as the flower of the rose blossoms.
The Brahm gyani lives easily and in happiness.
Nanak says, The Brahm gyani never perishes.
The Brahm gyani is the Son of the Supreme Lord.
The Brahm gyani loves only God.
The knower of God knows God; he is always attached to the love of
God.
The Brahm gyani becomes worryless.
The mantra of the knower of God is pure.
The Brahm gyani doesn't have any worries in his mind about what is
happening or what will happen. The mantra, or the charged words
which the Brahm gyani gives, is pure; and those who repeat that mantra
get liberation.
Hazrat Bahu has said that if you want to die while living, then you
should take up the form of the faqirs. If anyone throws dirt on you,
you should become like the place where people throw dirt. And even
if people call you names or abuse you, you should be very patient and
loving with them. For the sake of the Beloved, one should always bear
the abuse and bad words of people.
He becomes Brahm gyani whom God makes so;
The glory of the knower of God is very great.
Only one on whom God is gracious becomes the Brahm gyani. God
Himself makes His Knower, and the glory of His Knower is very great.
Because of that glory, many sinners even got liberation.
The darshan of Brahm gyani is obtained by good luck;
Always sacrifice to the knower of God.
Now he says that one who has great good fortune and Karma, only
he gets the darshan of the Brahm gyani. That's why we should always
sacrifice ourselves on him. Guru Nanak says, "Blessed is the family
in which the Satguru was born, and blessed is the mother who gave
birth to the Satguru, and blessed is the Satguru who did the meditation
of Naam Himself and who made others meditate on Naam.
Mahesh and others search for the Brahm gyani.
Nanak says, The knower of God is God Himself.
What can the souls of this world understand about the Brahm gyani
when even the gods and goddesses - Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh and all
of them - are searching for the knower of God? God Himself is His
Knower. The Brahm gyani is the one in whom God is manifested; and
when God is manifested in someone, that someone becomes God. There
is no difference between the Brahm gyani and God. If rock candy or
sugar is mixed in milk, the color of the milk doesn't change but the
taste changes. In the same way, he within whom God exists doesn't
change from outside, but from within he is changed. And that's why
there is no difference between God and the one within whom God has
manifested.
Once someone asked Master Sawan Singh, "What is the sign of the
Brahm gyani? How can we recognize that he is the Master?" Master
Sawan Singh said, "What do you want? Do you want the Masters to
tie a bow around their neck that they are the Masters, or should they
carry a sign?" The most trustworthy sign of the Brahm gyani is the day
and night meditations which he has done. You will find that the knower
of God will have done the meditation. This is the greatest sign of the
Brahm gyani which one can see.
One who has not done the meditation but who is called "Brahm gyani"
by other people, and one who is talking about the meditation and
experience of other people - their condition is just as Master Sawan Singh
Ji used to say: "How can we know the taste of getting married, if we
ourselves are not married?"
The Brahm gyani is priceless;
Everything resides within the knower of God.
We can never accurately value the Brahm gyani because he has come in
this world to liberate souls from this world and he has love for all
the souls in this world.
Who can know the secret of the Brahm gyani?
Ever bow before the Brahm gyani.
How can one know the secret of the Brahm gyani? We can only pay
our homage and respect to him. Hazur Maharaj Ji used to say that
the blind man cannot come to the person who can see; he cannot catch
the finger of the person who can see, and follow him. Unless the person
who can see calls the blind person and makes him catch his finger,
the blind person cannot come to the person who can see. In the same
way, no matter if the Brahm gyani is living right next to us - if he
does not make us catch his finger, how can we follow him? We are the blind
ones and the Brahm gyani is the one who can see everything - God sees
everything whereas the souls are blind. So unless God Himself makes
the soul follow His Path, how can the soul follow - the Path?
The Mahatma Guru Arjan Dev, Whose bani we are reading now,
was tortured by the orthodox people: He was made to sit on hot coals
and hot sand was thrown on his head. In the end He was stoned to
death. If the people who were torturing Him had known the glory of
the Brahm gyani - if they had understood the greatness of the knower
of God - they would never have done that. They would have taken
advantage of Him and made their lives successful. But because they
couldn't see or understand the glory of the knower of God, they
tortured him to death.
Mian Mir was a dear one of Guru Arjan Dev, and when he saw that
He was being tortured to death, he came there and said, "Master, if
you will allow me I will raze the grounds of Lahore to sand." But Guru
Arjan Dev Ji smiled and said, "Mian Mir, I can also do that, but this
is not in the will of God. Your will, O Lord, is sweet, and I am pleased
to be in that will. And Nanak always asks for the boon of Naam." If
those who were responsible for His death had known that He was a
Brahm gyani, they would not have done what they did: they would have
taken advantage of His being there. But people cannot know the glory
of the Brahm gyani until He Himself makes them understand His glory.
The condition of this world is like the farmer who saw a swan come
and sit in his farm. He at once took a stick and went to save his field.
He didn't know that the swan doesn't eat his food - she only eats pearls.
So this is the condition of the world.
Saints come to liberate us but we give them suffering. We cannot
write even half a word in the glory of the Brahm gyani; He is the Lord
of everyone.
Even half a letter cannot be written in praise
of the Brahm gyani;
The knower of God is Lord of all.
Who can know the limits of the Brahm gyani?
Only a Brahm gyani knows the glory of the Brahm gyani.
There are no limits of the Brahm gyani,
Nanak always salutes the Brahm gyani.
The people of this world cannot understand the knower of God; He
can be understood only by a knower of God. We cannot know the limits
of the Brahm gyani because he is limitless. The only thing we can do
is to always salute him; we can always pay our respect to him.
The Brahm gyani is the creator of all creation.
The Brahm gyani lives forever; He never dies.
Now how can we understand this as long as we think that Master is
just the human body? How can this human being, this man, create the
whole universe, creation, and how is it possible that this man has the
control over the births and deaths of everyone? But the Mahatmas
whose inner eyes are opened, they know that this human being is a pole
in whom that Power is working that is responsible for the births and
deaths of all the souls, of all the creation; and He Himself has created
the whole creation. He only changes the body; but the Power Which is
working in that body never comes to an end.
The Brahm gyani is the giver of the practice
of liberation of the soul;
The Brahm gyani is the perfect Lord.
The knower of God has the means by which he can liberate the world.
And he is the perfect man; he is the Lord himself. Mahatmas say, "You
go within yourself, and climb the stairs to the top, and you will see
the beautiful things there. And God, who is the Lord of all Creation -
you go within and see Him."
The Brahm gyani is the Lord of the orphan;
The knower of God puts His hand on all.
The Brahm gyani is the Lord of all the orphans and He puts His hand
on the head of all the orphans. Whether one is poor or rich, He is the
Lord of everybody and He showers His Grace on everybody.
Everything is the creation of Brahm gyani.
Brahm gyani Himself is the Formless One.
All this play is of the knower of God; the Lord Himself is His Knower.
The Lord Himself is manifesting in the Brahm gyani. Kabir Sahib says,
"My Beloved is very humble, and He is called Saint."
The glory of the knower of God is understood by Himself;
Nanak says, The Brahm gyani is the Lord of all.
Only the knower of God can understand the glory or the greatness of
the knower of God. And only He has the real wealth and is the giver
to everyone. He has the real wealth of Naam which never comes to
an end. When death comes we leave all the material of this world here;
we cannot take anything with us. What is that which can go with us
when we leave this world? That is Naam. Naam is the only thing which
will accompany us. The one who has Naam with him, he is the Emperor.
Kabir Sahib says, "He who doesn't have Naam in his heart, he is poor."
So, like the Brahm gyani, we should also meditate on Naam, we should
also meditate on Shabd.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
