Gems of Gurbani

Guru Granth Sahib

Sukhmani Sahib 43

Ashtapadi 18 continues: Tongue is one but manifold are His praises because He is Perfect Person in Himself with all the qualities, the Lord is inaccessible, incomprehensible and immaculate and none of the human sense organs can reach Him and he has no need of food (offerings made to Him with food and eatable of His choice through Pundit is all waste, for Him all are equal), He has no enmity and can comfort anyone. It is just impossible to match with Him with all these qualities and we can never evaluate His True worth. Many devotees ever make obeisance bowing to His lotus feet they meditate on His Name. Nanak is ever devoted to the True Guru by whose grace one can meditate on Lord’s Name (pad 5).

Rare people have the fortune to obtain the ambrosial Nectar of His Name and the one who quaffs on it becomes immortal. That person never perishes in whose mind the treasure of values get manifested. He can take the instructions from True Guru and gives these further to His servants. Such a person never gets influenced by worldly love and illusions he has only One Lord in his mind. In pitch darkness the Name of Lord shines like a lamp O Nanak all the darkness of superstitions, worldly illusions and pain vanish with His enlightenment (pad 6).

O brother! The instructions of the Perfect Saint are like coolness in the midst of heat, happiness chasing away the pain, the fear of birth and death is removed. When the fear is gone the life becomes fearless for mortal, the evil is destroyed and with that vanishes from mind. All, to whom He has shown mercy, belong to Him and in the company of Saints the Name of God, the enemy of pride is repeated. By repeatedly listening to the Name of Lord O Nanak, doubt and wandering of the mind is chased away and stability takes place (pad 7).

“Nirgun and Sargun are two characteristics that are endorsed for Almighty in Sikh philosophy. One wonders how two opposing qualities are attributed to the Almighty? The explanation for this comes from Guru Nanak’s concept of God and according to him the origin of the world or universe has taken place when the visible attributed qualities of the Lord manifested and the Creation of Lord can be seen, felt and absorbed by all five organs. Before this Creation the Almighty Lord was there but all the attributed qualities were not manifested so Guruji call Him Nirgun. Even in His Sargun form Almighty cannot be compared with anybody visible with form and shape because His manifestation is only in His Creation.”

He himself is Nirgun and Sargun and by showing all His miracles of Creation He has amazed the whole world and has created the whole drama. He alone knows His worth. There is none other like Him. He is continuously within everything and like warp and woof He is contained in everything and this enlightenment comes in the company of Saints. Having created His Creation He has infused all His power in it and Nanak is ever ready to sacrifice  himself to this Powerful Lord (pad 8).