Gems of Gurbani

Guru Granth Sahib

Sukhmani Sahib  40

The Lord God is indestructible (Ashtapadi 17)

Shlok: True in the prime, True from the beginning of ages, True He is even now and He will be eternally True O Nanak.

Ashtapadi 17 begins; true are the Lords feet and true are those who touch them. True is His sight and true is our seeking Him. True is His Name and true is who meditate on His Name. He (God) is true Himself and true is all that he sustains. He is Himself goodness and goodness He bestows upon others. True is His word and true is the one who utters that word. True are those ears that hear the praises of the True Lord. The one who understands the True Lord all is Truth O Nanak True, True is the Lord (Pad 1).

He, who has accepted in his heart that the Lord is embodiment of Truth recognizes that God is the root cause of all that is caused in this world. He, who has the faith for one supreme God in his mind, has the divine knowledge revealed to him. (A mortal) Abandoning all fear he, who has fearlessly absorbed in Him from whom he has sprung like a blend of a thing of same kind (Water for example) that cannot be separated. Only a person who has sharp discerning understanding to know him O Nanak can meet the Omnipresent Lord (pad 2).

 Lord’s slave is ever obedient to Him as he adores Him, his faith is imbibed in his mind and his way of life becomes pure as he knows that the God is always with him and the love grows more and more for the Lord. And then the Lord becomes his care taker, his cherisher and the Formless Lord preserves the honour of His slave. He is the Lord’s servant whom He shows his mercy, Nanak, that slave remembers the Lord with every breath (pad 3).

The Lord screens all shortcomings of His devotees and doesn't allows his honour to be maligned instead he gives Him glory and makes him remember His Name. He maintains the honour of His devotees and no one knows to what extent He can go in doing that because no one can compete with Lord’s devotee as they becomes highest of high. Nanak, when the Lord has taken someone as His slave he becomes known in all ten directions (pad 4).