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12 ABSTRACTS OF SIKH STUDIES : APRIL-JUNE 2005 / 537 NS I now sit on the throne of the Lord and am one with Him so devotedly that no one can know / recognize who is the lord and who is Kabir. 10 Similarly, take Guru Arjun Devji’s way of telling us how to pray for strength to get rid of the five mighty thieves, kaam, krodh, lobh, moh, ahankar in the following hymn. Indeed when the prayers are in the same way as that of a helpless beggar, a supportless non-entity, and the self-surrender is evident, the Lord’s bird (nature) is to help. That is why we see in Guru Granth Sahib a verse Hamari ganat nan gniya kaee apna bird pachhan (Guru Granth Sahib, p. 619). Guru Arjun Dev puts this prayer in our heart in the following words : My Lord, I am a lone poor soul but these mighty robbers are Five, please protect me from them. They always trouble me and give me extreme torture; that is why I have sought refuge at Your feet. 11 The stress that I am giving in this piece is on the self-annihilating prayer and the most gracious response of the Lord. In other words, as we are told, the life is to be led on spiritual lines as Jeevatian mar rahiye, so that the oneness with the Lord is assured. To my utter surprise – and delight – when I came to the following hymn of the same Guru, Guru Arjun during my readings from Guru Granth Sahib, the automatic Wah Wah became my mantra. Savour this : Look at this wondrous event. The Lord that I heard was unapproachable and unknowable, was found right in my heart with Guru’s grace. 12 The mighty tyrants who tortured me endlessly are now afraid of me. They beg me now to save them from my Master and fall at my feet. 13 I was really bowled over when I went through the second of the above two verses. First one, I had always come to accept that God resided in our heart, but could be recognized only with the grace of one’s Guru. But the second one overwhelmed me in that a time can come when the devotee, after self-annihilating surrender, can experience the death-causing demons yearning to fall at the devotee’s feet for protection. But, then, this is exactly what I set out to explain, when I heard the hymn that I mentioned at the outset. If the devotee is in absolute surrender and, guided by the Guru, Guru Granth Sahib, is emphatically confident of the Lord’s gracious
THE ART OF SEEKING GOD’S GRACE THROUGH SELF-ANNIHILATION 13 response and because of the fear that he will have to render the account of his life on earth to Dharamraj, implores the Lord to save him from the burning world, and tries to live in 24-hour presence of the Lord on the basis of Guru’s commands, he will definitely perceive the perfect Lord in his heart. 14 The essence of our Guru’s message is shabad-vichar. External manifestation of piety and obeisance has little relevance to internal revolution. When shabad-vichar is accompanied by self-annihilation, the Lord’s grace is guaranteed. Let me conclude with Guru Amar Das’ two verses : Shabad-Vichar : I recognized my Lord in truth while others lost the track in sinful life. I am always in love with my Husband through shabad-vichar. 15 Self-annihilation : The highest state of peace comes with selfannihilation. May God show us the wisdom to live gurbani to enable us to relish Har-Ras. ~~~ REFERENCES 1 qau mY AwieAw srnI AwieAw ] BrosY AwieAw ikrpw AwieAw ] ijau BwvY iqau rwKhu suAwmI mwrgu gurih pTwieAw ] mhw duqru mwieAw ] jYsy pvnu JulwieAw ] suin suin hI frwieAw ] krro DRmrwieAw ] igRh AMD kUpwieAw ] pwvku sgrwieAw ] ghI Et swDwieAw ] nwnk hir iDAwieAw ] Ab mY pUrw pwieAw ] (Guru Granth Sahib, p. 746) 2 Ab hm clI Twkur pih hwir ] jb hm srix pRBU kI AweI rwKu pRBU wvY mwir ] lokn kI cqurweI aupmw qy bYsMqir jwir ] koeI Blw khau BwvY burw khau hm qnu dIE hY Fwir ] (Guru Granth Sahib, p. 527-28) 3 hoie inmwxI Fih pvw pUry siqgur pwis ] inmwixAw guru mwxu hY guru siqguru kry swbwis ] (Guru Granth Sahib, p. 41) 4 krm Drm pwKMf jo dIsih iqn jmu jwgwqI lUtY ] (Guru Granth Sahib, p. 805) 5 pwrbRhim inbwhI pUrI ] kweI bwq n rhIAw aUrI ] guir crn lwie insqwry ] hir hir nwmu sm@wry ] (Guru Granth Sahib, p. 623) 6 Gir suiK visAw bwhir suKu pwieAw ] khu nwnk guir mMqRü idRVwieAw ] (Guru Granth Sahib, p. 1136) 7 nwnk crn ghy pRB Apny suKu pwieE idn rwiq ] (Guru Granth Sahib, p. 681)
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SRI GURU PANTH PARKASH 109 Brothers
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