He who removes darkness of ignorance of the blinded (unenlightened) by applying the ointment (medicine) of (spiritual) knowledge, He Who opens the eyes, salutations to that holy Guru.
It was a great sunny day & young Lakshman Das left his home to hunt. Even though he was the son of a farmer, he possessed great hunting skills. Soon, he reached deep into the wild & started to look for his prey. Suddenly, he saw a big fat deer grazing around & he aimed at the deer. Lakshman, being a skilled archer, seldom missed his targets. He shot his arrow & the deer fell onto the ground. Lakshman rushed towards the dying deer to capture the prey before some other wild animal snatched it in front of his eyes.
Lakshman Das went close to the deer & looked into its eyes. There was pain in the eyes of the deer which was questioning him what harm did I do to you? This pain in the eyes of the deer perplexed Lakshman Das for a moment & he quietly waited for the deer to die. Soon, the deer took the last breath & died. Lakshman Das sighed deeply in a sense of relief & started to cut open the deer. What he saw next sent a chill across the spine of the young hunter. There were two unborn babies in the stomach of the deer, both were now dead!
“Oh! What have I done? I killed a pregnant deer which was about to give birth to two babies. I am such a great sinner.”, Lakshman Das talked to himself.
The event deeply scared him, & he started to remorse at his action. At that very moment, he broke his arrows & threw his bow. He made up his mind to abandon all the worldly affairs & become an ascetic. Soon, he encountered a fellow ascetic, Janaki Prasad. Janaki Prasad accepted him & changed his name to Madho Das.
Madho Das started deep penance & was started to gain success in sadhanas. He gained some supernatural powers & thus established his own hermitage & accepted few disciples. Irrespective of the number of siddhis he had attained, the sin of killing the pregnant deer still haunted him. He started to meditate harder to get inner peace. Time started to pass by, and he started to gain more fame. In the rush of gaining siddhis, he forgot his real aim of life.
One day while Madho Das was meditating beneath a tree, one of his disciples came rushing towards him & said, “Guru Ji, few people have forcefully entered into the hermitage. They brought some goats with themselves which they killed outside the kitchen and are now cooking them. Their master is also sitting at your seat. We tried to stop them but they outnumbered us.”
Listening to these words, Madho Das was infuriated. How come someone dared to enter my hermitage & kill innocent goats? Not only this, but they have also made my kitchen impure by cooking flesh. I will teach them a good lesson & they will never repeat this mistake again in their life.”
Madho Das recited some secret mantra & called upon some of his supernatural power & ordered them to bring the culprits in front of him. Astonishingly, nothing happened, & his power couldn’t bring the offenders. Enraged, Madho Das rushed towards his hermitage with a great desire to beat down all those who were involved in this heinous deed. Soon, he found a man sitting on his seat & few people were cooking flesh in big vessels. There was blood & remains of goat all around.
However, something strange happened, the rage of Madho Das vanished the very moment he saw the person sitting on his seat. There was a divine peace on his face which brought a sense of calmness to Madho Das. Madho Das has never felt such a peace since the day he had killed the deer. He bowed down to the person & said, “I will leave this hermitage, there is blood & flesh of innocent goats all around. I won’t be able to meditate on this impious land anymore.”
Listening to these words, the great sage said, “Why, did it remind you about the pregnant deer with two foes that died in front of you?”
Madho Das was now sure that the person sitting in front of him was no ordinary person & requested his name. Madho Das came to know that the person in front of him was none other than the tenth Guru of Sikhs, Guru Govind Singh Ji. Madho Das felt bad for his behavior & asked for forgiveness. Then Guru Govind Singh Ji said, “What sort of human being you are? You say you can’t meditate on this land because so many innocent goats have been killed here. I want to know what you want to gain by meditation when you know that every day so many innocent people are being killed by the Mughals.”
Tan Ko Jogi Sab Karen, Man Ko Birla Koi,
Sab Siddhi Sahaje Paiye, Je Man Jogi Hoyi.
“It is very easy to wear saffron clothes and appear like a saint. However, it is extremely difficult to gain control over oneself, only a few human beings can attain such a state in life. If a person can really become a true saint (by gaining enlightenment), then the person is able to attain all the siddhis.”
Listening to the words of Guru Govind Singh Ji as to why the killing of so many innocent people was not troubling him, Madho Das fell into the holy feet of Guru Govind Singh Ji & requested to accept him as His disciple. Guru Govind Singh Ji said, “You are my Banda (my fellow)” & gave him the name Banda Singh Bahadur.
We all know the history how later Banda Singh Bahadur emerged as a great warrior & fought against the various jurisdictions of Mughal empire. The important thing to understand here is he was not able to attain peace & wisdom even after several years of meditation & penance. He was able to attain enlightenment by the mere sight of his Guru & by the great words of his Guru!
Kabira Loha Ek Hai, Gandhe Me hai Pher,
Taahi Ka Bakhtar Bane, Tahi Kee Shamsher.
“There is nothing different in iron, but the magic resides in the material added into it. The same iron either gains the capability to become a box or a sword based on what material gets added into it. Similarly, all the human beings are the same, it is the grace of a SadGuru that can transform even a simple human being into someone divine.”
His rage, hatred, self-centeredness all melted away by the knowledge of Guru Govind Singh Ji & he was able to become a great disciple, a disciple whom we remember even after more than 300 years after his martyrdom.
The above incident teaches us that one can’t attain fulfillment in life if the person is not blessed with a Guru in life. There are six major enemies of human beings – anger, lust, ego, jealousy, laziness & attachment. It is impossible for a human being to win over these enemies by himself, one needs the divinity of a SadGuru, the grace of a SadGuru, the blessings of a SadGuru to defeat all these enemies of life. And then only a person can attain inner peace & calmness in life.
Kabira Kaha Garabiyo, Kaal Gahe Kara Kesa.
Na Jani Kahan Marisi, Kai Ghar Kai Pardesh.
“People unnecessarily keep a lot of ego in their life. Death keeps a track of us wherever we go in this world and has our hair in his hands (has full control over our life). No one knows when this life will come to end under his wish, so why shall a person waste this valuable life in owning something that is worthless.
People wear a lot of ego, they are proud of their social status, they feel they are better than others and this feeling is what comes in their path to enlightenment.”
People remain attached to their worldly possessions, their family members, friends & all their admirers. In today’s world of social media, there is a great cult of followers where people keep on uploading videos for the likes of their followers.Those people are living a virtual life in this virtual human life.
Haad Jale, Lakdi Jale, Jale Jalawan Haar,
Kautikahara Bhi Jale, Kasaun Karun Pukar.
“During cremation, the body gets burnt, the wood that is used to burn the body is also turned into ashes. The one who set the fire to the pyre too gets burnt one day and so do those who were watching this entire process.
When everyone has the same fate, then whom shall a person ask for help, who can help a person to get rid of this cycle of birth and death. Kabir wanted to explain the significance of a SadGuru in life as He is the only one who always remains with the disciple.”
Once a person gets blessed with a true Guru in life, nothing remains unattainable for such a person. The power of Guru, the knowledge of Guru gets translated into the body of the disciple & all of a sudden, the disciple attains greatness in life. The song, Tum ho paras, main hoon loha points to this aspect of the SadGuru. The disciple is just like a piece of iron that doesn’t have any special value. On the contrary, a SadGuru is like a philosopher’s stone. The moment a piece of iron touches a philosopher’s stone, it gets transformed into gold, a metal having much more value, a metal adored by everyone in this world.
Deh Dhare Ka Dand Hai, Sab Kohu Ko Hoya,
Gyani Bhugate Gyan Se, Agayani Bhugate Roya.
“There is a penalty associated with taking a birth, everyone must face their karma. The difference between a knowledgeable person and an ignorant person is the knowledgeable person goes through all the sufferings considering them a result of his own karma whereas an ignorant person continues to blame the God and remains unhappy.”
Once the disciple understands that all the sufferings, he is going through is a result of his own karma, a sense of peace comes into his life. He starts to understand that the only way to nullify the bad karma is to face them & by serving the SadGuru with a pious heart.
Tu Tu Karta Tu Hua, Mujh Me Raha Na Hun,
Jap Aap Par Ka Mit Gaya, Jit Dekhun Tit Tu.
“Just by calling “you” every time, I have lost myself. Now there is no difference between you & me & I see you everywhere.”
And once the disciple gets engrossed in his Guru, once he starts to think just about the Guru, the disciple becomes a replica of the Guru & there exists no difference between the two.
Jab Main Tha Tab Hari Nahi, Ab Hari Hai Main Nahi,
Prem Gali Ati Sankari, Jame Do Na Samahi.
“When “I” was there, there was no God and now since there exists God, my existence has been lost. The path of love is so narrow that two things (duality – both me and God) can’t exist together.”
This is what really happens to a true disciple. Once he completely amalgamates himself into Guru, once he completely surrenders himself before Guru, the disciple no longer remains a normal human being. The knowledge of the Guru enlightens him, & the disciple is able to attain the goal of his life.
Jaise Til Mein Tel Hai, Jyon Chakmak Mein Aag
Tera Sayeen Tujh Mein Hai, Tu Jaag Sake To Jaag
“Like the oil resides within the sesame seed and the fire resides in the flint stone, Your God resides within you, try and get awaken.” The Guru resides within the disciple. It is up to the disciple if he is able to understand the true form of Guru or continue to consider Him just as an ordinary person. The greatest misfortune of the disciple is not to identify the real form of the Guru.
Jeevat Samjhe Jeevat Bujhe, Jeevat He Karo Aas
Jeevat Karam Ki Fansi Na Kaati, Mue Mukti Ki Aas
“Wake up while you are still alive as it is your only chance. You need to cut the ties with all the illusion to get liberation. One can attain nirvana while being alive as death is not a liberator.”
We the disciples are blessed to have a great SadGuru in our life. We must make the most out of this life & try to understand the true form of SadGurudev. Failing so, will again throw us onto the path of sufferings & pain.
The best way to energize oneself, to activate oneself is to request SadGurudev to come & reside in one’s heart. If this happens, then the Guru resides in every heartbeat of the disciple & the disciple is able to quickly gain everything in life. Provided below is the sadhana procedure using which a disciple can invite the SadGuru to permanently reside in his heart. This sacred sadhana procedure is called Guru Hridayasth Sthaapan Sadhana.
One needs Guru Hridayasth SthaapanYantra & Crystal rosary for this sadhana. Get up early in the morning & have a bath. Get into fresh yellow clothes. Sit on a yellow mat facing north. Cover a wooden seat with a yellow cloth. Take some petals of a yellow-colored flower & place Guru Hridayasth SthaapanYantra over it. Light a ghee lamp & then speak out thus:
Deergho Sadaam, Vei Paripoorna Roopam,
Gurutvam Sadeivam Bhagwat Prannamyam.
Tvam Brahma Vishnu Rudra Swaroopam,
Tvadeeyam Prannamyam, Tvadeeyam Prannamyam.
Na Cheto Bhavaabdhe Ravi Netra Netram,
Gangaa Sadeiva Paramam Cha Rudram.
Vishnnorvataam Mevatmev Sindhum, Eko
Hi Naamam Gurutvam Prannamyam.
Aatmo Vataam Poorna Madeiv Nityam,
Siddhashramoyam Bhagwat Swaroopam.
Dheergho Vataam Nitya Sadevam Tureeyam,
Tvadeeyam Sharanyam Tvadeeyam Sharanyam.
Eko Hi Kaaryam, Eko Hi Naamam, Eko Hi Chintyam,
Eko Vichintyam, Eko Hi Shabdam, Eko Hi Poorvam,
Gurutvam Sharanyam, Gurutvam Sharanyam.
Offer saffron, rice grains, flowers and sweets made from milk on the Yantra. Then chant one round of the following mantra while standing on toes with heels kept above the ground.
Do this regularly for 21 days. Then drop the yantra & the rosary in a river or pond. Guru element is established in each atom of one’s body & one starts the journey towards spiritual enlightenment by the means of this sadhana.
May we all be blessed in our life, may we all be able to understand the true form of our SadGurudev, may we all get soaked with His love & affection & may SadGurudev reside in our hearts. What else can a true disciple pray for in life? May the divine give us the strength to follow onto the path shown by our SadGuru & bless those with a SadGuru who are still in their search for a true guide. Hope this incarnation day of SadGurudev brings all the auspiciousness in your lives.
SadGurudev will be initiating all the disciples with Guru Hridayastha Sthaapan Diksha on this incarnation festival of SadGurudev. All the disciples are advised to participate in this Diksha & Sadhana procedure to make their life divine.
It is mandatory to obtain Guru Diksha from Revered Gurudev before performing any Sadhana or taking any other Diksha. Please contact Kailash Siddhashram, Jodhpur through Email , Whatsapp, Phone or Submit Request to obtain consecrated-energized and mantra-sanctified Sadhana material and further guidance,
