Bani Mahala 9 - Rag Jaijavanti

Guru Teghbahadar Sahib

In the third composition, Guru Teghbahadar says, O mind! What will be your state? In this world, there is the Identification with the Beautiful that you did not listen to with your ears. You are so enticed by poison; you did not turn your intellect away from it. The Guru urges us to think about where we are, how we are living, the state we are in, and what will really free us from our present condition. We have been in this world, but we have not connected to the Identification with the Beautiful. We have not listened to it; we have not absorbed it; we have not Remembered the One. Instead, we have been enticed and entangled by poison, which causes us to forget IkOankar (One Universal Integrative Force, 1Force, the One). We are being urged to collect ourselves and get our mind in order, reflect on where we are and where we want to be, and begin working toward that goal of Remembrance by turning our thoughts away from that which causes us to forget. 
 
O mind! What will be your state? The Guru says that we have been given this human life, this opportunity that is uniquely conducive to Remembrance and Identification, which provides us with the inherent purpose of Remembrance. Yet, we have not used it. We have not fulfilled that purpose, even for an instant. Instead, we are entangled and driven by the comforts of our spouses and our material things. And it is because of these attachments, we have become downtrodden, drained of our strength and power. We are chained by our attachments, unable to move and exist outside of them. We are in this world without even the slightest element of recitation or Remembrance of the Beautiful. We are working only for and toward various comforts and the company of our spouse. We may look to our spouses or partners as sources of comfort, but what we cannot see is that we are utterly blinded and paralyzed by even our most intimate relationships. This is not to say that we ought to detach ourselves from those we love. Instead, we ought to understand that even what we think are the most positive aspects of our human lives can distract us from our purpose of Remembrance or make us forget IkOankar. 
 
O mind! What will be your state? The Guru proclaims that the entire world, its expanse, is like a dream. And the question is then posed: knowing this, knowing the temporariness of the world, why do we not remember Murari? Murari is a name used to refer to IkOankar, invoked in Indic mythology as the one who kills the demon Mur. In this context, Murari, as one of the many names of IkOankar connotes the Enemy of ego, the One who can defeat Maya or attachment to the material and to our relationships. In fact, the Guru says, Maya is the servant of Murari. This is a nod to the world-play we are all constantly experiencing, wherein our human smallness, Maya, seems like this all-powerful, all-consuming force. And it is, in that it is very difficult to battle and very difficult to disentangle ourselves from. But Murari, IkOankar, the Enemy of ego and Maya, can help us eliminate even the most powerful of attachments, the most tangled of entanglements. In this last line, there is hope that despite how difficult this struggle is, none of us have to do it alone. It is through Remembrance of IkOankar that we understand even Maya serves the One, the all-consuming force serves the 1Force. Even this thing that we are attached to and hungry for and enjoying and entangled in is subservient to IkOankar. 
 
If we walk the path of Remembrance of IkOankar, the Enemy or antidote of ego and attachment, we can experience a flavor that is even sweeter than that which Maya has given us. We can become the ones who serve IkOankar instead of the ones who serve Maya. We can align ourselves with the One who inherently is above and in control of what has shackled us. This is how we can become free by connecting with IkOankar. Will we take ourselves to the One who owns Maya? Will we stop serving Maya and instead serve the One for whom Maya is a servant?