Ramkali Ki Var

Rai Balvand Ji and Sata Dum Ji

In the seventh stanza, Satta and Balvand glorify the fourth Guru, Guru Ramdas, beginning by saying, blessed, blessed is Guru Ramdas. The One who has created him has also mentored, adorned, refined, and chiseled him. The greatness of the Guru comes from the one who created and beautified him. A complete miracle has happened, a completely magical thing with multiplicities in it has happened — the Creator by Own-Self has established and made sure that this multiplicity of extraordinary things is also completed. From a worldly plane, the passing of the Guruship to Guru Ramdas is a huge thing and required overcoming many worldly barriers: he was an orphan raised by his grandmother, selling boiled gram flour to survive. He was poor and working class, a man without much family or privilege. All of this was overcome again and again for him to become Guru. This is the Grace of the Creator that Bhai Jetha became Guru Ramdas. That was the miracle!

The Sikhs and the collective who came to visit Guru Ramdas came to salute him, considering him to be the Transcendent Being, IkOankar (One Universal Integrative Force, 1Force, the One). The wise Guru is just like the Divine because he exhibits divine qualities — he is steady, unfathomable, unweighable, and without end or limit. Due to his becoming Divine-like, the Sikhs and the collective accept him as the embodiment of the Divine. The ones who serve the Guru in love are the ones he is able to free. What is freedom in this life? It is when greed, avarice, lust, anger, and attachment are eliminated, and all of the vices and sub-vices associated with them are killed and driven out from within. These negative behaviors we carry are constantly looting us. Those are the behaviors that the Guru is able to free us from. 

Satta and Balvand then address the Guru, saying, blessed is your place, true are your disciples. Why is this place, the court of the Guru, blessed? Because the ones who are visibly serving the Guru, who are presented to the Guru as devotees, are true and steady in their devotion and service. They are the embodiment of truth. There is also a physical element of place regarding Amritsar (formerly Ramdaspur). Guru Amardas purchased land in this place, Guru Ramdas planned its development, Guru Arjan later constructed Harimandar Sahib, and Guru Harigobind constructed Akal Takht Sahib. This place went through four generations of development and growth, and that development is visible in the Divine-like disciples serving this place. 

They continue to address the Guru, saying, You are Nanak, you are Lahina; you alone have been known as Guru Amardas. It is as if the Bards are saying, we have thought about this! We understand now that the Guru has changed the body, but the light is the same. When one saw this Guru, when one contemplated the Guru and then glimpsed the Guru, then the mind became supported and flourished. It is important to remember that Satta and Balvand have not met the Gurus they have listed, as they are living in the time of Guru Arjan. But mentally, they have developed the worldview — instead of their old mentality that they are responsible for the glory of the Guru, they now understand that is not true, that the glory of the Guru comes from the Guru and the Guru alone. Will we drive our vices and sub-vices, our negative behaviors? Will we praise the Guru in every action while still understanding that the glory of the Guru comes from the Guru and the Guru alone? Is this how the Guru will also free us through our devoted service?