Bani Mahala 9 - Rag Sorathi

Guru Teghbahadar Sahib

In the fourth composition, Guru Teghbahadar says, O mind! Contemplate being in the sanctuary of Prabhu, remembering whom, Ganika was freed. Enshrine the praises of That One in your heart. The Guru invokes Prabhu as one of the many names of IkOankar (One Universal Integrative Force, 1Force, the One). Prabhu invokes the royal and godlike nature of the One, whose job is to fulfill a particular role. This is not about an obligation that IkOankar has to us. It is about the intrinsic goodness present in IkOankar that the Guru is invoking. This is the One who is capable of helping us when no one else can. This is the One under whom even Maya (attachment to the material and relationships), which has a power of its own, is subject. We may have a hard time ridding ourselves of Maya on our own. The Guru has explored that struggle in Sorath 1-3. But we can go into the sanctuary of the One who has power over even this all-entangling attachment. This is the One who freed Ganika, a prostitute, considered in that time and in that culture, as well as today, to have one of the worst possible occupations, demeaned and considered dirty and unworthy of grace. The Guru shows us that even those considered to be the lowest have access to grace and freedom. The One who freed Ganika is the One we ought to enshrine in our hearts, the One whose virtues we ought to reflect on.  
 
O mind! Contemplate being in the sanctuary of Prabhu. The Guru continues with examples of those who sought refuge in the sanctuary of Prabhu. The Guru then mentions the young orphan, Dhruv. As per Hindu mythology, upon hearing the utterances of Narad (the revered originator of the major mantras of the Rig Ved, who had the acknowledgment but not the realization), Dhruv clung to the praises of the 1-Light. It is through praise that we are able to move into Remembrance. Through the remembrance of IkOankar, Dhruv became stable and found fearlessness. There is nothing as powerful as Identification for us in this world. This is why we need to make that a part of us! The Guru urges us to remember IkOankar, the Remover of suffering, who Dhruv praised, and who, through this praise, was able to attain a steady, immortal, and fearless state — the highest state of existence.
 
O mind! Contemplate being in the sanctuary of Prabhu. The Guru continues with the example of the elephant who took the shelter of IkOankar, the Treasure of Grace. As per Hindu mythology, there was a Gandharva (a singer in the court of the deities), who became an elephant due to the curse of a hermit, Deval. He was caught by an octopus, and when he became helpless in his drowning, he called upon IkOankar, whose grace freed him. This grace was felt immediately. The Guru shows us that if we can live with this Nam (Identification with IkOankar), if we can live in the glory of this Identification, we will find that the things which bind and constrict us and cause us to drown will be eliminated. The Guru asks a rhetorical question to emphasize the vastness of this Identification: To what extent should I describe the glory of Nam? The Guru invokes the Beautiful One to refer to IkOankar, not the positional relationship that we get from the name Prabhu, but instead the one who is Beautiful. If we can identify with the Beauty of the Beautiful One, if we can live in remembrance of the Treasure of Grace, we can experience freedom from that which we are entangled in. 
 
O mind! Contemplate being in the sanctuary of Prabhu. Finally, the Guru invokes Ajamal, a Brahmin (member of the priestly class), who had a relationship with a prostitute as per Hindu mythology. He was in a privileged position and was aware of what was right and wrong. He knew better, but he fell. Even those spiritual or educated people can fall. Even they need reminders. And even they have access to freedom through grace. The Guru uses the example of Ajamal to remind us that we, too, have access to that grace if we live in remembrance. We, too, can cross this dreadful world ocean, or make our lives fruitful, even if we have transgressed, even if we knew better. We worry about this so much — once we have made mistakes, we fixate on them, and we convince ourselves that it is too late to come back from our conditions.
 
The Guru uses these commonly known examples in Indic culture, and behaviorally in global culture, to show us that if a child or a saint or a prostitute can become free with Nam-Identification, then it can free us too, of our fears and our worries and our pains. No matter how steeped we may be in our conditions; there is always access to grace. The Guru references our constant worry by referring to IkOankar as the wish-Fulfiller, or the one who owns our worries. Even on top of the worry about our current conditions, we add another element of worry — that it is too late for us. But it is not too late. So why don’t we remember the One who owns and is above our constant worry?