In the forty-third stanza, Guru Teghbahadar says,
O mind! The being who always remembers Ram in their heart; consider them to be freed from material bondage, vices, and fear of birth and death. Consider this to be true: there is no difference between that being and Hari. Ram and
Hari are epithets used for
IkOankar (One Creative and Pervasive Force, 1Force, the One), highlighting the beautiful and all-pervasiveness of the One, respectively.
Who do we consider to be free? Guru Teghbahadar has taken us through another journey of twelve stanzas all about false pride. In whose heart is the Remembrance of
Ram, the beautiful One? Guru Teghbahadar says we ought to consider that individual to be free. If we have dealt with pride and worked with praise and Remembrance, if the effort has been done the Remembrance occurs; if the presence is felt, we are free.
We are essentially being asked to look at the world with a grander vision. If we look at it from a birds-eye view, we
know everyone is caught up in some kind of bondage. Every human being has some sort of attachment that drives them and makes them animalistic. We are caught up and being hunted and falling prey to attachment because of our ignorance. Suppose we can move out of our ignorance. In that case, if there is insightfulness, we know that even our mothers and fathers and spouses and children and siblings are part of a path of materialism in that
we think these relationships are ours and only ours. If we become insightful, we see each relationship differently. Not with a sense of detachment that requires us to become ascetics or renunciates, but with a sense of detachment that allows us to see the bigger picture, feel our feelings, love our relationships, but understand that they are not ours to keep or to lose. We can still be free even if these relationships constrict and restrict us. The free individual is not incomplete and does not feel incomplete. The free individual is free mentally and emotionally, content with who they are, not subservient to anyone. No deed restricts or constricts them. Things do not carry so much weight, and a carefree outlook takes over. This happens when we have Remembrance of the beautiful One within us. This happens after making much effort.
Guru Teghbahadar re-emphasizes the same from an earlier stanza: there is no difference between the all-pervasive One and the one who praises the all-pervasive One, no difference between the mortal and the Divine, this is the truth. Because the Divine is free of these bondages, the individual whose heart lives in that state of Remembrance and presence is also free of these bondages. This is why there is no difference between the ocean and the drop. This disrupts the merging of the ocean and the drop that we see in classical consciousness—a merging that is projected to occur only upon physical death. This is about a merging that happens in the
here and now, a level of freedom that we experience when we become Divine-like in the
present. This is when we can say
I know who I am, I have my issues. I know who You are; I know that You are in a state of utter freedom. I know there is a journey from me to You, and I will put in the effort to make that journey. I will make that journey until I arrive at a place where there is no difference between You and I. And the journey completes with I am You, and You are I.
