Vanjara

Guru Ramdas Sahib

In the fifth stanza, Guru Ramdas says, Meditate upon Hari, the eternal Prabhu. Those who, through the teachings of the Wisdom, have known Hari, have known Prabhu, have realized that all of creation came from Hari, from Prabhu. Hari is synonymous with IkOankar (One Creative and Pervasive Force, 1Force, the One) and can be translated as the 1-Light, the all-Pervasive, the Remover of Suffering, and the Fear-Eliminator. Prabhu is another divine name that invokes the royalty and benevolence of IkOankar, whose nature is to fulfill the role of goodness and compassion. Prabhu is the One who is capable of helping us when no one else can. Prabhu here can also be understood as the Sovereign. The Guru urges us to contemplate on the Remover of Suffering, the eternal Sovereign. We can do this through Nam (Identification with IkOankar). We can Identify with, praise, and remember the One in every thought, word, and action. Those who do this through the guidance of the Wisdom experience the Sovereign. In that relationship with the One, we come to realize that all of creation has come into existence through the Sovereign and the Sovereign alone. 

Meditate upon Hari, the eternal Prabhu. The Guru poses the question: how may the Beautiful, pervading every body, come to dwell in the mind? Through which way, by which method, may that Beautiful One be found? When we come to understand that all of creation is of the One, everything we witness is born of the One; then we also come to understand that the One dwells in every being. With all of that presence, we may logically know that the One is ever-present, but how can we experience the presence of the One in our minds? The Guru says that if we follow the guidance of the perfect and eternal Wisdom, the Sovereign does not just come to dwell in our minds but also in our consciousness. This distinction between the mind and the consciousness is important because the consciousness is something deeper. When we say ‘keep this in mind,’ we are talking about maybe reminding ourselves of something logical or a particular thought process. When something is kept in the consciousness, we do not have to make an effort to remember or to believe that thing. That truth or understanding or knowledge comes to permeate our very being. The Guru ends the stanza in the first person, saying, for me, Nam alone is the support and the mainstay. Through Identification with the One alone, a high intellect is obtained, and a high spiritual state is experienced. For the Guru, Identification with the One is the trade in which the Guru has faith. Through that Nam alone, high ‘caste’ and honor are attained. The Guru reframes the worldly things that we may think support us — be they relationships, money, power, intellect, worldly status, or the legacies and reputations of our families, communities, organizations, or nations. These are also the things we trade in and believe in. For the Guru, the Identification is the only support, trade, and something to invest time and effort into. Through the Identifcation, we are eternally supported and become truly honorable. The Guru says, I have meditated on the Nam of the Sovereign. Through that contemplation, the Guru has come to be imbued with the color of love of the Sovereign, who pervades every one of us through love.

We are roving traders. We are wandering people who engage in transactions — in the world, our relationships, and even our attempts to cultivate a relationship with IkOankar. In cultivating a relationship with IkOankar, we experience something new. This is the experience, despite a myriad of experiences available. It takes us out of our myopia or arrogance when we experience the world and all it presents. We can be illuminated from within, ‘enlightened,’ and in relationship with the One without becoming judgmental or removed from the world. We are being asked to see the whole world as a manifestation of that One we love. Everything we witness in creation is born of that One — even the things we may not like or may not ‘agree’ with. The Guru shows us that Identification with IkOankar alone is a commodity worth trading in. We can become merchants whose trade is the contemplation of this Identification. It is through this Identification that we can experience the Sovereign pervading every being. It is how we can come to understand all of creation as being born of the One and that we can experience the One. It is through Nam that we can become free. Will we engage in Identification with IkOankar? Will we experience the presence of IkOankar in our consciousness? Will we come to trade in Identification?