Oh Chandi, your radiance is unbroken and great; you take care of the world and crush the sinners. Your arms are strong to punish the sinners. You carry a bow and punish the sinners. No one can punish you.
Sri Bala Sandhur Vaach..
Sri Guru Angad Dev ji, oh Home of Virtues, listen: Guru Nanak Dev ji headed forward. We came to the Ulka Mountain in the blink of an eye. Bhai Mardana ji said: “on the way we are travelling, which land is coming next? How far is our land from here? How long does it take to go home from here?” Guru ji said: “the Gharaat Bandarga is next. After that it is Laahar Bandarga. We can see our land from there.” Bhai Mardana ji said: “how far are we from home? Tell me your estimate.” Guru ji laughed and said: “looks like you are thinking of home. You wish to meet your family. I can send you home in an instant. You can meet your family with joy. You have been away from them for a long time.” Bhai Mardana ji said: “will you come too? We have travelled a lot. Your parents and family must wish to see you.” Guru ji said: “I will go when Kartaar takes me. If you wish to go, I can take you there in the blink of an eye.” Bhai Mardana ji said: “oh Prabhoo ji, I am happy with you. You are pushing me away. How can I go home without you? I am always happy seeing your face now.” Guru ji said: “I am not pushing you. You are thinking of home, that’s why I said I will send you home. That’s why I asked.” Bhai Mardana ji said: “I just casually asked of how far home was. I didn’t think of going. My attachment is broken because of you. Your feet destroyed my attachments. You can go where you wish to go. I will follow behind you. I won’t ever leave your company now. I saw everything with your blessing. I have heard of the 9 Khands of the Jamboo Dveep. Show them to me, oh Symbol of the Bedis. I wish to see them. You are omnipotent and you complete my wishes.” Sri Guru heard this and said: “I can’t ever refuse your wishes. Let’s go. I’ll show you the 9 Khands. You can travel as mush as you wish.” The Jagan Nath set forth. He took myself and Bhai Mardana ji with him.
We came to Ilabrat very quickly. Many lions lived there. Guru ji came and sat there and made Bhai Mardana ji sing a Shabad. The Shabad was sung in a high pitch Raag. When the lions heard the high pitch, their hearts became soft and pure. They all came and bowed to Guru ji. When they sat, Guru ji said: “who are you and why did you come here? Tell me your name.” Guru ji’s Darshan gave the lions the ability to speak like humans. They folded their paws and said: “we are a Tamsik species; we live in anger and kill. Our sins gave us this birth. We come to your sanctuary now. We know that you will destroy our sins.” Guru ji asked: “how do you survive?” The lion said: “Sant ji, we will tell you how we live. We don’t eat for many days. Up to a radius 100 Jozens (400 Kos) we have eaten all of the animals. If one of us sleeps, we all kill them and eat them. We remain awake and in attention. We are afraid of sleeping. We all fear each other. Our heart has become soft by your Darshan. Become our Guru and save us.” Guru ji heard this and said: “I will give you the birth of a human. Earn the Sikhi of the Guru. If you do that, you will undoubtedly receive Mukti then. Your lion life will be done and you will be born as humans. Practice the Shabad and the ego of your body will be discarded. You will receive Mukti.” After saying this, we all left.
We travelled and came to a nearby village. Many men came for Guru ji’s Darshan. They said: “how did you come here, safely? Didn’t any lions harm you? For 100 Jozens, there is no human or animal left. They ate everyone, leaving no other life. We established a village on the mountain. We have canons and stay awake. When the lions come, we fire all our canons. They all run away then.” Guru ji said: “I went to see the lions. They won’t commit violence anymore. I made them my Sikhs. They will all die in a little while.” The men of the village heard this and bowed their heads to Guru ji’s feet. They said: “we were bothered by the lions. You saved us now. You are omnipotent. You are the complete saint. You made us fearless.” The men took wisdom and became Sikhs by taking Guru ji’s Pahul by washing his feet. We stayed for a while. We then left that place.
We then came to Hiran Khand where the land was made of gold. Listen to the tradition of that place. There were Sadhoos there who did Jog, day and night. They remained youthful with their Jog. They never died in their homes. When their end time would come, they would climb the high mountains and sit there. They would explode the Brahm Rundher and take their Pranas out of their Dasam Duar. Guru ji came there and sat down in their village. It was like the sun of the Gyaan came up. Many men came and sat near Guru ji. The Light of the Bedis spoke: “how do you earn your wisdom? Tell me the name of your Guru.” The men spoke: “Gorakh is our Guru and we do Prana Yam. We practice Yog all the time but our mind is not calm. Please give us wisdom by which our mind may be at peace.” The Master of the Universe heard this and proceeded to give them his wisdom: “focus your attention in the Satnam. Destroy your ego, “mine” and “me.” See the world as false (finite, destined to diminish). Only the Aatma is the truth and infinite. If you practice this, your mind will be calm and there will be boundless bliss.” The people accepted this and practiced Simran as Guru ji said. The people kept Guru ji there for some time.
Guru ji then decided to take leave from those people. We then went to Kimpurakh Khand. Guru ji went close to a village as if benevolence took on a human form. The king of this area was Dharam Chand. He served the saints with joy. He came to Guru ji and bowed his head. There was a lot of love in his heart. He said to Guru ji: “please tell me a Seva. I will do as you say, without delay.” Listen Sri Guru Angad Dev ji, Guru ji turned me into a big lion to test the king. He said: “oh Raja, if you wish to serve me, then give my lion some food. He doesn’t eat anything other than the sons of kings.” To test the king, he said this. The Raja didn’t waiver. He said: “my son is home. I will command him to come without delay.” The Raja had a servant sent for his son.
The servant brought the prince quickly. The prince was great as well. He wanted to give his body for the Seva of saints. He was ready to give his life. He stood in front of the lion, me. Guru ji said: “you are great oh king. Your mind is drenched in the love for the Seva of saints. Do the Simran of the Giver of Joy, the Satnam. You love the Sangat. You will leave your body easily and receive Mukti.” Guru ji stayed there for some days and gave the wisdom of the glory of Hari.
The Master then went on ahead to the Harvarkh Khand. We came close to a village and sat there. The King of the area came with his hands folded. He bowed his head to Guru ji’s feet. He became humble for a long time. Guru ji then said: “what ever wish is in your heart, you can tell me and receive it. Accept the Sikhi of the Satguru in your heart. Your bond of being born and dying will break.” The Raja heard the welcomed words and said: “you are the great root of praise. Please listen to my request: I have tried many things to have a child. My wish has not been fulfilled till today. I tried everything. Oh saint, if you can give me the boon for a son, whatever is your teaching, I will accept it.” The Master of the World heard this and gave the Raja 2 cloves and 1 Elaichi in his hand. Guru ji said: “give this to your queen. You will have children. Do the Simran of Satnam and listen to the praises of Parmeshwar in the Satsang. The vices and desires, destroy them from your heart.” Guru ji stayed there for some days and preached the ways of Sikhi in that area. Guru ji then took leave.
We reached the Kuru Khand next. The way of the people there, listen Guru Angad Dev ji: when people had sons, everyone would come and cry. When someone died, they would come and laugh and be merry with joy. We came close to the village and sat down. The Light of the Bedis sat. Bhai Mardana ji heard about the traditions of the area and asked Guru ji: “the people of this area are quite dramatic. They are opposites in their ways.” Guru ji said: “listen Mardana, the people are unwise. When Vahiguru sends someone to the world, they cry out in pain. When someone dies by the Hukam, they celebrate it. They are unwise. Listen to how Gyaanis are: when a person is sent into the world, they are happy in their hearts. When someone dies, they are still at peace. They do Simran in both times. They accept the will and don’t do what their mind tells them to do.” In this way Guru ji spoke with Bhai Mardana ji.
Many people of the area came to meet Guru ji. They came and sat near Guru ji. Bhai Mardana ji asked the people: “tell me about your ways. You laugh at death and cry at births. You must have some Gyaan.” The wise elders of the people spoke: “we have understood this Gyaan: when someone is born, they are separated from Ishwar. When one dies, they go back to Ishwar. When they take birth, they are in pain. They are at peace when they die, meeting the Ishwar again. This is the reason for us crying and laughing.” Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji heard this and said: “to meet the Parmeshwar is really hard. Without the Bhagti in the Satsang, there is no other way to meet the Parmeshwar. Sing the Keertan with Prema Bhagti. Do the Simran with focus. It is the Simran without talking. There is no separation or meeting. Everything is about the body. When you live in the Satsangat, you practice to stop your mind with Simran. Your vices and desires will be destroyed. Duality, sense of self as separate, all is destroyed. You see Parmatma everywhere. This whole universe is a myth. When the Aatma breaks the doubt, you see the Parmatma as the pure consciousness. When you see the body as the Anatma (not the Aatma), the efforts and bad thoughts are destroyed. You then meet the Ishwar. Otherwise, you are always separated. The ones who achieve the Gyaan, they don’t see separation or meeting. Parmatma is complete and everywhere (omnipresent). If you don’t see Parmatma as different from you, then what’s the separation? Only separated ones meet again. It is a myth to see the separation. Just as space is everywhere and one, only the vessel is different. Maya makes you seem different. The space in the pot is the same as the space in the sky. When the pot breaks, the space immerses with the great space. When the Maya breaks, only the Aatma is seen. It is because of the Maya, as the vessel, which makes us see the difference in bodies (or vessels). Your crying and laughing are useless. The humans are under the commands of their desires. For this reason, they keep taking births and die again. This gives them pain. They keep coming back to this world.” When the people heard the words of Guru ji, they thought about it: “this saint speaks the truth. We were wrong.” Their doubts were broken. They bowed and accepted Guru ji as their Guru. They bowed to Guru ji, over and over again. They said: “please give us Mukti, oh Giver of Mukti. Give us your wisdom. Keep the honour of the one who comes to your sanctuary.” Guru ji heard their humble words and gave them his wisdom: “do the Simran of Satnam with attention. Your wishes will be fulfilled. Accept the command of the Kartaar as the truth. Being born and dying is the same. Make your mind still from joy and sorrow. You will undoubtedly receive Mukti then.” The people heard the wisdom and became Sikhs. They had faith in Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji. Satsangat began to occur in the area. The fortunate ones sang the glories of Hari. They served the saints and did the Simran of Hari with faith and devotion. Guru ji stayed there for many days. He gave them the Dharma and made them practice it. Santokh Singh bows to the Guru and completes the Adhyaaya.