Ever since its creation, the world has always been in need of prophets, divine messengers, saints and sages for the uplift of mankind and the acquisition of divine peace by extinguishing the fires of lust, avarice, wrath and vanity from human hearts. From the very beginning, such divinely inspired persons have from time to time come to the stage of this universe to perform their destined roles and to accomplish their divinely ordained missions. They themselves sing spiritual hymns and meditate on the Divine Name and inspire others to do the same. They, thus, guide the materially bewildered humanity to the right path.
India has attained a very high status in the realm of spiritualism and this country is known as the land of great saints and sages (Gurus, Rishis and Munis). Besides Lord Rama, Krishna, Vashisht, Prehlad and Buddha, in ancient times, many great saints like Kabir, Namdev, Ravidas, Farid and several others have blessed this land in the recent past. The ten Gurus (from Guru Nanak to Guru Gobind Singh) have created a spiritual revolution, which has inspired even the downtrodden and commoners to tread the divine path. Their teachings are relevant even in today’s world, rather more than ever before.
They blessed mankind with the gift of the Divine Name. Those, who realized the divine within, were called Gurmukhs and were ordained to show the divine path to seekers of the ultimate Truth.
Guru Nanak blessed a thief Bhumia to attain God-consciousness through meditation on the Divine Name and directed him to guide others to do so. Similarly, Bhai Lalo (a poor carpenter), Salis Rai Jauhari, Adhraka Golam, Jhanda Baadi, Devloot (King of demons), Kauda Rakash, Raja Shiv Nav (The King of Lakshadweep Islands) and many others were blessed by Guru Nanak with the Divine grace and were bestowed with the authority to show the path of spiritual realization to seekers of the truth. Guru Amar Das established
22 Manjis (divine seats or centres) and 52 Pirhies (divine sub-seats) – two-tier spiritual seats of God-conscious persons for showing the path of God’s realization to mankind through meditation on the Divine Name. The tenth Guru authorized Bhai Nand Lal (a great saintly poet), Sahib Ram Kaur (Baba Gurbaksh Singh after baptism with Amrit), Bhai Mani Singh, a great martyr, whose body was cut into pieces bit by bit and other God-conscious Sikhs to show the path of God-realization within to the seekers of Truth. Guru Gobind Singh in one of his verses says:
Khalsa mero satgur poora, Khalsa mero sajjan soora (Guru Gobind Singh)
{Khalsa (who has become one with God) is my perfect true Divine Master (the teacher, who is God-conscious and sees Him both within and without) and Khalsa is my affectionate divine friend.}
The tenth Master adds in Sarab Loh Granth:
Aatam ras jeh janeha so hai khaalas dev
Prabh meh mo meh taas meh ranchak naahan bhaev (Guru Gobind Singh)
{(He, who has realized the God within, becomes one with the Divine. There is not a trace of spiritual difference between God, myself (Guru Gobind Singh) and Khalsa (who has realized God within)}
Guru Gobind Singh further enunciates the definition and the characteristics of the Khalsa (the God-conscious person):
Jaagat jyot japai nis baasur Eik bina mann naik naa aanai
Pooran prem parteet sajaai Brat gaur marrie matt bhool naa manai Tirath daan daya tap sanjam Eik bina neh eik pachhane
Puran jyot jagai ghatt mein Tab Khaalas tahe naa Khaalas jaanai. (Guru Gobind Singh)
{He, who meditates on the all-pervading Divine Light day in and day out and discards all else from his mind, never severed from the thought of one God from his mind.
He, who is full of love, devotion and confidence in God, does not put his faith, even unconsciously, in fasting or the graves of Muslim saints, Hindu crematoria or hermits and monasteries.
He, who recognizes only one God needs no pilgrimages, almsgiving, non-destruction of life, penances, austerities or self-restraint.
Such a blessed person, within whom shines the radiant light of the perfect Divine One, is then only called spiritually true and pure one, i.e., the Khalsa (the God-conscious person.)}
Similarly, Guru Granth Sahib also stresses the need for God-conscious persons for all the seekers of truth:
Jo jo joonee aa-i-o tih tih urjhaa-i-o maanas janam sanjog paa-i-aa.
Taa kee hai oat saadh raakhau de kar haath kar kirpaa melhau har raa-i-aa. Anik janam bharam thitt nahee paa-ee.
Kar-au sewa gur laag-au charan govind jee kaa maarag deh-au jee bataa-ee. (Rahaa-o)
Anik upaav kar-au maa-i-aa kau bachit dhar-au meree meree karat sad hee vihaavai.
Ko-ee aiso re bhete sant meree laah-ai sagal chint thaakur si-o meraa rang laav-ai.
Parh-ei re sagal be-id nah chook-ai mann bhe-id ik khin naa dheer-ih mer-ei ghar ke panchaa.
Ko-ee aiso re bhagat jo maa-i-aa te rehat ik amrit naam mer-ei rid-ai sinchaa. Jete re tirath nhaa-ei ahan-budh me-il laa-ei ghar ko thaakur ik til naa maan-ai.
Kad paav-au saadhsang har har sadaa aanand gi-aan anjan meraa mann isnaan-ai.
Sagal aasram keen-ei manoo-aa nah pateen-ei bibek heen dehee dho-ei.
Ko-ee paa-ee-ai re purkh bidhaataa paarbaraham kai rang raataa mer-ei mann kee durmat mal kho-ei.
Karam dharam jugtaa nimakh naa heit kartaa garab garab parh-ei kahee naa lekh-ei.
Jis bhetee-ai safal moorat kar-ei sadaa keerat gur parsaad ko-oo netrauh pekh-ei.
Mannhatth jo kamaav-ei til naa lekh-ei paav-ei bagul ji-o dhi-aan laav-ei maa-i-aa re dhaaree.
Ko-ee aiso re sukheh daa-ee prabh kee kathaa sunaa-ee tis bhete gat ho-e hamaaree.
Suparsanh gopaal raa-e kaat-ei re bandhan maa-e gur ke sabad meraa mann raataa.
Sadaa sadaa aanand bheti-o nirbhai Gobind sukh Nanak laadh-ei har charan paraataa.
Safal safal bha-ee safal jaatraa.
Aavan jaan rahe mil-ei saadhaa. (Rahaa-o dooja) (686-687)
{All the living beings that come into existence are entangled in worldly affairs according to their nature of birth, but human life is supreme which is obtained only with the grace of God.
the Guru says:
O’ Divine Master, I have taken your refuge. Kindly provide me with your divine shelter and protection (from the worldly ego and attachments) and shower your Grace and blessings to make me one with the divine truth.
After wandering through innumerable births, still we have not attained spiritual bliss. I serve the Guru and I fall at his feet, praying, O Dear Lord of the Universe, please, show me the way.
So far, all my efforts have been to acquire and cherish worldly wealth and have always been craving for this and thereby have been entangled in it all the time. I pray that I may be blessed with the company of such a God-conscious person, who may help me to get rid of all my worldly anxieties and make me enshrine the love for the Almighty.
After studying the Vedas, I could not get my doubts cleared about the divine truth. My mind always remained overpowered by the five evils of lust, anger, greed, attachment and ego. I yearn for the
He, who faithfully follows and practices the teachings of the God-conscious person, overcomes the five evils of lust, anger, greed, attachment and ego, by His Grace.
the grace of the divine person, free from all the worldly attachments, who may bless me with the nectar of the Divine Name.
The more I bathe at the pilgrimages, the more I gather the dirt of ego and arrogance and remain always indifferent to God. I am ever-longing for the company of the blessed one, always having the grace of the Divine Name within, so that my mind gets immersed in spiritual bliss.
I have practised all the religious rituals but my mind did not get Divine solace, because I only used to clean the body devoid of divine love. May I get a chance to have the company of a God-conscious person imbibed with the supreme Lord’s love, who shall eradicate the evil and filthy impressions from my mind?
A person, who is attached to the pseudo-religious rituals, is worthless. He does not have divine love even for a moment and is always puffed up with excessive ego. He, who comes in the company of the Divine Master always sings the glory of the Lord and gets divine wisdom of seeing One-in-all and All-in-one by His grace.
Trying to attain occult powers for acquiring worldly wealth is of no avail for acquiring divine virtues. Such a person is just like a crane, which feigns undergoing severe penance by standing on one leg but is still full of greed and craving to catch the fish. Is there any God-conscious person, who can bestow upon me (the seeker of Truth), divine peace by reciting the holy hymns of God? I long for the such a pious company for spiritual bliss.
As soon as my mind got engrossed in the holy teachings of the Divine Master, the Almighty Lord showered all His blessings and
freed me from the bonds of worldly evils. Nanak says that with humble submission and meditation on the Divine Name, one always gets imbued with eternal bliss.
My life’s pilgrimage became extremely fruitful, as I got salvation from the cycle of birth and rebirth through the grace of my Divine Master.}
The Guru ordains us to follow and respect the God-conscious person:
Kar saadhu anjali punn wadaa hae Kar dandaut punn wadda hae (13)
(To make obeisance with folded hands and to completely submit unto the one, who has realized God within and without, is an act of divine merit.)
Charan saadh ke dho-e dho-e pee-o Arp saadh ko apnaa jee-o
Saadh kee dhoor kar-hau isnaan Saadh oopar jaa-ee-ai kurbaan (283)
(The seeker after truth should completely submit to the God-conscious person and devotedly follow His divine teachings. Decimate your ego, and engross thyself in Divine Humility. Sacrifice thyself to the Holy, i.e., kill thy identity and merge thyself into the Divine Light.)
Saadh ke sang nahee kachh ghall Darsan bhetat hoat nihaal (272)
(In the company of the saints, if one follows the divine teachings in letter and spirit, he is not required to put his body to various sufferings and stresses, i.e., Jap-Tap in the name of God for getting salvation. One attains spiritual bliss by beholding and meeting the Divine Master, i.e., by complete submission to His Divine commands and following these in letter and spirit.)
Jae ko bachan kamma-wai santan kaa So gurparsaadi taree-ei (747)
(He, who faithfully follows and practices the teachings of God’s conscious persons, gets salvation from ego and becomes divine by His Grace.)
The God-conscious persons have crossed the worldly ocean of ego and lust by realizing God within and have become eligible for showing and leading the spiritual path to others through the recitation of Guru Granth Sahib with full devotion.
Paarbraham saadh ridh bas-ei Nanak udhre saadh sunn ras-ei (272)
(Nanak says that he, who listens in ecstasy, to the teachings of the holy, is liberated because the supreme Lord resides in the heart of the God-conscious person.)
Nanak kahat sunho re logaa Sant rassan ko basah-ee-au (700)
(Nanak says, O’ people! listen, the Divine Lord dwells on the tongue of saints. That the saints are the true messengers of the Divine Lord.)
We all know well that for learning any kind of trade, whether it is of blacksmith or carpenter, there is a need for a teacher-taught relationship. In education, there is a need for a person better educated than the one who wants to learn. In the same way, for seekers of truth, there is a need for the company of God-conscious persons.
Depending upon his intelligence and devotion, the student can learn to a certain extent from worldly books, but for understanding specific points, he needs the help of a teacher. In the same way, every seeker of the ultimate Truth, depending upon his love for God, can have to that extent an understanding of the divine path through the recitation of Gurbani, but for insight into some special spiritual points, there is always a need for the company of God-conscious persons, who have moulded their lives in accordance with the teachings of Gurbani and the Gurmukhs, who have become one with God by completely shedding off their ego:
Gur ka bachan bas-ei ji naal-ei.
Jal nahee doob-ei taskar nahee lev-ei Bhaah-ei naa saak-ei jaal-ei. (679)
(I have acquired the Divine Wealth by following and practicing the Divine Teachings of my Guru in letter and spirit. Neither the water can wash away this wealth nor the fire can burn it and nor a thief can steal it.)
The God-conscious persons have crossed the worldly ocean of ego and lust by realizing God within and have become eligible for showing and leading the spiritual path to others through the recitation of Guru Granth Sahib with full devotion:
Sansaa eho sansaar hai Suti-aa re-in vihaa-ei (36)
(The world is an illusion but everybody has taken it as real and has thus got entangled in this. Nobody is trying to realize the Divine Truth and rather spends his entire life in illusionary sleep.)
To get salvation from worldly bondage, i.e., five evils {Kaam (lust), Krodh (anger), Lobh (greed), Moh (attachment), Ahankaar (ego)}, the God-conscious persons viz., the saints, sages and seers give guidance to the seekers of Truth in the same way as an experienced pilot of a ship raises buoys after a thorough search in the sea for a safe passage of the ship, which reaches safely if it passes through the signs of these buoys; otherwise it
may get wrecked by striking against hidden stones and rocks or may even be caught in sand or swamps.
In education, there is a need for a person better educated than the one who wants to learn. In the same way, for seekers of truth, there is a need for the company of God-conscious persons.
The point is very clear and is in accordance with the spiritual guidance of Sikhism. Gurmukhs (the God-conscious persons) have been preaching Gurmat from the very beginning and providing guidance to the commoners under the holy command of Guru Nanak and other Gurus from time to time. In the same way, the Gurmukhs under command of Guru Granth Sahib, the Eternal Guru, are carrying out the Divine Mission and the Gurmat preaching according to the Divine Order (Ilahi Hukam):
Guru Sikh Sikh Guru hai Eiko Gur updes chalaai
Ram Naam mant hirdai dei-vai Nanak milan sobhaai (444)
{When the Sikh follows the Divine teachings of the Guru with intense love and devotion, he kills his ego and identity and becomes one with his Divine Master (the Guru). Thus, in the spiritual realm, there remains no spiritual difference between the disciple and the preceptor. Such a divine disciple disseminates the same teachings to other seekers of the Ultimate Truth, as the preceptor himself.}
Guru Nanak says that He inculcates the Divine Name in the subconscious mind of the disciple, who merges himself with the Divine by reciting the Divine Name:
Jan Nanak dhoorh mangai tis gursikh ki Jo aap japai av-reh naam japaav-ei (306)
(Nanak says, strictly follow the path shown by the God-conscious person, who himself meditates on the Divine Name and shows others the path of doing so.)
Guru Arjan showers accolades on such type of spiritually engrossed God-conscious persons:
Jo jaanai tis sadaa sukh ho-e Aap milaa-e la-ei prabh so-e
Oh dhanwant kulwant patwant Jeewan mukat jis ridd-ei bhagwant Dhan dhan dhan jann aa-i-aa Jis parsaad sabh jagat traa-i-aa Jann aawan kaa ih-ei suaao Jann ke sang chitt aav-ei naao
Aap mukat mukat kar-ei sansaar Nanak tis jann kau sadaa namaskaar (294)
(He, who realizes Him, obtains eternal peace. The Lord blends him with Himself. He, who has realized the God within, is wealthy, of status, honourable and attains salvation. Highly acclaimed is the advent of a God-conscious person. With Thy Grace, the entire mankind has been shown the divine path to realize the Divine Truth. The Almighty has sent the God-conscious person with the sole aim and objective of inspiring mankind to follow the divine path and meditate on the Divine Name. Nanak ever makes obeisance to him, who himself is emancipated and also emancipates the world.)
To attain the divine, we need to follow and submit to the God-conscious persons:
Mann hatth budhee ketee-aa ket-ei baid beechaar Ket-ei bandhan jee-a ke gurmukh mokhduaar Sach-au oar-ai sabh ko uppar sach aachaar (62)
{Many persons intentionally undergo physical suffering and hardships by doing Hatha Yoga to realize the Divine Truth. Many others are analyzing the Divine Truth with intellect and so many others contemplate Vedas to attain the Divine Truth. There are so many other types of rituals being performed for the soul, but they remain away from reality and the divine path. One gets salvation from all these entanglements only through the complete submission of himself to the God-conscious Being (Guru). The Divine Truth is the highest of all virtues, but higher still is living with the Divine Truth.}
How can there be peace and calm in us if we do not follow the commands of the holy Masters, i.e., the God-conscious persons?
The Divine Word (Gurbani), the Divine Name and the Divine One are one and the same. Thus Gurbani is the source of the divine nectar. The one, who follows and practices Gurbani realizes the manifestation of God both within and without.
More than ever before, there is a need for God-conscious persons in today’s materialistic life, where people are simply engaged in the rat race for the acquisition of worldly wealth and comforts. They are just oblivious to the true goal of life. How can there be peace and calm in us if we do not follow the commands of the holy Masters, i.e., the God-conscious persons?
