The paathi sings the Bani of Swami Ji Maharaj...
Dhanya dhanya dhanya dhanya piyare,
Kya kahu mahima shabad ki.
THIS IS THE BANI of Huzoor Swami Ji Maharaj. In this Bani Swami Ji Maharaj has explained the Glory of the Shabd, the Sound Current that comes from Almighty.
It is said that for acquiring the knowledge of this Five Shabd Path that Jaimal Singh Ji Maharaj spent ten years of search for a True Master. It is said that he had been looking out for Masters Who could give him the full Path of Five Shabds, but he met several Masters who knew the path of two Shabds or three Shabds. Thus, after a long search, in Agra, he met Swami Ji Maharaj Who initiated him and gave him the Five Shabd Path.
After he got initiated, Jaimal Singh Ji Maharaj requested to stay at the ashram of Swami Ji Maharaj. But upon his request to Swami Ji Maharaj, Swami Ji Maharaj told Jaimal Singh Ji, "No, son, you cannot stay at the ashram. You should earn your livelihood and carry on with your life and, simultaneously, do your Bhajan.”
The other objective of saying so was that the ashram and Swami Ji Maharaj’s preachings were new to the people. So, a lot of other people would come and touch the feet of the Master and His initiates and bow before them. As a result, whatever the initiate had gained from the practice would be generally lost. So, that is why Swami Ji Maharaj wanted him to be a little away from the ashram and carry out his practice.
Following the instructions of his Master, Jaimal Singh Ji Maharaj joined the military and he did a lot of rigorous work. The whole day he would carry out his duty in the military and in the night he would do the practice, and that's how he manifested the Five Shabds within. With a lot of difficult austerity and practice, he was able to manifest the Shabd within and perfect the Teachings of his Master.
Similarly, Baba Somanath Ji also did a lot of austerity for almost twenty-five years and practiced pranayamas. But he got his true satisfaction only after he got initiated by a Master Who showed him the Path of the Surat Shabd and gave him the Five Names.
The Masters have preached the glory of the Shabd. Sant Mat is the study and practice of Surat Shabd. Surat Shabd is the practice of connecting the soul (Surat) and the Sound Current (Shabd) coming from the Almighty God. So, Swami Ji Maharaj says, "Blessed, blessed are the souls who have practiced and manifested the Shabd within." Swami Ji Maharaj has talked about the glory of the Shabd in this Bani.
Dhanya dhanya dhanya dhanya piyare,
Kya kahu mahima shabad ki.
Jo parache shabad se
So jane mahima shabad ki.
He says that only those people who have manifested the Sound Current within are aware of the Sound Current. Only they are aware of the Sound Current, or Shabd or Logos.
There was a Sufi ascetic who was doing a practice on the outskirts of a village. He had a few disciples. Among the disciples, there were also a few disciples who were gurumukhs and had manifested the Shabd within.
While the disciples were talking, there were a few people who had come from outside. There were about ten, twelve people who came from outside who were engaged in rites and rituals and deity worship. So, they had come to visit and they were sitting with the disciples and generally discussing spirituality.
One of the disciples, who was enlightened, was sitting in practice, and he was in connection with the Logos inside, with the Shabd inside. And suddenly he sat up and went running to the Master and said, "God is dead!"
So, this caused embarrassment to the Master and the disciples. They felt that in the presence of all these people from outside, if someone says something like this, it would cause a riot. The Master asked that disciple to immediately leave the ashram.
After about five, ten minutes the disciple came running back and again he said, “Maharaj, Maharaj, God the Almighty is dead!" So, this happened again. He was taken out of the ashram and, again, after going about here and there, after a few minutes he came running back and repeated the same thing.
Now, looking at the disciple, the Master also said, "Yes, Almighty is dead!" So, the other disciples started wondering what had happened. Three times the Master had asked the disciple to leave and now He also was saying the same thing. By then, those people who had come from outside had left. So, the disciples were quite confused as to why the Master was saying what He was saying now. So, the Master then explained to the disciples that, when he was sitting in the meditation, his attention had gone within and had connected with the Sound Current. And that is why his mind became completely sublimed, or merged, with the Sound Current. And that is what gave him that feeling. And that is why he was saying, “God is dead.”
So, when one is connected like this with the Sound Current, he completely disowns the rest of the world and everything around him. And he then sees the reality of the Sound Current only.
Then, the Master went on to explain that for a normal human being who is unaware, and who is not in connection with the Sound Current, the mind is God. And for those people who are connected with the Sound Current, for them, it is God Who resides in Sach Khand. For them, God is different.
Therefore, when the mind of this disciple got in connection with the Sound Current, he said "The Almighty God is dead" — meaning the mind, which is the God of the worldly, is dead.
He went on to explain that this is how that disciple had experienced the death of God. Because, for him, the mind was no more, and it was in touch with and completely merged with the Sound Current. So, for him his mind, which was till then his God of his world, was dead.
Jo parache shabad se
So jane mahima shabad ki.
Chin chin raksha ho rahi
Kya upama kahu mai shabad ki.
Swami Ji Maharaj says that once the Shabd is manifested within then, every second, the Shabd is protecting, or the Sound Current is protecting, that soul or that disciple. So, He says, "How can one sing the glory of the Shabd?” The glory of the Shabd is only known to those Who have manifested It within. It is only when you actually get in touch with the Sound Current within that you actually understand how blissful It is, how attractive It is, and how magnetic It is. Sant Mat is about the Surat Shabd or the practice of the soul to manifest the Sound Current. So, everything that is taught, and the practices that are explained by the Masters, are to get the soul in touch with the Sound Current. And it is actually when the Sound Current is manifested within that the Radiant Form of the Guru, Sadguru, is also manifested within. The Sadguru, or the Radiant Form of the Master, is a manifestation of the Sound Current and the Sadguru protects you every second.
Chin chin raksha ho rahi
Kya upama kahu mai shabad ki.
Bina shabad ke phire bharmatia
Nahi jaane gati mati shabad ki.
Swami Ji Maharaj points out that the soul, which is not in touch with the Sound Current, or which does not get connected with the Sound Current in the lifetime that is given to it, has to go through the 84 lakh cycles of life and death and drowns in the ocean of sorrow. The soul then continuously pleads in those lifecycles for help. But at that time there is nobody to get it out of that misery. So, it is said that only if one is very blessed, one gets connected to a true Living Master. Masters say that after millions and millions of punyas, or good deeds, you get the human life. And, with the Grace of the Almighty in the human life, you get in touch with the Master.
Tulsi Das says, "Two things are not there for everyone. One is Master, and the other, the study and practice of the Teachings of the Master.” Everything else, which is having a wife or a spouse, the wealth, and all other things, are there for even the nonbelievers, or people who are doing bad deeds. But it is only the True Master and the Teachings of the Master to be followed, which not everyone is blessed with.
So, the Almighty only sends those souls, whom He wants connected to Him, to the Masters. And that is how the souls get connected to the Masters, and then they practice and reach Him. So, the Masters are in touch with Almighty and They then get in touch with the soul and connect the soul with the Sound Current of the Almighty. And then They send them to Almighty.
So, Swami Ji Maharaj says that it is really the blessed souls who have got the practice of the Surat Shabd and the Sound Current.
Bina shabad ke phire bharmatia
Nahi jaane gati mati shabad ki.
Jin guru paya shabad ka
Aur preet kari jin shabad ki…
Swami Ji Maharaj, again, indicates that he who gets in touch with a true Living Master and then, following the Teachings of the Master, manifests the Shabd within, attains enlightenment and gets salvation. He says that even people who have been in many difficulties, or have been engaged in really laborious work and have really difficult lives, have also been able to do this practice. They have done Simran and manifested the Shabd and the Radiant Form of the Master within and got salvation.
There was a disciple in Mumbai near the Parel Railway Station, which is a station on the Western Railway in Mumbai. This disciple had a shanty next to the station, more like a slum. And he was engaged in the business, or trade, of making bidis. Bidis are thin Indian cigarettes made from leaves, which are filled with tobacco.
So, the whole day he would do Simran, and he would fill tobacco in the leaves and make these bidis. And, while he was doing that, he would continuously do Simran the whole day.
And after he was done with this work, till approximately 11:00 pm, he would keep aside that load of bidis that he had done during the day and he would sit for meditation. And, throughout the night, he would sit for meditation and do Dhyan and Bhajan. And nobody had ever seen him sleeping for many, many years.
So, during the daytime, he would be engaged in this livelihood, and during the night he would do Dhyan and Bhajan. It was a very small shanty and there was no bed inside that hut. There was a small mat on which he would sit and do his work and then, at night, on that same mat, he would sit with his back against the wall, and then do this practice.
This was for more than fifty years that he had done this work and this meditation, and Dhyan and Bhajan. He was, otherwise, illiterate. But a lot of people would go to meet him. And then he would give them a lot of enlightened talks. And he could discuss at length about the glory of Masters and various things.
When he grew old, there was no one to look after him. So, that was when Somanath Baba Ji asked him to come to Devangere Ashram. And that's where he stayed. Near the ashram, there were a lot of big wholesale traders of rice. So, Baba Ji had told those traders to take care of this disciple, and they were engaged in taking care of him. And He had told them that he was a Sadhu. A Sadhu is a person who has reached Par Brahm. A lot of people then, following Baba Somanath Ji’s instructions, were doing seva or were helping this person. And he would, in turn, make all of them sit for meditation. This went on for quite some time.
One day, someone got a pumpkin and vegetables, and kheer was prepared from that pumpkin. Apparently, that pumpkin caused food poisoning, and all of the people who had eaten it fell sick. They had loose motions and vomiting. And even this person also suffered and, as he was already old and weak, he was later admitted to the hospital. For two or three days he was in the hospital, and then he passed away.
Thus, even such people, who are born in extremely poor conditions and have lived in difficult conditions, have also done their practice and done their Bhajan and Simran and manifested the Radiant Form of the Master within, and have progressed on the Spiritual Path.
Jin guru paya shabad ka
Aur preek kari jin shabad ki.
Bade bhaag vaha jeev hai
Jo kare kamai shabad ki.
So, Swami Ji Maharaj says, "Blessed are the souls who follow the Teachings of the Master and do the Surat Shabd practice and get in touch with the Sound Current, or the Shabd." Otherwise, the mind misleads us.
The Masters always preach for the benefit of the souls. They always hope and expect and try to explain to the disciples that they should follow the Teachings of the Masters and come within and make themselves competent to assimilate the Grace of the Masters.
It is said that unless one actually comes within and sees the Radiant Form of the Guru inside, and gets in touch with the Shabd, he is not able to actually develop True Love and True Faith in the Guru. Otherwise, it is outward faith and love that the disciple has.
Only when he sees the Radiant Form of the Guru within and gets in touch with the Sound Current, does he actually develop Real Faith and Real Love for the Guru.
Mira Bai spent her whole life in devotion. For more than twenty-five years, since her childhood, she had been worshiping Lord Krishna. However, she got true bliss and satisfaction only after she was initiated by Ravidas into the Surat Shabd. She, thereafter, took a small house near Mathura, and that is where she practiced and got her soul enlightened, and she saw the Radiant Form of her Guru inside.
When Mira, after practice, saw the Radiant Form of Ravidas, her Master inside, she started dancing and she started singing, "I have attained the jewel of Naam.” It’s a very, very popular bhajan that is there in India. And she was so much intoxicated in the love of her Guru that she used to dance merrily and sing the praises of her Guru.
When the soul is in the womb of the mother, God gives it the support of Shabd and Light. So, these are two energies that support it in the womb. Now because the baby is connected to the Light and the Sound inside, the baby is conscious of thousands of lives earlier that he or she has had. It is, in fact, in an inverse and difficult position with heat and a foul smell, and it is conscious of all its sufferings in its previous lives. So, it is conscious of the karmas it has done previously and is afraid of the previous sufferings it has endured as a result, and the current suffering that it is facing inside the womb.
When the baby is born, as soon as it comes outside the womb, Maya puts the veil of illusion on the soul, and the baby then loses the connection of the Sound and Light inside. So, the baby, having lost the connection of the Light and the Sound inside, when it comes out, it cries. And then, as the baby starts feeding on milk and other food, as it grows, it is surrounded by more and more illusions. And then it is completely surrounded by illusion and completely forgets what it has seen earlier.
So, it is the same Shabd that is there inside the womb, which supports the soul. And it is that same Shabd, which we have to manifest by following the Teachings of the Masters. So, with the Grace of the Master, the disciple, after doing the practice, gets in touch with the Shabd, or the Sound Current. He once again sees all the births of his past. All the memories come back. And the mind, which is otherwise a big enemy, resistant to doing this practice, gets merged into the Sound Current and becomes a good friend. So, once the soul gets in touch with the Sound Current inside and it sees the Radiant Form, it also realizes how all the universes, the three planes, are existent; that is, the Physical, Astral and Causal and how all these universes, or all these planes, have been created and how they are working. All of that enlightenment comes when the soul gets in touch with the Sound Current, or the Shabd. It is because the Shabd has created all these three planes − the Pind, And, and Brahmand − or the Physical, Astral, and Causal. And, therefore, the moment the soul gets in touch with the Shabd, the entire knowledge is attained. That is why the Saints have spoken about the glory of the Shabd.
Bade bhaag vaha jeev hai
Jo kare kamai shabad ki.
Bina shabad mann vas nahi.
Tum surat karo ab shabad ki.
Swami Ji Maharaj says that without getting in touch with the Shabd, or Sound Current, you will not be able to control your mind, which is presently your enemy. The mind is not a small thing. The mind is the ruler of the three planes, that is the Physical, Astral and Causal planes. So, it is the ruler of the three, and so it is not a small thing. All the other penances or austerities, like the Ashtanga Yoga, or the Hatha Yoga, or there are several other practices that are followed for controlling the mind and getting the soul enlightened, with all these practices, one is not able to get control of the mind because the mind is not above Brahm. He is the ruler of the Physical, Astral and Causal. And all these practices are within the Physical, Astral, and Causal bodies.
And, therefore, to get control of the mind, you have to get beyond Brahm. So, when the Guru gets the mind and the soul in touch with the Sar Shabd, at that time the mind gets in touch with the Sound Current. And then it is only at that point that you can say you have control of the mind.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, “With crores of practices you will not be able to get the mind under control. It is only with the connection with the Sound Current that you can get control of the mind.” So, without getting in touch with the Sound Current, this mind that is your current enemy, cannot be brought under control.
Bina shabad mann vas nahi.
Tum surat karo ab shabd ki.
Wah kyun aaye is jagat me
Jin milee na punjee shabad ki.
Swami Ji Maharaj goes on to say, "For those who have not gotten the Teachings and gotten to practice the Surat Shabd Yoga or gotten in touch with the Masters, I wonder why they are in existence." These souls are in continuous misery. They are continuously going through the life cycles of the 84 lakh cycles of life and death, and they are in continuous misery. And they are sad.
So, I had explained earlier in my Satsang*, that when Kal, after doing a lot of austerities, had asked for souls to populate his Creation, God had given him a large number of souls. And when He was handing over these souls to Kal, about twenty-five percent of them did not want to go over to Kal. They did not want to go, but God said, "Look, I have committed
to Kal, and I'm handing all of you over there. But, for all of those who want to come back, I will come personally to get you. So, when you are in difficulty and you remember Me, I will definitely come to pick you up."
So, it is only these twenty-five percent of souls who were unhappy to go to Kal, who subsequently get in touch with Sant Mat and get in touch with the Living Masters and do the practices and go back. The other seventy-five percent of the souls are, anyways, happy about being in these lifecycles and they don't even want to go anywhere else.
Wah kyun aaye is jagat me
Jin milee na punjee shabad ki.
Dhun ghat me haradam ho rahi.
Kyun sune na baani shabad ki.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, "The Dhun, the Shabd, is vibrating twenty-four hours at the Eye Center. Why don’t you listen to it?”
The soul, along with the mind, is so attracted to the outside world it is continuously lost in thought of this outward world and its matters. The soul has completely lost its own identity, and it has completely associated or identified itself with its complete surrounding. So, after the soul listens to Satsang and gets initiation from an Attained Master and does the practice then, gradually, and with the Grace of his Master, it focuses the attention within and gets in connection with the Shabd.
So, Shabd is great and Masters have always praised the glory of the Shabd. Once the soul gets in touch with the Shabd, he gets peace and he gets happiness.
Dhun ghat me haradam ho rahi.
Kyun sune na baani shabad ki.
Tu baith akela dhyan dhar
Toh mile nishanee shabad ki.
Swami Ji Maharaj says that with Simran you collect your thoughts and focus at the Eye Center. And, gradually, the Sound Current, which is vibrating within, will manifest and show itself. And you will get the Sound Current because the Sound Current is there twenty-four hours. It is there all the time. It is only our attention, which is not there on that Sound Current. Our attention is spread outside.
So, by doing Simran, Dhyan, and Bhajan, the mind gets purer. And, as the mind gets purer, the Sound Current, or the Shabd, is automatically heard by us.
Tu baith akela dhyan dhar
Toh mile nishanee shabad ki.
Taj alas nidra kayalee
Tu lagan lagaale shabad ki.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, “Sacrifice your sleep, lethargy and surrender impatience and practice the Teachings of the Master. Do Dhyan, Bhajan, and do Simran and all your problems will be solved." Without the practice, without Simran, Dhyan, Bhajan, and without the manifestation of the Shabd within, our problems will not get solved.
Tu alas nidra kayalee
Tu lagan lagaale shabad ki.
Paanch shabad ghat me baje
Yeh nirnay karale shabad ki.
Swami Ji Maharaj says that there are five Shabds inside, which are explained during initiation. By doing Simran, Dhyan, Bhajan you will manifest the Shabd within. This first Shabd connects you to the second Shabd and, likewise, the second to the third, until you eventually manifest all the five Shabds within.
So, you get to see and you get connected to all the Shabds. And, this way, the soul gets to reach its True Home, Sach Khand, or Sat Lok, and meet its True Father, the Almighty God.
Paanch shabad ghat me baje
Yeh nirnay karale shabad ki.
Guru gyan bataaya ghabad ka
Tu hoja dhyani shabad ki.
So, Swami Ji Maharaj says that the Masters have given you the Teachings of the Surat Shabd Path, teaching how the practice is to be done of Simran, Dhyan, and Bhajan, and They have explained the Path of reaching within. So, by following the Teachings of the Masters and doing our Simran, Dhyan, Bhajan, we should go within and manifest the biggest treasure of God Almighty, which is the Shabd emanating from Him.
Guru gyan bataaya shabad ka
Tu hoja dhyani shabad ki.
Mai shabad shabad bahut kahaa.
Koi na mane shabad ki.
Swami Ji Maharaj has said, "I have been talking a lot about the Shabd and the practices. Very few people believe and follow what I say. But those who do that, they actually will benefit and reach within and see the Sound Current for themselves." So, those who believe and who have faith and do the practice religiously, they will definitely reach their True Home.
Mai shabad shabad bahut kahaa
Koi na mane shabad ki.
Janam kaarath kho diya
Jo chade na ghaati shabad ki.
Swami Ji Maharaj goes on to say, "Those who have not done the practice of Surat Shabd, who have not followed the Teachings of the Master and gone inside and got enlightened and manifested the Sound Current, have wasted their lives.” Because there is no lasting peace and satisfaction in the world, whether it is in wealth or family. The True Peace and satisfaction is only in being in touch with the Sound Current.
Janam kaarath kho diya
Jo chade na ghaati shabad ki.
Radha soami kah kaha chup hue
Bin bhaag na dhaara shabad ki.
Swami Ji then says, towards the end of this Bani, that, without being blessed and without good fortune, one cannot get in touch with the Sound Current. So, Swami Ji Maharaj says, “We worldly people feel that we have been blessed, or consider ourselves fortunate when we beget a worldly fortune like a lottery.”
But the Saints believe that true fortune lies in manifesting the Sound Current within and getting in touch with the Sound Current within. And only they are really considered fortunate.
Radha soami kah kaha chup hue.
Bin bhaag na dhaara shabad ki
Radhaswami.