The paathi sings the Bani of Sant Paltu Sahib from the book: Paltu Sahib Ki Bani, Part 2
Bhoole man ko samjaay lije,
Bhoole man ko samjaay lije,
Satsang ke beech mein jayee ke jee,
Satsang ke beech mein jayee ke jee.
THIS IS THE BANI of Param Sant Satguru Paltu Sahib. Paltu Sahib talks about the state of the mind and how we should explain to this misguided mind because the biggest impediment in our spirituality is our mind. Like our soul is the element of God Almighty, the mind is the element of Brahm. The mind has also got his orders from his creator, that the soul should not leave the compound of this creation. Therefore, the mind is always working on getting us away from our Simran and Bhajan, and getting us outwardly focused.
So, to guide the misguided mind and bring him on the correct Path, the Saints have set Satsang as one means. It is through Satsangs that we come to know what is true and what is untrue. And it is through Satsang that we come to know the importance of this life that we have got and the purpose of this life. So, it is through Satsangs that we to come to know the purpose of this beautiful body that has been given to us.
God Almighty has created this body in which He Himself, with all His Creation, resides. And this is not available in any other life form, in any other body. Therefore, rishis and mahatmas have called this human body as the only ‘body of salvation’. They have called this ‘the pinnacle of all Creation’, of all life forms. The human form is the pinnacle of all of the Creation. It is the last step on the ladder of Creation. So, through the Satsangs, the mind also understands that the mind has gone away from truth, and the soul has also, as a result, gone away from truth. When the mind listens to the Satsangs, it understands that it is not its senses, it is an element of Brahm, and it listens to the Satsangs. And then, it also gets influenced to do Simran and go within.
So, the lost or deluded mind, if it at all it gets to understand the reality and truth, it is only in a Satsang. Mahatmas say, “There is no pilgrimage like a Satsang.” Paltu Sahib says, “Get your mind to listen to the Satsang and come on the Path. And, with that, the mind will help the soul on its Path of Salvation.”
Ab ki bher nahi chukanaa hai,
Ab ki bher nahi chukanaa hai,
Sundar maanush tan payike jee,
Sundar maanush tan payike jee.
He says, “This time, you should not miss the opportunity. This opportunity has been given to you millions of times earlier, but you have always been deluded by Kal and Maya.”
When the soul is in the womb of the mother, at that time God Almighty has kept it there on two supports, on Light, which is Jyoti, which it can see, and on the Sound Current. There, it lives on these two supports. And it has the knowledge of all its previous millions of lives. It sees all of its previous lives, all the sufferings that it has gone through, and all of the life and death that it has suffered. And it is also within the womb, which is dark.
So, it keeps remembering God Almighty every second. At the time of birth, Maya casts the veil of illusion. As soon as the baby is born, as soon as the soul comes to this world, the veil of illusion is cast by Maya on it. And all of this previous knowledge it has of all the earlier births and its sufferings, all of that is completely forgotten in that second of birth, where this veil of illusion is cast upon it. So, the soul and the mind are then lost in this illusion.
The first people are the parents who become the first teachers of the person. So, when the baby drinks milk, he starts forgetting. When he starts eating food, he forgets and he gets more and more entangled in this illusion.
So, Paltu Sahib says, “Don't miss this opportunity. Listen to the Masters. Come from the nine to the Tenth Door. And then, you'll get the Light of the Jyoti and you will get to hear the Sound Current. And both of these supports will come back to you.” And the knowledge of all our previous births, all of our earlier sufferings, all of that, will come in front, and you will be able to see all of that. And we will come to know of the Reality. All that is possible only in this life form. And, therefore, Saints always, again and again, remind us in Satsangs, “Don't miss this opportunity. You should do your Simran Dhyan and go within.”
Gyan dhyan ki baath ko bhuji lijai,
Gyan dhyan ki baath ko bhuji lijai,
Man mein kuch teek tahraayi ke jee,
Man mein kuch teek tahraayi ke jee.
Paltu Sahib says, “The knowledge given through Satsang, the knowledge of Dhyan, meditation, and of the Reality, pay attention to that, and that will help you to understand and come to Reality.”
All the literature, Scriptures, will not give you the knowledge, or get you to know the Reality. It is only through Simran and Dhyan when you actually do this practice yourself, and you leave your nine doors and you come to the Tenth Door and go within, that is where you will come to know of the Reality. And this is possible only if you go and follow the Path of the Master.
Paltu gagan ke beech maarai,
Paltu gagan ke beech maarai,
Surati kamaan chadai ke jee,
Surati kamaan chadai ke jee.
Paltu Sahib says, “Do your Simran Dhyan daily and get the attention of your soul focused at the back of the Eye Center, and come and see the sky* every day. And, with that, you will get in touch with the Sound Current, which is the Form of the Master, the manifestation of the Master.” And that is the Truth you should be working for every day.
* This is a reference to the inner sky of Chaitanya Akash or Gagan.
Sant Ji used to talk about the story of this poor person who had a hut by the bank of a river. And he used to make tea and coffee there, and some sweets. So, he used to do seva of the mahatmas who would come by the bank. And, if they would give him some payment, he would accept that. Otherwise, he would do it as a seva, and he would give sweets to all of them. So, all these people, all these mahatmas, would feel happy with his seva.
Once, a mahatma came and, like always, this person did the seva of that mahatma, and he was quite pleased with this seva. He had a paras, or a philosopher’s stone, which converts iron into gold. So, he felt pleased, and he felt that, if this person is there and he gets more wealth, then he would be able to do more seva of more people in a bigger manner. So, he felt that he should help this person. The mahatma told this person, “Look, I have to cross the river and go upward into the Himalayas. And it will take me about three months to go and come back. Meanwhile, I am giving you this stone and, with this stone, you can convert iron into gold. And you can convert as much iron into gold as you want. So, you keep this and make use of it.”
So, he took that stone, and then kept it with him. And, after about seven, eight days, when he got time, he went to the market to buy iron. He checked for the price of the iron, and it was about five rupees more per kilogram than what it usually was. So, he felt, “This iron was forty rupees a kilogram, now it has become forty-five rupees a kilogram. So, let it go back to forty rupees. Let it settle down, and then, I will buy iron after that.”
So, then he came back, and then, again, after about a month or so, he went back to the market. And the price of iron had gone up to fifty rupees a kilogram. So, he felt, “There is no point buying it now. I’ll wait till it goes down to forty.” So, he continued to do his usual routine seva.
And, again, after a few days, he went back to the market. Now, prices of iron kept going up, so again, the price had gone up by two rupees. And now, he felt, “There is no point buying now. I’ll wait till, perhaps, it comes to forty-five, and then buy it.” So, that way, the three months passed.
Now, the mahatma, who had gone and given him that stone and left, he was on his way back. And he was feeling that this person now must have become quite rich, and he must have opened a bigger shop. He may be helping more people and doing seva of more people. That way, thinking like that, he came back. So, when he came, he was aghast to see that this shop was as it was, and this person was doing the same thing. So, he asked him, “What happened to that stone I gave you? You didn't convert any iron into gold?”
He said, “No, I did try. I went to the market, but the price had become forty-five when I went. The next month I went, it became fifty. And then, the third month I went, it became fifty-two. So, I couldn't get to buy that iron to make gold.”
So, this mahatma said, “You are such a big fool! What is the value of iron, what is the value of gold? Even if you had made one kilogram of gold, you would have been a completely transformed person now.” So, that mahatma took that paras stone and left.
So, likewise, this life has been given as a paras stone to us by God Almighty, to use the stone, and get to Reality, to meet with God Almighty. But, if we allow this life to pass, we then go back into the same state that we are in, into the same cycle of life and death, again and again, and into that same suffering.
Paltu gagan ke beech maarai,
Paltu gagan ke beech maarai,
Surati kamaan chadai ke jee,
Surati kamaan chadai ke jee.
Chadi naam maati chuvai prem pyaala,
Chadi naam maati chuvai prem pyaala.
He says, “Go inside and the Jyoti of Naam is there within you, and it is raining Nectar inside. Go inside and drink that nectar and see that Light.”
So, Saints are not telling you to go into some jungle, or forest, to do this. They are only saying, “You stay in your routine lives, and you do what you are doing but, in the morning, just spend two and a half hours for your soul.” And that is the only thing They are asking you to do.
Chadi naam maati chuvai prem pyaala,
Chadi naam maati chuvai prem pyaala,
Peena soyi saraab hai jee,
Peena soyi saraab hai jee.
Paltu Sahib says, “Like you are intoxicated with the wines that you drink here, the alcohol that you consume here when we see the Radiant Form of the Master within, the glass of Love that we have inside is much more intoxicating than this. And once we see the Radiant Form of the Master, that intoxication is so divine, and it is so overwhelming, that it keeps increasing and it doesn't decrease.”
The love that we have for the Master today is something that increases and decreases, depending on circumstances. But the Love that we get of the Radiant Form of the Master, when we see within, and the Love that we get within, that forever keeps increasing.
For getting rid of some of our burdens in life, we consume these intoxicants and we consume alcohol. Now, so long as that intoxication is on, and so long as that effect is there, we are intoxicated. After that, again, we need another drink to overcome our misery.
But the Love that is there inside, once we open our doors within, the intoxication we get there, it is a permanent intoxication, that is, it never decreases.
Mazlees durvesh ki matvaaree,
Mazlees durvesh ki matvaaree,
Jikir khaana kabaab hai jee,
Jikir khaana kabaab hai jee.
Paltu Sahib says that in the court of a Saint, in the assembly of a Saint, the Saints talk about Satsang. The Saints talk about the greatness of Master, the greatness of Naam, and about spirituality. The faith that we have in this talk is like the food that we get. It is like food that we consume. It is like kebabs that we consume. So, in this, the Satsang is like water, and the Simran Bhajan is like food, which gives strength to the soul.
When we are focused outwardly, it is the mind, which is continuously getting food and becoming stronger, and the soul is becoming weaker. By doing Simran and Bhajan, the soul is getting stronger, and the mind is getting weaker.
Sahib maasuk ashiq bandha,
Sahib maasuk ashiq bandha,
Namak mein jaise aab hai jee,
Namak mein jaise aab hai jee.
The Love of God Almighty and His devotee, it is like salt in flour. So, the identity of the salt is lost in that flour, though that salt is fully mixed in the flour. You can taste the salt in the flour, but its separate identity is lost.
That way, the love of the devotee is with God. And, one day, the devotee merges with God, like the salt in flour. So, if we are outwardly focused, and we are thinking about this world, then we come back into this world. We come back into this state. If we are, on the other hand, doing our Simran and thinking about God and the Masters, then we go and merge into God Almighty.
Saints say, “If you are not sacrificing your body for the Masters, and you are staying in your respective families, and taking care of all of your other needs, that is all right, but sacrifice your mind. In your mind, do your Simran and do your Dhyan Bhajan, and stay inwardly focused.”
So, the reason for our bondage, the reason for this coming back into this cycle of life and death, is the mind. It is not the body. The body is only a handful of mud. And after the soul has emptied this cage, this body, again, goes back to its element and is reduced to mud.
Therefore, Saints say, “Transform your mind. And where the mind will stay focused, that is where you will go.” And, if the mind is focused at the Feet of the Masters, then you will go there.
Palatu khudaike raai,
Palatu khudaike raai,
Aur karna ajab hai jee.
Paltu Sahib says, “This is the Path to meet God Almighty. This is the Path of Love. And to have love and devotion for your God Almighty is the Path.”
The paathi sings the Bani of Sant Paltu Sahib from the book: Santo Ki Bani, Vol 2 Pg 151
Cholaa bhayaa puraana aaj phatai ki kaal,
Cholaa bhayaa puraana aaj phatai ki kaal.
Paltu Sahib says, “This life is like clothing. As years are passing, this cloth, this body, is getting old, and we never know when it will tear. And, when a cloth tears, we usually change our cloth. So, that way, when the karmas of this life get over, then a new body is cast for you and you go into that new body.”
So, Paltu Sahib says, “Use this time of life that has been given to you and use it wisely for collecting the wealth, which will go with you. Collect the wealth of Naam, which will stay and which will go with you. Otherwise, at the end, you will have repentance.”
Our outwardly status and outwardly wealth that we have, everything is going to be left here along with our body when we die.
Aaj phatai ki kaal tehu pai hai lalchaana;
Aaj phatai ki kaal tehu pai hai lalchaana;
Teeno pan ge beeth bhajan ka maram na jaana.
Paltu Sahib says, “Our days are reducing. The number of days of this life are reducing, but our greed and our lust are not reducing.” We are continuously greedy for more. When we get a lakh rupees, we want ten lakh rupees. When we get ten lakh rupees, we want a crore. So, that need is never satiated.
We have not understood the essence of Bhajan. Our desires are endless and they are not reducing. And this essence of Bhajan, which Saints have been explaining in the Satsang, has not been understood by us. And we are wasting our time following those desires.
So, when we have a baby, and that baby is growing, and he grows into an adult, we are saying that our son has grown. But Mahatmas say, “No, he is becoming younger because the residual lifespan is reducing.”
Therefore, Mahatmas say, “Collect the wealth that will go with you. Collect the wealth of Naam.”
Nakh sikh bhaye safedh tehu pai naaheen chetai;
Nakh sikh bhaye safedh tehu pai naaheen chetai;
Jori jori dhan dharai gala auran ka rethai.
We work towards our desires. We work towards collecting money for ourselves and then, later, for our children. And, for collecting this money, or for collecting this wealth, we do so much of deceit. We lie so much, and we incur all sorts of karmas for creating this wealth, in the hope that this wealth will provide for our future, and provide for our children's future. But, in the course of time, when that comes, nothing of this is going to go with us, and the only thing that is going to go with us are the karmas that we have incurred for doing all this.
Sant Ji used to often tell this story. It was about a moneylender. And this moneylender would go on rounds and he would keep collecting the money from various people whom he had lent monies to.
So, like that, he had come to this village, and this villager had borrowed money from him to pay for the wedding of his daughter. Six or seven years had passed, and he was unable to repay that debt. So, that moneylender then got the village seniors there and held a meeting to recover his dues. And he got all of the cattle of that villager and his other belongings, and he collected all of that towards the interest that was due to him.
So, some of the village elders made a request, and they said, “He is a poor villager. So, please redeem some of that debt, reduce some of that interest, and leave some belongings back.”
But that moneylender did not agree. So, the villagers also got unhappy, and they also were angry at the behavior of this moneylender, because he had not been gracious to reduce some of that interest or debt, and had taken away the entire belongings of that villager.
When he was to leave, he had his bedding and he had his bags, and he was unable to carry both of them. He was standing at that road with the bedding and the bags. So, that moneylender was waiting to get help from some of the villagers to help him carry his luggage to the next village, which was about three kilometers away. But, then, they all refused to help him. And he was also a miser, so he didn't want to spend money and pay somebody to carry that bag also.
So, a mahatma was passing by there, and he saw that this person was in distress. He felt sad for him, and he decided to help. So, when that mahatma reached this moneylender, he said, “You seem quite stressed. What is the problem?”
The moneylender told him, “I have to travel about three kilometers to the next village. But there is nobody to help me carry my luggage.”
So, the mahatma agreed to help him. And he said, “Okay, I will lift your bedding. You lift your bag and we will walk to the next village.”
While they started walking, the mahatma told that moneylender, “I can't walk quietly. So, either you talk about God Almighty, on spirituality, and I will listen, or let me talk about that, and you listen.”
The moneylender told him, “I have never listened to a Satsang in my life, so I don't know about all this. Why don't you talk, and I will listen.”
So, that mahatma then started talking about the importance of life, about God Almighty, and about spirituality. That way, after an hour or so, they reached the place, and there, the moneylender told that mahatma that, “Okay, we have arrived. You can let that bedding down near that tree and we can part ways here.”
So, once they put the baggage down, the mahatma felt, “If I just walk away like this, I would not have fully helped him. So, let me awaken this person.” The mahatma told that moneylender, “Look, you only have eight days of life left. Now, whatever you want to do, you do with these eight days.”
So, that moneylender got afraid. He had lent so much money to so many people, and then, all that would get wasted. So, he caught the feet of that mahatma. He prayed to him whether there was any possibility of being saved from that situation.
The mahatma told him, “It is not because I've carried that luggage of yours, or anything to do with that. This was going to happen to you anyways. So, since we spent one hour together, I thought I should tell you and awaken you about it.”
So, that moneylender refused to leave the legs of that mahatma, and said, “No, please tell me if there is any way out.”
So, the mahatma said, “This situation cannot be changed. After eight days, the angels of death will definitely come.” But the mahatma felt that he should shower some grace on this person, so he said, “It is inevitable that the angels of death will come. And I see from the karmas of yours that you do not have any good karma, and the only good karma that you have is that one hour, which we have walked together. So, when the angels of death take you to the Lord of Judgment, he is going to look at these karmas, and then, he is going to ask you whether you want to suffer all the bad deeds first, and then enjoy that one hour, which you had as a good deed. Or, do you want to first enjoy that one hour spent and, after that, suffer for all those bad sins.” He said, “When he asks you this, then you say that you want the benefit of that good karma first. And then, you will be asked, “How do you want to enjoy that good karma? Do you want to be sent to heaven, or do you want to be given any other good enjoyment?” So then, when the Lord of judgment asks you this, you refuse, and you say, ‘I don't want to be sent to heaven, or any other thing. Just allow me to take the blessings of the mahatma with whom I have just spent this one hour and had that good karma’. Once you ask for this, the Lord of Judgment will have to agree to this, and then, he will send you with his angels of death, and he will send you to me again. Now, that is the only solution you have. After that, I will see what to do.”
So, in the eight days that followed, he first transferred all his wealth to his son. And the next few days he spent in memorizing what he was supposed to do, the dialogue that he would have with the Lord of Judgment.
And, accordingly, on the eighth day, he died, and the angels of death took him to the Lord of Judgment. And there, he was asked the same thing. All his karmas were looked at and there was no good karma, other than the time that he had spent with that mahatma. And the same question was asked to him, what he would want first. So, he replied, “I do not know the huge amount of bad karmas that I have, so it is better I take that one hour of good karma.”
He was asked what he would want, whether he wants to go to heaven or another such place. He said, “I want to go to that mahatma from where I got this good karma.”
So, the Lord of Judgment called two angels of death and told them to accompany him and take him to a particular ashram where that mahatma stayed. And he said, “You allow him to be there for one hour. After that, catch him and bring him back.”
So, once they reached the ashram, they left him outside at the gate of the ashram. They told him to go in because angels of death do not go where souls do Bhajan. So, they had to wait outside. They said, “You go in and come out after one hour.”
So, the mahatma recognized him. He said, “Oh, you've come.”
He said, “Yes, I have come. I have followed your instructions.”
So, the mahatma said, “Okay, now, sit, close your eyes and sit for Bhajan.” So, he sat for meditation there and the two angels of death outside at the gate were shouting, “Time is up. Come out.” He had seen all of the things that had happened inside and he was scared of those angels of death. So, he told the mahatma, “Look, they have not yet gone. They are waiting for me and they're calling me outside.”
The mahatma told him, “They will not come inside. They have to wait outside only. So, you don't worry about it. You close your eyes and sit.”
So, after an hour, they waited awhile, and then, the two angels of death left from there and they informed the Lord of Judgment.
So, the Lord of Judgment said, “He has gone into the purview of that mahatma, so there now we have no further role to play.” And that mahatma took care of that person.
Tulsi Sahib says that even if we spend one fourth of a ghadi*, which is forty-five minutes – that is, in our lifetime, if we even just spent forty-five minutes — in the company of a True Master, then crores of our lives, millions of our earlier lives, and our burden of all our karmas, will come to an end.
* a ghadi is three hours as defined in astronomical terms, a relatively short time
And, that way, that mahatma gave salvation to that person.
Ab ka karihau yaar kaal ne kihaa tagaada,
Ab ka karihau yaar kaal ne kihaa tagaada
Chalai na ekau jor aay jab pahuncha vaadha.
Paltu Sahib says, “Days are reducing in your life, and hours are reducing, and we don't know when our last breath will be taken.” So, He warns us of that. He says, “You collect your wealth of Naam, and that wealth of Naam is what will take you back to your True Home.”
Paltu tehu pai leth hai maay moh janjaal,
Paltu tehu pai leth hai maay moh janjaal;
Cholaa bhayaa puraana aaj phatai ki kaal.
Paltu Sahib says, “This cloth of life, this clothing, is getting older by the day, but the soul is still embroiled in all of the outward desires and greed. And it is completely getting lost, more and more, in this world.”
This life has been given by God Almighty, and the use of this life is to go back to God Almighty. And, instead, what we have done is, we've used that life for pursuing outwardly, worldly pursuits, and following or chasing our desires. And the end result of this is repentance.
Paltu tehu pai leth hai maay moh janjaal,
Paltu tehu pai leth hai maay moh janjaal;
Cholaa bhayaa puraana aaj phatai ki kaal.
Radhaswami.