The paathi is singing from the Bani of Baba Somanath Ji Maharaj...
Karle bhajan bande,
Satguru hoye sahaayee.
Karle bhajan bande,
Satguru hoye sahaayee.
THIS IS THE BANI of Param Sant Satguru Somanath Baba Ji. The Banis written by Saints about Their Masters and singing praise of Their Master are of a very high order. They express Their love for Their Master, which is a seamless stream flowing into a vast mass of ocean, which has huge waves, and it only keeps increasing. Somanath Baba Ji loved His Master Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj and whenever the reference of Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj came in the Satsangs, He became speechless to call out the name of His Master. And, instead, tears ran down his cheek in the remembrance of His Master.
In a similar way, Sant Ajaib Singh Ji also always kept His Master ahead of everything else. Every time He spoke in a Satsang, He would always remember lovingly his Master in the beginning of the Satsang.
So, that way, if you look at the Bani of any Saint, it always speaks of the love and remembrance of Their Master and Their seamless love for Their Masters.
This Bani of Somanath Baba Ji has been written by Him as a poem in a book, which several devotees requested for the explanation of this Bani. And that is why I have taken this Bani out today for explaining.
There is only one way of pleasing our Masters and getting Their Grace, and that is by doing meditation, by doing Bhajan. So, the way to please the Master is by doing Simran and Bhajan, by doing our meditation. We may touch His feet a hundred times or we may do other things to please him outwardly — purchasing things for him, or getting things for him, or helping him in other physical ways. But all that is nothing compared to the pleasure that He gets when we do our meditation.
So, wherever we are, in whichever nook and corner of the world we sit in, when we remember our Masters and we sit for meditation, the Master comes to know of that and His stream of Grace is showered upon us because He is sitting at the Eye Center and He is connected in the form of the Sound Current with all of us.
Somanath Baba Ji says, “Do the Bhajan. Do your meditation because, that way, you will be able to please your Master for free and you will get His Grace for free.” That is why all Saints emphasize on doing meditation, on doing our BhajanSimran.
The reality is that it is your work and you are doing your own meditation and Simran, but that pleases the Masters and They feel very happy about it.
Karle bhajan bande,
Satguru hoye sahaayee.
Dharle dhyan guru kaa,
Maaya fandh nasaayi.
He says, “Do the contemplation of the Form of the Master within as much as possible. Do your meditation as much as possible because, that way, you will be able to get the veil of illusion— which has been cast by Maya — out from your mind.” The more Simran and meditation we do — the contemplation of the Form of the Master and the Simran — the more we do that the mind becomes purer because our attention starts getting focused within from outside. So, what is driving us out and our desires, we leave all of that, and with Simran, we start coming within.
If we try otherwise, to cast out our desires and this veil of illusion by resorting to austerity measures or leaving the house and doing other kinds of rituals or practices, we will not be able to get rid of our desires.
But, instead, it is with continuous Simran and meditation that we will be able to cast it out. It is only through these measures that we are able to gradually take out this entire veil of illusion and these desires, which have been cast by Kal and Maya. And this is a very gradual process that happens on its own by doing our Simran and meditation.
When we do our meditation and we go within at the Third Eye, and we manifest the Radiant Form of the Master and the Sound Current that is resonating there, then greed, attachment, lust, anger, and ego – these are five vices, which are drawing us out today – all these come to us in the form of five-year-old babies. They salute us and then they leave us. So, when we go within, these vices manifest in the form of five-year-old children, and they come to us and they seek our permission to leave. And when all of these five vices leave, thereafter, we have an influence over them — unlike now where they are influencing us. So, thereafter, we gain the control over all these vices.
Today, whatever they are desiring, whenever we are pulled by all these five – the attachment, lust, ego, greed, and anger – all of these are driving us out and we are completely under their influence. But once we go in and they seek our permission and leave, thereafter, we have control and we can use any one of them wherever we want.
There was a devotee of Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj and he was a young boy of around sixteen or seventeen years of age. He used to meditate a lot and he had a good longing for his Master within. And it so happened that he was once traveling and going to one place, to his village, where there was a small, very narrow pul on the way, a bridge. And there, he was confronted by five people and they snatched his bike from him.
He was used to meditating and doing Simran so, as soon as he faced this difficulty, he immediately started doing his Simran. And when he started doing his Simran, one by one, all of them vanished from there. So, when he saw that all of them had vanished, he looked back and he saw that there was a person coming towards him. He was very much in the form of Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj, with the same turban, clothing, and attired in the same ways, and he was walking towards this boy.
So, when he looked a little more carefully — because, initially, he thought that it was his Master Who had come and that’s why they had run away after he did his Simran — he looked more closely at that person who was coming and he noticed that the turban was slightly different, the look was also slightly different. So, immediately, he started doing his Simran again, and with that Simran, this person who was walking toward him also vanished. And then he saw that Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj Himself had been manifested and He was walking, smiling at him. And he again started doing his Simran.
When he did his Simran, the form of Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj didn't move from there and it came towards him and He spoke to the boy. He said, “You have passed this trial, you have passed this test. These five people who were standing in your way were lust, anger, attachment, greed, and ego. They had actually manifested as human beings and they were standing in your way. And so, you did your Simran and you gained control over them. And the other person who was coming in my form to mislead you was Kal. Had you bowed to Kal, all the meditation you had done and Simran you had done so far, he would have taken that benefit. So, with your Simran, he has also gone. Now, nobody can do anything untoward to you.
This is an incident that happened in Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj's time. It shows that these vices can take the form of a human and come and try to misguide and take a test of a person. But, of course, all these things happen to people who are meditating. They don't come and waste their time on others.
So, as we do our Simran continuously and our meditation, we progressively become more pure and sublime and, as a result, each of these vices leaves us one by one. Therefore, Saints have sung praise of Simran and Bhajan and They say, “You keep doing this. And, the more you do this, the mind will get purer and you will be able to go within.”
Manushy janam amola,
Dhenu kaam sam meela.
Manushy janam amola,
Dhenu kaam sam meela.
So, Maharaj says, “This life, which has been given to you, is very precious. It is like the kamdhenu, which is a mythical cow which grants you all your wishes — so, whatever you ask the kamdhenu, she fulfills your wishes.” So, He says, “This life, which has been given to you, is precious. It is like a kamdhenu.”
God Almighty has created this beautiful human body. He has given you this priceless body where He Himself is residing within the body. He has created sixteen planes and all His Creation, which is contained within this body.
So, if you do your devotion and you go within, then you will be able to get all these treasures of His Creation, which are there within your own body. This is such a priceless form that has been given to us. We notice outside there are so many scientists who have made so many discoveries as humans. And so, therefore, whatever we seek with the mind is also possible to do. You have to do the desired devotion and you have to do the desired effort to get that. And those who have wanted to go and meet God Almighty; they have also been able to achieve that. What you need is a firm resolve to do your devotion and go within.
Manushy janam amola,
Dhenu kaam sam meela.
Rahanaa chand dhin melaa,
Aakhir khaali jaayi.
He says, “This priceless form has been given to you. It is there for a few days and we mindlessly leave that opportunity and we seek our desires and follow the anxieties of the world around us and we lose this opportunity.”
And those who have sought God Almighty, this is an opportunity given to you to get your salvation. Otherwise, you go back into the ocean of life.
So, those who have made the effort and have done their devotion, they have been able to step out of this ocean of life and go back to God Almighty in this life form. And those who have not taken this opportunity, or who have lost this opportunity by following all their worldly pursuits and all their worldly desires and anxieties, have wasted this life and, in the end, they repent that whatever they have spent their time on is all a waste.
We have this limited number of breaths allotted to us in this life form. The Masters have said that each breath is priceless. Kabir Sahib says, “I beat the drum and I tell everybody that, with each breath that you lose, you are losing the value of three worlds because your breath is more precious than all the three worlds.” And, therefore, we should make the most of these breaths.
So, this is the ladder of the chaurasi – it is the last step – where, if you step on it and you do your devotion of God Almighty, you get the salvation from this life, from this ocean of life. You are able to climb to the roof and get out of this world. And if you don't and you slip on this last step of the ladder, then you fall back into the chaurasi, into the 8.4 million life forms. And again, you have to make your effort to come up to that last step.
Rahanaa chand dhin melaa,
Aakhir khaali jaayi.
Che so hazaar ekkisaa,
Chale din raat swaasha,
So, Baba Ji says, “Every day, we are losing 21,600 breaths. And we are wasting all of these priceless breaths in the river of moh and Maya – in attachment and Maya.
We do not listen to the Saints. We also recognize that this world is not permanent for us – that we will be leaving this. We have seen our grandparents leaving and we have seen other people leaving this. So, we know that all our relationships are not going to be permanent. Yet, we do not listen to the Saints and we take all of these outer things to be real and spend and waste all our precious life following these pursuits.
Che so hazaar ekkisaa,
Chale din raat swaasha,
Pal pal aayu naasaa,
Jiskaa sumaar naahi.
In twenty-four hours there are 21,600 breaths that we lose. So, if we estimate and look back, we may be forty years old or fifty years old or sixty years old. So, if we can calculate and see how much breath that we have lost in this life till now, it is countless. It is a huge number of breaths that we have wasted — all these priceless breaths, which were of huge value. We have lost all of these in the pursuit of this world by following our desires and all our relationships in this material world.
Now, as a result of all of this, we will only have repentance at the time of death because this world never belongs to anyone. No one has ever been able to take it with them. And so, at the time of death, we realize that we have wasted our life trying to achieve this.
Pal pal aayu naasaa,
Jiskaa sumaar naahi.
Agyaan maaya jangal,
durgun kare hai dangal.
He then says, “Under the influence of Maya, we do such kinds of deeds that we don't even shudder to think of the outcome of those deeds, which we are doing under the influence of Maya.” Because, the mind and Maya want you to stay within the compound of their realm and, as a result, they make you follow your desires and create this illusion. They want you entangled in this illusion to remain in their compound.
Agyaan maaya jangal,
Durgun kare hai dangal.
Loot leth dhan maal,
Bach kar koi na jaayi.
Maharaj Ji says in this Bani, “The Maya tries to influence you and make you do all of the deeds so that, pursuing those deeds, or pursuing those desires and following all this illusion created by it, you lose your priceless treasure, which is the breath that has been given to you for this lifetime.”
The desires and the illusion of Maya are so dominant that they don’t even allow us to understand what the purpose of the life is that we have got. And, the entire effect is that we lose these priceless breaths that have been given to us.
For simple things, like getting food and taking care of our near and dear ones, such kinds of deeds are undertaken by a person and, as a result of doing that, he builds up a huge balance of karma, which takes him to hell to redeem.
Loot leth dhan maal,
Bach kar koi na jaayi.
Thathe sumiran naam,
Karle aato jaam,
So, He says, “Twenty-four hours – you should do your Simran and, because you do the Simran, you will not come under the influence of Maya and you will not get swayed by it. You will be able to do your devotion to your Master and get your salvation in this life itself – and, as a result, not have to come back again and again in this ocean of life.”
In our mind, we are constantly thinking about worldly things or the material things. We always visualize these material things in our mind and these are constantly getting repeated in our mind.
Now, to cut this cycle of repetition in the mind of all the outward material things and the contemplation of all of these things, the Masters give us Simran. And the Masters give us the contemplation of the Form of the Master. By doing these two things, we are able to cut off our repetition, our thinking of the world outside, and start focusing within.
The Masters say, “By Simran, the worst of the worst sinners have also got a redemption and they have been able to get salvation from this life.” But, the mind is very dominant and the mind does not allow us to do Simran. It constantly takes us out of Simran.
A lot of sinners have been able to get their salvation by doing Simran. So, it is only by doing Simran and Dhyan that we are able to cut off the attachments of this outside world and the relationships around here, by doing which we can then go within and get salvation.
Thathe sumiran naam,
Karle aato jaam,
Jaathe paay bisraam,
Fir janam na hoyee.
He says, “By doing Simran, you will be able to get out of this ocean of life. You will be able to go back to your True Home and go back to God Almighty.”
Mahatmas always say, “This world does not belong to you and you do not belong to this world.” And neither does this body because this body is simply a house of rent for you – it is simply a body of mud and clay that has been given to you. You are the power, which drives this house, which drives this body, and your house is elsewhere. You belong to God Almighty. So, because you belong to God Almighty, your house is with God Almighty.
This body is not your house. This body is not yours. This body is simply an earthen vessel given to you to redeem your karmas, to redeem your deeds here. So, you notice that when the soul leaves the body, what is the state of that body?
The soul is always pure. The soul does not have the burden of deeds. It does not have any creed or any caste or any other such thing. It is pure. All the burden of karmas is on the mind. And all the redemption also of that has to be done by the mind.
So, Saints say, “All the problem is in the mind.” And that is why They give the Simran so that, by Simran, you're able to cleanse the mind.
Jaathe paay bisraam,
Fir janam na hoyee.
Jaise machali neera,
Chaatrak aur chandra.
Then He says how your love towards your Master should be. It is like a fish out of water. So, the way the fish loves the water, that same way, you should have your love for your Master.
If you take a fish out of water and put it in milk, it will not be happy. Like milk, even though it is like a nectar of life — when it gives all the necessary nutrition to life — if you put a fish in it, it is unhappy there and it will lose its life because it wants and seeks water, which is the source of life for the fish. Like that, our love should be for our Master.
Another example He gives for the love of the Master is that of a bird, the chakoor. The moon bird loves to see the moon and it leaves every other thing that it is doing when it sees the moon. As the moon moves from the east to the west, the moon bird does not move from the position that it stands in, and it continuously watches the moon so that the beak finally touches its tail. It does not change the position of the body because it fears that even if it loses sight of the moon for a second, the moon will get out of sight. That is the love of the moon bird for the moon. And during that time, if anyone even wants to catch that moon bird, he can easily catch it in that period.
Such is the love one should develop for the Master. And, if one develops that love, the Master is not far away. He is within you only, and He will open the door.
Jaise machali neera,
Chaatrak aur chandra.
Jas kamal bhawaraa,
Sugandh mein lubhaayee.
He gives another example of a beetle, which loves the scent of the lotus and it is constantly drawn to the lotus.
In the evening, when the lotus opens, the beetle goes in and it is drawn by the fragrance of the lotus at the center.
Now, it is a very strong beetle and it can even make a hole in wood – it is that strong. But, when it is so intoxicated in that smell of the lotus, many times, with the onset of the sun, the lotus closes, and with that, the beetle also stays within the lotus.
Now, if it gets air there and it can breathe, then it stays alive inside. Otherwise, many times, it actually leaves the body there. But it does not make a hole and come out of the lotus, which it is quite capable of doing. Such is the love of that beetle for the lotus.
Such should be the love of the devotee to his Master.
Jas kamal bhawaraa,
Sugandh mein lubhaayee.
Satguru aaye jag thaaran,
Bhavmein jeev ubaaran.
He says, “The Saints and Masters come into this world to awaken the souls and get them a salvation out of this ocean of life.” They give Satsang, and with the Satsang, They aim at awakening the soul, and then, giving salvation to that soul.
When we listen to the Satsang, if we internalize it, we are able to bring about a transformation in ourselves. But, if we just listen to it and we don't make an effort to internalize it and follow the Teachings, then it will not bring about a fast or rapid transformation.
Similarly, by doing Simran and Bhajan, we will develop a greater love for our Master. And that love, which will grow for the Master, will reduce the otherwise outwardly drawn love and affection that we have for this world. If we do not do our BhajanSimran, then that love and attention that we have outside will not get reduced.
The mind is there in everyone. When I had gone to Somanath Baba Ji, I started getting these letters from my home. And, in the letters, I was constantly being asked to come back home and visit them. So, I used to keep getting those — letter upon letter. I used to keep getting a request for coming back home.
After reading these letters again and again, even in my mind, I started feeling that affection for going back and that attachment of home. I started feeling like going back home.
Baba Ji used to go for the Bombay program, so I thought that I could go along with Baba Ji to Bombay from Bangalore. And then, when I would be in Bombay, I could go and visit my home and come back, and then return with Him back to the ashram. So, accordingly, I asked Baba Ji.
When I requested Baba Ji, He told me, “You are doing the night duty of guarding the periphery of the ashram and a lot of theft is happening at those coconut trees. So, if I go to Bombay, and even you are not there, then nobody is going to be guarding that periphery and doing that duty. So, it is better that you stay here and I will go and attend the Bombay program and come back. And then, I will send you later to Bombay.”
So, accordingly, then Baba Ji went for the program and I continued to do the seva.
But, thereafter, when I did the Simran, the Simran changed to thinking about going home and those thoughts started coming in my mind. This was the effect of mind. So, slowly, that was overpowering my mind and I used to continuously think, “When Baba Ji returns, I will seek his time and ask him and then I will go.” And those thoughts prevailed.
Baba Ji returned after about twenty days — after doing the Bombay program, He had gone to Davangiri. So, after finishing those two programs, He came back.
When He came back, I felt like asking, but then I felt that He's just come back so it may not be appropriate to ask – and I used to be quite scared about Baba Ji!
So, I used to take Darshan every day, because he used to give Darshan to sevadars twice a day. But, though I met him twice a day, I never got the courage to ask him this.
So, initially, about a week went by and then I felt, “Okay, I'll ask Him.” So, in the morning, I would decide, “Okay, today, I'm going to ask him.” And when I would go for the Darshan, I would not be able to muster the courage to ask Him. So, I would just take the Darshan and then go back.
Then again, when I walked up the stairs in the evening for Darshan, I would think in my mind, “I will ask Him now.” Again, I was unable to muster the courage. So, like that, ten days, fifteen days, and nearly one and a half months passed.
After about one and a half months, I finally mustered the courage. And, when I went there, I stood before Baba Ji and He looked at me and He started laughing. He asked me, “What is it?”
So then, I gathered the courage to tell Him, “Baba Ji, You had told me that You would send me to Bombay. So, I wanted to ask you for that.” So, I spoke to Him and I told Him, “You had told me that I would be able to go to Bombay.”
He looked up and He started laughing and He said, “What? Are you going to take up a job there when you go?”
So, see how the mind has worked? Because, over this period, I had already made up my mind that I would be going there and I would seek a job. So, I told Him, “Yes, maybe for a few days I will work.”
So, He looked at me and with a deep gaze, He told me, “What? You are going to work for three hundred or four hundred rupees? Is that a job that you are going to do?” That one sentence completely cut all my attachments – whatever I had. And it was His Grace that was showered on me. After that one sentence, that thought never ever occurred to me that I want to go back and that I have some near and dear ones in Bombay. I just never felt that again. So, that was the Grace that He showered – to cut all my attachments.
Thereafter, I stayed for eight years in the ashram. And after those eight years, I stayed for about five years in the Pahad Ashram and other places. And, not once, did I have any pang of separation from my family and that attachment.
So, what Masters say is that “You have graced me so much that, with one gaze of Yours, You have cut off all my attachments.”
So, that way, by doing our Bhajan and Simran, gradually our outward affection – and everything that draws us out – slowly keeps reducing and we are able to go within. And then, with the Grace of the Master, all this gets cut away.
Satguru aaye jag thaaran,
Bhavmein jeev ubaaran.
Somanaath lag charanan,
Bhav paar karaayee.
Somanath Baba Ji, at the end of the Bani, says, “The God Almighty comes and works through a pole – He takes the form of a human form in the form of a Saint – and He comes to awaken you and take you back to God Almighty.”
So, dear one, you should focus your love and attention at the feet of the Saint, at the feet of the Master, and with your love and attention, focus there. He will grace you and He will get you your salvation and get you away and out of this ocean of life and sorrow.
Satguru aaye jag thaaran,
Bhavmein jeev ubaaran.
Somanaath lag charanan,
Bhav paar karaayee.
Radhaswami.