The paathi is singing from the Bani of Kabir Sahib...
Raam bulaava bhejiyaa,
Diya kabeera roy,
Raam bulaava bhejiyaa,
Diya kabeera roy,
Jo sukh saadhu sang mein,
So baikunth na hoy.
THIS IS THE BANI of Param Sant Satguru Kabir Sahib. In this Bani, Kabir Sahib has pointed out that the peace and quiet you get and the benefit you get in the company of the Saints is not there, even in Vaikuntha. Once, there was a call from Vaikuntha to Kabir Sahib. He says, “I was called in Vaikuntha and I had to leave the company of the Saints and the Sadhus here. And I felt very sad going to Vaikuntha and leaving the great company of the Saints here on Earth.”
So, the peace and quiet one gets in the company of Saints, you do not get in Vaikuntha when you have to go to Vaikuntha.” He knew that there He would not get this peace and quiet because there would be other discussions. So, He points out that this benefit and this peace and quiet is only in the company of Saints.
In the Scriptures and other holy books of Hinduism, it is considered that to go to heaven or Vaikuntha or Kailash, means getting salvation. But, these are not places of salvation. They are also places where you continue to still be in the grip of desires and vices.
There are only a few differences – like we have a physical body, we have an astral body. There is definitely a little more peace and quiet there and a little more happiness than here currently. But, otherwise, there are all the regular pulls and pressures, which are there even in heaven, which we face here. The mind is stronger there because people do their meditation and they do their austerities and other practices, and such people are given a place in heaven or in Vaikuntha, etc.
The mind there is definitely stronger than what it is here. Whatever good deeds one gathers — whatever benefit one gets from the austerities and the other spiritual practices one does here —as long as those deeds are there with him, he will get to stay in heaven. When the power of that deed ends, when that deed is redeemed as a result of the stay in heaven, that soul is sent back to Earth. It is sent back into this world. And, thereafter, it again goes back into the chaurasi.
So, both these places are places within the enjoyment and suffering of karmas only. It is deeds that drive the astral bodies and the physical bodies. So, both are subject to karmas. Until we get into Par Brahm, we will not be able to get salvation. We will not be able to get out of this cycle of life and death. So, even if we are in the astral body or we are in the physical body, we are still subject to the cycle of life and death.
On the contrary, the gods and goddesses envy the human body. Because, in the human body, with the Grace of the Master, one can cross the astral body and go far beyond, which they cannot do in that astral body. So, in the astral body, they themselves cannot cross beyond the astral plane.
When we do our practice and when we go within, we go to the astral plane on our path home. So there, we encounter gods and goddesses – we see all the gods and goddesses. And we see that they also want to, or are desirous of, going further. But, the Masters there advise them that they will have to go back to the human birth. And then, only from there will they be able to go back home.
Bande ko bandha milae,
Chutai koun upaay,
Bande ko bandha milae,
Chutai koun upaay,
Kar sangat nirbandh ki,
Pal mein leyi chuday.
Kabir Sahib says, “If someone is tied up in chains, and another person comes to him who is also bound in chains, then they will not be able to free each other. They are both bound by chains.” So, He says, “You should go to someone who is not bound in chains for you to get free.” He points out to all, the gods and goddesses are bound. They are bound under the burden of karmas; and, as a result, they will not be able to unshackle us from this burden of karma. So, we’ll have to go to a Master Who has gone far beyond all of this and is no longer in the shackles of the karmas and Kal. And only He can free us and unshackle us from this burden of karmas.
Jaa pal darshan saadhu ka,
Tha pal ki balihaari,
Jaa pal darshan saadhu ka,
Tha pal ki balihaari,
Sattnaam rasna basai,
Leejai janam sudhaari,
Kabir Sahib says, “I sacrifice myself for that time spent in the company of Saints because, during that time, one is talking about God Almighty, he is talking of getting salvation and he is in the company of the Saint. So, I sacrifice myself for the breaths we take in the company of Saints because the rest, — all our breaths and all our time — is going to be wasted otherwise.” This is because Masters are completely soaked in the devotion of God Almighty. And when we meet Them, They also connect us in that devotion of God Almighty.
He says, “That time spent in the company of the Masters is the time where one is developing the love and affection for God Almighty, and that is the time he is using for getting his salvation and getting out of this realm.” So, He says, “I sacrifice myself for that time which is spent in the company of Saints.”
The din gaye akaarathee,
Sangathi bhayi na santh,
The din gaye akaarathee,
Sangathi bhayi na santh,
Prem bina pasu jeevanaa,
Bhakti binaa bhagwanth.
He says, “That day, which is spent without the company of the Masters or in Their remembrance, that is a wasted day.” He says, “We should spend our time in the remembrance and in the company of the Masters.”
He says, “Love and devotion are very high things because love and devotion converts an ordinary human being into a mahatma. And further, that devotion converts that mahatma and gets him to meet with God Almighty.”
So, therefore, love and devotion are of very high value. And that love and devotion can only be procured where there are the Saints. It can only be in the company of the Saints that we can get to understand and build that love and devotion, and nowhere else will we be able to get it.
Sant Ji used to often talk about this story and he used to tell this story. It was about a moneylender. This moneylender used to lend monies for different occasions to the villagers. He would go to that village and he would start lending monies to various people for different occasions. And he would also complete that round by collecting monies from people who owed him money.
Once it so happened, that he had gone to a village and he was to collect money from a farmer for whom he had lent money for the occasion of a marriage. But, there had been a drought for a few years and that farmer had been unable to repay the borrowing from this moneylender and pay him interest. So, he collected the elderly there and he called for the panchayat and he called for a recovery of his dues. And, as a result, he collected all the cattle of that farmer and collected his other belongings – like whatever silverware or gold ornaments, etc., that he had, and other things. And he took all of that into his possession.
So, he collected all of those possessions and then he sold them to the other richer villages. And there were several villages on these kinds of occasions who also requested for help. They requested this moneylender that he should forgive at least some part of that interest or the monies owed to him because he should consider that there had been a drought, etc. And, therefore, he should forgive some of those monies owed. However, the moneylender did not relent and he sold all the possessions belonging to that farmer.
Now, as a result, the villagers were unhappy with the behavior of that moneylender. And, in those days, when people would travel, they would carry their bedding because there were no provisions of others providing beddings, etc. So, they carried their own suitcases and all their belongings and these beddings with them.
So, he had that bedding and his suitcase to carry and he had to go to the next village, which was about three kilometers away. He was unable to carry both of those things and cover that distance. So, he was waiting for someone to help him. He was a bit miserly and he was not willing to pay anybody or any small boy to help him carry that bedding with him. So, he was just waiting for someone to come and help him.
He was waiting for some time, and then, a mahatma happened to pass by. That mahatma observed that this person was standing in the sun waiting for someone and he inquired of this moneylender as to why he was waiting and what was he looking for?
So, he explained to this mahatma that he had to travel those three kilometers, and since he had his bedding and suitcase, he could not carry both things and he's was waiting for someone to help him.
The mahatma told him that he was headed in that same direction. So, he offered to help that moneylender and said, “I will help you and we can walk towards that village. So, one of the luggage, I will carry.”
So, that moneylender handed over that bedding to the mahatma and he carried the suitcase, and they started off towards the next village.
While they were walking towards the other village, the moneylender thought to himself, “This person is a mahatma. Obviously, he is not going to expect to be paid anything for this help that he’s giving.”
They were walking quietly towards that village when the mahatma told him, “Look, I don't like walking quietly. Either you talk about God Almighty to me and I will listen, or let me talk and you listen.”
So, the moneylender told the mahatma, “I've never heard or talked about God Almighty and I don't know anything about it. So, I can't talk about it. So, it is better if you talk about it and I will listen.”
The mahatma started telling him about the importance of a human life and the importance of devotion, and how one should do devotion and he talked about God Almighty. So, that way, he talked for nearly an hour and they reached the next village.
So, when they reached that village, the moneylender said, “Okay, we have reached. I wanted to reach this village only. So now, you can leave that bedding.” And they both stood near a tree. He said, “You can now leave the luggage here. I will take care of it.”
So, accordingly, they unloaded that baggage and that bedding. And, thereafter, the moneylender thanked that mahatma and said, “Okay, now you can leave. We have reached.”
The mahatma told him, “Look, we walked for one hour and I spoke to you about all this, and while we walked, I felt gracious towards you. So, I want to say something to you.”
So, the moneylender agreed to listen.
The mahatma told him, ”Look, you now only have eight days to live. After eight days, the angels of death will come to fetch you. So, until such time, whatever give-and-take you have to do, you can complete it. But, in eight days, you will die.”
So, immediately, the moneylender touched the feet of the mahatma and he said, “I'm sorry. Please forgive me for making you carry my bags. I'm sorry. I didn't know. I didn't realize.”
The mahatma said, “No, no. I'm not telling you all this because you made me carry your bag. I'm saying this only because I feel that you have less time and I feel gracious towards you. That is why am telling you all this.”
So, the moneylender requested, “Please, help me from this situation because, in eight days, I cannot collect all the money and I will lose that money. So, you please help me in this situation.”
He was pleading for help to the mahatma and asking him to get him out of this situation.
The mahatma told him, “Look, there is no way. What is ordained is going to happen because you are going to die at the end of this period. In eight days, you will die and the angels of death will definitely come. That is guaranteed. There is going to be no change. But, because you are asking so much for help, let me give you a suggestion.
When the time of death comes, the angels of death will definitely come and take you. They will take your soul and they will take you to the Lord of Judgment. When you stand before the Lord of Judgment, he is going to see all the deeds that you have done. And, looking at your deeds, I don't see any good deeds that you have done throughout your life because you have been hurting people, collecting their dues, and doing all these kinds of things. So, it doesn't look like you have any good deeds. The only good deed that you have in this entire lifetime of yours is this one hour that you have walked with me when I have given you a Satsang. And that is the one good deed that you have.
The Lord of Judgment will ask you whether you want the benefit of this one good deed to be enjoyed first and then suffer for the bad deeds, or whether you would want to suffer the bad deeds first, and then enjoy this one good deed. So, he will ask you — for that one hour of good deeds — whether you want to go to heaven or Vaikuntha or Kailash or wherever.
He will ask, “Do you want the benefit of that one hour of good deeds, or wherever you have to go now to suffer for the bad deeds? We will send you there.”
So, when you are faced with this question, they will ask you if what you want is the benefit of that one hour of good deeds, or if what you want to pay for the bad deeds – whether you want the bad deeds to be redeemed first, or the good deeds?
When they ask you that, for the good deed, they will make the offer for you to go to heaven, Kailash, or Vaikuntha, or any other place or any other thing that you desire.
When they ask you that, then you tell them that you don't want to go to heaven or any other place, you just want the darshan of that mahatma, who is provided that one good deed you have. He is the Lord of Judgment, so whatever you ask for like this, he will oblige you. And, accordingly, he will send you with his angels of death and they will bring you to my ashram. After that, I will handle it.”
Thereafter, the mahatma left. And the mahajan in the first four days immediately transferred all his inheritance to his son. And, in the next four days, he spent trying to remember what that mahatma had said. And he rehearsed that again and again.
So, on the eighth day, the angels of death came to take his soul and the angels of death took him to the Lord of Judgment. The Lord of Judgment looked into all the deeds that he had done. And, in all the deeds, there was only this one good deed, which he had done where he had that one hour of Satsang with that mahatma. The rest were all bad deeds that he had done and he had hurt a lot of people. So there, the Lord of Judgment then asked him what he wanted to do with his bad deeds, whether he wanted to redeem them first, or the good deeds.
The moneylender told the Lord of Judgment, “The bad deeds are countless. So, it will take a very long time for me to settle those. Instead, you give me that benefit of the good deed.”
And, accordingly then, the Lord of Judgment asked him whether he would go to the heaven, or what other pleasure or joy he wanted, as a result of that one hour of good deeds.
The moneylender told the Lord of Judgment, “I don't want anything, any joy or pleasure. Simply let me go and have the darshan of that mahatma for which I have that good deed.”
So, accordingly, the Lord of Judgment then called those angels of death and he said, “You take this soul to that ashram, which is at this particular place. And there, let him have the darshan of the mahatma. And then, after one hour, you bring him back here.”
The angels of death took that soul to the ashram. And there, they told that soul, that moneylender, “Okay, there is the gate.” They could not enter the gate of the mahatma, of that ashram. They told that soul and instructed him to go inside and come back after one hour. And they waited outside at the gate.
So, he went, accordingly, inside and the mahatma addressed that moneylender and told him, “Oh, you have come.”
He said, “Yes, I followed your instructions. I have come.”
The mahatma said, “Okay. Sit down now.”
When he sat down, after an hour, those angels of death outside started calling him. He also remembered all the different types of hells that he had seen when he had gone to the Lord of Judgment. So, he was very scared and he asked the mahatma, “What now? These people are waiting outside.”
So, the mahatma said, “You sit here quietly. Close your eyes and sit.”
But, that moneylender kept thinking of those hells and those people were calling, those angels of death, were calling him. So, he was still afraid and he told the mahatma.
The mahatma told him. “It's nothing. Don’t pay attention. You sit here.”
So, after nearly one and a half hours, the angels of death decided to go back and they went to the Lord of Judgment. They told him, “He has not come out and we do not have permission to go inside the ashram. So, what should we do now?”
The Lord of Judgment told them, “Let him go. We do not have any authority there. So, let that soul go there.”
Saints say, “If you get the company of the Masters for one ghadi, which is three hours – or even if you do not get one ghadi, even if you get it for half, which is one and a half hours, or even half of that, which is forty-five minutes – so even if you get the company of the Masters for forty-five minutes, not only the sins of this life, but the sins of all your previous lives will get redeemed.”
Kabeer lahar samudhr ki,
Nisfal kadhee na jaay,
Kabeer lahar samudhr ki,
Nisfal kadhee na jaay,
Bagula parakh na jaanee,
Hansaa chug chug khaay.
Kabir Sahib says, “Like, in the ocean, there are very high waves. And in those waves, the cranes, which stand at the shore, cannot eat. They cannot eat in those waves. But, the swan, which flies, can get his food from those waves, even if there are those large waves in that ocean.”
So, He's pointing out that this is like the ocean of life. And in this ocean of life, for the ordinary people, they keep drowning in this ocean of life and they are unable to get out of it. But, the swans – that is the Saints – They are not affected by this ocean of life. They can come and go at Their pleasure.
Jaa ghar guru ki bhakti nahi,
Sant nahi mahimaan.
Jaa ghar guru ki bhakti nahi,
Sant nahi mahimaan.
Tha ghar jam deraa diyaa,
Jeevath bhaye masaan,
Kabir Sahib says, “In that house where there is no devotion of the Masters and the Masters do not visit their house — or They are not hosted in that house — that house is like a graveyard.”
Saints say, “Wherever Saints reside or They visit, in such places, those places become pure.” And, even if there are some bad souls there, there is no effect of any black magic or any other negative powers because of the purity of the Masters Who visit such places.
The Naam given by the Masters are the names of the Lords of the planes, which are above. And they are the Lords Who have not come into this world ever. They are very pure names. And by recitation or repetition of these names, the place where one is sitting while doing that repetition becomes pure.
Kabeer tha se sang karoo,
Jo re bajai sat naam.
Kabeer tha se sang karoo,
Jo re bajai sat naam.
Raaja rana chhathrapathi,
Naam bina bekaam,
Kabir Sahib says, “I seek the company of that person who recites the Naam in his within. And, even if he is a very poor person, he is a hundred thousand times better than even the kings, or the ministers, or the emperors, or any rich or wealthy people who do not recite the Naam.”
Kabir Sahib has said in another Bani, “Even if there is a person with leprosy and he is reciting the name given by the Masters, he is a hundred thousand times better than all the healthy or the wealthy people – be it a king or an emperor or a minister – that leper is better than all of these people.” And the company of such a person is better than the company of all the other people because this soul will get salvation and it will go back to God Almighty. It may be suffering on a temporary basis for this period, but it will go back to God Almighty. And there, it will sit on the throne with God Almighty.
Unlike that, all these other people, who seemingly are wealthier or healthier, they will go back down in the 8.4 million life forms and they will be subject to all the suffering there.
Kabeer man panchee bhaya,
Bhaavai thahavaa jaay,
Kabeer man panchee bhaya,
Bhaavai thahavaa jaay,
Jo jaisee sangato karai,
So thaisa fal khaay.
Kabir Sahib says, “This mind is like a bird. It keeps wandering here and there and it gets the fruit according to the company it keeps. So, according to the company that the mind is keeping, it will get the influence of such people and it will bear the fruit of that influence.”
In the whole lifetime of an individual, the individual usually develops the impressions according to all the influences of the people in the company he keeps. Right from birth, the newborn is influenced by his parents and he gets those impressions. And later also, he will develop impressions according to all the company he keeps in various stages of his life.
So, an individual, even if he has bad impressions but he goes in the company of Saints, he will be able to improve his life and get influenced by the good import of influences from the Saints.
Likewise, if there is a good person but he goes in bad company, he will, accordingly, get influenced by the bad habits of such company.
Kabeer chandan ke dinge,
Beghaa daak palaas,
Kabeer chandan ke dinge,
Beghaa daak palaas,
Aap sareekha kar liyaa,
Jo tha va ke paas.
Kabir Sahib gives an example of the srigandh tree. There is, in the Himalayas, the Malayagiri Range in which you find these trees. And this is sandalwood, the srigandh. But even in Karnataka, there are sandalwood trees. There are lots of sandalwood trees here also. But, if you cut these trees, from the branches, etc., you will not get the smell. It is only at the core of the stump – that part, which is red — that is the sandalwood. And that has a very good smell.
But, if you look at the srigandh tree, which is there in this Malayagiri range, from even the leaves or the branches or the stem from anywhere in that tree, you get the same smell of sandalwood. And even if there is another tree nearby – which is like a neem tree or some other tree – that also gets the same smell and it also draws the same essence. And even if you cut a part of that tree, it will smell of sandalwood.
Similarly, we have influences in our life. So, when we are in the company of Saints, the influence is on us also like that, where we also imbibe love and devotion. And we also start doing our love and devotion in the company of the Saints.
Kabeer khaayi khot ki paani
Peevai na koy.
Kabeer khaayi khot ki paani
Peevai na koy.
Jaayi milai jab gang se,
Saba gangodak hoy.
He gives another example of that where there is water in the sewage. No one uses that water. But when that same water flows into the Ganges, it is called gangodak. It is regarded as Ganges and holy water. People take a dip in that water. People even bottle that water.
So, Kabir Sahib says, “How did that dirty, impure water get importance? It got importance because it flowed into the Ganges.“
And, likewise, where there is a burdened soul and it has the burden of sin, when it goes in the company of the Masters and with the help of the Masters, it also sheds off that sin and becomes a Master.
Kabir Sahib says, “If you want peace and you want satisfaction, then you will get that peace and satisfaction by doing Simran because, by doing Simran, we are able to purify ourselves. And once we are purified, we will automatically get that peace and satisfaction.” So, Kabir Sahib says, “The essence of peace and satisfaction is Simran.” By doing Simran, you will get not only peace and satisfaction, but you will go and merge with God Almighty.
So, Simran is a very great thing. Even Sant Ji has said, “You should continuously do your Simran, and by doing your Simran, you will get your destination.” And your destination is God Almighty, Sach Khand-Sat Lok. The Simran will take you to your Sach Khand-Sat Lok.
Kabeer khaayi khot ki paani
Peevai na koy.
Kabeer khaayi khot ki paani
Peevai na koy.
Jaayi milai jab gang se,
Saba gangodak hoy.
Radhaswami.