Jatro

Dukh Bhanjan Tera Naam

ANG 1355
ਘੋਰ ਦੁਖ੍ਯ੍ਯੰ ਅਨਿਕ ਹਤ੍ਯ੍ਯੰ ਜਨਮ ਦਾਰਿਦ੍ਰੰ ਮਹਾ ਬਿਖ੍ਯ੍ਯਾਦੰ ॥
Excruciating pain, countless killings, reincarnation, poverty and terrible misery
ਮਿਟੰਤ ਸਗਲ ਸਿਮਰੰਤ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮ ਨਾਨਕ ਜੈਸੇ ਪਾਵਕ ਕਾਸਟ ਭਸਮੰ ਕਰੋਤਿ ॥੧੮॥
are all destroyed by meditating in remembrance on the Lord's Name, O Nanak, just as fire reduces piles of wood to ashes. ||18||
 
Bhul chuk maaf

The following was explain by tenth master himself. Satguru jee proved to the sangat that Satguru Sri Guru Nanak Rai Dev Bedi jee Maharaaj is greater than Sri Raam Chandar jee and Sri Krishan jee.
Note: Daas has condensed the information. The website can be accessed for more information, if anyone is interested. It is a long read but it has great information.  
Firstly, Sri Guru Nanak Dev Rai Bedi jee Maharaaj is a Pooran Tam Avtaar, while Sri Raam Chandar jee and Sri Krishan jee are Pooran Avtaars. Pooran Tam Avtaar is greater then Pooran Avtaar. Please see below:
Quote 
6.) Pooran Tam Avtar- This is the highest Avtar. This was Guru Nanak Dev Ji. All avtars are made of satogun but according to Gurmat the early avtars were created out of maya, and hence caught up in it. Guru Nanak Dev Ji however was a 100% mirror reflection of God, and hence he was not hampered by the obstacles which hampered the earlier avtars.
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Next, Maharaaj uses five criteria and proves that Satguru jee is the greatest.
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1.) Shakti- Shakti is power. Ram Chandar displayed his power from an early age. When his mother went to worship an idol of her goddess. He moved the idol and took it’s place. Krishna too showed his powers to his mother, Devki. Knowing he used to have a tendency to eat dirt she forced him to open his mouth, and through it she saw the entire cosmos.
Guru Nanak Dev Ji however did not give into the temptations of demonstrating his shakti. He even instructed his Sikhs to not give into the temptations of showing of these powers. When he was born, at the ambrosial hour (Amritvela) all the demi-gods came to worship him. They seated him on a throne and bowed down to him. They rubbed sandalwood into his skin and adorned him in various ways, all to show their devotion. They even did an ardass in front of him. That along with being the protector of humanity he should also remember the demi-gods.
Mata Tripta Ji, Guru sahib’s mother awoke while the demi-gods were midway through their prayers. The demi-gods on seeing her vanished. At first Mata Ji thought she had been dreaming. But then she saw her child adorned like a prince. She came close to him. It was then, to prevent her from finding out about his powes and to conceal them Guru Nanak Dev Ji started crying, and seeing her child in distress she easily let the curtain of forgetfulness be drawn over her mind. Guru Sahib eschewed demonstration of powers and placed emphasis on bhagti. It is only the result of Bhagti one gets powers but these should not be accepted as being a sign, that Bhagti is complete. There is even more bhagti left to do afterwards.
2.) Viaktee- Viaktee is the form of being. The physical form. A glaring difference between Guru Nanak Dev Ji (Pooran Tam Avtar) and Ram Chandar/Krishna (Pooran Avtar) is their facial features. Guru Nanak Dev Ji grew a very beautiful and long beard whereas the Pooran avtars had none. Gurmat says that one of the biggest reasons for an individual’s desire to cut kesh is physical pleasures. The Pooran Avtars did not have any facial hair.
When Ram Chandar left Ayodhya to marry Sita in Janakpuri, all the royal maidens were entranced by his beauty. On seeing this he told them that he will satisfy their desires in the Dwaper Yug. In the Dwaper Yug Krishna’s viaktee was one of lust. The maidens became the gopis and hence Ram Chandar satisfied their lust.
Above is a mural depicting how Krishna stole the gopi’s clothing and hid with them, in order to watch the nude maidens.
Ram Chandar and Krishna both kept youthful forms and as a result were not able to eradicate the cardinal sin of lust. Guru maharaj however let his body age as per Waheguru’s hukam and did not seek any physical pleasures.
3.) Pragya- Pragya is the name of a person’s knowledge of God. Ram Chandar had two masters in his life. Rishi Vashist. He spent 68 days with him in order to gain an understanding of creation. This is found in Vashist purana.
(We will be putting up excerpts from this purana very soon).
Ram Chandar then spent 8 days with Rishi Vishwamitar in order to learn Shastarvidya, the science of weapons.
Ram Chandar and brother Lakshman do seva of Vishwamitar.
Krishna’s spiritual master was Rishi Darbasha, who taught him the knowledge of God in 8 days, whereas his martial master was Rishi Sandeepan who taught him Shastarvidya in 64 days.
Guru Nanak Dev Ji however was born learned from the start. He did not need any Guru or teacher at all. His Guru was the shabad and he was above the teachings of the vedant, upanishads and qoran etc. When his parents sent him to Pandit Gopal Panday in order to learn maharaj taught Panday the essence of Waheguru and creation. On the third day Pandit Ji told maharaj’s parent that he (Guru Nanak) was the creator of all knowledge and there was nothing he could teach him.
Baba Kalu then took maharaj to Mulla Noor Deen, however the Guru gave an exalting discourse to the Mulla which changed his life. The other avtars adopted masters, but maharaj adopted no one as a master instead masters adopted him as a master.
Guru Nanak Dev Ji at school with Mulla Noor Deen, his father and other students.
Guru Nanak Dev Ji never had to use any weapons, his shastar was the shabad. However he still taught Shastarvidya to Baba Buda Ji, the shastarvidya given to him in sachkhand which was returned to him in his sixth form. No avtar in terms of Shakti, Pragya and Viakat can even come an inch close to Guru Sahib.
4.) Kartab- Kartab is the showing of one’s skills. In Treta-yug the age of Ram Chandar was 10,000 years! During this time Ram Chandar only showed his kartab in the 14 years he spent in exile. After 14 years of exile he went back to Ayodhya and made a promise, that under him no parent will lose their child. It was then that a Brahman came to him and asked him to resurrect his son or otherwise accept the title of a liar. Ram Chandar asked the Brahman how his son died, the Brahman replied that a shudra (dalit) was reading the scriptures and praising God thats why. Ram Chandar went to the residence of the Dalit, Shambuk and resurrected the Brahman’s son by cutting of Shambuk’s head and killing him. This account is found in both the Dasam Granth and the Balmiki Ramayan.
By accident Ram Chandar fought against his sons Love and Kush. His sons injured or killed his entire army including Ram Chandar. Only due to the goodness of Sita he was brought back to life. Still Ram Chandar passed the reign of the kingdom over to his two sons. This was due to his attachment with his family.
Krishna after killing Kans he placed his maternal grandfather named Ugarsain on the throne to rule the kingdom. This showed his attachment to his family.
However Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji for the first 28 years stayed in the city of Sultanpur and worked in the granary. After doing this they went into the Beas River and went to heaven there. Here they adopted God as their only spiritual master. They were given the root incantation here and following which saved all of humanity with the knowledge of the Lord. They travelled far and wide doing this. They did not speak of any other demi god or prophet other then God.
Guru maharaj and Salis Rai Jeweller, a devotee maharaj met on his journeys in India.
Guru Nanak Dev Ji did not show any attachment to their sons but showed may feats of skill. Instead of installing one of their sons in their position they appointed one of their disciples.
Guru Nanak Dev Ji met many evil kings such as Devloot, Lajvarad and Babur. Rather then killing them they gave them knowledge in order to make them understand the message of God and to help humanity.
The demon Kauda, the thieves Bhumai and Sajjan were made to repent what they were doing and became saints. They made all the evil people good with the teachings they imparted. They saw no difference between social class, gender, age, etc and imparted the same message to all the people of the world.
Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji in order to avoid many troubles showed much skill.
Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji did not show any less skill then any other incarnation. They actually showed greater skill then all others.
5.) Aayoo, or acts performed for the good of others.
Ram Chandar lived for 10,000 years. Due to listening to the Brahmans they killed a person of a low caste. They also handed the reign of the land to his two sons.
Krishna lived for 1,000 years. He believed Jadva to be an egotistical person due to this he got Rishi Darbasha to curse him so that he would die.
Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji was a king and a saint at the same time. In order to bring any other being back to life they never killed another. By bringing that person back to life they would give them the name of God so that they could save and bring back to life many other people.
This is the same with the 3rd, 5th, 9th and 10th Sikh Gurus. The third Guru, Sri Guru Amar Das Ji whilst the spiritual master of the Sikhs for 22 years no one died in the village of Gobindwal. No matter if old or young no one died during the 22 years that Sri Guru Amar Das Ji was in the city of Gobindwal. No one was ill as well. This showed that the Guru’s of the Sikhs were greater then that of the incarnations.
Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji lived for 70 years and during that time travelled more then Ram Chandar and Krishna did. Ram Chandar and Krishna never travelled further then Indian and Sri Lanka. Guru Nanak Dev Ji went to Kashmir, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Tibet, Sikam, Burma, Africa, Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Russia. They travelled to these countries and more all by foot. In the ballads written by Bhai Gurdas Ji it states the Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji actually travelled the whole world and met all the people of all nations. Guru Nanak Dev Ji saved that many souls that they cannot all be accounted for.
In such a small life Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji helped an infinite number of people. They got the root incantation from heaven and spread it through the seven lands of India and all of the continents throughout the world. They taught all the people to meditate on the name of the one true Lord. They started the faith of Sikhism. They created the true congregation. They made other people meditate on the Lord.
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[1] - https://sikhunity.wordpress.com/2014/01/13/pooran-tam-avtar/
The above clearly proves that Satguru Sri Guru Nanak Rai Dev Bedi jee Maharaaj is the greatest.
Bhul chuk maaf

You are right Paaji. How can one compare a river to an ocean?
Satguru Sri Guru Nanak Rai Dev Bedi jee Maharaaj is the incarnation of the Almighty Waheguru and is the greatest.
For more details, please have a look below:

 
Bhul chuk maaf

OMG. I'm just watching "The Simpsons" episode "Homer of Seville" and guess what.
This women disrobes in front of Homer but he goes to call out to his wife. The naked woman says "Homer, if you call your wife, I'll tell her you tried to attack me.."
?

Towards the end of the Charitar there is mention of some supernatural entities, one of then is 'Jachh' or Yaksha which are spirits with extraordinary powers. In classical Sanskrit poet Kalidas' epic poem Meghdoot there is the story of a Yaksha who is so engrossed in sensual pleasure with his wife that he neglects his worldly duties and is as a result banished far away from his wife. So, i think the point being made in the Charitar is that when people are engrossed in Maya and neglect Dharma ie their duties bad consequences will follow. So looking at Charitars as anti-this or that is not productive instead they are a statement of how Maya (the 'Nakati' in Bhagat Kabir ji's words) can lead us astray.

Bansavalinama says that Baba Banda Bahadur was not happy with attitude of some Sikhs, but it makes the whole division in the Panth more of a post-Banda phenomenon fuelled by his followers. It also says that there was a four-fold division in the Panth after Baba Banda ji's death. These were, the "Akal Purkhia"(equivalent of what later came to be called Tat Khalsa), the "Bandiae' (followers of Baba Banda Bahadur), followers of adopted pretender to Guruship Ajit Singh (mentioned as Jit Singh) and followers of Chaubanda (have no clue what this means). It should be noted that all of this is portrayed as a conflict within the Sikh family only, revolving around disputed Guruship. So it's not as if some Vaishnav Bairagis appeared on the scene. Gradually the Akal Purkhias won. I'm attaching the relevant pages.

Bansavalinama says that Baba Banda Bahadur was not happy with attitude of some Sikhs, but it makes the whole division in the Panth more of a post-Banda phenomenon fuelled by his followers. It also says that there was a four-fold division in the Panth after Baba Banda ji's death. These were, the "Akal Purkhia"(equivalent of what later came to be called Tat Khalsa), the "Bandiae' (followers of Baba Banda Bahadur), followers of adopted pretender to Guruship Ajit Singh (mentioned as Jit Singh) and followers of Chaubanda (have no clue what this means). It should be noted that all of this is portrayed as a conflict within the Sikh family only, revolving around disputed Guruship. So it's not as if some Vaishnav Bairagis appeared on the scene. Gradually the Akal Purkhias won. I'm attaching the relevant pages.

Bansavalinama says that Baba Banda Bahadur was not happy with attitude of some Sikhs, but it makes the whole division in the Panth more of a post-Banda phenomenon fuelled by his followers. It also says that there was a four-fold division in the Panth after Baba Banda ji's death. These were, the "Akal Purkhia"(equivalent of what later came to be called Tat Khalsa), the "Bandiae' (followers of Baba Banda Bahadur), followers of adopted pretender to Guruship Ajit Singh (mentioned as Jit Singh) and followers of Chaubanda (have no clue what this means). It should be noted that all of this is portrayed as a conflict within the Sikh family only, revolving around disputed Guruship. So it's not as if some Vaishnav Bairagis appeared on the scene. Gradually the Akal Purkhias won. I'm attaching the relevant pages.

First two pics are from Gurbilas Patshahi 10, the next three are from the foreword to Guru Kiyan Sakhian and the last one is from, as amardeep ji rightly pointed out, the Bansavalinama

Sure brother, Paapiman ji has quoted the relevant passage from the main body of Guru Kiyan Sakhian, i'll first post the relevant passage from Gurbilas Patshahi 10 and then from the foreword Guru Kiyan Sakhiyan which contains extracts from Bhatt vahis and a footnote on Baba ji's lineage. I'll also share little bit from Bansavalinama by Kesar Singh Chhibber. I don't thing we should make too much out of the missing 'Singh' from Baba ji's name, i think it's largely a stylistic choice early writers may have made depending upon the colloquial usage. Also, i think Sikh and Khalsa may have been used interchangeably by these writers.

Gurfateh
On this forum as well as in recent decade amongst the sanatan lot it has been argued that Banda SIngh Bahadur never took amrit since there are hardly any pre-singh sabha litterature that mentions so. Most 18th century writings mention him as Banda Bahadur.
I just came across this in the Panth Prakash:
 
 
Banda Singh also entreated the Guru to bestow him with certain miraculous powers,
So that he might also win some fame and reputation.
But if he ever betrayed and defied the Will of the Khalsa,
Then the Guru had every right to withdraw His pleasure. (8)
Hearing this, the guru repeated his earlier declaration,
That he had handed over all the powers to the Khalsa Panth.
Since the Guru had admitted Banda Singh into the Khalsa Panth,
Banda Singh was equally entitled to share those powers. (9)
Whenever the need arose, he should gather an assembly of five Singhs,
And make a joint prayer for the fulfilment of his wish.
Receiving these instructions, Banda Singh launched on his mission,
And marched with his contingent towards Sirhind. (10)
 

The above story is mentioned in Charitar no.209.
 
Yes brother. It is the same Bharthari jee. He lived a very long life, as he had learned the yogic technique to augment his age. He also wrote a granth called Vairaag Shatak. Narad Muni jee had informed him about Maharaaj's physical prescence in Kaljug
 
Bhul chuk maaf

I will share this, maybe you will realize most of us are not that perfect and how some things do shape us up. Plus I wanna rant too lol
When we came here, I was in high school and summer breaks came which were freaking three months long. We had no Tv, no computer, nothing. I was home alone since mom dad bro would go to work and out of my loneliness and boredness I used to cry whole day long. Was I pretty much close to being Insane, yes I was. And no I had no friends either and had severe social anxiety to even go near people. Loneliness was never a problem but those three months drove me insane. I can still see myself, it was like someone being in mental asylum lol I seriously did not know what to do with my time and my mind. Plus we were in apartment and it seemed like a jail to me lol
Second summer break came and we had tv and computer by now but I still had three months and I started to work out like crazy. Whole day I used to do aerobic exercise by playing Music and my emotional pain never bothered me. I kinda built a foundation for good health here so not complaining about exercising to a level where I was exhausted by the night, I was training back then for an inner yudh. Lol Exercise was my way to avoid my mind and thoughts.
Third summer break came and in those breaks I started reading self help books, I was reading soo many books from self help to spirituality to brain to occult/ esoteric knowledge anything which can help me with my social anxiety. It helped, after almost 2 years, my social anxiety went away. It was not jus shyness, it was the worst one where I just could not talk front of people and would cry. I don't know how many times I cried front of kids and profs in high school lol.
These three summer breaks did me a huge favor. First one was spent by crying to avoid my mind( hardest one) , second one was spent by doing physical exercise to avoid my mind, third one was spent by reading to keep my mind busy. What I know today, if I knew back then I would have done so much mediation to conquer my mind lol but what I know today I would have never known if I never went through those phases. 
I never ever thought that I will ever get rid of my social anxiety but I did. Now I have no problem talking to people, giving speeches unless it's a huge crowd lol. It took me almost 20 years of numerous taunts where I was constantly told Oh you are not dumb you should speak and that used to hurt like hell. Since I would not just act dumb out of my luxury lol. This was the biggest reason which created a hindrance in so many other things in life. 
I still have plenty of fears and problems to deal with, but this was one of the biggest one and I got out of it and so I know other problems will be over too. I know how you are feelings right now, I have spent couple last few months in a deep deep depression and only path got me out of it. If I get sad or low, I do stuff to balance myself out which can be doing a gratitude journal, meditation, listening to uplifting lecture or looking at people who are less fortunate than me ( as dalsingh ji said, it some time helps).
The point is we all are in a same boat, my life might seem better to you and your life might seems better to me but in the end we all are dealing with our crappy emotions and with time we Learn to suck it up lol. Good days and bad will keep coming. I am not that down these days but I know one day a low phase will come too but now I kinda know how to Handle it I think. 
 
Interesting stuff 
 

To download the book directly from this forum use the link below (for people who can't get it via scribd)
Shackle_Introduction_to_the_sacred_language_of_Sikhs_complete.pdf

I think he is a military history enthusiast, a lot of information about us is lying unused in British archives, if he can provide good info on the composition of the Khalsa then it would be a good achievement. Of course, i agree with all that you have said, we should examine such works critically

This might be of interest to all of you http://www.helion.co.uk/new-and-forthcoming-titles/the-sikh-wars-source-book-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-khalsa-1799-1849.html

Please listen to Gyani Kulwant Singh jee, explaining the importance of doing seva of Satguru Sri Guru Granth Sahib jee Maharaaj.
Please start listening after 31:20 min:
http://www.gianikulwantsingh.com/audio/BaarahMaahaaTukhaari_ChantMahla-1/5%20-%20Thukaree%20Raag%20Baraa%20Maha%20Katha%20-%20Giani%20Kulwant%20Singh%20Ji%20(Ludhiana%20Vaalay).mp3
 
Bhul chuk maaf

This might be of interest to all of you http://www.helion.co.uk/new-and-forthcoming-titles/the-sikh-wars-source-book-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-khalsa-1799-1849.html

You can find the Faridkot Teeka on www.srigranth.org .. Find your shabad and go to settings on top of the page and set it to fareedkot teeka.. There is also the Sahib Singh teeka to cross reference and compare.

This is partly the reason why i like the Faridkot teeka explanation better, it basically gives the traditional 5 element explanation and the 'pavan devta' explanation. I think that is probably more in line with what the Guru meant. This can also be seen in the "So dar', especially the 'gavan tudno...'. If we consider 'pavan, paani, baisantar' as devta-s then it becomes easy to interpret those verses. If we don't do that and instead rely on a more "scientific" explanation we end with more difficulties IMO.

Its cool to have you here on the forum. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us and welcome to the forum :)

Sure brother, i'm attaching the screenshots. My personal opinion on 'pavan guru' is that the Guru wanted to attack personhood (the feeling that we are identical with our bodies, or that we ARE our bodies) which creates selfishness, cowardice and egotistical behaviour, so the Guru always emphasized on distinct parts which make up a person. So we have
ਦੇਹੀ ਮਾਟੀ ਬੋਲੈ ਪਉਣੁ ॥
The body is dust; the wind speaks through it.
ਬੁਝੁ ਰੇ ਗਿਆਨੀ ਮੂਆ ਹੈ ਕਉਣੁ ॥
Understand, O wise one, who has died.    
As we all know voice of human beings is generated through the flow of air from the lungs to the larynx. So essentially it's the air that is speaking. So Pavan is Guru because it is only through Pavan that the Gurshabad is emerging.

Sure brother, i'm attaching the screenshots. My personal opinion on 'pavan guru' is that the Guru wanted to attack personhood (the feeling that we are identical with our bodies, or that we ARE our bodies) which creates selfishness, cowardice and egotistical behaviour, so the Guru always emphasized on distinct parts which make up a person. So we have
ਦੇਹੀ ਮਾਟੀ ਬੋਲੈ ਪਉਣੁ ॥
The body is dust; the wind speaks through it.
ਬੁਝੁ ਰੇ ਗਿਆਨੀ ਮੂਆ ਹੈ ਕਉਣੁ ॥
Understand, O wise one, who has died.    
As we all know voice of human beings is generated through the flow of air from the lungs to the larynx. So essentially it's the air that is speaking. So Pavan is Guru because it is only through Pavan that the Gurshabad is emerging.

Don't know if all of you already know this but the full katha of Prachin Panth Prakash by Giani Sher Singh ji is up at gurmatveechar.com