Dhun Atmak Bani

 

This is the Eternal Sound Current reverberating endlessly in every living thing.  It is an Unwritten Law and an Unspoken Language.  It is above the ken of elements and the six chakras.  It becomes audible, however, when a spirit rises above body-consciousness.  In Guru Granth Sahib, the sacred scriptures of the Sikhs, the Sound Principle is generally referred to as Naam down to Trikuti; and below Daswan Dwar, where the causal region extends, it is called the Trigun Bani, or Sound within the regions of the three gunas.  It is also described as Brahm Janjalla, the network of Brahm, the God of creation.  This Trigun Bani or Brahm Janjalla is still within the domain of Kal or Dissolution and hence must disintegrate.  Kabir Sahib says:

Japa (oral), Ajapa (soundless) and Anhad (the limitless Sound), all have an end,

The Surat when absorbed in Shabd alone escapes.

Guru Amar Das says,

The Bani that is within the three gunas is a great network of the Creator (Brahma);

It keeps on talking, reasoning and thinking within the realm of Kal.  *4

The Sound Current beyond the reach of Kal is known as Sar Shabd, described as Sachi Bani or True Word, and It alone is the real Life Current of Life Chord capable of linking the spirit or soul with the Oversoul.

The Word of the Master is an elixir True,

O Nanak! through the Word, one can cross over.  *5

The True Word bursts asunder the three-fold egg,

O Nanak! It is the Saviour that saves all.  *6

                                                                                 GURU NANAK

He Himself draws in and absorbs, making the spirit neat and clean,

He is Truth, True is His Sound that effects the Union True.  *7

Wonderful indeed is the Bani that unites one with Truth,

Nanak saturated in that wondrous wonder, has neet the Lord;

One gets to it only through great good fortune.  *8

He alone meets God whom God or ordains,

And in him the True Bani manifests as Shabd,

O Nanak! thenone eve sings of the virtues of the True One,

And so singing gets truly absorbed in them.  *9

The fearless Donor comes to reside in the mind,

And the True Bani descends in the heart of a rare fortunate soul.  *10

The fortunate with a virtuous past alone meets a Master-soul,

And the Word of the Master makes the True Bani manifest.  *11

The elixir of Guru's Bani is delectably sweet,

A rare disciple of the Master may taste of It.  *12

                                                                       GURU AMAR DAS

Rare souls alone get absorbed in the Bani through the grace of a Master,

The Bani of the Lord takes one to the Eternal Home of the Father.  *14

                                                                                 GURU NANAK

True is the Shabd and True the Bani,

A devotee of the Master reaches It, and sings of It in every age.  *15

                                                                       GURU AMAR DAS

This does not mean that whatever the Saints utter by word of mouth has no value and is ineffectual.  On the contrary, it means that of all the Varan Atmak words and sounds, these occupy the highest place, for the flow of their words comes from out of the inexhaustible fund or reservoir at the back of all Fuqra-I-Kamil or Master-souls, and they speak of nothing but what they actually see and experience in the depth of their soul.  Their words are worth tons of gold and emeralds for the seekers after Truth.  They do not speak at the intellectual level, but their words well out of themselves and are charged with inner inspiration, and carry in them the weight of conviction.

Whatever comes to me from the Father,

That do I utter, O Lalo.  *16

                                                                                 GURU ARJAN

The spirit of the Lord speak by me, and His Word was in my tongue.  *18

                                                                                 KING DAVID

Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.  *19

                                                                                          ST. PETER

Lowly Nanak speaks out only when he is bidden to do so.  *20

                                                                                 GURU ARJAN

The writings of the saints are wonderful and valuable records of their spiritual experiences and serve the pilgrims as guide-posts on the Path of spirituality.

Except the words of the Master, nothing is up to the mark,

All the writings and sayings are verily imperfect,

Imperfect is the speaker and imperfect will remain the listener as the words come out of the imperfect.  *21

                                                                       GURU AMAR DAS

O ye the disciples of the Master, sing the Naam eternally, for God Himself makes It manifest through a Godman,

Believe ye the words (Bani) of the Master as really true,

It is only God who speaks through the human pole.  *22

Blessed is the devotee of the Lord and blessed are the words (Bani) he utters for the good of mankind,

He who attends to His discourse in all sincerity, God Himself helps him through.  *23

                                                                       GURU RAM DAS

The words (Bani) of the Sadh are ambrosial,

Whoever puts them into practice, reaches the goal and always speaks of the Word.  *24

                                                                       GURU ARJAN

The words (Bani) of the devotee are divine,

He presents the Eternal Truth in varied forms,

Blessed is such a life, for not only does he attain salvation but many another through him.  *25

                                                                       GURU RAM DAS

The writings and discourses of the Saints point out to us the True Bani, which is the very life of the creation and grants Nirvana or salvation.  It is the actual Truth, the Formless and Absolute, Sehaj Katha (the Perennial Language), Akath Katha (the Unspoken Language).  It is the Voice of God, self-flowing Nectar, call it Naam or Shabd, Word, Amrit or Logos, Kalma or Bang-I-Illahi, or Sruti.  It is the source and spirit of the creation; It is the very life and light, self-luminous, shadowless and eternally radiant.

The Word of the Master is a sweet Harmony (Bani)

And sings of Hari Naam day and night,

The True Lord abides in the core of the heart,

A heart like this pure indeed.  *26

Bani or Shabd is verily the Great Truth, O! Love them with all your heart;

With the Word or Naam dwelling inside, one is rid of anger and egotism.  *27

Shabd or Bani (Divine Music) is the Water of Life (Amrit),

And comes to reside in one's soul when one follows the instruction of the Master.  *28

Engage ye in the True Bani, the True Melody and the True Sound,

To live always in Truth is fortunate indeed and blessed is the one who does so.  *29

                                                                       GURU AMAR DAS

The Jnana, the meditation and the Dhun Bani (Inner Music) are all one and describe the Indescribable,

The Word (Shabd) speaks of the True One but the Word can be experienced through the Master.  *30

                                                                                 GURU NANAK

Take mercy one me and accept me as Thy bondsman,

And snap all my bonds and take me out of the net,

Let me live always in the sweet remembrance of Thy Word (Naam) or Thy Sound Principle (Bani),

Nanak Thy salve would gladly offer himself as a sacrfice unto Thee.  *31

The untold tale of the Voice of God (Prabh Bani) is the true Water of Life (Amrit);

Nanak says: a truly wise man lives in communion with Him (Bani).  *32

How great His glory and life-giving His Bani (Sound Principle),

Let His Word (Naam) alone abide in my heart.  *33

Listen ye the blessed one, to the sweet Music of the Amrit Bani (life-giving Sound Principle),

He who is so destined, in his heart alone It becomes manifest.  *34

                                                                                          GURU ARJAN

In the Vedas we have a wonderful account of It.  Vak Devi (the Divine Voice or Word) says:

All Devas (gods) have their abode in me, and I look after each one of them.  I am the efficient and the material cause of the very creation and I am sustaining the same.  I am Knowledge and Englishtenment.  *35

                                                                                          RIG VEDA

Again,

I am the Creator of all regions and the demons and I am all-pervading like the Pranas or vital airs in all forms and bodies.  I occupy all space and girdle the Universe in the form of ether.  In fullness I exist here, there and everywhere, beyond the earth and sky with hosts of solar systems; and by the power of my inherent nature, they have assumed all forms and all colors.  *36

                                                                                 ATHARVA VEDA

This Vak Devi or Bani is characterized by Dhun or Harmony, for It is Sound Principle, the primal manifestation of the Formelss God (Kustastha).

The unstruck self-existing Sound (Anhat Bani) pours forth symphonies from the wondrous throne of God,

The Melody of that Sound bewitches me, O Lord.  *37

Naam, Dhun or Bani is the manifestation of God,

So say the Smritis, the Shastras and the Vedas.  *38

                                                                                 GURU ARJAN

What is the signpost of the Abode of God?

There springs forth the perennial Harmony.  *39

                                                                                 BENI JI

It is an Eternal Sound Principle not bound by time and space.

Everything rests n andis sustained by Sound;

In the four divisions of time,

This Sound Principle was ever heard;

Emanating form Truth, It speaks of Truth.  *40

Sterling true is the Word (Sound Principle),

Godman have manifested it in every age.  *41

                                                                       GURU AMAR DAS

The True Sound (Bani) has been adored in all the four ages.

Everything is from that Truth and there is othing besides Him.  *42

The True Sound (Bani) has in all the four ages been described as the Water of Life,

With great good fortune, one preordained is taken to and rests in the Word (Naam).  *43

I sing of the Lord, should the Lord be so pleased,

With the fragrant Word (Naam) and the Sound (Shabd) beating the core of my heart;

Gurbani (the Word of the Master) is heard reverberating on all sides,

Springin right from Truth, It ends in Truth.  *44

Gubani is Naad, Vedas and still more, and

The mind when saturated in It gets fully absorbed,

Like Sarang in Water.  *45

The wondrous Bani is from the Formless One,

And nothing outshines the glorious Bani.

Its extent and its depth surpass all imagination,

For it is Truth Himself and naught else.  *46

                                                                       GURU AMAR DAS

Now the question is, where is this Sound Principle which has been reverberating throughout the four Yugas (divisions of time), and how can It be found out? Guru Nanak tellsus,

The True Bani (Sound) is reverberating in the body,

Should the True One so ordain, one can know himself,

It is with the knowledge of the Self that the True One becomes known, and Truth manifests itself.  *47

                                                                       GURU AMAR DAS

The sweet Nectar of Thy Voice (Bani)

Abides in the heart of Thy devotees.  *48

                                                                       GURU NANAK

The tuneful trumpet of Thy doorway,

Sounds in the middle of my forehead.  *49

                                                                                          KABIR

It is all-pervading both within and without for there is no place where It not in Its fullness.

Thy Voice is both within and without,

Thou speakest and makest It manifest.  *50

The Word of the Master (Gur-ki-Bani) resides in every heart,

He Himself manifests It and he does hear It.

Whoever communes with It is freed from bondage,

And goes to an Everlasting and Eternal region.  *51

                                                                                 GURU ARJAN

The Voice of God springs forth from the Light of God.  True devotion, therefoe, lies in the worship of the Sound Current, for It links man with God.  Paltu Sahib says,

In the inverted well of the head there burns a lamp,

The lamp burns, but without any wick or oil.

Through six seasons and twelve months it burns night and day,

But none may himself see the Light, except with the Master's grace.

A Voice springs forth from within the lamp's flame,

In the stillness of the soul, one may hear the Voice,

O Paltu! Blessed is the one that hears this Voice,

For in the inverted well of the head, there burns a lamp. 

                                                                                          PALTU SAHIB

The disenchanted mind is freed from illusions,

Whenit gets disciplined through comunin with Shabd;

From Heaven's Light within, there spring forth Harmony,

Which keeps one one absorbed in the True One.  *52

                                                                                 GURU NANAK

The famous Decalogue or Ten Commandments that constitute the core of Mosaic Law was delivered to Moses in the midst of thunder and flame.  The very creation lives by the Power of Naam or the Light and Sound of God.

Oh! The one life within us and abroad,

Which meets all motions and becomes its soul,

A light in sound, a sound-like power in light,

Rhythm is all thought, and joyance everywhere. 

                                                              S. T. COLERIDGE

Saint tell us that the Sound Current is reverberating within Sukhman, the central channel between Ida and Pingla, the two side nerves in the middle of the forehead.

The True Voice of the Master adept,

Is heard in the Sukhman with mind at rest.  *53

                                                              GURU AMAR DAS

It resides in each one of us, but only a Saint or a Master-soul can make It manifest to us:

Wonderful is the Voice of the perfect Master,

Manifested by the Master, It merges one in Truth.  *54

By Practice of the True Word (Sachi Bani), one is rid of all pains, sorrows and afflictions,

The devotees are ever in bliss through the favor of the perfect Master.  *55

                                                              GURU AMAR DAS

Through theinstructions of the Master, the Bani is made manifest within,

The True Word (Sachi Bani) sings the glory of God.  *56

                                                                       GURU NANAK

Ambrosial is the Bani of the perfect Master,

In His mercy, He may make It manifest within,

No more doth noe remain in the gyres,

But gets eternal peace and rest.  *57

                                                                       GURU ARJAN

When one gets It, he knows of It,

Without true Jnana, one knows naught,

Master's gift ever abides in the heart,

Bani then remains eternally manifested.  *58

The Voice of God (Bani) arises from and leads back unto Him,

His untold tale can be listened to in the Word made manifest by the Master.  *59

One can knowof the Voice of God through the grace of a perfect Master.  It comes as a pure gift from the Master, and we cannot have It have by any other means.  Truly speaking, Guru is Word Personified, and each revels in abundance in the other.  Guru Arjan addressed his Guru, "Glorious are Thou with Thy melodious Harmony."

The Word is the Maste and the Master the Word (Bani) personified.

In the Word lies the Pool of Nectar (Abritsar);

The devotee of the Master practices the Word,

And the living Master rescues Him.  *60

                                                                                 GURU RAM DAS

The above is clearly borne out by Bhai Gurdas when he says,

The Vedas and the scriptures are but handy aids to the Master,

The Way to true salvation lies in His hands; and Unless the Guru appears, one cannot see God.  *61

                                                                                 BHAI GURDAS

In Guru Granth Sahib, It is spoken of as Gupti Bani or the Hidden Voice, the Anhad Bani or the Limitless Voice, the Aghur Bani or the unspoken (unmanifest) Word.

The Hidden Voice becomes manifest.

O Nanak! only the True One knows of It.  *62

                                                                                 GURU NANAK

Limitless is the treasure of Sound,

Godman holds the key to the Sound.  *68

                                                                                 GURU ARJAN

With a true love for the Lord,

The unmanifest Word becomes manifest.  *64

                                                                                 GURU NANAK

 

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