Bani: Its merits

 

It grants etenal peace and repose leading to salvation.

O Load! Thy Word (Bani) is ambrosia or the Water of Life,

And by attuning to It, I am wafted Heavenward.  *65

                                                                                 GURU ARJAN

It destroys the canker of egotism or I-ness.

A touch with the Unending Sound (Anhad Bani) destroys all I-ness,

Let me scrupulously obey my Master and be a sacrifice unto Him.  *66

The Virtuous Word (Nirmal Bani) ever resides with the Formless One (Nij Ghar),

O Nanak! It destroys all thoughts of I-ness, and rids one of all illusion.  *67

                                                                       GURU AMAR DAS

It helps in acquiring self-knowledge and takesone beyond the Trigunatmac regions.

By losing oneself (in the Bani) one becomes all-knowing,

By attuning with the Word (Bani), one gets absorbed in Truth.  *68

                                                                                 GURU NANAK

By devotion to the Master, one experiences the three worlds.

He becomes the knower of the Self and merges in the Lord.  *69

                                                                       GURU AMAR DAS

It washes off all sin and sorrow.

Pure is Bani and pure the Shabd,

And pur light resides in all.

The pure Bani sings of the glory of God,

And the practice of It washes off all sings.  *70

                                                                       GURU AMAR DAS

It vanquishes the deadly sins.

Oh! I have vanquished the deadly sins,

How delectably sweet is the Sabior Word (Bani)!

Nanak says: the mind gets enlightened,

And one reaches the region of Pure Silence (Bliss).  *71

                                                                                 GURU ARJAN

It helps in all possible ways, sets everything in order and grants bliss to bod and mind.

By listening to the Voice of the All-pervading God (Bani Ram Naam),

One's endeavors are vrowned with success,

From the very pores of the Master's devotee spring forth the Melodies of the Divine Harmony.  *72

                                                                                 GURU RAM DAS

Without the aid of Bani, one remains in ignorance and wanders in the wilderness of life, ever a prey to fears and mental distress.

He does not know the Shabd nor apprehend the Bani,

A slave to the mind and the senses, he remains in affliction and sorrow.  *73

                                                                       GURU AMAR DAS

This is why in the Guru Granth Sahib great stress is laid on practice of the Bani.

Come ye the beloved disciples of the master, ing the True Bani,

Sing the Bani of the Master, a Bani which is the crest jewel of all sounds.  *74

The Banir springs into being under the Command (Hukam) of the Most High and one can listen to the same under His Will.

Only if thou will it, can I sing the Bani,

Only if Thou will it, can I express the Truth.  *75

                                                                       GURU ARJAN