Video Information: Shabdyog Session, 29.03.2019, Advait BodhSthal, Greater Noida, India
Context:
1. What is the meaning of a spiritual battle?
2. What is religion?
3. How to understand Gurubani?
4. Why does spiritual sadhana take long to complete?
5. How to live a life in the light of the quote?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Verse:
Deh Shiva bar mohe ihai
देह शिवा बर मोहे ईहे, शुभ कर्मन ते कभुं न टरूं
न डरौं अरि सौं जब जाय लड़ौं, निश्चय कर अपनी जीत करौं,
अरु सिख हों आपने ही मन कौ इह लालच हउ गुन तउ उचरों,
जब आव की अउध निदान बनै अति ही रन मै तब जूझ मरों ॥२३१॥
~ गुरु गोबिंद सिंह
English Translation
O Akaal, give me this boon
May I never ever shirk from doing good deeds
That I shall not fear when I go into combat. And with determination, I will be victorious.
That I may teach myself this greed alone, to speak only of Thy (almighty lord Waheguru) praises.
And when the last days of my life come, I may die in the might of the battlefield.
~ Guru Gobind Singh.
#acharyaprashant #gurbani #gurugobindsinghji
Context:
1. What is the meaning of a spiritual battle?
2. What is religion?
3. How to understand Gurubani?
4. Why does spiritual sadhana take long to complete?
5. How to live a life in the light of the quote?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Verse:
Deh Shiva bar mohe ihai
देह शिवा बर मोहे ईहे, शुभ कर्मन ते कभुं न टरूं
न डरौं अरि सौं जब जाय लड़ौं, निश्चय कर अपनी जीत करौं,
अरु सिख हों आपने ही मन कौ इह लालच हउ गुन तउ उचरों,
जब आव की अउध निदान बनै अति ही रन मै तब जूझ मरों ॥२३१॥
~ गुरु गोबिंद सिंह
English Translation
O Akaal, give me this boon
May I never ever shirk from doing good deeds
That I shall not fear when I go into combat. And with determination, I will be victorious.
That I may teach myself this greed alone, to speak only of Thy (almighty lord Waheguru) praises.
And when the last days of my life come, I may die in the might of the battlefield.
~ Guru Gobind Singh.
#acharyaprashant #gurbani #gurugobindsinghji
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Deh Shiva bar mohe hi hai, shubh karmante kabhu na taru.
00:07Na dharau, arisau jab jaye ladau, nishchay kar apni jeet karau.
00:13Arusikau apne hi manakau, ih lalach hao gun tav ucharau.
00:20Jab aau ki audh nidana bane, ati hi ran me tab jujh marau.
00:31Translation says,
00:33O Akal, give me this boon.
00:39May I never ever shirk from doing good deeds.
00:54That I shall not fear when I go into combat.
01:00And with determination I will be victorious.
01:04That I may teach myself this greed alone.
01:09To speak only of Thy praises.
01:17And when the last days of my life come,
01:21I may die in the might of the battlefield.
01:33With reference to the above verse,
01:36I request you to elaborate on its significance in today's world.
01:41As I have always encountered this verse being used as a battle anthem.
01:48But it appears to me that battles are not gross in our day-to-day life.
01:55Then how to live a life in the light of these beautiful verses of Guru Gobind Sahab.
02:00Shubh Karam
02:22Arishon Jab Jai Lado
02:26Sikhon
02:34Gun Tau Ucharau
02:46Ati hi ran me tab jujh marau.
02:51All these refer to the same one, the same thing.
03:02And when you see that obviously the Guru is talking of just one.
03:12Because he is devoted to just one.
03:17Then you realize what he is advising with respect to your day-to-day practical life.
03:33He says,
03:35Deh Shiva bar mohe hi hai, shubh karman te kabhi na tarau.
03:44So he is asking the Kaal Purakh, the Lord, the God.
03:56He is asking Shiva that he should never deviate from the path of auspicious deeds.
04:13This in itself is a total and complete prayer.
04:21But fortunately for us, there is more.
04:27And that helps deepen the understanding of the seeker.
04:33What has Guru Gobind Singh asked for?
04:36Auspicious deeds.
04:38And he says, I want nothing else.
04:41Deh Shiva bar mohe hi hai.
04:43This, only this.
04:46Nothing else do I want.
04:48I should be committed to the good.
04:51I should be committed to good deeds, auspicious deeds.
04:54Then he further says, na tarau arusau jab Jai Lado.
04:59So now you know what those auspicious deeds are.
05:04Now those auspicious deeds are being talked of in other words.
05:11Now you are being given another angle to look at those auspicious deeds from.
05:18Now you are being given another way to understand what those auspicious deeds are.
05:27What are those auspicious deeds?
05:29The auspicious deed is to not to be afraid of the enemy when you are in the middle of the fight.
05:38Na tarau arusau jab Jai Lado.
05:42Ari means the enemy.
05:44Na tarau arusau jab Jai Lado.
05:49Which battle is he talking of?
05:52He is talking of the inner battle.
05:56The ego sense wants to reach the truth, Shiva.
06:05But is being misled, blocked, bewitched by Prakriti.
06:16That is the battle.
06:18That inner battle can sometimes manifest as a worldly battle as well.
06:25But in essence even the worldly battle is an inner battle.
06:32Do you see what the battle looks like?
06:35There is the ego sense.
06:38It is being called by the truth.
06:44But it is being mesmerized, enthralled.
06:49Or being violently stopped by the forces of Prakriti, Maya, the world.
06:57This is the battle.
07:01The I sense, the ego is embattled.
07:04On one hand is love, on the other hand is the conditioning.
07:13This same inner battle can outwardly happen in a laboratory, in a battlefield, in a legislative assembly,
07:28in a household, in a classroom, in the streets, in a hospital, in a temple, anywhere.
07:42But irrespective of where that outwardly battle apparently happens,
07:48it is essentially an inner battle in which the ego is poised between truth and Maya.
08:09You getting it?
08:12Truth enlightens, so it is attractive.
08:17Maya enthralls, so it is sometimes even more attractive.
08:26Where to go?
08:30That is the battle.
08:34Outwardly it may happen that sometimes, not always, you have to fight a physical enemy
08:44for the sake of your true love.
08:52That too is essentially the same inner battle.
09:00The one who is steadfastly fighting the inner battle is as much of a warrior
09:10as the one who is shedding blood in an external battlefield.
09:18Both must be equally praised for their courage and valor.
09:25But it is just that when we see blood being spilled, it is a little more spectacular.
09:34We feel a little more reverence.
09:38But the outer warrior and the inner warrior are in the same dimension.
09:48Anybody who is fighting the force of Maya is a warrior.
09:59So, Guru Gobind Saheb says, na darao arison jab jaye lado.
10:09The enemy is big and severe.
10:14And fear appears so natural.
10:18Fear must not be natural because fear is not your nature.
10:23Nishchay kar apni jeet karo.
10:25Be determined.
10:27Fight it out.
10:29Your victory lies not in the outcome but in the fight.
10:36Victory is not the upshot of the battle.
10:39Victory is the essence of the battle.
10:43There is a great difference, you must understand.
10:46Prakriti programs you to look only at the upshots, the results.
10:52Are you getting it?
10:55You tried hard.
10:57You did not get the fruit.
10:59As an ape, you are trying hard and you did not get the fruit.
11:04You will sleep on an empty stomach.
11:08And your condition would be no better than another ape who is sleeping on an empty stomach
11:13because he did not try at all.
11:16Prakriti knows only results.
11:19Prakriti respects only results.
11:22Are you getting it?
11:23There is a fire.
11:24Both the saint and the sinner would die.
11:27Because Prakriti is material and material does not care for enlightenment.
11:33The result would be the same.
11:34The material result would be the same in case of a fire.
11:38Are you getting?
11:40In a spiritual battle, it is not the result that counts.
11:45It is the battle that counts.
11:48The battle is the victory.
11:50To fight is to be victorious.
11:56Are you getting it?
12:00But if you look for an ultimate victory,
12:03as sometimes those people who look for some ultimate event called enlightenment,
12:12then you are just playing by Prakriti's rules.
12:23You have walked straight into the trap.
12:27It is Prakriti that teaches you to go for one final result.
12:31Aim it and get it.
12:33And if you are targeting enlightenment,
12:36then you are actually targeting to live by an unenlightened Prakriti.
12:46Because it is she who is teaching you to live by accomplishments.
12:55Are you getting it?
12:58Just fight.
13:01That's the victory that the Guru is talking of.
13:12अरु सिखहो आपने ही मन को इह लालच हव गुन तव उचरो
13:21I know that my mind is desirous of something.
13:27Feeling incomplete, it seeks something.
13:32I will be a good student and teach my mind that only one greed is acceptable.
13:42The greed towards truth.
13:47I will keep forever reciting the name of God.
13:51I will be attached to his name and that is the only worthwhile attachment.
14:01You see, in this battle, I am facing something impossible.
14:12I am fighting because I am body identified.
14:17Had I not been body identified, there would have been no need for any kind of spiritual practice or seeking.
14:24And because I am body identified, so I feel incompleteness.
14:29I feel attraction, I feel attachment, I feel greed, aversion, all these things.
14:36So what do I do?
14:38Here is a great method.
14:40Target all your impulses towards God.
14:47If you have greed, be greedy towards God.
14:51If you have anger, be angry on not getting God.
14:57If you are attached, be attached to the truth.
15:02Target whatever you have towards him.
15:05Use whatever you have towards him.
15:12If you can sing, sing of him.
15:14If you can run, run for him.
15:19If you are given to thinking, try thinking of him.
15:25If you are so emotional, turn your emotions towards him.
15:30जब आव की आउध निधान बने अतेहे रन्मे तब जूझ मरुण।
15:48And when the time has come, then I should gladly disappear.
15:59Neither should I be afraid of physical death nor should I be afraid of dissolution into you when the opportunity comes.
16:11Just as it is important that the warrior in the physical battlefield is not afraid of physical death,
16:21it is equally important that the warrior in the spiritual battlefield is not afraid of dissolution when it comes.
16:28That's your last test.
16:35That's what the enemy measures you on.
16:39All right, you are a very skilled fighter, but can you remain unflinching in the face of death?
16:50That's what would be asked of you.
16:53Similarly, in your spiritual pursuit, you would be asked, all right, you have very dedicated ego.
17:00It is prepared to give up everything.
17:03Finally, is it prepared to give up itself?
17:10And if it cannot give itself up, what is the point in other austerities?
17:18You are giving so much to the Lord, you say you are submitted.
17:28But you are constantly failing the last test and the last test is to give yourself up.
17:35Just as the last test for the physical warrior is to lay down his life.
17:41When in the physical battlefield, don't hesitate to lay down your life.
17:55And in the spiritual field, don't hesitate to lay down your ego and both are one.
18:04Both are one.
18:07The physical warrior cannot lay down his life willingly if his ego is not fully dedicated to a noble cause.
18:17And the spiritual warrior cannot let his ego dissolve if he is very mindful of the body.
18:29The spiritual warrior must be prepared to give up the body.
18:35The physical warrior must be egoless to give up the body.
18:40Both are one.
18:50The world is a battlefield.
18:53We all are embattled.
18:57Spiritual practice is to fight well.
19:27There is the mind and there is Shubhankara as well, right?
19:43The mind is designed to do something.
19:46You have a choice in going along with the mind or not.
19:55There is the mind and then there is you.
19:58Do you find it necessary to comply?
20:03You do.
20:05But it's not necessary.
20:07And therein lies hope.
20:17You mentioned that the physical death and the spiritual death both are required.
20:23But usually we nowadays see that there have been such instances where people are ready for their physical death.
20:29But that would not necessarily mean the spiritual death.
20:33And somehow also we revert to the things what the Sikh gurus have done and the disciples.
20:41But is it right to assume that it was all done with a spiritual…
20:46The battle is essentially internal.
20:49Remember that.
20:51The battle is essentially internal.
20:54Outside you only have its manifestations.
20:57He said the manifestation could be in a laboratory, in a house, in a temple, in the street or in a battlefield.
21:03So whatever you are doing and wherever you are doing it, the real thing is internal.
21:12And therefore it has to be one internally only.
21:15What is certain is that if the manifestation is external and you are afraid of losing physical life,
21:26that surely means you are losing the battle.
21:29However, it does not mean that in the external battle if you are prepared to lay down your life,
21:36you are necessarily winning the inner battle.
21:39Please understand this.
21:42A reluctance to lay down life is a sure shot indicator of the presence of an ignorant ego.
21:51But an eagerness to lay down life is not a sure shot indicator of a surrendered ego.
22:01So don't get confused.
22:06It has to be understood like this.
22:09A real spiritual warrior would be prepared to lay down his life.
22:14However, that does not mean that everybody who is prepared to lay down his life is a spiritual warrior.
22:21Is that clear?
22:40Acharya ji, so when we talk of terrorism and terrorism is specifically talked in terms of kind of religious war.
22:52So at the same time, even though they are prepared to lay down their life,
23:01they say that they are warriors of God.
23:05But at the same time, there is an ego inflating business going on.
23:10It is a battle against ignorance.
23:13We said the real battle is essentially internal.
23:17And internally it is a battle against ignorance.
23:21Another name for Maya is Gyan, ignorance.
23:25Avidya, ignorance.
23:28On one hand is clarity.
23:31The truth is Bodh Swaroop.
23:34On one hand is clarity.
23:36On the other hand is Gyan, avidya.
23:40So in the battle you are against ignorance.
23:44Whereas if you are fighting propelled by ignorance,
23:51then obviously it is not a spiritual battle.
23:57If you are talking of many people who are motivated by false ideals,
24:09take to the battlefield, cause the death of others and their own death,
24:18then you have to ask, are they motivated by light or by ignorance?
24:26What is their central inspiration?
24:33Where are they coming from?
24:36The spiritual warrior is fighting against ignorance.
24:41He is not fighting as an ignorant one.
24:47Whereas these people that you are talking of,
24:51who cause bloodshed in the name of religion etc.
24:54You have to ask, are they fighting as soldiers of clarity?
25:03Or are they fighting motivated by just ignorance?
25:09Do they really understand or are they just enthusiastic and energetic?
25:16You have to go to one of those young people and check.
25:21What is their real inspiration?
25:25Is it clarity?
25:27Or is it some kind of hazy ideal?
25:36If the inspiration is coming from lucidity, the great clear truth,
25:46then he is indeed a spiritual warrior.
25:50But if the motivation is coming from some random story or some hackneyed ideal,
25:59then he is not a warrior against darkness.
26:05Then he is a soldier of darkness.
26:12He has no clarity.
26:16Therefore, what is he fighting against?
26:19He is fighting against light actually.
26:21Check his clarity.
26:23Check out whether he is clear about what he is doing.
26:26He has passion, but does he have clarity?
26:29That's the thing to check out.
26:31Mere passion is not sufficient.