The God, Name, and Incarnation
There are a lot of articles available out there written in pompous language about God, Name and His Incarnation, some time it becomes hard to decipher the meaning out of them for simple minded people who are just there to understand GOD in a more explicit way. In short, I shall try to word it with references from Guru Granth Sahib.
Name(Naam) , in Gurbani, is like a logos as in Greek loaded with various meanings, it is also used for God Himself like in Sukhmani-Mehla 5
“The Name sustains the animal life, Name supports the parts and the whole of the world” (25). In Japji, it is said” one must be as high as HE Himself to know how high HE is.
So all we are getting is a partial view as Principal Teja Singh ji said. Obviously in Sikh Scriptures, Name also means GOD as revealed.( Mehla 1 Asa dee Vaar)
In this context, Mehl 3rd says in Rag Maru” what the Guru says is immortalizing Word, read it day and night the Name of God”, also as stated in Sukhmani Sahib, it is also called , the divine knowledge, the praise of God and also a Word of the Guru in Sree Rag Mehl 4 ashatpadi 5” This name is to be sung, uttered, thought upon, served and worshipped”(Naam) Same kinds of attributes are given to The Word,( in Punjabi, shabad. also stands for Naam)
Story of miracles around mostly avatars like Rama and Krishna, made them stand highest in Hindu Pantheon. To secure human’s loyalty to only one GOD, Guru ji has repudiated the belief of these heroes as incarnation of the God who is formless and devoid of fear and favoritism( Japji). After reading the following Shabad, it becomes obvious all those avtars were just humans and His creation not in any case His direct incarnation. Here is the Shabad Asa Mehla 1
“God having created the atmosphere set bounds to the water and fire and supported the whole earth. What greatness could be gained by HIM by killing Rawan who got his ten heads cut off(as story goes about him) on account of his passion-blindness. What praise I can give you Oh my Lord. You pervade in every thing with love.( Here “Nirvair” word is expressed very clearly). Having created living beings, you hold the secret of life, what in stringing the black serpent of the Jamna?(hint again about said story) Whose husband you could be/ Who could be your wife when you pervade in all?( In both cases, individual incarnation is questioned) Brama the grantor of boons, went to see the end of his creation (as story is said) but couldn’t find it(hint is at limitations of Brama) What greatness could be obtained by such a God(hint is at Krishna) by slaying Kans?(another character in Hindu Scripture)
In the above Guru Shabad, questions are asked just to clarify that the stories which were told are not aligned with God’s nature and so these guys cannot be incarnations of GOD. Look another example
“The avtars of partial light created by you went astray and ruling like earthly kings fought for pain and pleasures Gujri Ki Var “ ) Here a partial light word is to be noted down.
Again in Asa 3 “ the kings created by you in different ages are sung of as Your avatars”
The people are just prone to adopt this kind of ideology because they are ignorant about the Creator.
Finally, all doubts are made clear about this myth that HE does incarnate individually and this myth is rejected in very strong words. Where ever attributions are used for HIM they merely represent HIS impression also known as Sargun form. In another way we can compare an example of a drop taken out of Ocean. It’s a tiny part of Ocean, but if thrown back into the Ocean, it merges back into it, loses its identity as drop but never can be honored as Ocean. Here is Fifth Mehl in this context
“May that tongue be burnt that says that the LORD takes birth “Bharon Mehl 5
Fifth Mehl is reminding us of First Mehl’s following revealed truth
“Nanak Nirbho(fealess) Nirankaar, hor kete RAM Rawel” (464)
(“In essence: Nanak says there is only ONE Formless and Fearless, numerous are Ram and Rawel)
Another one
“Nirbho Nirankaar, Sach Naam.Ja ka kia sagal Jahan”(464)
( In essence : Only Fearless Formless is a realty who has created the whole world)
Holding on mortals feet, or giving them status of GOD is betrayal to the Almighty. Who understand this fact about Him and His Sargun form are really not many, people just talk about Him and get back to their own daily business. Please read on Guru vaak
“Hain Virle( a few), nahin ghane(not many), fail(show off) fakkarh(slandering) sansaar (slok Varan ton Vadheek Mehla 1)
So NAAM is HIM, and this Naam is to be sung, uttered and thought upon as mentioned above. Here I would like to add that merely singing Naam, uttering Naam or thought upon on NAAM, can turn into a ritual provided heart is not glowing for His love. That condition must be met to stay on the path. Guru ji says” have His fear” because respect follows Fear from Him. Let’s understand this word” fear” because some attach it with act of trembling. As we have fear of Law, we don’t tremble from law but we respect the law, we don’t do things to violate the law, we remain aware of persecution; same way, this fear ( Bho ) literally means respect (adb), due to respect for HIS infinity and power, love blossoms for Him within, and love which grows out of respect turns into unshakable, here is Guru Nanak Vaak in this context
“ Nanak jin mann bho(fear=respect) tina mann bhaao(love) 465
( In essence; Nanak says only those have love in their hearts for HIM who have fear of Him in hearts)
That is why Guru ji recommends a company of those who are tuned to HIM, who have fear of Him out of which love for Him is alive, its also known as environmental choice because who have gone astray, in their company, only chance of negative experience will increase. In the following Satguru ji not only recommends to have company of those who are tuned to Him and but also defines “sat sangat” too
Ref. Bhai Veer Singh, Pr. Teja Singh, Gurbachan Singh Talib
There are a lot of articles available out there written in pompous language about God, Name and His Incarnation, some time it becomes hard to decipher the meaning out of them for simple minded people who are just there to understand GOD in a more explicit way. In short, I shall try to word it with references from Guru Granth Sahib.
Name(Naam) , in Gurbani, is like a logos as in Greek loaded with various meanings, it is also used for God Himself like in Sukhmani-Mehla 5
“The Name sustains the animal life, Name supports the parts and the whole of the world” (25). In Japji, it is said” one must be as high as HE Himself to know how high HE is.
So all we are getting is a partial view as Principal Teja Singh ji said. Obviously in Sikh Scriptures, Name also means GOD as revealed.( Mehla 1 Asa dee Vaar)
In this context, Mehl 3rd says in Rag Maru” what the Guru says is immortalizing Word, read it day and night the Name of God”, also as stated in Sukhmani Sahib, it is also called , the divine knowledge, the praise of God and also a Word of the Guru in Sree Rag Mehl 4 ashatpadi 5” This name is to be sung, uttered, thought upon, served and worshipped”(Naam) Same kinds of attributes are given to The Word,( in Punjabi, shabad. also stands for Naam)
Story of miracles around mostly avatars like Rama and Krishna, made them stand highest in Hindu Pantheon. To secure human’s loyalty to only one GOD, Guru ji has repudiated the belief of these heroes as incarnation of the God who is formless and devoid of fear and favoritism( Japji). After reading the following Shabad, it becomes obvious all those avtars were just humans and His creation not in any case His direct incarnation. Here is the Shabad Asa Mehla 1
“God having created the atmosphere set bounds to the water and fire and supported the whole earth. What greatness could be gained by HIM by killing Rawan who got his ten heads cut off(as story goes about him) on account of his passion-blindness. What praise I can give you Oh my Lord. You pervade in every thing with love.( Here “Nirvair” word is expressed very clearly). Having created living beings, you hold the secret of life, what in stringing the black serpent of the Jamna?(hint again about said story) Whose husband you could be/ Who could be your wife when you pervade in all?( In both cases, individual incarnation is questioned) Brama the grantor of boons, went to see the end of his creation (as story is said) but couldn’t find it(hint is at limitations of Brama) What greatness could be obtained by such a God(hint is at Krishna) by slaying Kans?(another character in Hindu Scripture)
In the above Guru Shabad, questions are asked just to clarify that the stories which were told are not aligned with God’s nature and so these guys cannot be incarnations of GOD. Look another example
“The avtars of partial light created by you went astray and ruling like earthly kings fought for pain and pleasures Gujri Ki Var “ ) Here a partial light word is to be noted down.
Again in Asa 3 “ the kings created by you in different ages are sung of as Your avatars”
The people are just prone to adopt this kind of ideology because they are ignorant about the Creator.
Finally, all doubts are made clear about this myth that HE does incarnate individually and this myth is rejected in very strong words. Where ever attributions are used for HIM they merely represent HIS impression also known as Sargun form. In another way we can compare an example of a drop taken out of Ocean. It’s a tiny part of Ocean, but if thrown back into the Ocean, it merges back into it, loses its identity as drop but never can be honored as Ocean. Here is Fifth Mehl in this context
“May that tongue be burnt that says that the LORD takes birth “Bharon Mehl 5
Fifth Mehl is reminding us of First Mehl’s following revealed truth
“Nanak Nirbho(fealess) Nirankaar, hor kete RAM Rawel” (464)
(“In essence: Nanak says there is only ONE Formless and Fearless, numerous are Ram and Rawel)
Another one
“Nirbho Nirankaar, Sach Naam.Ja ka kia sagal Jahan”(464)
( In essence : Only Fearless Formless is a realty who has created the whole world)
Holding on mortals feet, or giving them status of GOD is betrayal to the Almighty. Who understand this fact about Him and His Sargun form are really not many, people just talk about Him and get back to their own daily business. Please read on Guru vaak
“Hain Virle( a few), nahin ghane(not many), fail(show off) fakkarh(slandering) sansaar (slok Varan ton Vadheek Mehla 1)
So NAAM is HIM, and this Naam is to be sung, uttered and thought upon as mentioned above. Here I would like to add that merely singing Naam, uttering Naam or thought upon on NAAM, can turn into a ritual provided heart is not glowing for His love. That condition must be met to stay on the path. Guru ji says” have His fear” because respect follows Fear from Him. Let’s understand this word” fear” because some attach it with act of trembling. As we have fear of Law, we don’t tremble from law but we respect the law, we don’t do things to violate the law, we remain aware of persecution; same way, this fear ( Bho ) literally means respect (adb), due to respect for HIS infinity and power, love blossoms for Him within, and love which grows out of respect turns into unshakable, here is Guru Nanak Vaak in this context
“ Nanak jin mann bho(fear=respect) tina mann bhaao(love) 465
( In essence; Nanak says only those have love in their hearts for HIM who have fear of Him in hearts)
That is why Guru ji recommends a company of those who are tuned to HIM, who have fear of Him out of which love for Him is alive, its also known as environmental choice because who have gone astray, in their company, only chance of negative experience will increase. In the following Satguru ji not only recommends to have company of those who are tuned to Him and but also defines “sat sangat” too
Ref. Bhai Veer Singh, Pr. Teja Singh, Gurbachan Singh Talib
