[salok] Bhagath Kabeer Jeeo Kae

[lowest of the low singhni]

vaheguru ji ka khalsa vaheguru ji ki fateh

kbIr rwqI hovih kwrIAw kwry aUBy jMq ]

kabeer raatee hoveh kaaree-aa kaaray oobhay jant

Kabeer, the night is dark, and men go about doing their dark deeds.

lY Pwhy auiT Dwvqy is jwin mwry BgvMq ]10]

lai faahay uth Dhaavtay se jaan maaray bhagvant

They take the noose and run around; but rest assured that God shall destroy them.

"raatee" = night

"kaaree-aa" = darkness

"oobhay" = arise (for the translation above, dark deeds arise - or something to that effect.)

"jant" = men

"faahay" = noose

"uth dhaavtay" = run about

"jaan" = know

"maarey" = accursed

"bhagvant" = Lord

In the past few Saloks the main theme has been ego or Maya - only those who have conquered their minds will really be happy. On the other hand, there are those who are willing to kill, hurt or abuse other people just for the sake of their own greed or worldly desires. They think they are pleasing themselves, but they're also putting their own jeevan in danger. They delude themselves thinking that they're cool or brave or um... "gangsta" for all you English people :wub: . In reality they're cowardly and weak.

Kabeer Ji describes them as carrying their own noose of death around with them wherever they go doing bad deeds. Ultimately justice will be delivered by Maharaj and they'll get beaten up either in this life or another, *if they do not reform*. In fact they are already half dead in this life. A soul without any inclination towards Maharaj has no purpose in life and is pretty much wasting away uselessly.

Having said that, we must try not to judge those people who claim not to believe in God, and try not to look down upon them. It sends a wrong message to non-Sikhs and remembering that God is within everyone, even those who deny it, means that looking down upon others doesn't come into the equation of Gursikhi.

In order to end on a positive note, here's a little story about a baddie who reformed :wub: and wasn't beaten up.

"Once upon a time, there was a very evil person who used to live on a road. His name was Ratna, and he used to wait for people to come to this road. He would wait and then brandish his sword and attack, demanding money from the rich travellers. Fearing for their lives, they would hand over everything and Ratna would take as much as he could carry. He would then sell these things and go home with the money.

Now, occasionally he would see holy men sitting on the road he took home. He would give them some money, and they would bless him. But they knew how he got the money he gave to them. So they thought they should try to correct his ways. Anyway, one of these saints, was Narad, an amazing saint, who had meditated on the name of God for years and years. Only good thoughts ever came to his mind, and he dressed up as a traveller and went to Ratna's Road.

Ratna was waiting. He did his usual thing of brandishing his sword and demanding money. Saint Narad said okay and began handing over his things. As he was doing so he said, 'Son why do you rob people like this.' Ratna said he did so to feed his family - his parents were old and needed medicine and his wife and children would be hungry. Now they were all happy because he could buy them luxuries.

Saint Narad then said, "Will your family take the punishment you will recieve later as well? Ratna was a bad person, but he did believe in God, and he became worried. So what he did was he tied Saint Narad up and ran home. He then asked his family if they would share his punishment. His family said no, as it wasn't them who did any of the bad deeds - he would be responsible for them. Ratna went back to see Saint Narad, crying. "I did everything for them and they wont even share my punishment."

Saint Narad told him it was ok, and that by repeating the name of God, he could wash all the sins away. He then began to meditate on Akaal Purakh's name with Saint Narad. Ratna did so much abiyhaas that one time ants came and built a ant hill around him, but his concentration was so pure it didnt waver. From this time on he was called valmiki - ant hill saint. "

Moral - it's never too late.

*wonders why ants seem to crop up in nearly every post*

:D:

~l~

vaheguru ji ka khalsa vaheguru ji ki fateh