Tag: once

Want to share today the importance of uttering the Lord’s Name even once (as a Gurmukh – follower of the ways of the Guru, with body and mind in unison):

ਨਿਰਬਾਣ ਕੀਰਤਨੁ ਗਾਵਹੁ ਕਰਤੇ ਕਾ ਨਿਮਖ ਸਿਮਰਤ ਜਿਤੁ ਛੂਟੈ ॥੧॥
Cleansing yourself of lust, sing the praise of the Creator; contemplating Him in meditation, even for an instant, one is saved. ||1||

Here, the Guru talks about singing the praise of the Creator – even for a ‘Nimakh‘ (instant). Nimakh is composed of two punjabi words – Nim (falling) and Akh (eye). Hence Nimakh refers to the period of blinking of the eye.

Sukhmani Sahib has the following verse:

ਜਾਪ ਤਾਪ ਗਿਆਨ ਸਭਿ ਧਿਆਨ ॥
Chanting, intense meditation, spiritual wisdom and all meditations;
ਖਟ ਸਾਸਤ੍ਰ ਸਿਮ੍ਰਿਤਿ ਵਖਿਆਨ ॥
the six schools of philosophy and sermons on the scriptures;
ਜੋਗ ਅਭਿਆਸ ਕਰਮ ਧ੍ਰਮ ਕਿਰਿਆ ॥
the practice of Yoga and righteous conduct;
ਸਗਲ ਤਿਆਗਿ ਬਨ ਮਧੇ ਫਿਰਿਆ ॥
the renunciation of everything and wandering around in the wilderness;
ਅਨਿਕ ਪ੍ਰਕਾਰ ਕੀਏ ਬਹੁ ਜਤਨਾ ॥
the performance of all sorts of works;
ਪੁੰਨ ਦਾਨ ਹੋਮੇ ਬਹੁ ਰਤਨਾ ॥
donations to charities and offerings of jewels to fire;
ਸਰੀਰੁ ਕਟਾਇ ਹੋਮੈ ਕਰਿ ਰਾਤੀ ॥
cutting the body apart and making the pieces into ceremonial fire offerings;
ਵਰਤ ਨੇਮ ਕਰੈ ਬਹੁ ਭਾਤੀ ॥
keeping fasts and making vows of all sorts –
ਨਹੀ ਤੁਲਿ ਰਾਮ ਨਾਮ ਬੀਚਾਰ ॥
none of these are equal to the contemplation of the Name of the Lord,
ਨਾਨਕ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਜਪੀਐ ਇਕ ਬਾਰ ॥੧॥
O Nanak, if, as Gurmukh, one chants the Naam, even once. ||1||

Guru Gobind Singhji, in Benti Chaupai feels:

ਜੋ ਕਲਿ ਕੌ ਇਕ ਬਾਰ ਧਿਐਹੈ ॥ ਤਾ ਕੇ ਕਾਲ ਨਿਕਟਿ ਨਹਿ ਐਹੈ ॥
Those who meditate even once on the Supreme Destroyer (God), the death cannot approach them;

Once a person visited Kabir’s home, telling his wife about wanting to meet him. She replied that he was away at the moment and sought the reason for the man’s visit. The man informed her that his entire body was painful, and that he was in great agony. Wife told him to recite ‘Ram’ thrice. He did so, and his pain vanished. He happily thanked his wife and went away.

Kabir was returning, when he saw this man leaving his home, merrily. On being asked by Kabir, the man narrated his story. Kabir went inside his house and gave his wife an angry look. The wife was surprised, she asked him the reason. Kabir told her: “By uttering Ram just once, an entire village can be cured, and you have cured one person by having him recite thrice. This is a sacrilege of the sacred Name.”

This same thought is echoed by Kabir in Sri Guru Granth Sahib:

ਕਬੀਰ ਸਈ ਮੁਖੁ ਧੰਨਿ ਹੈ ਜਾ ਮੁਖਿ ਕਹੀਐ ਰਾਮੁ ॥ ਦੇਹੀ ਕਿਸ ਕੀ ਬਾਪੁਰੀ ਪਵਿਤ੍ਰੁ ਹੋਇਗੋ ਗ੍ਰਾਮੁ ॥੧੧੦॥
Kabeer, blessed is that mouth, which utters the Lord’s Name. What to speak of the body, and the whole village as well. ||110||