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Summary of Question:	Kal Parvaan Katayb Kuraan
Category:	Gurbani
Date Posted:	Monday, 7/15/2002 12:12 AM MDT

could u plz tell me the meaning of this shabad on page 903 line 4 ( Guru Nanak Dev ji) of Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji?

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Wahe Guru Ji Ka Khalsa,
Wahe Guru Ji Ki Fateh.

Well-let's look at the entire passage, not just one single line. It's important to always see what the Guru is saying in the context of the entire shabd. Otherwise, we can get into the habit of only quoting a line here or there that suits our own ego. Far better to let the vastness of the Guru's word deflate our ego and expand our spirit.

The shabd starts on page 902 and is all about the Kali Yuga. I'm adding comments under the appropriate lines:

"One Universal Creator God. By The Grace Of The True Guru:
The same moon rises, and the same stars; the same sun shines in the sky.
The earth is the same, and the same wind blows. The age in which we dwell affects living beings, but not these places. ||1||"

This is a very profound and subtle observation that the Guru is making. Basically, what we experience as humans has to do with the state of our own consciousness, our own minds. What surrounds us - the sun, the moon, the earth - that remains the same from age to age. But we change, and because of that - we experience each age differently.

"Give up your attachment to life.
Those who act like tyrants are accepted and approved - recognize that this is the sign of the Dark Age of Kali Yuga. ||1||Pause||"

Notice that this is the Rahaao line. Rahaao is usually tranlsated as "Pause" but what it means is "Pay attention." Pay attention because this line is the seed of the entire shabd. The sign of the Dark Age is that tyrants are approved. If you live in a time when tyrants are ruling and sought after and approved by society - guess what? You're in the incarnation of the Kali Yuga. This is Guru's guidance so your soul knows where it is and what to expect.

"Kali Yuga has not been heard to have come to any country, or to be sitting at any sacred shrine.
It is not where the generous person gives to charities, nor seated in the mansion he has built. ||2||
If someone practices Truth, he is frustrated; prosperity does not come to the home of the sincere.
If someone chants the Lord's Name, he is scorned. These are the signs of Kali Yuga. ||3||"

Wow. I mean - is this heavy or what? If you're sincere, you won't receive wealth. If you chant God's Name - you're scorned. Welcome to the Kali Yuga. The Guru is just giving it to us straight- this is what you can expect.

"Whoever is in charge, is humiliated. Why should the servant be afraid,
when the master is put in chains? He dies at the hands of his servant. ||4||
Chant the Praises of the Lord; Kali Yuga has come."

Then, the Guru flips it. He says - so what? Whoever is in charge on the earth during the Kali Yuga, that person is put in chains by his own desires and ego. The servant has no need to fear. The servant is going to be victorious over such an earthly master. Come on - let's get to it and chant the Praises of God. So what it's the Kali Yuga.

Do you see the psychology of fearlessness here? I mean - what are people afriad of? Not having money, not being respected. And the Guru is saying - when you practice Truth and you are in the Kali Yuga, this is the natural state of things. Why be afriad of it? Be truthful anyway because in the end, you will triumph.


"The justice of the previous three ages is gone. One obtains virtue, only if the Lord bestows it. ||1||Pause||"

Another line to pause and study. There's no justice in the Kali Yuga. All we can do is rely on God.

"In this turbulent age of Kali Yuga, Muslim law decides the cases, and the blue-robed Qazi is the judge."

Human law has taken the place of Divine law. This isn't a line against Muslims, per se. you could substitute any religion in there and have the same meaning. Human law decides the case and the human being in certain garb presumes to be the judge, when only God can be the true judge.

"The Guru's Bani has taken the place of Brahma's Veda, and the singing of the Lord's Praises are good deeds. ||5||"

Truth is found through Guru's Bani and the good deed to do is sing the Lord's praise.


"Worship without faith; self-discipline without truthfulness; the ritual of the sacred thread without chastity - what good are these?
You may bathe and wash, and apply a ritualistic tilak mark to your forehead, but without inner purity, there is no understanding. ||6||"

Understanding does not come through ritual and form. It comes from something inside of yourself - your inner purity. Minus that purity, understanding is false.


"In Kali Yuga, the Koran and the Bible have become famous.
The Pandit's scriptures and the Puraanas are not respected."


So- another observation. The Bible and the Koran - let's call them "religious brand names" are well known. There are other "religious brand names" - the scriptures and the Puraanas which are not respected anymore. Does this mean that the Koran and Bible are somehow inferior to the scriptures and Puraanas? Or vice versa? No - look - the next line gives us the answer.

"O Nanak, the Lord's Name now is Rehmaan, the Merciful.
"Know that there is only One Creator of the creation. ||7||"

The true knowledge is not Bible or Koran or Puraana or Pandit. The true knowledge is Ek Ong Kaar - there is only One Creator of the Creation. If the Bible falls our of favor and the Puranaas suddenly become famous, it just means one brand is beating out another - like Coke versus Pepsi. But the Truth, which the Kail Yuga keeps hidden, is that there is no brand, at all. there is only God - One, Pure, All-Pervading God. And only the Mercy of God reveals that truth in the Kali Yuga. In this age, truth is an act of grace, of mercy from the One who made us, Who awakens us, Who frees us.


"Nanak has obtained the glorious greatness of the Naam, the Name of the Lord. There is no action higher than this."

Of what all the religions promise, and what all the world promises, there is no action greater than obtaining the Name of God - or another way of saying this, of understanding the True Identity of the Divine.

"If someone goes out to beg for what is already in his own home, then he should be chastised. ||8||1||"

All religions teach you to go out and find God somewhere else. But what you're searching for is your own inner purity - that lies within yourself, within your own home. In the Kali Yuga, no religion will guide you to this, but it is the simplest wisdom. What you seek is within you. Meditate on the Guru's words and understand it.

Hope this has been helpful and please forgive for any errors or ommissions.

Wahe Guru Ji Ka Khalsa,
Wahe Guru Ji Ki Fateh.


GPK