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Summary of Question:Goindwal Sahib
Category:Gurdwara
Date Posted:Tuesday, 8/21/2001 12:37 PM MDT

Waheguru ji ka Khalsa , Waheguru ji ki Fateh .

I have one book of sakhis with me of "Guru Amardas Ji" . In that I have read the following lines:-
(Baar churasi kare shnaan
Itne japji path bakhaan
Satgur murat karke payaan
Mite churasi aawan jaan . )

In the book they have explained the meaning of these lines that in the gurudwara Goindwal Sahib , one who does 84 "JapJi Sahib" PATH , one on each stair , he will be released from the cycle of birth and re-birth forever . Is this true ?

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REPLY
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Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!
It is wise to keep in mind that the sakhi about Guru Amar Das is not written by Guru Amar Das or anyone who was close to him during his guruship. 3rd Guru indeed did build Goindwal Sahib, and he built it as a community center for people to come and learn and practice Sikhi together. He built the well there as much because the water in that well is so pure, and pure drinking water during his time was hard to find. Guru Amar Das never explicitly said that reciting 84 Japjis on the steps at Goindwal would liberate one. This is not Sikh; Gurbani in Japji and in Sukhmani (among other places) is clear that pilgrimages of this kind are no guarantee of liberation. Thus, doing this should not be done as a quick fix, so that one doesn't have to maintain the daily sadhana of a SIkh.

That said, there is indeed a myth or tradition that those who read Japji once for each of the 84 steps will be liberated from physical incarnations. Those who do the 84 steps and nothing else are looking for quick fixes. I know several people, though, who have done the 84 Japjis on the steps there (it took them about 24 hours) -- they did not do it as a guarantee of their liberation-- and they said their lives changed afterwards, in positive subtle ways, mostly. In other words, the 84 Japjis said with sangat and with devotion is going to have a powerful effect on whoever does it. Pilgrimages are OK because they can be so elevating, but they are NO guarantee of liberation and NO substitute for daily sadhana.

Guru ang sang,
-DKK



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