Below is my humble attempt to translate the main points of DHAN BABA ISHER SINGH JI’S

Holy Bachans into English so that they can be accessible to today’s youth. I apologize in
advance for any mistake I might have made during this translation.

DHAN BABA ISHER SINGH JI’S humble servant,

Balbir Singh.

I HAVE SEEN THE LORD WHO IS GREATEST OF ALL

ਮ ਪੇਿਖਓ ਰੀ ਊਚਾ ਮੋਹਨ ਸਭ ਤੇ ਊਚਾ

I have seen the Lord to be great; the Fascinating Lord is the greatest of all
( SSGGSJ ang 534 )

( SSGGSJ stands for SAHIB SRI GURU GRANTH SAHIB JI )

He is greatest of all, greater than all the pious creatures.

Just go to any worship place and take a look for yourself: how much respect do those

people give to their sacred books? They show the same amount of respect as they

would to an ordinary book. Many carry it in their lap.

Is a person capable of estimating the worth of GURU SAHIB?

Hearing His greatness, everyone says that He is great.

But just how Great His Greatness is? This is known only to those who have seen
Him. ( SSGGSJ ang 9 )

Can we see His greatness by reading scriptures or books or by hearsay? Not at all. His

greatness is only witnessed through His blessings:----------

He alone sees it, unto whom God Himself reveals it.

O Nanak, then that humble being understands. ( SSGGSJ ang 293 )

And when His greatness is revealed to a person by the Lord Himself, then the person
says loudly that:--------
 No one else is equal to Him - I have made the most extensive search on this. Utterly
infinite, exceedingly great, deep and unfathomable - He is lofty, beyond reach. His
weight cannot be weighed, His value cannot be estimated. How can the Enticer of
the mind be obtained? ||1|| (SSGGSJ ang 534 )

It is quite impossible for an ordinary person to estimate His Greatness. But the Gurbani

tells us that His Holy Sants and Bhagats are capable of estimating His Greatness. If no

one is capable of estimating His Greatness and telling us His Greatness, then the

people will become atheists. So the persons, who are not capable of knowing His

Greatness, go on preaching that He has no physical form, no caste, no lineage, and no

garb. But He had physical form in the past, He has it now and He will have it in future.

True In The Primal Beginning. True Throughout The Ages.

True Here And Now. O Nanak, Forever And Ever True. ||1|| ( SSGGSJ
ang 1 )

How can we have His glimpse in Sargunn Sarup?

If a store owner does not have any merchandise in his store, then no
customer will visit his store. However, if his store is full of materials, then the
customer will enter the store to have a look. Similarly if a devotee has
devotion and longing for the Lord’s Darshan, then He will definitely bless him
with His darshan in Sargunn Sarup. There are so many examples when the
Lord blessed a devotee with His Darshan.

Kabeer, my mind has become immaculate, like the waters of the

Ganges. The Lord follows after me, calling, ""Kabeer! Kabeer!"" (
SSGGSJ ang 1367 )

So have patience, have devotion and full faith and the Lord will definitely
bless you with His Darshan. Gurbani gives us a clear hint, but we do not
believe it. Gurbani is forever True. It cannot be false. Those who lack love
and devotion for the Lord cannot have His Darshan.

GURU NANAK SAHIB’S sons did not recognize the Divine spiritual being
and power within Him. But it was BHAI LEHNA, who realized the True Guru.
And eventually became the SECOND INCARNATION OF GURU NANAK
SAHIB.
Gurbani clearly gives us the direction:---------

When you focus your consciousness and weigh the Husband Lord
deep within your heart, you will be blessed with His Darshan. Realize
the True Lord. Just to talk about Him is useless. (SSGGSJ ang 1100)

Maata Sulakhni Ji requested GURU NANAK SAHIB to give the Gaddi

(seat) to their sons. Guru Sahib smiled and said that nothing is
more dear than their sons. However, this honor would be given to
the sevadar because it depends on one’s love and devotion. This is
not a property that must be inherited by their sons, but rather it
must go to the person who most deserves it.

After some days, the sangat was attending the deewan

(congregation) when a Sikh came for darshan and bowed before
GURU SAHIB and made an offering of a coin. GURU SAHIB took
the coin in his palm and asked his son SRI CHAND,” What is in my
palm?”

Sri Chand replied that there was a coin in His palm. Then GURU
SAHIB asked LAKSHMI DAAS the same question and he replied
that there was a coin in His palm.

Then GURU SAHIB asked MAATA SULAKHNI JI the same question

and she replied that there was a coin.

Then GURU SAHIB asked BHAI LEHNA JI the same question. BHAI
LEHNA JI replied, “SACHE PATSHAH, there are fourteen LOKS
(kingdoms) in Your palm.”

Bhai Lehna Ji realized that Guru Nanak Sahib was not a mere mortal like the
others had perceived, but instead saw him as a divine reflection of God and
a being who held the world in his palms. Hearing the advanced stage Bhai
Lehna Ji had reached, Guru Nanak Sahib was very pleased and it was at
this moment that he proclaimed how Bhai Lehna Ji has achieved everything,
and that Guru Nanak had nothing but blessings for Bhai Lehna Ji.

Based on this Sakhi, let us again ask, what is the value of The Lord? Is it
money or wisdom or any degree? Of course not. The value of God and the
way to his heart and blessing is only through the road of LOVE AND
DEVOTION.

Guru Gobind Singh Jee pronounces verily that all should hear, "One,
who truly loves God, has realized Him".
GURU NANAK is not desirous of material things, but HE is fond of
devotion. He expects loving devotion and nothing else.

One who longs for His Darshan does not need anything else. He
does not even request for liberation or paradise.

Unto the one who loves the Lord’s Court, and the Blessed Vision of His
Darshan, of what use is liberation or paradise? (SSGGSJ ang 360)

Does GURU SAHIB help a Sikh in blessing him with the Darshan of the
Lord?

Millions search for Him, on various paths, but without the Guru, none
finds Him. Says Nanak, the Lord Master has become Merciful. Meeting
the Holy Saint, I drink in the sublime essence. ( SSGGSJ ang 534 )

When GURU is merciful on a sikh, then He blesses him with the darshan of
a PURAN SANT and when a PURAN SANT takes pity on that sikh, then he
is blessed with the darshan of the LORD.

The Supreme Lord showers His Mercy, and we find the sangat of a
sant. The more time we spend there, the more we come to love the
Lord.( SSGGSJ ang 70 )

GURU SAHIB never deserts a sikh, when he surrenders himself before

GURU SAHIB

Once some poor people were walking along the bank of a river. They saw
something black floating in the river and assumed it to be an expensive
blanket. Based on their original perception, one of the men jumped in the
river to take out the blanket from the river, only to see that it was a bear on
closer inspection. By the time he realized it was a bear, he had already been
dragged into the river.
The bear caught hold of the man. He was going to be drowned. His friend
asked him to let go the blanket if it was heavy. His friend replied that he was
ready to let go the blanket, but it does not let him do so.

This is an example to understand. Similarly when we bow before GURU

SAHIB with devotion, he takes care of us and does not allow us to move
back.

O my companions, when we surrender ourselves before the Guru, He

shall never leave us again. This is the good nature of the Lord God.
(SSGGSJ ang 249 )
It is His nature to be unconditionally loving and in this way. He never lets us
wander away, even for a moment. We must realize that we need His
blessings and we should never think of moving away from Guru Sahib, as
the moment we even think of leaving him for a split-second, we will succumb
to the evils of this world and undoubtedly have to course through the circle of
8.4 millions species again.

A true sikh should have complete faith on his GURU and never look towards
others:-------
O Nanak, he alone is known as united, who does not forsake his Guru,
and who does not love duality.(SSGGSJ ang 1087)

There is the story of Bibi Rajni: Her father married her to a crippled man
because she had full faith on GURU SAHIB and he did not like it. One day,
she reached the site of a pool on her way to a neighboring village. Placing
the basket containing her husband by the side of the pool, she had gone off
on an errand, most likely to look for food. In the meantime, her crippled
husband had seen a black crow dip into the water of the pool and come out
white. Amazed at this miracle, the man crawled up to the edge of the pool
and managed a dip. He found himself completely cured. In the meantime,
Bibi Rajni returned. She was alarmed and suspected that he might have
murdered her husband. She was really upset and they went to GURU SAHIB
because she had great faith on GURU SAHIB. GURU SAHIB told her that he
was really her husband.

GURU SAHIB told her that she got this reward because of her utmost
devotion to her husband in spite of the fact that he was crippled. Pity on
those Sikhs who have got the Lord, who is greatest of all, but who do not
have faith in GURU SAHIB and rather look toward this side or that side. Bibi
Rajni had complete faith on her crippled husband. She had seen her
husband and never thought of anyone else and got the reward. The pool
became the future site of HARMANDIR SAHIB. So we should have complete
faith in our GURU SAHIB.

A sikh should never feel shy of announcing his GURU’S greatness:-------------

Praise the Great True Guru; within Him is the greatest greatness.
( SSGGSJ ang 473 )

It is no crime to call a spade a spade, but if you try to make a lie a truth, then
it is a big crime. So if you say that you have seen your husband Lord, the
greatest of all, then it is no crime. “MEIN PEKHEO REE”. Ree means “sakhi”
(friend). A friend, who has realized that her husband Lord is greatest of all, is
telling her friend that her husband Lord is greatest of all.

Listen to those, who are superior to you in spiritualism:------------------

When you meet a Saint, talk to him and listen. ( SSGGSJ ang 870 )

As long as we are in this world, O Nanak, we should listen, and speak

of the Lord. ( SSGGSJ ang 661)

Always make it a point to listen to any person around you who possesses a
higher level of spirituality. In this way, you’ll only take away positive aspects
to make yourself a better person. And guide the person who is at a
lower stage than you.

If you are having the bliss of His Darshan and do not tell others,
then what is the use of that? Do not hesitate to tell others that
your HUSBAND LORD is the greatest of all.

You should be sincere when you pray before the LORD.

We should be thankful to GURU SAHIB for what He gave us and

not be egoist.

Once a ragi recited this shabad in the diwan:

Burn in the fire your power, property and authority. (SSGGSJ ang 811 )

But the question is: if you burn your power, property and authority
in fire, then it will not benefit anyone. We should go deep into this.
Power, property and authority are to be condemned, if these fill us
with ego and take us away from GURU SAHIB.

Those things which make us thankful and unite us with GURU

SAHIB should be praised. We should thank the Lord for showering
us with these gifts. We should always think that power, property,
and authority are all given by Him. If we realize that all these
things are the blessings of SACHE PATSHAH, then we will get real
enjoyment.

GURU SAHIB Himself bestows RAJ AND YOG to His Sikhs:

The disease of your ego shall be eradicated. By Guru's Grace,
practise Raj Yog. ( 211 )

Those who have one thing in their heart, and speak something
else are judged to be false. ||1|| ( SSGGSJ ang 488 )

Another time, a ragi requested BABA JI for some worldly things, as

he was living from hand to mouth. BABA JI asked him to recite
some shabad in the diwan. He began to recite this shabad :---

I do not seek wealth, and I do not seek liberation. My mind is in love

with Your Lotus Feet. ( SSGGSJ ang 534 )

Immediately upon hearing this, Baba Ji stopped him and told him that
although these words can be true for those who have got everything by Guru
Sahib’s grace, it is not right for him—a person who desires material wealth—
to recite something which he does not believe to be correct in his heart
because GURU SAHIB knows everything.
GURU SAHIB IS RIGHT BEFORE US AND NOT ABOVE IN THE SKY.
Inwardly and outwardly, the Transcendent Lord God is ever-present,
always with us.(SSGGSJ ang 453 )

Nowadays some painters have painted the photos of GURU NANAK

AND KALGIDHAR PATSHAH, where GURU SAHIBAN have been
portrayed looking up at the sky toward a Higher Being. How can
these painters envision such a ridiculous notion? Why would the CREATOR
OF THIS UNIVERSE look upward, as He is His own creation and there is
nothing above Him? In this same way, there is nothing in the sky, and we will
get nothing from the sky except rain or hailstones. We will not obtain Guru
Sahib’s grace from the sky, as he is right before us.

GURU SAHIB’S Bani is great.

A person is not great. His name is greater by which he is known. If

he has no name, then he is like an idol made of clay. And his
practical life is greater than his name. He becomes famous by his
practical life. This is an example.

Now GURU NANAK is great, but His Name is greater than Him. And
His BANI is greater than His Name. And GURU SAHIB says that His
Bhagats are greater than Him.
The bhagat can release anyone from my bondage, but I cannot release
anyone from his. ( SSGGSJ ang 1252 )

GURU SAHIB says that His Bhagats are greater than Him, but the
Bhagats are saying that GURU SAHIB is greater than them. In this
way, the connection with the Lord is established.

When the two meet together, the business is conducted, and the link
with the Lord's Name is established. ( SSGGSJ ang 335 )

SAHIB SRI GURU GRANTH SAHIB is not a book, but PARGAT

GURAN KI DEH.

The Word, ( the Bani ) is Guru, and Guru is the Bani. Within the Bani,
the Ambrosial Nectar is contained. ( SSGGSJ ang 982 )

He is greatest of all. GURU GRANTH SAHIB IS PARGAT GURAN KI

DEH.

This Holy Book is the home of the Transcendent Lord God. ( SSGGSJ
ang 1226 )

Have a photo of GURU SAHIB before you, when meditating.

Focus your meditation on the Guru's photo. Here and hereafter, you
shall be honored. ( SSGGSJ ang 192 )

Do your NITNEM daily and have the photo of GURU NANAK SAHIB
before you for your concentration. Show utmost love to GURU
NANAK SAHIB and Guru Sahib will definitely talk to you. If Bhagat
Dhanna’s stone can speak, then why not GURU NANAK SAHIB’S
PHOTO? However, it’s vital to realize that the person seeking the grace and
darshan of his Guru must have endless devotion and love toward GURU
SAHIB.

Have company of those who unite you with GURU SAHIB.

One who meditates on the Lord obtains all pleasures and comforts; let
us go each and every day, to sit in the Saints' Society. ( SSGGSJ ang
550 )

O Nanak, it is good to break away from the self-willed manmukhs, who

have love and attachment to Maya. ( SSGGSJ ang 316 )
Do your nitnem, go to dharm asthan (religious place). Have
company with those who ask you to stay with GURU SAHIB. Avoid
those persons who try to keep you away from the Guru, as you will
go on to lose everything.
And when you keep company with the good people, you will get
peace and happiness.

He is at peace in this world, and happy in the next. O Nanak, the Lord
God unites him with Himself. ( SSGGSJ ang 292 )

Eih lok sukhie parlok suhele

Nanak har prabh aapeh meleh ( 292 )

ieh lok suKIey prlok suhyly ]

nwnk hir pRiB Awpih myly ]