BRAHM DAS, PANDIT, described in the Puratan Janam Sakhi as a learned man of Kashmir, is said to have been a resident of Bij Bihara, near Matan. Once Guru Nanak journeying through the valley halted close to where he lived. As Brahm Das, proud of his learning, heard of the arrival of afagfr, holy man, he came in his accustomed manner with his packs of Puranas and other old texts amounting to “two camel loads” and with a stone idol suspended from his neck. No sooner had he uttered his greeting than he began questioning the Guru on how he clad himself, what ritual he observed and what food he ate.
The Guru uttered this sabda: There is but one highway and there is but one entrance ; The Guru is the ladder to reach one`s native home ; Handsome is the Lord and in His Name lies all comfort. He created Himself and Himself He recognizeth. He created the sky and the earth, By making one the canopy for the other. Thus was His Word made manifest. He created the sun and the moon, And gave them His own light. He made night and day; Marvellous is His creation. His are the pilgrimages, His the holy converse, And his the festive ablutions. How can I describe Thee, 0 Lord, There is nothing to equal Thee.
Thou occupiest Thy eternal throne; The rest but come and go. (GG, 1279) Brahm Das whose forte was disputation felt disarmed by the Guru`s words and manner. He asked him humbly this time how the Lord existed before creation. Another holy hymn burst forth from the Guru`s lips: Through aeons past reckoning, Utter darkness hung upon misty void. There were then no earths, nor firmaments; Pervasive infinitely was the Lord`s Will alone; There was neither night nor day, neither sun nor moon; He alone was there Poised in perfect concentration.
There was neither birth nor speech, neither air nor water ; There was neither creation nor destruction, neither coming nor going; There were neither the seven seas nor rivers overflowing with water. There were not the higher, middle or neither regions, nor the hell or heaven, nor death the destroyer, There was neither paradise nor purgatory, neither birth nor death; There was then no Brahma, Visnu, or Siva ; There was neither male nor female, neither caste nor reincarnation, neither pain nor pleasure.
There were neither Mullas, nor Qazis neither sufis nor their disciples, nor the hay pilgrims, There were no mighty sovereigns, nor subjects for them to rule, no world of ego, no masters or slaves. There were no Vedas, nor the books of the Semites, There were no Smrtis and no Sastras, and no reading of the scriptures by morning or evening. The Unspeakable One was Himself the speaker, the Unknowable One had alone the knowledge of Himself. When it pleased Him, He created the world; Without support He Sustained the stars: He created Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh: He extended the love of maya, Communicating the enlightening Word to the chosen few. “Then”, says the Puratan Janam Sakhi, “Brahm Das fell down at the Guru`s feet. He flung away the stone image from his neck and became a disciple.
References :
1. Vir Singh, Bhai, ed., Puratan Janam Sakhi Sri Guru Nanak DevJi. Amritsar, 1971
2. Santokh Singh, Bhai, Sri Gur Pratap Sura; Granth. Amritsar, 1926-37
3. Macauliffe, Max Arthur, The Sikh Religion. Oxford, 1909
After meeting the yogis of Achal Batala in Punjab, Guru Nanak proceeded to Kashmir. It is said, he wore in this journey “leather on his feet and on his head, twisted a rope round his body, and on his forehead stamped a saffron-mark like a devout Hindu.” He was accompanied by Hassu, a blacksmith and Sihan, a calico-printer. In Srinagar, they met a Brahmin of repute, Brahm Das by name, a resident of Bij Bihara, near Matan, who came with two donkey loads of Sanskrit books to greet him and have discussion with him. As a mark of piety, he wore a Shaligram (stone-idol) upon his neck.
Seeing the Guru robed in an unusual dress, he asked, “What kind of a fakir are you? You wear leather which is forbidden to the holy? Why do you twist a rope round thy body? What is thy way to salvation?”
Guru Nanak replied, ” There is but one highway and there is but one entrance; The Guru is the ladder to reach one`s native home; Handsome is the Lord and in His Name lies all comfort. He created Himself and Himself He recognizeth. He created the sky and the earth, by making one the canopy for the other. Thus was His Holy Word made manifest. He created the sun and the moon, and gave them His own light. He made night and day; Marvelous is His creation. His are the pilgrimages, His the holy converse, and his the festive ablutions. How can I describe Thee, 0 Lord, There is nothing to equal Thee. Thou occupiest Thy eternal throne; the rest but come and go.”
Brahm Das then asked, “Do you know how the world was created? What was in the beginning and what was not?”
The Guru replied, “In the beginning was utter darkness and chaos upon chaos. Then, there was neither earth, nor heaven, nay nothing but God’s indescribable and wondrous Will. Neither day there was, nor night, nor sun, nor moon, only God reflecting on Himself in the Void. There was neither wind nor water, nor the sources of creation, nor speech there were neither creation, nor there was destruction, neither coming nor going. No seas. There were no rivers, no continents, and no hells. No paradise, no world, no underworld there was, Nor Brahma, nor Shiva, nor Vishnu, but my only, God. No rituals there were, nor penances, nor the sacred books, no incantations, nor charms, nor the many, many ways. No caste then was, nor pride, nor death, nor life, nor man, nor soul, no subject, no king. And when and how He pleased, He created the world and all we see and believe. There were neither Mullas, nor Qazis neither sufis nor their disciples, nor the hay pilgrims, there were no mighty sovereigns, nor subjects for them to rule, no world of ego, no masters or slaves. There were no Vedas, nor were the books of the Semites, there no Smirtis and no Shastras, and no reading of the scriptures by morning or evening. The Unspeakable One was Himself the speaker, the Unknowable One had alone the knowledge of Himself. When it pleased Him, He created the world; without support He Sustained the stars: He created Brahma, Visnu and Mahesha: He extended the love of maya, communicating the enlightening Word to the chosen few.
The Pundit was still so proud of his learning that in spite of his being impressed by the Guru’s instructions, he would yet feel hurt as the new teaching of Guru Nanak went against his own. Guru Nanak feeling the inner state of his mind asked him to accept a Guru.
“Who could be my Guru,” he asked, “I know everything I ought to know.” Nanak then directed him to a Wilderness, where in a house he wound find four fakirs who would direct him to where his Guru was. The Pundit said, “May it be so,” and went to the place he had been told. The fakirs pointed toward a temple where they said he would meet his Guru, When Brahm Das went there, and he saw a beautiful, but nude damsel who instead of greeting him insulted him. Pundit was shocked. When he narrated the story to the fakirs who had directed him to her, they said, “This woman is MAYA (Illusion). Your heart is in her and that is why you cannot find the peace of mind.” This led to much heart-searching on the part of the learned Brahmin and he realized that he is unable to get rid of his sensual lust and ego, He realized that that though he pretended to be an expert but did not apply those principles in his real life so he was hollow from the core of his heart. He then again went to Nanak and asked for his instructions.
The Guru said to him, “Learning is not Wisdom. Wisdom comes through experience; experience through spiritual discipline which when disinterested and grounded in humility, invokes the Grace of God.”
The Brahmin, purged of ego, dedicated his life to contemplation and disinterested service of the others. He received initiation from Guru Nanak and spent his whole life in spiritual meditation and selfless service to humanity.
