As I was searching for the relationship of soul (atma) with the God (parmatma) in Sri Guru Granth Sahib, I did not find these two words adequately described. Instead I found the words naar/naari (woman) frequently used to symbolize soul. From symbol naar/naari the relationship with God was also amply clarified. Hence taking the symbol naar/naari for soul, attempt is made here to describe the relationship of the soul (atma) with the God (parmatama).
God is the Creator of the entire universe (Karta Purukh(u)). All creation including men and women are His creation and they all are part of Him. There is one Husband Lord in this world; all other beings are His brides.1 All are His brides2 in the form of souls. All the men and women have a physical form and a soul. The soul is the segregated part of God while the physical form is created by God from matter for providing cover for the soul. He lives in all in the form of souls. He is not far away; He is in each and every heart. Among all the women and the men, His Light is shining3 in the form of souls and He Himself enjoys every heart since He is contained within every woman and man.4
All Holy Scriptures say that Allah is True, and that he is neither male nor female. 5 He Himself is male, and He Himself is female.6 Soul is the form of God; it is neither a man nor a women. In one life it may be male; in another life it may be a female. He is the Husband Lord, and being is the soul-bride.7 However, to distinguish the soul from God (Nar Naryan/Prurukh), soul is described as a woman (naar/naari). This way all men and women are shown as woman (naar/naari) and the God is shown as man (nar/purukh).
The woman is shown as having good characteristics (sulkhani) or bad characteristics (kulakhnai). A good woman (sulakhni) has the following characteristics:
1. The soul, the woman, has become separated from the God, the male. The God only can re-unite of the separated soul.8
The merger brings the soul the ultimate peace, the soul has been since long longing for. She is the blessed, happy soul-bride who has imbued with Beloved Husband Lord.25,26
2. The soul aims to meet the True Lord and longs to remain with Him since he is ever living and the soul never wants to be without a husband. Since the Lord does not die, she too will never suffer from pain of separation and she shall be a happy soul-bride forever.9
3. Spiritual wisdom is the incomparable decoration of the happy soul-bride.10
She knows that the bride of the Lord is forever happy and virtuous; she shall never be a widow and she shall never have to wear dirty clothes like a widow.11
4. She learns about meeting Him from a true Guru. Blessed is that soul-bride, who knows her Husband Lord.12 She knows that who meets the True Guru, lives in the Fear of God; hence she is a woman of noble birth.13 The bride shows such special devotion, and has such an agreeable disposition.14
5. The Guru guides her to unite her with Him. The soul-bride finds her Husband Lord, within the home of her own heart.15 She always keeps Him in her mind and remembers and recites His Name. Attuned to the Word of God, the soul-bride is rid of egotism, and she is glorified.16
6. The more she longs for Him the more her attraction towards Him increases. The intense concentration on True Lord causes love for Him. Reciprocally the God gets attracted. Having been attracted, the Lord calls the separated soul for merger. If the soul-bride is pleasing to her Husband Lord, then the Husband Lord will love His bride.17
7. She is the happy soul-bride of her Husband Lord; her mind and body are filled with joy by His Love.18 She has true love with Him. Having found Him, the Lord's bride is a happy wife; she enjoys all pleasures.19
8. She, who has obtained the True Lord as her husband, is a happy soul-bride forever.20 Obtaining an abode in the home of her inner being, she vibrates the Word (Shabad) and is a happy soul-bride forever.21 Deep within her inner self, she is in love with her Lord; in His home, she is beautiful - she is the bride of her Lord God.22 Blessed is that bride, who has obtained the Lord as her Husband.23
9. The soul merges in Him finally like the water merges with water or light merges with
Light. The one upon whom He bestows His Glance of Grace is united with Him; such a person is the true soul-bride of the Lord. That soul-bride is happy, and her glory is perfect.24
10. Since she has merged in Him she has not to continue with the cycle of life and death.
On the other hand a bad woman (soul) is shown as filthy and ugly, unfeminine and ill-mannered and having no intuitive understanding of her Husband Lord.27 A bad woman (Kulakhani) has the following characteristics:
1. She gets lost into the worldly pleasures and forgets who her husband, the true Lord is.
2. The more she gets lost into the worldly pleasures the more she gets away from her destination; the True Lord.
3. She does not know the Will of her Husband Lord, hence is an ill-mannered and bitter bride.28
4. She wanders to search for the true pleasures like a deer runs after the mirage in the desert band gets nowhere.
5. She ruins her life in fruitless effort.
6. She gets entangled into the cycle of life and death and does not know how to get out of it.
The good soul thus is liberated through merger with the True Lord while the bad soul remains in the cycle of birth and death and cannot reach the God.
Dr Dalvinder Singh Grewal
Group Director
Universal Group of Institutions
[email protected]
Mob.: 9815366726
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