Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji : Bhagat Beni Ji

57. Bhagat Beni Ji

Message of the 15 Bhagats or saints (Part-11)

Bani Registered in Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji : 3 shabads( Sri Raag page 93, Rag Page 974, Parbhati page 1351)

Principal Teachings : A man should emancipate himself from materialistic ties whilst living in this world. To hope for salvation after death is a fallacy. The person who can’t get salvation during his own life time, how can he get it after his death? To achieve the spiritual heights, one must become a follower of Guru. As stated on page 1351 :

Whoever does not realize the essence of the soul all his religious actions are hollow

The details of the life of Bhagat Beni ji are not authentically available in history. His parents name, time and place of death are not known in authentic documents. According to Sakhi Bhai Narayan Singh ji, he was born in 1630 Bikrami in the village of Aasni Brahmna. Bhai Gurdas ji(Sikh Scholar) has described and explained his life actions in his vaars. From that we come to know that Beni ji was a narrator of religious stories and an excellent scholar. Devotees used to take him to their houses for religious discussions and talks. He used to explain and narrate the stories from the old religious scriptures in a very logical and loving way. What ever somebody would give him after Katha(narration) was his means of earning a livelihood. One day Bhagat Ji was coming home after narrating Katha at some body’s house, when he came across a saint on the way. The saint exchanged a few words with him. The saint asked him about his profession and where was he coming from. Beni ji told the saint about his profession. The saint said to Bhagat Beni ji,” Beni, the stories and tales of the great personalities that you narrate to people and earn your livelihood, why don’t you try to change your life according to those stories? Just look at how people donate their money just listening about the lives of great personalities, imagine what will happen if the narrator becomes as good as that character he is talking about? Whoever does this gets accepted in the court of God and he gains contentment. “ After listening to the Saint’s talk, Beni ji accepted him as his Guru(Religious teacher). Now instead of going to people’s houses to narrate stories(Katha), he started going to a solitary place in a jungle for meditation of God daily. In the evening, he would come back to his house without any money. When his wife and other members of the family asked him about why he had no money again, he used to say,” Now I have left my job as a narrator, so instead of going to people’s houses, I have taken the job of narrator to the King.” After a few days when necessary things in the house were about to finish, the family once again reminded him about the money situation. He said,” The king is a great man. I have not asked him about the salary yet. He himself will give me a lot of money.” While Beni ji tried to put things off, more time passed. There was extreme shortage of food and other essential things in the house but Bhagat Beni ji kept meditating on God’s name. He kept himself aloof form all these things to such an extreme that all his desires vanished. On the other hand, to protect and shelter a true devotee, God Himself came to earth in the disguise of a king and sent a cart load full of food and other essentials to Beni ji’s house. The family was assured that soon they would get more stuff. “This was just an offering given to Beni ji as he used to narrate Katha to me. His salary is yet deposited with me.” Said the king to members of the family. Beni ji’s wife and other members of the family were overjoyed after seeing all the material goods and the food. They began to arrange and look after the things. The King(God) went to the jungle and met his true disciple(Beni ji). He embraced Beni ji and blessed him with numerous blessings including the Divine enlightenment. Sri Guru Arjun Dev ji states on page 1192 :

The Guru blessed Baynee with His Divine Illumination. O my mind, you too must be the Lord's slave.

Who ever meditates on God’ name with concentration and complete mental focus with unconditional surrender to the Almighty, gets all the blessings from Him and all of his worldly jobs are accomplished by the Creator. As mentioned on page 638 :

God automatically does the work of those who love the Name of the Lord.

Almighty God also grants His devotee an esteemed reputation and victory. Bhai Gurdas ji described this incidence in his 10thvaar pauri 14th :

Saint Beni, a gurmukh, used to sit in solitude and would enter a meditative trance. He would perform spiritual activities and in humbleness would never tell anyone. Reaching back home when asked, he would tell people that he had gone to the door of his king (the Supreme Lord). When his wife asked for some household material he would avoid her and thus spend his time performing spiritual activities. One day while concentrating on the Lord with single-minded devotion, a strange miracle happened. To keep the glory of the devotee, God Himself in the form of King went to his house. In great joy, He consoled everyone and made available profuse money for expenditure From there He came to His devotee Beni and compassionately loved him. This way He arranges applause for His devotees

His three shabads are found in Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji. In these shabads he has described to us the signs of achieving Dasam Duar(10^thdoor) and Param Padh (Highest stage of spirituality). If a person’s consciousness enters Dasam Duar, he is emancipated from the cycle of life and death. Beni ji inspires us to achieve this stage while actually living in this life. He has condemned the concept of salvation after death. The person who can’t liberate himself from the materialistic ties of this world, how can he get salvation after death. How can his soul be freed? He orders this on page 93 :

Says Baynee, listen, O devotee: who has ever attained liberation after such a death ?

No doubt he has described different spiritual areas of Divinity, but at the same time he has opposed the baseless, false rituals and ceremonies also. To achieve the spiritual height is the motive of human life. For this achievement, Guru’s guidance and Grace is very important. As on page 1351 :

Whoever does not realize the essence of the soul all his religious actions are hollow and false. Says Baynee, as Gurmukh, meditate. Without the True Guru, you shall not find the Way.

It is true that Bhagat Beni ji left this world in 16^thcentury but he has made himself immortal by his words enshrined in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.





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				57. Bhagat Beni Ji Message of the 15 Bhagats or saints (Part-11) Bani Registered in Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji : 3 shabads( Sri Raag page 93, Rag Page 974, Parbhati page 1351) Principal Teachings : A man should emancipate himself from materialistic ties whilst living in this world. To hope for salvation after death is a fallacy. The person who can’t get salvation during his own life time, how can he get it after his death? To achieve the spiritual heights, one must become a follower of Guru. As stated on page 1351 : Whoever does not realize the essence of the soul all his religious actions are hollow The details of the life of Bhagat Beni ji are not authentically available in history. His parents name, time and place of death are not known in authentic documents. According to Sakhi Bhai Narayan Singh ji, he was born in 1630 Bikrami in the village of Aasni Brahmna. Bhai Gurdas ji(Sikh Scholar) has described and explained his life actions in his vaars. From that we come to know that Beni ji was a narrator of religious stories and an excellent scholar. Devotees used to take him to their houses for religious discussions and talks. He used to explain and narrate the stories from the old religious scriptures in a very logical and loving way. What ever somebody would give him after Katha(narration) was his means of earning a livelihood. One day Bhagat Ji was coming home after narrating Katha at some body’s house, when he came across a saint on the way. The saint exchanged a few words with him. The saint asked him about his profession and where was he coming from. Beni ji told the saint about his profession. The saint said to Bhagat Beni ji,” Beni, the stories and tales of the great personalities that you narrate to people and earn your livelihood, why don’t you try to change your life according to those stories? Just look at how people donate their money just listening about the lives of great personalities, imagine what will happen if the narrator becomes as good as that character he is talking about? Whoever does this gets accepted in the court of God and he gains contentment. “ After listening to the Saint’s talk, Beni ji accepted him as his Guru(Religious teacher). Now instead of going to people’s houses to narrate stories(Katha), he started going to a solitary place in a jungle for meditation of God daily. In the evening, he would come back to his house without any money. When his wife and other members of the family asked him about why he had no money again, he used to say,” Now I have left my job as a narrator, so instead of going to people’s houses, I have taken the job of narrator to the King.” After a few days when necessary things in the house were about to finish, the family once again reminded him about the money situation. He said,” The king is a great man. I have not asked him about the salary yet. He himself will give me a lot of money.” While Beni ji tried to put things off, more time passed. There was extreme shortage of food and other essential things in the house but Bhagat Beni ji kept meditating on God’s name. He kept himself aloof form all these things to such an extreme that all his desires vanished. On the other hand, to protect and shelter a true devotee, God Himself came to earth in the disguise of a king and sent a cart load full of food and other essentials to Beni ji’s house. The family was assured that soon they would get more stuff. “This was just an offering given to Beni ji as he used to narrate Katha to me. His salary is yet deposited with me.” Said the king to members of the family. Beni ji’s wife and other members of the family were overjoyed after seeing all the material goods and the food. They began to arrange and look after the things. The King(God) went to the jungle and met his true disciple(Beni ji). He embraced Beni ji and blessed him with numerous blessings including the Divine enlightenment. Sri Guru Arjun Dev ji states on page 1192 : The Guru blessed Baynee with His Divine Illumination. O my mind, you too must be the Lord's slave. Who ever meditates on God’ name with concentration and complete mental focus with unconditional surrender to the Almighty, gets all the blessings from Him and all of his worldly jobs are accomplished by the Creator. As mentioned on page 638 : God automatically does the work of those who love the Name of the Lord. Almighty God also grants His devotee an esteemed reputation and victory. Bhai Gurdas ji described this incidence in his 10thvaar pauri 14th : Saint Beni, a gurmukh, used to sit in solitude and would enter a meditative trance. He would perform spiritual activities and in humbleness would never tell anyone. Reaching back home when asked, he would tell people that he had gone to the door of his king (the Supreme Lord). When his wife asked for some household material he would avoid her and thus spend his time performing spiritual activities. One day while concentrating on the Lord with single-minded devotion, a strange miracle happened. To keep the glory of the devotee, God Himself in the form of King went to his house. In great joy, He consoled everyone and made available profuse money for expenditure From there He came to His devotee Beni and compassionately loved him. This way He arranges applause for His devotees His three shabads are found in Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji. In these shabads he has described to us the signs of achieving Dasam Duar(10^thdoor) and Param Padh (Highest stage of spirituality). If a person’s consciousness enters Dasam Duar, he is emancipated from the cycle of life and death. Beni ji inspires us to achieve this stage while actually living in this life. He has condemned the concept of salvation after death. The person who can’t liberate himself from the materialistic ties of this world, how can he get salvation after death. How can his soul be freed? He orders this on page 93 : Says Baynee, listen, O devotee: who has ever attained liberation after such a death ? No doubt he has described different spiritual areas of Divinity, but at the same time he has opposed the baseless, false rituals and ceremonies also. To achieve the spiritual height is the motive of human life. For this achievement, Guru’s guidance and Grace is very important. As on page 1351 : Whoever does not realize the essence of the soul all his religious actions are hollow and false. Says Baynee, as Gurmukh, meditate. Without the True Guru, you shall not find the Way. It is true that Bhagat Beni ji left this world in 16^thcentury but he has made himself immortal by his words enshrined in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

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