One day, while sitting with his devotees, some sadhus, sanyasis, and yogis came to Shahanshah Satguru Sant Sai Satramdas Sahib and requested him to enlighten them about the identity of a true Guru. In response, Sant Sai Satramdas Sahib said, “A true Guru is one who has crossed the ocean of illusions and can help others to do the same.
In other words, a true Guru is someone who has attained spiritual enlightenment and has the ability to guide others on the same path. They are not merely teachers or preachers, but rather spiritual leaders who have gained deep insight and wisdom through their own experiences and practices.A true Guru is someone who can help seekers overcome the illusions and delusions of the material world, and lead them towards the ultimate truth and liberation. The Guru’s role is to help seekers realize their true nature and potential, and guide them towards spiritual growth and transformation.
Therefore, the guidance of a true Guru is invaluable for those who seek spiritual growth and enlightenment, as they can provide a roadmap for traversing the difficult terrain of the spiritual path and reaching the ultimate goal.The group of Yogis, sadhus, and sanyasis were seeking guidance from Sant Sai Satramdas Sahib to understand how to know if they possessed the ability to guide their disciples through the illusions of the materialistic world. They were uncertain of their own capabilities in this regard.
In response, Shahanshah Satguru Sant Sai Satramdas Saheb drew a comparison to a policeman who can control a large crowd because of the power of his uniform. The policeman’s control over the crowd is not his own power but the power of his uniform given to him by the government. Similarly, a true Guru’s power comes from the divine power of God, which is transmitted to them through deep meditation, selfless service, and the practice of Naam Simran.
Sant Sai Satramdas Sahib thus explained that a true Guru possesses the ability to help their disciples navigate the materialistic world and its illusions through the divine power they have received from God.
Shahanshah Satguru elaborated that when a Satguru attains complete divine power, they are commanded by the Lord to care for humans and enlighten their minds with true self-knowledge. The Satguru accomplishes this by transmitting the divine power to them through practices such as meditation, NAAM SIMRAN, and selfless service, as well as providing the invaluable gem of Satsang to keep them away from sin and wrongdoing.
With their divine blessings, True Satgurus serve as guides for humans on the spiritual path that leads to eternal oneness.
Those who are fortunate enough to follow such true Gurus can cross the world of illusions while remaining connected to the Lord, possessing the power of blessings through practices like NAAM SIMRAN and meditation. The status and dignity of such Gurus are always higher, making them the true Gurus.
According to Shehenshah Satguru Sant Sai Satramdas Sahib, a man once asked Sant Kabirdas to bless him so that he could successfully cross the ocean of illusions in this world.
Sant Kabirdas recognized the man’s sincere desire and accepted him as his disciple, blessing him with Naam daan. The man devotedly followed Sant Kabirdas’ instructions during his selfless service, and was blessed with a divine sight of the Lord and his Satguru standing together.
Overjoyed, but confused about whom to bow down to first, he recited the following words: “Guru gobind dou khade, kaake lagoon paaye. Balihari Guru aapne gobind diyo bataye” (The Guru and Govind stand together, who should I bow to first? I praise my Guru, who has shown me God).
After much contemplation, he realized that he should bow down to his Satguru first, as it was through Sant Kabirdas’ guidance that he had the divine opportunity of seeing the beloved Lord.
attain the beloved Lord. The Satguru’s divine grace shows us the true path to reach that destiny, and without a true Satguru to guide us on that path, we will continue to wander.
Saijan used the example of a policeman to illustrate this point. The authority of a policeman comes from the uniform given to him by the government, and if he tries to control people while in plain clothes, he may lose his self-respect and no one will listen to him.
Shehenshah Satguru Sant Satramdas Sahib narrated a beautiful story to emphasize the importance of a Satguru. He said that once a great Sant, along with a few of his devotees, was passing through a jungle and saw a snake dying in pain. Many ants and insects were eating the snake’s flesh by piercing its body and making holes in it, causing it to die a painful death.
When the devotees saw the snake being eaten by insects, they asked the Sant if the snake had committed any sin in its past life to deserve such suffering. Using his divine vision, the Sant replied that in his previous birth, the snake had been a hypocrite and a fraudulent guru. Despite not possessing any divine powers, he pretended to have them and cheated people by taking their money while enjoying the facilities provided by his poor devotees. He was unable to connect to the divine power of Parm Pita Parmeshwar himself or help his followers do the same, and that is why he is being tormented by the insects and ants who were his devotees in his past life, seeking revenge.
the Lord or a true Satguru are authorized to transmit these powers to their devotees through Naam Simran. True Gurus, through the practice of Naam Simran, not only succeed in crossing the ocean of illusions but also enable their devotees to see through the illusory nature of this material world, just like Sant Kabirdas did.
As Sant Sai Satramdas Sahib was imparting his teachings to the yogis, Sants, and Mahapurashas on how to identify a true SatGuru, some poor fishermen approached him with their troubles. They told Saijan that they hadn’t caught any fish for the past few days, which meant they couldn’t earn money to provide for their families, making their lives unbearable.
Sant Sai Satramdas Sahib asked the fishermen to go back and try again to catch fish. After some time, the fishermen returned to Sant Sai Satramdas Sahib and informed him that they had tried to catch the fish, but their nets remained empty, and they could not catch any fish. This happened for three more times, and each time they were unsuccessful. Then, on the fourth attempt, Sant Sai Satramdas Sahib asked the fishermen to go and tell the fish that Satramdas had asked them to get into the net. As soon as the fishermen uttered the words, the entire river became still and the fish started swimming towards the net. The sants, yogis, sadhus, and tapasvis were amazed to see this miraculous event. The net was soon filled with a large number of fish, which the fishermen caught easily.
After catching the fish, the fishermen were filled with gratitude towards Sant Sai Satramdas Sahib and asked him how this was possible. Sant Satramdas Sahib replied, “When you were unable to catch fish, you were doing it for yourself and your family’s sake, but when you asked the fish to get into the net on my behalf, you were doing it for the sake of the Guru, and the Guru’s work is always successful.”
After witnessing the miraculous event, all the sants, yogis, sadhus, and tapasvis became even more certain of the importance of having a true Satguru. They recognized the power and divine grace that a Satguru possesses, and the significance of following the guidance of a true spiritual teacher.
As the fishermen began pulling the net from the water, they found that it was overflowing with fish, and it became difficult for them to lift it. To everyone’s amazement, even the Sants, sadhus, fakirs, Sanyasis, and yogis transformed into fish and were caught in the net.
Sant Sai Satramdas Sahib explained to them that this was the power of the Guru’s words, and by following the words of the true Satguru, they too could attain the ultimate goal of union with the divine. The fishermen were overjoyed and grateful to Sant Sai Satramdas Sahib for his divine grace and the blessings he had bestowed upon them.
Upon seeing this miraculous event, the guru of Sidh and Gosain fell to their knees in reverence before Sant Sai Satramdas Sahib. They told their companions that Sant Satramdas Sahib is the true and highly revered Guru, as he himself had explained that only the one who is blessed with divine power can be considered a true Guru.
The group of yogis, tapasvis, saints, and Sanyasis who were in deep meditation for achieving oneness did not want to miss the opportunity to receive blessings from Sant Sai Satramdas Sahib to cross the ocean of materialistic comforts and attain true moksh. They too transformed into fish and got into the net, having witnessed the power of a true Satguru.
After witnessing the miraculous event, all the fishermen were overwhelmed with the power of Sant Sai Satramdas Sahib and immediately surrendered themselves at his lotus feet. They requested Sant Sai Satramdas Sahib to accept them as his disciples and bless them with Naam Daan, the divine initiation.
Sant Sai Satramdas Sahib showered his blessings upon them and granted them Naam Daan, initiating them into the spiritual path. As a result, all the fishermen stopped their fishing business and started doing other businesses with honesty and devotion, and soon became successful in their endeavours.
All those who had transformed into fish to receive blessings from Sant Sai Satramdas Sahib were also granted NAAM DAAN by him. Shahaanshah Satguru Sai Satramdas Sahib prayed for their success in achieving oneness and liberation from the cycle of birth and death.
Among those who resided with Saijan were Sidh jogi, Naath, and Gosai, (group of gurus) who stayed with Sant Sai Satramdas for a while and then departed after receiving his blessings. However, two Gosains, Gosian Garib Gur and Gosain Kashi Gur, were granted permission by Sant Sai Satramdas Sahib to remain with him forever after receiving NAAM DAAN. They merged with the Divine and attained MOKSHA, and their Samadhis are located at Big Devri Sahib (Wadi Devri), close to the Samadhi Sahib of Sant Sai Satramdas Sahib.
