5. Nirbhau Nirvair - Fearless and All-loving is He

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Nirbhau Nirvair

Fearless and All-loving is He

 

These two words, Nirbhau and Nirvair, are adjectives qualifying the

Lord of the universe, Ishwara, the Kartaa Purakh. On a higher and

subtler level, the same adjectives indicate the qualities necessary

for the seeker on the quest for Truth.

 

The Lord is nirbhau or 'fearless' because there is none higher than

Him; at the same time, there is nothing other than Him. " Higher " in

the sense that there is no one more powerful than Him, nor is there

anyone more knowledgeable than He is.

 

Also, since He is the Cause of everything, there is no one older than

Him whom He needs to fear. There is no one to boss over Him, so to

speak. He is the Supreme Boss.

 

Fear is always of something other than oneself. One is never afraid

of oneself. When you are all alone, there is nothing to fear. But if

you are on a street and you hear footsteps, you are afraid. Even when

we are alone, the fear is not of ourselves but of an imagined someone

hiding somewhere. Fear is always in reference to another. Why, even a

friend or close relative can cause us harm! Thus, for the Lord who

knows that He alone is, there is no fear.

 

Fear can also be of the unknown. But then the Creator is All-knowing.

One also fears the loss of something dear, or the non-fulfillment of

one's desires. But the Lord is Infinite. As such He experiences no

loss and is never incomplete. by the same token He is without desire.

Hence He is totally Fearless.

 

One may think that such a powerful, fearless person could be a

terror, a mad sultan or a dictator ever ready to punish anyone who

displeases Him. He the Fearless One would thus Himself become our

greatest fear. No! Guru Nanakji says the Lord is Nirvair, He

is 'without hatred, enmity or vindictiveness'; for there is no one

separate from Him.

 

Think: do you hate any part of yourself? Would you in your proper

senses inflict any harm on yourself? How many times must your own

finger have poked your eye and caused you pain! Did you can and throw

away that finger? Or do you hate it now, even a little? In fact the

very eye that was poked carefully examines the same finger when it is

cut. Does the eye say, " You poked me, so now you should suffer " ? No,

because we know that all the parts form one body.

 

The Lord who sees all as His own Self, how can He hate anyone or harm

anyone? He is All-loving. He who wants to know this Nirbhau, Nirvair,

Kartaa Purakh should himself become fearless and un-vindictive, for

fear and vindictiveness sabotage our peace of mind, create countless

agitations and cover the blissful divinity lying within. A saadhak

or 'seeker' cannot afford to entertain any of these negative

qualities.

 

It is because of our lack of faith in the all-powerful, omnipotent,

loving and compassionate Lord that we have fear. A devotee need not

fear anyone or anything. Even the fear of not reaching our goals

should be dropped. The Lord is just and ever compassionate.

 

Subjectively live in the knowledge that no harm can ever come to the

Atman, the Self. Only the very rare, courageous few (kashchid

dheerah), the Upanishads declare, can tread the path to perfection.

Fear dissipates all the mental stamina one needs to grasp the subtle

knowledge and meditate on the Reality.

 

When there is fear in the mind, where is there place for God? Neither

is there any place for God where there is enmity. It is interesting

to note that one hates one's enemy and sometimes even wishes the

latter were dead, but all the while he keeps that enemy alive in his

own memory, in his heart.

 

Realize: we alone keep the enmity burning in our hearts and suffer.

He who has devotion to the Lord, how can he hate anyone? All are Him

alone in the different forms, all are His expressions. Seen from the

subjective standpoint, the one Self alone is, so what is there for me

to fear, and what is there for me to hate?

 

The ego, this sense of individuality with all its likes and dislikes,

false expectations and desires, is the cause of all fear and enmity.

Surrender this ego at the feet of the Lord. Give up the sense of

distinction. Give up even the thought that God is separate from you,

for if you don't, there will still be the fear of being punished. In

love come to identify with Him.

 

There is nothing to fear or hate, not even the terrible devil who is

sometimes over-glorified (i.e. over-emphasized) in certain religions.

God alone is and He is All-loving. So love all and hate none. He who

has no enemies has nothing and no one to fear.

 

One may say all this is fine, but the greatest fear in this world is

of death!

 

He who has no fear of death fears nothing. Therefore Sri Guru Nanakji

glorifies the lord as Akaal Moorat.

 

5. Nirbhau Nirvair - Fearless and All-loving is He

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