From the commentary of Bhai Mani Singh Shahid (1644–1738), a direct student of Guru Gobind Singh. Following the Guru's passing, Mani Singh established a seminary in Amritsar which produced historical texts like Gurbilās Pātshāhī 6 and 10, and commentaries like Sikhān Dī Bhagatmālā, the Gyān Ratanāvalī, and a Japujī Sāhib Ṭīkā. Whether these were written by Mani Singh himself or his students is debated — attribution is also given to Surat Singh, who learned from Gurbaksh Singh, who learned directly from Mani Singh. What follows is the beginning of the commentary on the Mūl Mantar, framed as a dialogue between Guru Nanak and the Siddhas at Mount Meru. ੴ ਸਤਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਕਰਤਾ ਪੁਰਖੁ ਨਿਰਭਉ ਨਿਰਵੈਰੁ ਅਕਾਲ ਮੂਰਤਿ ਅਜੂਨੀ ਸੈਭੰ ਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥ The Sikhs asked: "What dialogue unfolded concerning Japuji Sahib?" Bhai Mani Singh explained that the Siddhas asked, "You are only a youth — by whose strength have you arrived here [at Mount Meru]?" **ੴ — Ik Onkār.** Then Baba (Nanak) said: "The One, Ekonkār." The One, who is Vahiguru, the Highest Self, desired to become many from One; He uttered a resonance (*dhuni*), and from it the half-crescent, moon-like Māyā (Illusion) arose. From Māyā three demigods emerged: from ੳ, Brahma; from ਅ, Vishnu; from ਮ, Shiva. Brahma was endowed with activity (*rajas*) and the task of creation; Vishnu with purity (*sattva*) and sustenance; Shiva with inertia (*tāmas*) and destruction. "So the One who has placed everyone in their roles — by His power I have come here." **ਸਤਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਕਰਤਾ ਪੁਰਖੁ — Truth by Name, the Creative Being.** The Siddhas asked: "What is His name, and what is His form?" Baba said: "The One whose name is Truth (eternal), the creator of the world." And *Purakh* carries three meanings: all bodies are like cities, and in each city the Light of the Great King resides; *Purakh* also means the Complete (*pūran*) One; and '*Pu*' refers to hell (*narak*), so the One who protects (*rakh*) from hell is *Purakh*. The Siddhas objected: "Name and Form arise from Māyā — both are false and illusory; what can be realized through them? And if you call them true, you contradict the Vedas and Shastras." Guru Nanak replied: "The illusory appears only by relying on the Infinite (*apār*) as its support — as a snake appears upon a rope, silver upon a seashell, or water shimmers in a mirage upon the sun's rays. The Creator, the Timeless Being, is the support of all. To those who know only the world's name and form, the world is false and so are its name and form; but the Creator's name is true and His form is true. As the mirage is false but the ground beneath it is real, so the world's name and form are false, while the Creator's are true. And whatever you establish as the underlying reality of the Creator — that itself we call the Creator; therefore His name is true, and His form is true." **ਨਿਰਭਉ ਨਿਰਵੈਰੁ — Without Fear, Without Hate.** He is Fearless, having no fear of anyone, and without enmity, bearing hatred toward none — for fear and hate arise only toward another, and besides Vahiguru there has never been anyone else. **ਅਕਾਲ ਮੂਰਤਿ — Timeless is His Form.** The Siddhas asked: "Do you call Akāl embodied with form (*sargun*), or formless (*nirgun*)?" Baba said: "Akāl is both with form and without form." "But embodied forms are perishable." "Even if the Sargun form — Rām, Krishna, and others — is no longer present, it is never far from the heart of the Saints; and the Formless has no physical image. That which is beyond time, substance, and space is called Akāl Mūrati, the Form of the Timeless." **ਅਜੂਨੀ ਸੈਭੰ — Unborn, Self-Existent.** *Ajūnī* refers to the One not born through a mother's womb. The Siddhas said: "But the Avatars took birth from the womb." Baba said: "Self-Existent — other beings are bound by karma, but the marks of an Avatar are these: one who appears by his own will, who dispels doubt, who is indestructible and free from death. Such a being is called Unborn and Self-Existent." **ਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ — By the Guru's Grace.** The Siddhas said: "Everything else can be seen — why then does Vahiguru not appear?" Baba said: "By the Guru's Grace He comes within sight. Just as the pupils of the eyes behold the whole world yet cannot see themselves — but placed before a mirror, they see themselves — so when the Guru's Shabad is placed before you, you behold your own True Self." Finally the Siddhas asked: "If His Name was true before creation, then once He became Creator and Enjoyer, would He remain unchanged? Milk becomes yogurt and cannot return to milk; wheat becomes flour and cannot return to wheat. So if the formless Brahm becomes Ishvara, does Brahm cease to be Brahm?" Baba said: "It is like water: when no waves rise, it is water; when a wave rises, it is still water; when the waves sport and play, it is water; and when they dissipate, it is water still." *(This is* vivartavāda *— the Advaita teaching of absolute non-duality.)* Gyān Ratanāvalī, attributed to Bhai Mani Singh Shahid ![[mani singh janamsakhi.jpg]]