In Chapter 6 of the Bachittar Natak, Guru Gobind Singh contrasts two orientations toward the Divine — one shaped by love, the other by ritual. On one side are those who no longer let the fixed doctrines of the Vedas and the Katebs (the Quran, Bible, and other Semitic scriptures) govern their approach, and orient their whole being toward loving the Highest Divine [ਪਰਮਪੁਰਖ] instead; they bear every bodily hardship without ever loosening that love, until no distance remains between them and Hari. On the other are those who, dreading such hardship, take refuge in ritual observance and formal doctrine rather than love — forsaking the Supreme Being and falling back onto those well-trodden paths, so that their end is not union but the pit of hell and endless rebirth. The line the Guru draws is one of orientation, not merely belief: it is a love-centred approach — not ritual conformity or scriptural allegiance — that results in the merging of devotee and devoted, the non-dual experience. ਜਿਨ ਮਤ ਬੇਦ ਕਤੇਬਨ ਤਿਆਗੀ ॥ ਪਾਰਬ੍ਰਹਮ ਕੇ ਭੇ ਅਨੁਰਾਗੀ ॥ Those who renounced the doctrines of the Vedas and the Semitic holy books (Quran, Bible, etc.) became lovers of the Supreme Divine. ਤਿਨ ਕੇ ਗੂੜ ਮੱਤ ਜੇ ਚਲਹੀ ॥ ਭਾਂਤਿ ਅਨੇਕ ਦੁਖਨ ਸੋ ਦਲਹੀ ॥੨੦॥ Whoever walks on their profound path [of love] shall crush sorrows of countless kinds. ਜੇ ਜੇ ਸਹਿਤ ਜਾਤਨ ਸੰਦੇਹਿ ॥ ਪ੍ਰਭ ਕੇ ਸੰਗਿ ਨ ਛੋਡਤ ਨੇਹ ॥ Those who endure torments upon the body, yet never forsake their love for the Lord — ਤੇ ਤੇ ਪਰਮ ਪੁਰੀ ਕਹ ਜਾਹੀ ॥ ਤਿਨ ਹਰਿ ਸਿਉ ਅੰਤਰੁ ਕਛੁ ਨਾਹੀਂ ॥੨੧॥ they all reach the Supreme Abode; between them and Hari no difference remains. ਜੇ ਜੇ ਜੀਯ ਜਾਤਨ ਤੇ ਡਰੈ ॥ ਪਰਮ ਪੁਰਖ ਤਜਿ ਤਿਨ ਮਗ ਪਰੈ ॥ But those who in their heart dread such torment, forsaking the Supreme Being to fall upon that [dogmatic] path — ਤੇ ਤੇ ਨਰਕ ਕੁੰਡ ਮੋ ਪਰਹੀ ॥ ਬਾਰ ਬਾਰ ਜਗ ਮੋ ਬਪੁ ਧਰਹੀ ॥੨੨॥ they all tumble into the pit of hell, and take on a body in the world, again and again. - Bachittar Natak, ch. 6 (verses 20–22) [[Dasam Guru Granth Sahib/Dasam]] Related: [[Rejection of Vedic Authority]] Contemporary portrait of Guru Gobind Singh from the Anandpuri Bir of Dasam Granth. ![[portrait.jpeg]]