Viakhiya of Shabad: ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਪ੍ਰਹਿਲਾਦਿ ...

ਪਉੜੀ ॥
ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਪ੍ਰਹਿਲਾਦਿ ਜਪਿ ਹਰਿ ਗਤਿ ਪਾਈ ॥
ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਜਨਕਿ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮਿ ਲਿਵ ਲਾਈ ॥
ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਬਸਿਸਟਿ ਹਰਿ ਉਪਦੇਸੁ ਸੁਣਾਈ ॥
ਬਿਨੁ ਗੁਰ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਨ ਕਿਨੈ ਪਾਇਆ ਮੇਰੇ ਭਾਈ ॥
ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਹਰਿ ਭਗਤਿ ਹਰਿ ਆਪਿ ਲਹਾਈ ॥13॥

Pauree:
As Gurmukh, Prahlaad meditated on the Lord, and was saved.
As Gurmukh, Janak lovingly centered his consciousness on the Lord's Name.
As Gurmukh, Vashisht taught the Teachings of the Lord.
Without the Guru, no one has found the Lord's Name, O my Siblings of Destiny.
The Lord blesses the Gurmukh with devotion. ||13||

What does Gurmukh mean in this context and are the bhagats above being referred as gurmukhs?
Did these bhagats meditate on gurmat naam?
what does ਹਰਿ ਗਤਿ ਪਾਈ ॥ mean?

This Shabad mentions 3 Bhagats of olden times - Siri Prahlaad jee, Raja Janak and Rishi Vishisht jee. As per Indian tradition, they were great Bhagats. Gurmat recognizes these Bhagats but also mentions that these Bhagats attained their high spiritual state through the Gurmukh. There are many meanings of the word "Gurmukh" in Gurbani. A detailed analysis of this word would be done in a separate post, shortly, but presented below are some of the meanings of this word:

1) Mukhi Guru i.e. chief Guru – Vaheguru himself.

2) Satguru the Guru form of Vaheguru i.e. Siri Guru Nanak Dev jee. “Gurmukhi Kal vich Pargat hoya”.

3) Such person, who’s mukh (face) is towards Guru i.e. a true Gursikh.

4) “Gurmukh” also means ‘through Guru’ or ‘through the grace of Guru.

5) When “Gurmukh Naam” appear together, it means Gurmat Naam i.e. the Naam Gurmantra of the house of Guru Nanak Dev jee and in such instances this word should be treated as a compound word.

In this Salok, the meaning of Gurmukh is #4 above therefore, there should be a small pause after this word:

ਪਉੜੀ ॥
ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ, ਪ੍ਰਹਿਲਾਦਿ ਜਪਿ ਹਰਿ, ਗਤਿ ਪਾਈ ॥
ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ, ਜਨਕਿ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮਿ ਲਿਵ ਲਾਈ ॥
ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ, ਬਸਿਸਟਿ ਹਰਿ ਉਪਦੇਸੁ ਸੁਣਾਈ ॥
ਬਿਨੁ ਗੁਰ, ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਨ ਕਿਨੈ ਪਾਇਆ, ਮੇਰੇ ਭਾਈ ॥

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what does ਹਰਿ ਗਤਿ ਪਾਈ ॥ mean?

The correct bishraam is as stated above. ਹਰਿ goes with ਜਪਿ and not with ਗਤਿ. ਗਤਿ ਪਾਈ means attained salvation. The meaning of the pankiti is: Through the Guru, Prahlaad attained salvation, by chanting Hari. Through the Guru, Raja Janak, gained concentration in Hari Naam. Through the Guru, Rishi Vishishta gave lesson of Hari to Siri Ram Chandra. In the end Guru Sahib gives the conclusion that, O Brother, no one has attained Hari Naam, without the Guru.

From the beginning to the end, there is only one Guru. This Guru who had been working behind the scenes through different Rishis and Avatars came out in the open in Kalyuga and called himself Siri Guru Nanak Dev jee, Siri Guru Angad Dev jee and Siri Guru Amardaas jee. A detailed article on this will be written at a different time.

Daas,
Kulbir Singh

Bhai sahib, thanks for the wonderful veechar.

Now, when you say that these bhagats attained salvation through the guru, in which sense did Guru Sahib do kirpa. If these bhagats attained salvation through the guru, did they attain sachkhandee salvation?

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Kulbir Singh
From the beginning to the end, there is only one Guru. This Guru who had been working behind the scenes through different Rishis and Avatars came out in the open in Kalyuga and called himself Siri Guru Nanak Dev jee, Siri Guru Angad Dev jee and Siri Guru Amardaas jee. A detailed article on this will be written at a different time.

Looking forward to the article.

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Now, when you say that these bhagats attained salvation through the guru, in which sense did Guru Sahib do kirpa. If these bhagats attained salvation through the guru, did they attain sachkhandee salvation?

Veer Gurditt Singh jeeo, as far as my understanding is, all previous Bhagats took birth in Guru Ghar after the advent of Siri Guru Nanak Dev jee. Even though, in their previous lives, whatever their spirituality was, was because of Guru Sahib. The credit to save Panchaali (Drupadi) from getting dishonoured normally goes to Siri Krishna but Gurbani has opened this secret that infact it was Guru Sahib who was kept her Honour. This is evident from Bhattaan ke Savaiye (Savaiye Mahalle 4 ke):

ਅਬ ਰਾਖਹੁ ਦਾਸ ਭਾਟ ਕੀ ਲਾਜ ॥
ਜੈਸੀ ਰਾਖੀ ਲਾਜ ਭਗਤ ਪ੍ਰਹਿਲਾਦ ਕੀ ਹਰਨਾਖਸ ਫਾਰੇ ਕਰ ਆਜ ॥
ਫੁਨਿ ਦ੍ਰੋਪਤੀ ਲਾਜ ਰਖੀ ਹਰਿ ਪ੍ਰਭ ਜੀ ਛੀਨਤ ਬਸਤ੍ਰ ਦੀਨ ਬਹੁ ਸਾਜ ॥
ਸੋਦਾਮਾ ਅਪਦਾ ਤੇ ਰਾਖਿਆ ਗਨਿਕਾ ਪੜ੍ਹਤ ਪੂਰੇ ਤਿਹ ਕਾਜ ॥
ਸ੍ਰੀ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਸੁਪ੍ਰਸੰਨ ਕਲਜੁਗ ਹੋਇ ਰਾਖਹੁ ਦਾਸ ਭਾਟ ਕੀ ਲਾਜ ॥੮॥੧੨॥

Addressing Siri Guru Raamdaas jee (the Guru Jyoti), the Bhatt is pleading before Guru Sahib to keep his honour. The above Savaiya clearly says that it was Siri Satguru who saved Prahlaad from Harnaaksh, kept honour of Panchaali, eradicated the poverty of Sudaama and pardoned the sins of Ganika.

Some people make ignorant statements saying that Siri Guru Nanak Dev jee appeared only in 1469 and previous Bhagats could not have met Him. How ignorant! Siri Guru jee in Jyoti form is the Guru-form of Vaheguru and has always been in existence. It is just that He appeared in open in form of Siri Guru Nanak Dev jee in 1469. This does not mean that He did not exist before that. The above pankitis are a proof of the existence and works of Guru Sahib before taking human form for our salvation.

In previous Yugas Satnaam had not been disclosed. It seems that Siri Guru jee through the Avatars and Rishis gave limited salvation to the Bhagats of previous Yugas. Then these Bhagats took birth in Guru Ghar and received full and complete salvation from the house of Siri Guru Nanak Sahib. A detailed account of this will be written in the near future. Guru Sahib kirpa karan.

Daas,
Kulbir Singh