One day, a Sikh named Kadhari, came to see the 2nd Guru Ji - Guru Angad Dev Ji. He had come in a "vairaag", bowed down before Guru Ji and asked the following question.

Q. The five enemies of mankind, namely lust, anger, greed, worldly attachment and the ego have surrounded the whole world. How can we save ourselves from their deadly clutches? If we can know them then some defence against them is possible, but most of the world is not even aware of their existence.

Guru Angad Dev ji gave a "parman" or example. He told the Sikh that, when a jungle catches fire most of the animals are unable to run to safety and so they perish. But there is one animal, a deer or "Hiran" which can run so fast and so reaches safety when the jungle is on fire; it runs towards a river, submerges itself in the cold water and escapes being burnt. The fire cannot reach it and it gets peace there or "sukh". Mankind is also surrounded by the fire of "Kal" and he is unable to avoid this fire unlike the deer.

Mankind is in trouble; they have no peace of mind in whose house the five robbers of lust, anger, greed, worldly attachments and ego have entered. Can that house be saved? Surely not, because only a few, like the deer, are saved. The river of cold water is the satsang. Guru Ji further explained that satsang is where praise alone is showered in God's Name. In such a "river of satsang" the five evil forces of the mind are destroyed and the coldness against the world's fire is provided by the Guru's shabad or light.

Extracted from "Divine Mystic Reflections on Gurmat" by the late Saint Scholar Naranjan Singh.
Compiled by the late Dr Harcharanjit Singh