Ang-1001 — Chapter 24
Only a few, as Gurmukh, remembered the Lord.
Dharmic faith, which upholds and supports the earth, had only two feet; Truth was revealed to the Gurmukhs. ||8||
The kings acted righteously only out of self-interest.
Tied to hopes of reward, they gave to charities.
Without the Lord's Name, liberation did not come, although they grew weary of performing rituals. ||9||
Practicing religious rituals, they sought liberation,
but the treasure of liberation comes only by praising the Shabad.
Without the Word of the Guru's Shabad, liberation is not obtained; practicing hypocrisy, they wander around confused. ||10||
Love and attachment to Maya cannot be abandoned.
They alone find release, who practice deeds of Truth.
Day and night, the devotees remain imbued with contemplative meditation; they become just like their Lord and Master. ||11||
Some chant and practice intensive meditation, and take cleansing baths at sacred shrines of pilgrimage.
They walk as You will them to walk.
By stubborn rituals of self-suppression, the Lord is not pleased. No one has ever obtained honor, without the Lord, without the Guru. ||12||
In the Iron Age, the Dark Age of Kali Yuga, only one power remains.
Without the Perfect Guru, no one has even described it.
The self-willed manmukhs have staged the show of falsehood. Without the True Guru, doubt does not depart. ||13||
The True Guru is the Creator Lord, independent and carefree.
He does not fear death, and He is not dependent on mortal men.
Whoever serves Him becomes immortal and imperishable, and will not be tortured by death. ||14||
The Creator Lord has enshrined Himself within the Guru.
The Gurmukh saves countless millions.
The Life of the World is the Great Giver of all beings. The Fearless Lord has no filth at all. ||15||
Everyone begs from the Guru, God's Treasurer.
He Himself is the immaculate, unknowable, infinite Lord.
Nanak speaks the Truth; he begs from God. Please bless me with the Truth, by Your Will. ||16||4||
Maaroo, First Mehl:
The True Lord unites with those who are united with the Word of the Shabad.
When it pleases Him, we intuitively merge with Him.
The Light of the Transcendent Lord pervades the three worlds; there is no other at all, O Siblings of Destiny. ||1||
I am His servant; I serve Him.
He is unknowable and mysterious; He is pleased by the Shabad.
The Creator is the Benefactor of His devotees. He forgives them - such is His greatness. ||2||
The True Lord gives and gives; His blessings never run short.
The false ones receive, and then deny having received.
They do not understand their origins, they are not pleased with the Truth, and so they wander in duality and doubt. ||3||
The Gurmukhs remain awake and aware, day and night.
Following the Guru's Teachings, they know the Love of the True Lord.
The self-willed manmukhs remain asleep, and are plundered. The Gurmukhs remain safe and sound, O Siblings of Destiny. ||4||
The false come, and the false go;
imbued with falsehood, they practice only falsehood.
Those who are imbued with the Shabad are robed in honor in the Court of the Lord; the Gurmukhs focus their consciousness on Him. ||5||
The false are cheated, and robbed by the robbers.
The garden is laid waste, like the rough wilderness.
Without the Naam, the Name of the Lord, nothing tastes sweet; forgetting the Lord, they suffer in sorrow. ||6||
Receiving the food of Truth, one is satisfied.
True is the glorious greatness of the jewel of the Name.
One who understands his own self, realizes the Lord. His light merges into the Light. ||7||
✦ Connected Across Traditions
The Golden Rule
Matthew 7:12
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Hadith (An-Nawawi 13)
“None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.”
Leviticus 19:18
“Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Mahabharata 5.1517
“One should never do to another what one regards as injurious to oneself.”
Impermanence & Letting Go
Dhammapada 20:277
“All conditioned things are impermanent. When one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering.”
Tao Te Ching 76
“A man is born gentle and weak. At his death he is hard and stiff. The soft and yielding is the disciple of life.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2
“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.”
Bhagavad Gita 2:22
“As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.”
The Path to Wisdom
Proverbs 4:7
“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.”
Dhammapada 20:282
“Wisdom springs from meditation; without meditation wisdom wanes.”
Analects 2:11
“If you study the past and use it to understand the present, you are worthy of being a teacher.”
Tao Te Ching 33
“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom.”
Good vs Evil / Light vs Darkness
Yasna 30:3
“Now the two primal Spirits, who reveal themselves as Twins, are the Better and the Bad, in thought and word and action.”
John 1:5
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Dhammapada 1:1-2
“Mind is the forerunner of all actions. If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows like a shadow.”
Genesis 1:3
“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”