Ang-1001 — Chapter 32
The Guru instructs His wandering Sikhs;
if they go astray, He sets them on the right path.
So serve the Guru, forever, day and night; He is the Destroyer of pain - He is with you as your companion. ||13||
O mortal being, what devotional worship have you performed to the Guru?
Even Brahma, Indra and Shiva do not know it.
Tell me, how can the unknowable True Guru be known? He alone attains this realization, whom the Lord forgives. ||14||
One who has love within, obtains the Blessed Vision of His Darshan.
One who enshrines love for the Word of the Guru's Bani, meets with Him.
Day and night, the Gurmukh sees the immaculate Divine Light everywhere; this lamp illuminates his heart. ||15||
The food of spiritual wisdom is the supremely sweet essence.
Whoever tastes it, sees the Blessed Vision of the Lord's Darshan.
Beholding His Darshan, the unattached one meets the Lord; subduing the mind's desires, he merges into the Lord. ||16||
Those who serve the True Guru are supreme and famous.
Deep within each and every heart, they recognize God.
Please bless Nanak with the Lord's Praises, and the Sangat, the Congregation of the Lord's humble servants; through the True Guru, they know their Lord God. ||17||5||11||
Maaroo, First Mehl:
The True Lord is the Creator of the Universe.
He established and contemplates the worldly sphere.
He Himself created the creation, and beholds it; He is True and independent. ||1||
He created the beings of different kinds.
The two travellers have set out in two directions.
Without the Perfect Guru, no one is liberated. Chanting the True Name, one profits. ||2||
The self-willed manmukhs read and study, but they do not know the way.
They do not understand the Naam, the Name of the Lord; they wander, deluded by doubt.
They take bribes, and give false testimony; the noose of evil-mindedness is around their necks. ||3||
They read the Simritees, the Shaastras and the Puraanas;
they argue and debate, but do not know the essence of reality.
Without the Perfect Guru, the essence of reality is not obtained. The true and pure beings walk the Path of Truth. ||4||
All praise God and listen, and listen and speak.
He Himself is wise, and He Himself judges the Truth.
Those whom God blesses with His Glance of Grace become Gurmukh, and praise the Word of the Shabad. ||5||
Many listen and listen, and speak the Guru's Bani.
Listening and speaking, no one knows His limits.
He alone is wise, unto whom the unseen Lord reveals Himself; he speaks the Unspoken Speech. ||6||
At birth, the congratulations pour in;
the ignorant sing songs of joy.
Whoever is born, is sure to die, according to the destiny of past deeds inscribed upon his head by the Sovereign Lord King. ||7||
Union and separation were created by my God.
Creating the Universe, He gave it pain and pleasure.
The Gurmukhs remain unaffected by pain and pleasure; they wear the armor of humility. ||8||
The noble people are traders in Truth.
They purchase the true merchandise, contemplating the Guru.
One who has the wealth of the true commodity in his lap, is blessed with the rapture of the True Shabad. ||9||
The false dealings lead only to loss.
The trades of the Gurmukh are pleasing to God.
His stock is safe, and his capital is safe and sound. The noose of Death is cut away from around his neck. ||10||
✦ 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.”
Humility & Surrender
Bhagavad Gita 18:66
“Abandon all varieties of dharma and simply surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions; do not fear.”
Matthew 5:5
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Tao Te Ching 22
“If you want to become whole, let yourself be partial. If you want to become full, let yourself be empty.”
Quran 2:45
“Seek help through patience and prayer. It is indeed exacting, but not for those who are humble.”
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.”