Ang-1001 — Chapter 38
The Saam Veda, the Rig Veda, the Jujar Veda and the At'harva Veda
form the mouth of Brahma; they speak of the three gunas, the three qualities of Maya.
None of them can describe His worth. We speak as He inspires us to speak. ||9||
From the Primal Void, He created the seven nether regions.
From the Primal Void, He established this world to lovingly dwell upon Him.
The Infinite Lord Himself created the creation. Everyone acts as You make them act, Lord. ||10||
Your Power is diffused through the three gunas: raajas, taamas and satva.
Through egotism, they suffer the pains of birth and death.
Those blessed by His Grace become Gurmukh; they attain the fourth state, and are liberated. ||11||
From the Primal Void, the ten incarnations welled up.
Creating the Universe, He made the expanse.
He fashioned the demi-gods and demons, the heavenly heralds and celestial musicians; everyone acts according to their past karma. ||12||
The Gurmukh understands, and does not suffer the disease.
How rare are those who understand this ladder of the Guru.
Throughout the ages, they are dedicated to liberation, and so they become liberated; thus they are honored. ||13||
From the Primal Void, the five elements became manifest.
They joined to form the body, which engages in actions.
Both bad and good are written on the forehead, the seeds of vice and virtue. ||14||
The True Guru, the Primal Being, is sublime and detached.
Attuned to the Word of the Shabad, He is intoxicated with the sublime essence of the Lord.
Riches, intellect, miraculous spiritual powers and spiritual wisdom are obtained from the Guru; through perfect destiny, they are received. ||15||
This mind is so in love with Maya.
Only a few are spiritually wise enough to understand and know this.
In hope and desire, egotism and skepticism, the greedy man acts falsely. ||16||
From the True Guru, contemplative meditation is obtained.
And then, one dwells with the True Lord in His celestial home, the Primal State of Absorption in Deepest Samaadhi.
O Nanak, the immaculate sound current of the Naad, and the Music of the Shabad resound; one merges into the True Name of the Lord. ||17||5||17||
Maaroo, First Mehl:
Wherever I look, I see the Lord, merciful to the meek.
God is compassionate; He does not come or go in reincarnation.
He pervades all beings in His mysterious way; the Sovereign Lord remains detached. ||1||
The world is a reflection of Him; He has no father or mother.
He has not acquired any sister or brother.
There is no creation or destruction for Him; He has no ancestry or social status. The Ageless Lord is pleasing to my mind. ||2||
You are the Deathless Primal Being. Death does not hover over Your head.
You are the unseen inaccessible and detached Primal Lord.
You are true and content; the Word of Your Shabad is cool and soothing. Through it, we are lovingly, intuitively attuned to You. ||3||
The three qualities are pervasive; the Lord dwells in His home, the fourth state.
He has made death and birth into a bite of food.
The immaculate Light is the Life of the whole world. The Guru reveals the unstruck melody of the Shabad. ||4||
Sublime and good are those humble Saints, the Beloveds of the Lord.
They are intoxicated with the sublime essence of the Lord, and are carried across to the other side.
Nanak is the dust of the Society of the Saints; by Guru's Grace, he finds the Lord. ||5||
You are the Inner-knower, the Searcher of hearts. All beings belong to You.
✦ 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.”
Divine Compassion & Mercy
Quran 1:1
“In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.”
Psalm 23:1
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”
Luke 6:36
“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
Snp 1.8
“As a mother would risk her life to protect her child, her only child, even so should one cultivate a limitless heart with regard to all beings.”
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.”