Ang-11, Chapter 279
This is Ang-11, chapter 279, a sacred text in the Sikhism tradition. You can read it here verse by verse for free, listen to it read aloud, and follow cross-references that connect its themes to other traditions.
the sins of countless lifetimes shall depart.
Chant the Naam yourself, and inspire others to chant it as well.
Hearing, speaking and living it, emancipation is obtained.
The essential reality is the True Name of the Lord.
With intuitive ease, O Nanak, sing His Glorious Praises. ||6||
Chanting His Glories, your filth shall be washed off.
The all-consuming poison of ego will be gone.
You shall become carefree, and you shall dwell in peace.
With every breath and every morsel of food, cherish the Lord's Name.
Renounce all clever tricks, O mind.
In the Company of the Holy, you shall obtain the true wealth.
So gather the Lord's Name as your capital, and trade in it.
In this world you shall be at peace, and in the Court of the Lord, you shall be acclaimed.
See the One permeating all;
says Nanak, your destiny is pre-ordained. ||7||
Meditate on the One, and worship the One.
Remember the One, and yearn for the One in your mind.
Sing the endless Glorious Praises of the One.
With mind and body, meditate on the One Lord God.
The One Lord Himself is the One and Only.
The Pervading Lord God is totally permeating all.
The many expanses of the creation have all come from the One.
Adoring the One, past sins are removed.
Mind and body within are imbued with the One God.
By Guru's Grace, O Nanak, the One is known. ||8||19||
Salok:
After wandering and wandering, O God, I have come, and entered Your Sanctuary.
This is Nanak's prayer, O God: please, attach me to Your devotional service. ||1||
Ashtapadee:
I am a beggar; I beg for this gift from You:
please, by Your Mercy, Lord, give me Your Name.
I ask for the dust of the feet of the Holy.
O Supreme Lord God, please fulfill my yearning;
may I sing the Glorious Praises of God forever and ever.
With each and every breath, may I meditate on You, O God.
May I enshrine affection for Your Lotus Feet.
May I perform devotional worship to God each and every day.
You are my only Shelter, my only Support.
Nanak asks for the most sublime, the Naam, the Name of God. ||1||
By God's Gracious Glance, there is great peace.
Rare are those who obtain the juice of the Lord's essence.
Those who taste it are satisfied.
They are fulfilled and realized beings - they do not waver.
They are totally filled to over-flowing with the sweet delight of His Love.
Spiritual delight wells up within, in the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy.
Taking to His Sanctuary, they forsake all others.
Deep within, they are enlightened, and they center themselves on Him, day and night.
Most fortunate are those who meditate on God.
O Nanak, attuned to the Naam, they are at peace. ||2||
The wishes of the Lord's servant are fulfilled.
From the True Guru, the pure teachings are obtained.
Unto His humble servant, God has shown His kindness.
He has made His servant eternally happy.
The bonds of His humble servant are cut away, and he is liberated.
The pains of birth and death, and doubt are gone.
Desires are satisfied, and faith is fully rewarded,
imbued forever with His all-pervading peace.
He is His - he merges in Union with Him.
Nanak is absorbed in devotional worship of the Naam. ||3||
Why forget Him, who does not overlook our efforts?
Why forget Him, who acknowledges what we do?
✦ 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.”