Ang-1201 — Chapter 57

Take it each and every day, and your body shall not waste away.

At the very last instant, you shall strike down the Messenger of Death. ||1||

So take such medicine, O fool,

by which your corruption shall be taken away. ||1||Pause||

Power, wealth and youth are all just shadows,

as are the vehicles you see moving around.

Neither your body, nor your fame, nor your social status shall go along with you.

In the next world it is day, while here, it is all night. ||2||

Let your taste for pleasures be the firewood, let your greed be the ghee,

and your sexual desire and anger the cooking oil; burn them in the fire.

Some make burnt offerings, hold sacred feasts, and read the Puraanas.

Whatever pleases God is acceptable. ||3||

Intense meditation is the paper, and Your Name is the insignia.

Those for whom this treasure is ordered,

look wealthy when they reach their true home.

O Nanak, blessed is that mother who gave birth to them. ||4||3||8||

Malaar, First Mehl:

You wear white clothes, and speak sweet words.

Your nose is sharp, and your eyes are black.

Have you ever seen your Lord and Master, O sister? ||1||

O my All-powerful Lord and Master,

By Your power, I fly and soar, and ascend to the heavens.

I see Him in the water, on the land, in the mountains, on the river-banks,

in all places and interspaces, O brother. ||2||

He fashioned the body, and gave it wings;

He gave it great thirst and desire to fly.

When He bestows His Glance of Grace, I am comforted and consoled.

As He makes me see, so do I see, O brother. ||3||

Neither this body, nor its wings, shall go to the world hereafter.

It is a fusion of air, water and fire.

O Nanak, if it is in the mortal's karma, then he meditates on the Lord, with the Guru as his Spiritual Teacher.

This body is absorbed in the Truth. ||4||4||9||

Malaar, Third Mehl, Chau-Padhay, First House:

One Universal Creator God. By The Grace Of The True Guru:

The Formless Lord is formed by Himself. He Himself deludes in doubt.

Creating the Creation, the Creator Himself beholds it; He enjoins us as He pleases.

This is the true greatness of His servant, that he obeys the Hukam of the Lord's Command. ||1||

Only He Himself knows His Will. By Guru's Grace, it is grasped.

When this play of Shiva and Shakti comes to his home, he remains dead while yet alive. ||1||Pause||

They read the Vedas, and read them again, and engage in arguments about Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

This three-phased Maya has deluded the whole world into cynicism about death and birth.

By Guru's Grace, know the One Lord, and the anxiety of your mind will be allayed. ||2||

I am meek, foolish and thoughtless, but still, You take care of me.

Please be kind to me, and make me the slave of Your slaves, so that I may serve You.

Please bless me with the treasure of the One Name, that I may chant it, day and night. ||3||

Says Nanak, by Guru's Grace, understand. Hardly anyone considers this.

Like foam bubbling up on the surface of the water, so is this world.