Ang-1201 — Chapter 86
The Gurmukhs dwell on the Word of the Shabad. They sing the Glorious Praises of the True Lord.
O Nanak, those humble beings who are imbued with the Naam are pure and immaculate. They are intuitively merged in the True Lord. ||2||
Pauree:
Serving the Perfect True Guru, I have found the Perfect Lord.
Meditating on the Perfect Lord, by perfect karma, I have enshrined the Shabad within my mind.
Through perfect spiritual wisdom and meditation, my filth has been washed away.
The Lord is my sacred shrine of pilgrimage and pool of purification; I wash my mind in Him.
One who dies in the Shabad and conquers his mind - blessed is the mother who gave birth to him.
He is true in the Court of the Lord, and his coming into this world is judged to be true.
No one can challenge that person, with whom our Lord and Master is pleased.
O Nanak, praising the True Lord, his pre-ordained destiny is activated. ||18||
Salok, Third Mehl:
Those who give out ceremonial hats of recognition are fools; those who receive them have no shame.
The mouse cannot enter its hole with a basket tied around its waist.
Those who give out blessings shall die, and those that they bless shall also depart.
O Nanak, no one knows the Lord's Command, by which all must depart.
The spring harvest is the Name of the One Lord; the harvest of autumn is the True Name.
I receive a letter of pardon from my Lord and Master, when I reach His Court.
There are so many courts of the world, and so many who come and go there.
There are so many beggars begging; so many beg and beg until death. ||1||
First Mehl:
The elephant eats a hundred pounds of ghee and molasses, and five hundred pounds of corn.
He belches and grunts and scatters dust, and when the breath leaves his body, he regrets it.
The blind and arrogant die insane.
Submitting to the Lord, one become pleasing to Him.
The sparrow eats only half a grain, then it flies through the sky and chirps.
The good sparrow is pleasing to her Lord and Master, if she chirps the Name of the Lord.
The powerful tiger kills hundreds of deer, and all sorts of other animals eat what it leaves.
It becomes very strong, and cannot be contained in its den, but when it must go, it regrets.
So who is impressed by the roar of the blind beast?
He is not pleasing at all to his Lord and Master.
The insect loves the milkweed plant; perched on its branch, it eats it.
It becomes good and pleasing to its Lord and Master, if it chirps the Name of the Lord.
O Nanak, the world lasts for only a few days; indulging in pleasures, pain is produced.
There are many who boast and brag, but none of them can remain detached from the world.
The fly dies for the sake of sweets.
O Lord, death does not even approach those whom You protect. You carry them across the terrifying world-ocean. ||2||
Pauree:
You are Inaccessible and Unfathomable, O Invisible and Infinite True Lord Master.
You are the Giver, all are beggars of You. You alone are the Great Giver.
Those who serve You find peace, reflecting on the Guru's Teachings.
Some, according to Your Will, are in love with Maya.
Through the Word of the Guru's Shabad, praise the Lord with love and affection within.
Without love, there is no devotion. Without the True Guru, love is not enshrined.
You are the Lord God; everyone serves You. This is the prayer of Your humble minstrel.
Please bless me with the gift of contentment, that I may receive the True Name as my Support. ||19||
✦ 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.”