Ang-1301 — Chapter 123
Without the Lord's Name, all is pain. Attachment to Maya is agonizingly painful.
O Nanak, the Gurmukh comes to see, that attachment to Maya separates all from the Lord. ||17||
The Gurmukh obeys the Order of her Husband Lord God; through the Hukam of His Command, she finds peace.
In His Will, she serves; in His Will, she worship and adores Him.
In His Will, she merges in absorption. His Will is her fast, vow, purity and self-discipline; through it, she obtains the fruits of her mind's desires.
She is always and forever the happy, pure soul-bride, who realizes His Will; she serves the True Guru, inspired by loving absorption.
O Nanak, those upon whom the Lord showers His Mercy, are merged and immersed in His Will. ||18||
The wretched, self-willed manmukhs do not realize His Will; they continually act in ego.
By ritualistic fasts, vows, purities, self-disciplines and worship ceremonies, they still cannot get rid of their hypocrisy and doubt.
Inwardly, they are impure, pierced through by attachment to Maya; they are like elephants, who throw dirt all over themselves right after their bath.
They do not even think of the One who created them. Without thinking of Him, they cannot find peace.
O Nanak, the Primal Creator has made the drama of the Universe; all act as they are pre-ordained. ||19||
The Gurmukh has faith; his mind is contented and satisfied. Night and day, he serves the Lord, absorbed in Him.
The Guru, the True Guru, is within; all worship and adore Him. Everyone comes to see the Blessed Vision of His Darshan.
So believe in the True Guru, the supreme sublime Contemplator. Meeting with Him, hunger and thirst are completely relieved.
I am forever a sacrifice to my Guru, who leads me to meet the True Lord God.
O Nanak, those who come and fall at the Feet of the Guru are blessed with the karma of Truth. ||20||
That Beloved, with whom I am in love, that Friend of mine is with me.
I wander around inside and outside, but I always keep Him enshrined within my heart. ||21||
Those who meditate on the Lord single-mindedly, with one-pointed concentration, link their consciousness to the True Guru.
They are rid of pain, hunger, and the great illness of egotism; lovingly attuned to the Lord, they become free of pain.
They sing His Praises, and chant His Praises; in His Glorious Praises, they sleep in absorption.
O Nanak, through the Perfect Guru, they come to meet God with intuitive peace and poise. ||22||
The self-willed manmukhs are emotionally attached to Maya; they are not in love with the Naam.
They practice falsehood, gather falsehood, and eat the food of falsehood.
Gathering the poisonous wealth and property of Maya, they die; in the end, they are all reduced to ashes.
They perform religious rituals of purity and self-discipline, but they are filled with greed, evil and corruption.
O Nanak, the actions of the self-willed manmukhs are not accepted; in the Court of the Lord, they are miserable. ||23||
Among all Ragas, that one is sublime, O Siblings of Destiny, by which the Lord comes to abide in the mind.
Those Ragas which are in the Sound-current of the Naad are totally true; their value cannot be expressed.
Those Ragas which are not in the Sound-current of the Naad - by these, the Lord's Will cannot be understood.
O Nanak, they alone are right, who understand the Will of the True Guru.
Everything happens as He wills. ||24||
✦ 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.”
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.”
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.”