Ang-1301 — Chapter 55
If there is power, then there is pride. If there is egotistical pride, then there will be a fall.
Engrossed in worldly ways, one is ruined.
Meditating and vibrating on the Lord of the Universe in the Company of the Holy, you shall become steady and stable. Nanak vibrates and meditates on the Lord God. ||12||
By the Grace of God, genuine understanding comes to the mind.
The intellect blossoms forth, and one finds a place in the realm of celestial bliss.
The senses are brought under control, and pride is abandoned.
The heart is cooled and soothed, and the wisdom of the Saints is implanted within.
Reincarnation is ended, and the Blessed Vision of the Lord's Darshan is obtained.
O Nanak, the musical instrument of the Word of the Shabad vibrates and resounds within. ||13||
The Vedas preach and recount God's Glories; people hear them by various ways and means.
The Merciful Lord, Har, Har, implants spiritual wisdom within.
Nanak begs for the Gift of the Naam, the Name of the Lord. The Guru is the Great Giver, the Lord of the World. ||14||
Do not worry so much about your mother, father and siblings. Do not worry so much about other people.
Do not worry about your spouse, children and friends. You are obsessed with your involvements in Maya.
The One Lord God is Kind and Compassionate, O Nanak. He is the Cherisher and Nurturer of all living beings. ||15||
Wealth is temporary; conscious existence is temporary; hopes of all sorts are temporary.
The bonds of love, attachment, egotism, doubt, Maya and the pollution of corruption are temporary.
The mortal passes through the fire of the womb of reincarnation countless times. He does not remember the Lord in meditation; his understanding is polluted.
O Lord of the Universe, when You grant Your Grace, even sinners are saved. Nanak dwells in the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy. ||16||
You may drop down from the mountains, and fall into the nether regions of the underworld, or be burnt in the blazing fire,
or swept away by the unfathomable waves of water; but the worst pain of all is household anxiety, which is the source of the cycle of death and rebirth.
No matter what you do, you cannot break its bonds, O Nanak. Man's only Support, Anchor and Mainstay is the Word of the Shabad, and the Holy, Friendly Saints. ||17||
Excruciating pain, countless killings, reincarnation, poverty and terrible misery
are all destroyed by meditating in remembrance on the Lord's Name, O Nanak, just as fire reduces piles of wood to ashes. ||18||
Meditating in remembrance on the Lord, the darkness is illuminated. Dwelling on His Glorious Praises, the ugly sins are destroyed.
Enshrining the Lord deep within the heart, and with the immaculate karma of doing good deeds, one strikes fear into the demons.
The cycle of coming and going in reincarnation is ended, absolute peace is obtained, and the Fruitful Vision of the Lord's Darshan.
He is Potent to give Protection, He is the Lover of His Saints. O Nanak, the Lord God blesses all with bliss. ||19||
Those who were left behind - the Lord brings them to the front. He fulfills the hopes of the hopeless.
He makes the poor rich, and cures the illnesses of the ill.
He blesses His devotees with devotion. They sing the Kirtan of the Praises of the Lord's Name.
O Nanak, those who serve the Guru find the Supreme Lord God, the Great Giver||20||
He gives Support to the unsupported. The Name of the Lord is the Wealth of the poor.
The Lord of the Universe is the Master of the masterless; the Beautiful-haired Lord is the Power of the weak.
The Lord is Merciful to all beings, Eternal and Unchanging, the Family of the meek and humble.
The All-knowing, Perfect, Primal Lord God is the Lover of His devotees, the Embodiment of Mercy.
✦ 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.”