Ang-1301 — Chapter 56
The Supreme Lord God, the Transcendent, Luminous Lord, dwells in each and every heart.
Nanak begs for this blessing from the Merciful Lord, that he may never forget Him, never forget Him. ||21||
I have no power; I do not serve You, and I do not love You, O Supreme Sublime Lord God.
By Your Grace, Nanak meditates on the Naam, the Name of the Merciful Lord, Har, Har. ||22||
The Lord feeds and sustains all living beings; He blesses them gifts of restful peace and fine clothes.
He created the jewel of human life, with all its cleverness and intelligence.
By His Grace, mortals abide in peace and bliss. O Nanak, meditating in remembrance on the Lord, Har, Har, Haray, The mortal is released from attachment to the world. ||23||
The kings of the earth are eating up the blessings of the good karma of their past lives.
Those cruel-minded rulers who oppress the people, O Nanak, shall suffer in pain for a very long time. ||24||
Those who meditate in remembrance on the Lord in their hearts, look upon even pain as God's Grace.
The healthy person is very sick, if he does not remember the Lord, the Embodiment of Mercy. ||25||
To sing the Kirtan of God's Praises is the righteous duty incurred by taking birth in this human body.
The Naam, the Name of the Lord, is Ambrosial Nectar, O Nanak. The Saints drink it in, and never have enough of it. ||26||
The Saints are tolerant and good-natured; friends and enemies are the same to them.
O Nanak, it is all the same to them, whether someone offers them all sorts of foods, or slanders them, or draws weapons to kill them. ||27||
They pay no attention to dishonor or disrespect.
They are not bothered by gossip; the miseries of the world do not touch them.
Those who join the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, and chant the Name of the Lord of the Universe - O Nanak, those mortals abide in peace. ||28||
The Holy people are an invincible army of spiritual warriors; their bodies are protected by the armor of humility.
Their weapons are the Glorious Praises of the Lord which they chant; their Shelter and Shield is the Word of the Guru's Shabad.
The horses, chariots and elephants they ride are their way to realize God's Path.
They walk fearlessly through the armies of their enemies; they attack them with the Kirtan of God's Praises.
They conquer the entire world, O Nanak, and overpower the five thieves. ||29||
Misled by evil-mindedness, mortals are engrossed in the mirage of the illusory world, like the passing shade of a tree.
Emotional attachment to family is false, so Nanak meditates in remembrance on the Name of the Lord, Raam, Raam. ||30||
I do not possess the treasure of the wisdom of the Vedas, nor do I possess the merits of the Praises of the Naam.
I do not have a beautiful voice to sing jewelled melodies; I am not clever, wise or shrewd.
By destiny and hard work, the wealth of Maya is obtained. O Nanak, in the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, even fools become religious scholars. ||31||
The mala around my neck is the chanting of the Lord's Name. The Love of the Lord is my silent chanting.
Chanting this most Sublime Word brings salvation and joy to the eyes. ||32||
That mortal who lacks the Guru's Mantra - cursed and contaminated is his life.
That blockhead is just a dog, a pig, a jackass, a crow, a snake. ||33||
Whoever contemplates the Lord's Lotus Feet, and enshrines His Name within the heart,
✦ 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.”
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.”