Ang-151 — Chapter 21
I have found the Perfect Guru, through great good fortune; He has given me the Mantra of the Lord's Name, and my mind has become quiet and tranquil. ||1||
O Lord, I am the slave of the True Guru. ||1||Pause||
My forehead has been branded with His brand; I owe such a great debt to the Guru.
He has been so generous and kind to me; He has carried me across the treacherous and terrifying world-ocean. ||2||
Those who do not have love for the Lord within their hearts, harbor only false intentions and goals.
As paper breaks down and dissolves in water, the self-willed manmukh wastes away in arrogant pride. ||3||
I know nothing, and I do not know the future; as the Lord keeps me, so do I stand.
For my failings and mistakes, O Guru, grant me Your Grace; servant Nanak is Your obedient dog. ||4||7||21||59||
Gauree Poorbee, Fourth Mehl:
The body-village is filled to overflowing with sexual desire and anger, which were broken into bits when I met with the Holy Saint.
By pre-ordained destiny, I have met with the Guru. I have entered into the realm of the Lord's Love. ||1||
Greet the Holy Saint with your palms pressed together; this is an act of great merit.
Bow down before Him; this is a virtuous action indeed. ||1||Pause||
The wicked shaaktas, the faithless cynics, do not know the taste of the Lord's sublime essence. The thorn of egotism is embedded deep within them.
The more they walk away, the deeper it sticks into them, and the more they suffer in pain, until finally, the Messenger of Death smashes his club against their heads. ||2||
The humble servants of the Lord are absorbed in the Name of the Lord, Har, Har. The pain of birth and the fear of death are eradicated.
They have obtained the Imperishable Supreme Being, the Transcendent Lord God, and they obtain great honor throughout all the worlds and realms. ||3||
I am poor and meek, God, but I am Yours! Save me, please save me, O Greatest of the Great!
Servant Nanak takes the Sustenance and Support of the Naam. In the Name of the Lord, he enjoys celestial peace. ||4||8||22||60||
Gauree Poorbee, Fourth Mehl:
Within this body-fortress is the Lord, the Sovereign Lord King, but the stubborn ones do not find the taste.
When the Lord, Merciful to the meek, showed His Mercy, I found and tasted it, through the Word of the Guru's Shabad. ||1||
Lovingly focused upon the Guru, the Kirtan of the Lord's Praise has become sweet to me. ||1||Pause||
The Lord, the Supreme Lord God, is Inaccessible and Unfathomable. Those who are committed to the True Guru, the Divine Intermediary, meet the Lord.
Those whose hearts are pleased with the Guru's Teachings - the Lord's Presence is revealed to them. ||2||
The hearts of the self-willed manmukhs are hard and cruel; their inner beings are dark.
Even if the poisonous snake is fed large amounts of milk, it will still yield only poison. ||3||
O Lord God, please unite me with the Holy Guru, so that I might joyfully grind and eat the Shabad.
Servant Nanak is the slave of the Guru; in the Sangat, the Holy Congregation, the bitter becomes sweet. ||4||9||23||61||
Gauree Poorbee, Fourth Mehl:
For the sake of the Lord, Har, Har, I have sold my body to the Perfect Guru.
The True Guru, the Giver, has implanted the Naam, the Name of the Lord, within me. A very blessed and fortunate destiny is recorded upon my forehead. ||1||
Through the Guru's Teachings, I am lovingly centered on the Lord. ||1||Pause||
✦ 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.”
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.”