Ang-201 — Chapter 51
Without the Naam, the Name of the Lord, O Nanak, all are reduced to dust. ||1||
Pauree:
DHADHA: The dust of the feet of the Saints is sacred.
Blessed are those whose minds are filled with this longing.
They do not seek wealth, and they do not desire paradise.
They are immersed in the deep love of their Beloved, and the dust of the feet of the Holy.
How can worldly affairs affect those,
Who do not abandon the One Lord, and who go nowhere else?
One whose heart is filled with God's Name,
O Nanak, is a perfect spiritual being of God. ||4||
Salok:
By all sorts of religious robes, knowledge, meditation and stubborn-mindedness, no one has ever met God.
Says Nanak, those upon whom God showers His Mercy, are devotees of spiritual wisdom. ||1||
Pauree:
NGANGA: Spiritual wisdom is not obtained by mere words of mouth.
It is not obtained through the various debates of the Shaastras and scriptures.
They alone are spiritually wise, whose minds are firmly fixed on the Lord.
Hearing and telling stories, no one attains Yoga.
They alone are spiritually wise, who remain firmly committed to the Lord's Command.
Heat and cold are all the same to them.
The true people of spiritual wisdom are the Gurmukhs, who contemplate the essence of reality;
O Nanak, the Lord showers His Mercy upon them. ||5||
Salok:
Those who have come into the world without understanding are like animals and beasts.
O Nanak, those who become Gurmukh understand; upon their foreheads is such pre-ordained destiny. ||1||
Pauree:
They have come into this world to meditate on the One Lord.
But ever since their birth, they have been enticed by the fascination of Maya.
Upside-down in the chamber of the womb, they performed intense meditation.
They remembered God in meditation with each and every breath.
But now, they are entangled in things which they must leave behind.
They forget the Great Giver from their minds.
O Nanak, those upon whom the Lord showers His Mercy,
do not forget Him, here or hereafter. ||6||
Salok:
By His Command, we come, and by His Command, we go; no one is beyond His Command.
Coming and going in reincarnation is ended, O Nanak, for those whose minds are filled with the Lord. ||1||
Pauree:
This soul has lived in many wombs.
Enticed by sweet attachment, it has been trapped in reincarnation.
This Maya has subjugated beings through the three qualities.
Maya has infused attachment to itself in each and every heart.
O friend, tell me some way,
by which I may swim across this treacherous ocean of Maya.
The Lord showers His Mercy, and leads us to join the Sat Sangat, the True Congregation.
O Nanak, Maya does not even come near. ||7||
Salok:
God Himself causes one to perform good and bad actions.
The beast indulges in egotism, selfishness and conceit; O Nanak, without the Lord, what can anyone do? ||1||
Pauree:
The One Lord Himself is the Cause of all actions.
He Himself distributes sins and noble acts.
In this age, people are attached as the Lord attaches them.
They receive that which the Lord Himself gives.
No one knows His limits.
Whatever He does, comes to pass.
From the One, the entire expanse of the Universe emanated.
O Nanak, He Himself is our Saving Grace. ||8||
Salok:
Man remains engrossed in women and playful pleasures; the tumult of his passion is like the dye of the safflower, which fades away all too soon.
O Nanak, seek God's Sanctuary, and your selfishness and conceit shall be taken away. ||1||
✦ 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.”