Ang-401 — Chapter 16
Aasaa, First Mehl:
When the body perishes, whose wealth is it?
Without the Guru, how can the Lord's Name be obtained?
The wealth of the Lord's Name is my Companion and Helper.
Night and day, center your loving attention on the Immaculate Lord. ||1||
Without the Lord's Name, who is ours?
I look upon pleasure and pain alike; I shall not forsake the Naam, the Name of the Lord. The Lord Himself forgives me, and blends me with Himself. ||1||Pause||
The fool loves gold and women.
Attached to duality, he has forgotten the Naam.
O Lord, he alone chants the Naam, whom You have forgiven.
Death cannot touch one who sings the Glorious Praises of the Lord. ||2||
The Lord, the Guru, is the Giver; the Lord, the Sustainer of the World.
If it is pleasing to Your Will, please preserve me, O Merciful Lord.
As Gurmukh, my mind is pleased with the Lord.
My diseases are cured, and my pains are taken away. ||3||
There is no other medicine, Tantric charm or mantra.
Meditative remembrance upon the Lord, Har, Har, destroys sins.
You Yourself cause us to stray from the path, and forget the Naam.
Showering Your Mercy, You Yourself save us. ||4||
The mind is diseased with doubt, superstition and duality.
Without the Guru, it dwells in doubt, and contemplates duality.
The Guru reveals the Darshan, the Blessed Vision of the Primal Lord.
Without the Word of the Guru's Shabad, what use is human life? ||5||
Beholding the Marvellous Lord, I am wonder-struck and astonished.
In each and every heart, of the angels and holy men, He dwells in celestial Samaadhi.
I have enshrined the All-pervading Lord within my mind.
There is no one else equal to You. ||6||
For the sake of devotional worship, we chant Your Name.
The Lord's devotees dwell in the Society of the Saints.
Breaking his bonds, one comes to meditate on the Lord.
The Gurmukhs are emancipated, by the Guru-given knowledge of the Lord. ||7||
The Messenger of Death cannot touch him with pain;
the Lord's humble servant remains awake to the Love of the Naam.
The Lord is the Lover of His devotees; He dwells with His devotees.
O Nanak, they are liberated, through the Love of the Lord. ||8||9||
Aasaa, First Mehl, Ik-Tukee:
One who serves the Guru, knows his Lord and Master.
His pains are erased, and he realizes the True Word of the Shabad. ||1||
Meditate on the Lord, O my friends and companions.
Serving the True Guru, you shall behold God with your eyes. ||1||Pause||
People are entangled with mother, father and the world.
They are entangled with sons, daughters and spouses. ||2||
They are entangled with religious rituals, and religious faith, acting in ego.
They are entangled with sons, wives and others in their minds. ||3||
The farmers are entangled by farming.
People suffer punishment in ego, and the Lord King exacts the penalty from them. ||4||
They are entangled in trade without contemplation.
They are not satisfied by attachment to the expanse of Maya. ||5||
They are entangled with that wealth, amassed by bankers.
Without devotion to the Lord, they do not become acceptable. ||6||
They are entangled with the Vedas, religious discussions and egotism.
They are entangled, and perish in attachment and corruption. ||7||
Nanak seeks the Sanctuary of the Lord's Name.
One who is saved by the True Guru, does not suffer entanglement. ||8||10||
✦ 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.”