Ang-401 — Chapter 58
I am a sinner, devoid of wisdom, worthless, destitute and vile.
I am deceitful, hard-hearted, lowly and entangled in the mud of emotional attachment.
I am stuck in the filth of doubt and egotistical actions, and I try not to think of death.
In ignorance, I cling to the pleasures of woman and the joys of Maya.
My youth is wasting away, old age is approaching, and Death, my companion, is counting my days.
Prays Nanak, my hope is in You, Lord; please preserve me, the lowly one, in the Sanctuary of the Holy. ||2||
I have wandered through countless incarnations, suffering terrible pain in these lives.
I am entangled in sweet pleasures and gold.
After wandering around with such great loads of sin, I have come, after wandering through so many foreign lands.
Now, I have taken the protection of God, and I have found total peace in the Name of the Lord.
God, my Beloved, is my protector; nothing was done, or will ever be done, by myself alone.
I have found peace, poise and bliss, O Nanak; by Your mercy, I swim across the world-ocean. ||3||
You saved those who only pretended to believe, so what doubts should Your true devotees have?
By every means possible, listen to the Praises of the Lord with your ears.
Listen with your ears to the Word of the Lord's Bani, the hymns of spiritual wisdom; thus you shall obtain the treasure in your mind.
Attuned to the Love of the Lord God, the Architect of Destiny, sing the Glorious Praises of the Lord.
The earth is the paper, the forest is the pen and the wind is the writer,
but still, the end of the endless Lord cannot be found. O Nanak, I have taken to the Sanctuary of His lotus feet. ||4||5||8||
Aasaa, Fifth Mehl:
The Primal Lord is the Lord God of all beings. I have taken to His Sanctuary.
My life has become fearless, and all my anxieties have been removed.
I know the Lord as my mother, father, son, friend, well-wisher and close relative.
The Guru has led me to embrace Him; the Saints chant His Pure Praises.
His Glorious Virtues are infinite, and His greatness is unlimited. His value cannot be described at all.
God is the One and only, the Unseen Lord and Master; O Nanak, I have grasped His protection. ||1||
The world is a pool of nectar, when the Lord becomes our helper.
One who wears the necklace of the Lord's Name - his days of suffering are ended.
His state of doubt, attachment and sin is erased, and the cycle of reincarnation into the womb is totally ended.
The ocean of fire becomes cool, when one grasps the hem of the robe of the Holy Saint.
The Lord of the Universe, the Sustainer of the World, the merciful all-powerful Lord - the Holy Saints proclaim the victory of the Lord.
O Nanak, meditating on the Naam, in the perfect Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, I have obtained the supreme status. ||2||
Wherever I look, there I find the One Lord permeating and pervading all.
In each and every heart, He Himself dwells, but how rare is that person who realizes this.
The Lord is permeating and pervading the water, the land and the sky; He is contained in the ant and the elephant.
In the beginning, in the middle and in the end, He exists. By Guru's Grace, He is known.
God created the expanse of the universe, God created the play of the world. His humble servants call Him the Lord of the Universe, the treasure of virtue.
Meditate in remembrance on the Lord Master, the Searcher of hearts; O Nanak, He is the One, pervading and permeating all. ||3||
Day and night, become beauteous by remembering the Naam, the Name of the Lord.
✦ 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.”