Ang-401 — Chapter 65
Wisdom cannot be found through mere words. To explain it is as hard as iron.
When the Lord bestows His Grace, then alone it is received; other tricks and orders are useless. ||2||
Pauree:
If the Merciful Lord shows His Mercy, then the True Guru is found.
This soul wandered through countless incarnations, until the True Guru instructed it in the Word of the Shabad.
There is no giver as great as the True Guru; hear this, all you people.
Meeting the True Guru, the True Lord is found; He removes self-conceit from within,
and instructs us in the Truth of Truths. ||4||
Salok, First Mehl:
All the hours are the milk-maids, and the quarters of the day are the Krishnas.
The wind, water and fire are the ornaments; the sun and moon are the incarnations.
All of the earth, property, wealth and articles are all entanglements.
O Nanak, without divine knowledge, one is plundered, and devoured by the Messenger of Death. ||1||
First Mehl:
The disciples play the music, and the gurus dance.
They move their feet and roll their heads.
The dust flies and falls upon their hair.
Beholding them, the people laugh, and then go home.
They beat the drums for the sake of bread.
They throw themselves upon the ground.
They sing of the milk-maids, they sing of the Krishnas.
They sing of Sitas, and Ramas and kings.
The Lord is fearless and formless; His Name is True.
The entire universe is His Creation.
Those servants, whose destiny is awakened, serve the Lord.
The night of their lives is cool with dew; their minds are filled with love for the Lord.
Contemplating the Guru, I have been taught these teachings;
granting His Grace, He carries His servants across.
The oil-press, the spinning wheel, the grinding stones, the potter's wheel,
the numerous, countless whirlwinds in the desert,
the spinning tops, the churning sticks, the threshers,
the breathless tumblings of the birds,
and the men moving round and round on spindles
O Nanak, the tumblers are countless and endless.
The Lord binds us in bondage - so do we spin around.
According to their actions, so do all people dance.
Those who dance and dance and laugh, shall weep on their ultimate departure.
They do not fly to the heavens, nor do they become Siddhas.
They dance and jump around on the urgings of their minds.
O Nanak, those whose minds are filled with the Fear of God, have the love of God in their minds as well. ||2||
Pauree:
Your Name is the Fearless Lord; chanting Your Name, one does not have to go to hell.
Soul and body all belong to Him; asking Him to give us sustenance is a waste.
If you yearn for goodness, then perform good deeds and feel humble.
Even if you remove the signs of old age, old age shall still come in the guise of death.
No one remains here when the count of the breaths is full. ||5||
Salok, First Mehl:
The Muslims praise the Islamic law; they read and reflect upon it.
The Lord's bound servants are those who bind themselves to see the Lord's Vision.
The Hindus praise the Praiseworthy Lord; the Blessed Vision of His Darshan, His form is incomparable.
They bathe at sacred shrines of pilgrimage, making offerings of flowers, and burning incense before idols.
The Yogis meditate on the absolute Lord there; they call the Creator the Unseen 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.”