Ang-51 — Chapter 22
The angelic beings and the silent sages long for Him; the True Guru has given me this understanding. ||4||
How is the Society of the Saints to be known?
There, the Name of the One Lord is chanted.
The One Name is the Lord's Command; O Nanak, the True Guru has given me this understanding. ||5||
This world has been deluded by doubt.
You Yourself, Lord, have led it astray.
The discarded soul-brides suffer in terrible agony; they have no luck at all. ||6||
What are the signs of the discarded brides?
They miss their Husband Lord, and they wander around in dishonor.
The clothes of those brides are filthy-they pass their life-night in agony. ||7||
What actions have the happy soul-brides performed?
They have obtained the fruit of their pre-ordained destiny.
Casting His Glance of Grace, the Lord unites them with Himself. ||8||
Those, whom God causes to abide by His Will,
have the Shabad of His Word abiding deep within.
They are the true soul-brides, who embrace love for their Husband Lord. ||9||
Those who take pleasure in God's Will
remove doubt from within.
O Nanak, know Him as the True Guru, who unites all with the Lord. ||10||
Meeting with the True Guru, they receive the fruits of their destiny,
and egotism is driven out from within.
The pain of evil-mindedness is eliminated; good fortune comes and shines radiantly from their foreheads. ||11||
The Bani of Your Word is Ambrosial Nectar.
It permeates the hearts of Your devotees.
Serving You, peace is obtained; granting Your Mercy, You bestow salvation. ||12||
Meeting with the True Guru, one comes to know;
by this meeting, one comes to chant the Name.
Without the True Guru, God is not found; all have grown weary of performing religious rituals. ||13||
I am a sacrifice to the True Guru;
I was wandering in doubt, and He has set me on the right path.
If the Lord casts His Glance of Grace, He unites us with Himself. ||14||
You, Lord, are pervading in all,
and yet, the Creator keeps Himself concealed.
O Nanak, the Creator is revealed to the Gurmukh, within whom He has infused His Light. ||15||
The Master Himself bestows honor.
He creates and bestows body and soul.
He Himself preserves the honor of His servants; He places both His Hands upon their foreheads. ||16||
All strict rituals are just clever contrivances.
My God knows everything.
He has made His Glory manifest, and all people celebrate Him. ||17||
He has not considered my merits and demerits;
this is God's Own Nature.
Hugging me close in His Embrace, He protects me, and now, even the hot wind does not touch me. ||18||
Within my mind and body, I meditate on God.
I have obtained the fruits of my soul's desire.
You are the Supreme Lord and Master, above the heads of kings. Nanak lives by chanting Your Name. ||19||
✦ 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.”