Ang-51 — Chapter 25

In the second watch of the night, O my merchant friend, you have forgotten to meditate.

From hand to hand, you are passed around, O my merchant friend, like Krishna in the house of Yashoda.

From hand to hand, you are passed around, and your mother says, "This is my son."

O, my thoughtless and foolish mind, think: In the end, nothing shall be yours.

You do not know the One who created the creation. Gather spiritual wisdom within your mind.

Says Nanak, in the second watch of the night, you have forgotten to meditate. ||2||

In the third watch of the night, O my merchant friend, your consciousness is focused on wealth and youth.

You have not remembered the Name of the Lord, O my merchant friend, although it would release you from bondage.

You do not remember the Name of the Lord, and you become confused by Maya.

Revelling in your riches and intoxicated with youth, you waste your life uselessly.

You have not traded in righteousness and Dharma; you have not made good deeds your friends.

Says Nanak, in the third watch of the night, your mind is attached to wealth and youth. ||3||

In the fourth watch of the night, O my merchant friend, the Grim Reaper comes to the field.

When the Messenger of Death seizes and dispatches you, O my merchant friend, no one knows the mystery of where you have gone.

So think of the Lord! No one knows this secret, of when the Messenger of Death will seize you and take you away.

All your weeping and wailing then is false. In an instant, you become a stranger.

You obtain exactly what you have longed for.

Says Nanak, in the fourth watch of the night, O mortal, the Grim Reaper has harvested your field. ||4||1||

Siree Raag, First Mehl:

In the first watch of the night, O my merchant friend, your innocent mind has a child-like understanding.

You drink milk, and you are fondled so gently, O my merchant friend.

The mother and father love their child so much, but in Maya, all are caught in emotional attachment.

By the good fortune of good deeds done in the past, you have come, and now you perform actions to determine your future.

Without the Lord's Name, liberation is not obtained, and you are drowned in the love of duality.

Says Nanak, in the first watch of the night, O mortal, you shall be saved by remembering the Lord. ||1||

In the second watch of the night, O my merchant friend, you are intoxicated with the wine of youth and beauty.

Day and night, you are engrossed in sexual desire, O my merchant friend, and your consciousness is blind to the Naam.

The Lord's Name is not within your heart, but all sorts of other tastes seem sweet to you.

You have no wisdom at all, no meditation, no virtue or self-discipline; in falsehood, you are caught in the cycle of birth and death.

Pilgrimages, fasts, purification and self-discipline are of no use, nor are rituals, religious ceremonies or empty worship.

O Nanak, emancipation comes only by loving devotional worship; through duality, people are engrossed in duality. ||2||

In the third watch of the night, O my merchant friend, the swans, the white hairs, come and land upon the pool of the head.

Youth wears itself out, and old age triumphs, O my merchant friend; as time passes, your days diminish.