Ang-51 — Chapter 27
This wealth, property and Maya are false. In the end, you must leave these, and depart in sorrow.
Those whom the Lord, in His Mercy, unites with the Guru, reflect upon the Name of the Lord, Har, Har.
Says Nanak, in the third watch of the night, O mortal, they go, and are united with the Lord. ||3||
In the fourth watch of the night, O my merchant friend, the Lord announces the time of departure.
Serve the Perfect True Guru, O my merchant friend; your entire life-night is passing away.
Serve the Lord each and every instant-do not delay! You shall become eternal throughout the ages.
Enjoy ecstasy forever with the Lord, and do away with the pains of birth and death.
Know that there is no difference between the Guru, the True Guru, and your Lord and Master. Meeting with Him, take pleasure in the Lord's devotional service.
Says Nanak, O mortal, in the fourth watch of the night, the life-night of the devotee is fruitful. ||4||1||3||
Siree Raag, Fifth Mehl:
In the first watch of the night, O my merchant friend, the Lord placed your soul in the womb.
In the tenth month, you were made into a human being, O my merchant friend, and you were given your allotted time to perform good deeds.
You were given this time to perform good deeds, according to your pre-ordained destiny.
God placed you with your mother, father, brothers, sons and wife.
God Himself is the Cause of causes, good and bad-no one has control over these things.
Says Nanak, O mortal, in the first watch of the night, the soul is placed in the womb. ||1||
In the second watch of the night, O my merchant friend, the fullness of youth rises in you like waves.
You do not distinguish between good and evil, O my merchant friend-your mind is intoxicated with ego.
Mortal beings do not distinguish between good and evil, and the road ahead is treacherous.
They never serve the Perfect True Guru, and the cruel tyrant Death stands over their heads.
When the Righteous Judge seizes you and interrogates you, O madman, what answer will you give him then?
Says Nanak, in the second watch of the night, O mortal, the fullness of youth tosses you about like waves in the storm. ||2||
In the third watch of the night, O my merchant friend, the blind and ignorant person gathers poison.
He is entangled in emotional attachment to his wife and sons, O my merchant friend, and deep within him, the waves of greed are rising up.
The waves of greed are rising up within him, and he does not remember God.
He does not join the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, and he suffers in terrible pain through countless incarnations.
He has forgotten the Creator, his Lord and Master, and he does not meditate on Him, even for an instant.
Says Nanak, in the third watch of the night, the blind and ignorant person gathers poison. ||3||
In the fourth watch of the night, O my merchant friend, that day is drawing near.
As Gurmukh, remember the Naam, O my merchant friend. It shall be your Friend in the Court of the Lord.
As Gurmukh, remember the Naam, O mortal; in the end, it shall be your only companion.
✦ Connected Across Traditions
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.”
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.”