Ang-1101 — Chapter 69
if you are not drenched with the True Name. ||1||Pause||
One may have the eighteen Puraanas written in his own hand;
he may recite the four Vedas by heart,
and take ritual baths at holy festivals and give charitable donations;
he may observe the ritual fasts, and perform religious ceremonies day and night. ||2||
He may be a Qazi, a Mullah or a Shaykh,
a Yogi or a wandering hermit wearing saffron-colored robes;
he may be a householder, working at his job;
but without understanding the essence of devotional worship, all people are eventually bound and gagged, and driven along by the Messenger of Death. ||3||
Each person's karma is written on his forehead.
According to their deeds, they shall be judged.
Only the foolish and the ignorant issue commands.
O Nanak, the treasure of praise belongs to the True Lord alone. ||4||3||
Basant, Third Mehl:
A person may take off his clothes and be naked.
What Yoga does he practice by having matted and tangled hair?
If the mind is not pure, what use is it to hold the breath at the Tenth Gate?
The fool wanders and wanders, entering the cycle of reincarnation again and again. ||1||
Meditate on the One Lord, O my foolish mind,
and you shall cross over to the other side in an instant. ||1||Pause||
Some recite and expound on the Simritees and the Shaastras;
some sing the Vedas and read the Puraanas;
but they practice hypocrisy and deception with their eyes and minds.
The Lord does not even come near them. ||2||
Even if someone practices such self-discipline,
compassion and devotional worship
- if he is filled with greed, and his mind is engrossed in corruption,
how can he find the Immaculate Lord? ||3||
What can the created being do?
The Lord Himself moves him.
If the Lord casts His Glance of Grace, then his doubts are dispelled.
If the mortal realizes the Hukam of the Lord's Command, he obtains the True Lord. ||4||
If someone's soul is polluted within,
what is the use of his traveling to sacred shrines of pilgrimage all over the world?
O Nanak, when one joins the Society of the True Guru,
then the bonds of the terrifying world-ocean are broken. ||5||4||
Basant, First Mehl:
All the worlds have been fascinated and enchanted by Your Maya, O Lord.
I do not see any other at all - You are everywhere.
You are the Master of Yogis, the Divinity of the divine.
Serving at the Guru's Feet, the Name of the Lord is received. ||1||
O my Beauteous, Deep and Profound Beloved Lord.
As Gurmukh, I sing the Glorious Praises of the Lord's Name. You are Infinite, the Cherisher of all. ||1||Pause||
Without the Holy Saint, association with the Lord is not obtained.
Without the Guru, one's very fiber is stained with filth.
Without the Lord's Name, one cannot become pure.
Through the Word of the Guru's Shabad, sing the Praises of the True Lord. ||2||
O Savior Lord, that person whom You have saved
- You lead him to meet the True Guru, and so take care of him.
You take away his poisonous egotism and attachment.
You dispel all his sufferings, O Sovereign Lord God. ||3||
His state and condition are sublime; the Lord's Glorious Virtues permeate his body.
Through the Word of the Guru's Teachings, the diamond of the Lord's Name is revealed.
He is lovingly attuned to the Naam; he is rid of the love of duality.
O Lord, let servant Nanak meet the Guru. ||4||5||
Basant, First Mehl:
O my friends and companions, listen with love in your heart.
My Husband Lord is Incomparably Beautiful; He is always with me.
He is Unseen - He cannot be seen. How can I describe Him?
✦ 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.”
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.”