Ang-11, Chapter 273
This is Ang-11, chapter 273, a sacred text in the Sikhism tradition. You can read it here verse by verse for free, listen to it read aloud, and follow cross-references that connect its themes to other traditions.
You shall obtain your pre-ordained destiny.
God is the Giver of pain and pleasure.
Abandon others, and think of Him alone.
Whatever He does - take comfort in that.
Why do you wander around, you ignorant fool?
What things did you bring with you?
You cling to worldly pleasures like a greedy moth.
Dwell upon the Lord's Name in your heart.
O Nanak, thus you shall return to your home with honor. ||4||
This merchandise, which you have come to obtain
- the Lord's Name is obtained in the home of the Saints.
Renounce your egotistical pride, and with your mind,
Purchase the Lord's Name - measure it out within your heart.
Load up this merchandise, and set out with the Saints.
Give up other corrupt entanglements.
"Blessed, blessed", everyone will call you,
and your face shall be radiant in the Court of the Lord.
In this trade, only a few are trading.
Nanak is forever a sacrifice to them. ||5||
Wash the feet of the Holy, and drink in this water.
Dedicate your soul to the Holy.
Take your cleansing bath in the dust of the feet of the Holy.
To the Holy, make your life a sacrifice.
Service to the Holy is obtained by great good fortune.
In the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, the Kirtan of the Lord's Praise is sung.
From all sorts of dangers, the Saint saves us.
Singing the Glorious Praises of the Lord, we taste the ambrosial essence.
Seeking the Protection of the Saints, we have come to their door.
All comforts, O Nanak, are so obtained. ||6||
He infuses life back into the dead.
He gives food to the hungry.
All treasures are within His Glance of Grace.
People obtain that which they are pre-ordained to receive.
All things are His; He is the Doer of all.
Other than Him, there has never been any other, and there shall never be.
Meditate on Him forever and ever, day and night.
This way of life is exalted and immaculate.
One whom the Lord, in His Grace, blesses with His Name
- O Nanak, that person becomes immaculate and pure. ||7||
One who has faith in the Guru in his mind
comes to dwell upon the Lord God.
He is acclaimed as a devotee, a humble devotee throughout the three worlds.
The One Lord is in his heart.
True are his actions; true are his ways.
True is his heart; Truth is what he speaks with his mouth.
True is his vision; true is his form.
He distributes Truth and he spreads Truth.
One who recognizes the Supreme Lord God as True
- O Nanak, that humble being is absorbed into the True One. ||8||15||
Salok:
He has no form, no shape, no color; God is beyond the three qualities.
They alone understand Him, O Nanak, with whom He is pleased. ||1||
Ashtapadee:
Keep the Immortal Lord God enshrined within your mind.
Renounce your love and attachment to people.
Beyond Him, there is nothing at all.
The One Lord is pervading among all.
He Himself is All-seeing; He Himself is All-knowing,
Unfathomable, Profound, Deep and All-knowing.
He is the Supreme Lord God, the Transcendent Lord, the Lord of the Universe,
the Treasure of mercy, compassion and forgiveness.
To fall at the Feet of Your Holy Beings
✦ 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.”
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.”