Ang-301 — Chapter 61
but the Guru's system is profound and unequalled. ||1||
The Guru's system is the way to liberation.
The True Lord Himself comes to dwell in the mind. ||1||Pause||
Through the Guru's system, the world is saved,
if it is embraced with love and affection.
How rare is that person who truly loves the Guru's Way.
Through the Guru's system, everlasting peace is obtained. ||2||
Through the Guru's system, the Door of Salvation is obtained.
Serving the True Guru, one's family is saved.
There is no salvation for those who have no Guru.
Beguiled by worthless sins, they are struck down. ||3||
Through the Word of the Guru's Shabad, the body finds peace and tranquility.
The Gurmukh is not afflicted by pain.
The Messenger of Death does not come near him.
O Nanak, the Gurmukh is absorbed in the True Lord. ||4||1||40||
Aasaa, Third Mehl:
One who dies in the Word of the Shabad, eradicates his self-conceit from within.
He serves the True Guru, with no iota of self-interest.
The Fearless Lord, the Great Giver, ever abides in his mind.
The True Bani of the Word is obtained only by good destiny. ||1||
So gather merits, and let your demerits depart from within you.
You shall be absorbed into the Shabad, the Word of the Perfect Guru. ||1||Pause||
One who purchases merits, knows the value of these merits.
He chants the Ambrosial Nectar of the Word, and the Name of the Lord.
Through the True Bani of the Word, he becomes pure.
Through merit, the Name is obtained. ||2||
The invaluable merits cannot be acquired.
The pure mind is absorbed into the True Word of the Shabad.
How very fortunate are those who meditate on the Naam,
and ever enshrine in their minds the Lord, the Giver of merit. ||3||
I am a sacrifice to those who gather merits.
At the Gate of Truth, I sing the Glorious Praises of the True One.
He Himself spontaneously bestows His gifts.
O Nanak, the value of the Lord cannot be described. ||4||2||41||
Aasaa, Third Mehl:
Great is the greatness of the True Guru;
He merges in His Merger, those who have been separated for so long.
He Himself merges the merged in His Merger.
He Himself knows His own worth. ||1||
How can anyone appraise the Lord's worth?
Through the Word of the Guru's Shabad, one may merge with the Infinite, Unapproachable and Incomprehensible Lord. ||1||Pause||
Few are the Gurmukhs who know His worth.
How rare are those who receive the Lord's Grace.
Through the Sublime Bani of His Word, one becomes sublime.
The Gurmukh chants the Word of the Shabad. ||2||
Without the Name, the body suffers in pain;
but when one meets the True Guru, then that pain is removed.
Without meeting the Guru, the mortal earns only pain.
The self-willed manmukh receives only more punishment. ||3||
The essence of the Lord's Name is so very sweet;
he alone drinks it, whom the Lord causes to drink it.
By Guru's Grace, the essence of the Lord is obtained.
O Nanak, imbued with the Naam, the Name of the Lord, salvation is attained. ||4||3||42||
Aasaa, Third Mehl:
My God is True, deep and profound.
Serving Him, the body acquires peace and tranquility.
Through the Word of the Shabad, His humble servants easily swim across.
I fall at their feet forever and ever. ||1||
✦ 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.”
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.”
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.”