Ang-801 — Chapter 56
Youth and old age - my entire life has passed, but I haven't done any good.
This priceless soul has been treated as if if were worth no more than a shell. ||3||
Says Kabeer, O my Lord, You are contained in all.
There is none as merciful as You are, and none as sinful as I am. ||4||3||
Bilaaval:
Every day, he rises early, and brings a fresh clay pot; he passes his life embellishing and glazing it.
He does not think at all of worldly weaving; he is absorbed in the subtle essence of the Lord, Har, Har. ||1||
Who in our family has ever chanted the Name of the Lord?
Ever since this worthless son of mine began chanting with his mala, we have had no peace at all! ||1||Pause||
Listen, O my sisters-in-law, a wondrous thing has happened!
This boy has ruined our weaving business. Why didn't he simply die? ||2||
O mother, the One Lord, the Lord and Master, is the source of all peace. The Guru has blessed me with His Name.
He preserved the honor of Prahlaad, and destroyed Harnaakhash with his nails. ||3||
I have renounced the gods and ancestors of my house, for the Word of the Guru's Shabad.
Says Kabeer, God is the Destroyer of all sins; He is the Saving Grace of His Saints. ||4||4||
Bilaaval:
There is no king equal to the Lord.
All these lords of the world last for only a few days, putting on their false displays. ||1||Pause||
How can Your humble servant waver? You spread Your shadow over the three worlds.
Who can raise his hand against Your humble servant? No one can describe the Lord's expanse. ||1||
Remember Him, O my thoughtless and foolish mind, and the unstruck melody of the sound current will resonate and resound.
Says Kabeer, my skepticism and doubt have been dispelled; the Lord has exalted me, as He did Dhroo and Prahlaad. ||2||5||
Bilaaval:
Save me! I have disobeyed You.
I have not practiced humility, righteousness or devotional worship; I am proud and egotistical, and I have taken a crooked path. ||1||Pause||
Believing this body to be immortal, I pampered it, but it is a fragile and perishable vessel.
Forgetting the Lord who formed, fashioned and embellished me, I have become attached to another. ||1||
I am Your thief; I cannot be called holy. I have fallen at Your feet, seeking Your Sanctuary.
Says Kabeer, please listen to this prayer of mine, O Lord; please do not send me sommons of the Messenger of Death. ||2||6||
Bilaaval:
I stand humbly at Your Court.
Who else can take care of me, other than You? Please open Your door, and grant me the Blessed Vision of Your Darshan. ||1||Pause||
You are the richest of the rich, generous and unattached. With my ears, I listen to Your Praises.
From whom should I beg? I see that all are beggars. My salvation comes only from You. ||1||
You blessed Jai Dayv, Naam Dayv and Sudaamaa the Brahmin with Your infinite mercy.
Says Kabeer, You are the All-powerful Lord, the Great Giver; in an instant, You bestow the four great blessings. ||2||7||
Bilaaval:
He has a walking stick, ear-rings, a patched coat and a begging bowl.
Wearing the robes of a beggar, he wanders around, deluded by doubt. ||1||
✦ 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.”
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.”