Month: December 2014

CONTD FROM Vol 8 ISSUE 48

|| 1 || THIRD MEHL: Whether he is young or old, the self-willed manmukh cannot escape hunger and thirst. The Gurmukhs are imbued with the Word of the Shabad; they are at peace, having lost their self-conceit. They are satisfied and satiated within; they never feel hungry again. O Nanak, whatever the Gurmukhs do is acceptable; they remain lovingly absorbed in the Naam, the Name of the Lord.

|| 2 || PAUREE: I am a sacrifice to those Sikhs who are Gurmukhs. I behold the Blessed Vision, the Darshan of those who meditate on the Lord’s Name. Listening to the Kirtan of the Lord’s Praises, I contemplate His virtues; I write His Praises on the fabric of my mind. I praise the Lord’s Name with love, and eradicate all my sins. Blessed, blessed and beauteous is that body and place, where my Guru places His feet.

|| 19 || SHALOK, THIRD MEHL: Without the Guru, spiritual wisdom is not obtained, and peace does not come to abide in the mind. O Nanak, without the Naam, the Name of the Lord, the self-willed manmukhs depart, after having wasted their lives.

|| 1 || THIRD MEHL: All the Siddhas, spiritual masters and seekers search for the Name; they have grown weary of concentrating and focusing their attention.Without the True Guru, no one finds the Name; the Gurmukhs unite in Union with the Lord. Without the Name, all food and clothes are worthless; cursed is such spirituality, and cursed are such miraculous powers. That alone is spirituality, and that alone is miraculous power, which the Carefree Lord spontaneously bestows. O Nanak, the Lord’s Name abides in the mind of the Gurmukh; this is spirituality, and this is miraculous power.

|| 2 || PAUREE: I am a minstrel of God, my Lord and Master; every day, I sing the songs of the Lord’s Glorious Praises. I sing the Kirtan of the Lord’s Praises, and I listen to the Praises of the Lord, the Master of wealth and Maya. The Lord is the Great Giver; all the world is begging; all beings and creatures are beggars. O Lord, You are kind and compassionate; You give Your gifts to even worms and insects among the rocks. Servant Nanak meditates on the Naam, the Name of the Lord; as Gurmukh, he has become truly wealthy.

|| 20 || SHALOK, THIRD MEHL: Reading and studying are just worldly pursuits, if there is thirst and corruption within. Reading in egotism, all have grown weary; through the love of duality, they are ruined. He alone is educated, and he alone is a wise Pandit, who contemplates the Word of the Guru’s Shabad. He searches within himself, and finds the true essence; he finds the Door of Salvation. He finds the Lord, the treasure of excellence, and peacefully contemplates Him. Blessed is the trader, O Nanak, who, as Gurmukh, takes the Name as his only Support.

|| 1 || THIRD MEHL: Without conquering his mind, no one can be successful. See this, and concentrate on it. The wandering holy men are tired of of making pilgrimages to sacred shrines; they have not been able to conquer their minds. The Gurmukh has conquered his mind, and he remains lovingly absorbed in the True Lord. O Nanak, this is how the filth of the mind is removed; the Word of the Shabad burns away the ego.

|| 2 || PAUREE: O Saints of the Lord, O my Siblings of Destiny, please meet with me, and implant the Name of the One Lord within me. O humble servants of the Lord, adorn me with the decorations of the Lord, Har, Har; let me wear the robes of the Lord’s forgiveness. Such decorations are pleasing to my God; such love is dear to the Lord. I chant the Name of the Lord, Har, Har, day and night; in an instant, all sins are eradicated. That Gurmukh, unto whom the Lord becomes merciful, chants the Lord’s Name, and wins the game of life.

|| 21 || SHALOK, THIRD MEHL: The filth of countless incarnations sticks to this mind; it has become pitch black. The oily rag cannot be cleaned by merely washing it, even if it is washed a hundred times. By Guru’s Grace, one remains dead while yet alive; his intellect is transformed, and he becomes detached from the world. O Nanak, no filth sticks to him, and he does not fall into the womb again.

|| 1 || THIRD MEHL: Kali Yuga is called the Dark Age, but the most sublime state is attained in this age. The Gurmukh obtains the fruit, the Kirtan of the Lord’s Praises; this is his destiny, ordained by the Lord. O Nanak, by Guru’s Grace, he worships the Lord night and day; he chants the Lord’s Name, and remains absorbed in the Lord’s devotional worship.

|| 2 || PAUREE: O Lord, unite me with the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, so that with my mouth, I may speak the sublime Word of the Guru’s Bani. I sing the Glorious Praises of the Lord, and constantly chant the Lord’s Name; through the Guru’s Teachings, I enjoy the Lord’s Love constantly. I take the medicine of meditation on the Lord’s Name, which has cured all diseases and multitudes of sufferings. Those who do not forget the Lord, while breathing or eating – know them to be the perfect servants of the Lord. Those Gurmukhs who worship the Lord in adoration end their subservience to the Messenger of Death, and to the world.

|| 22 || SHALOK, THIRD MEHL: O man, you have been tormented by a nightmare, and you have passed your life in sleep. You did not wake to hear the Word of the True Guru’s Shabad; you have no inspiration within yourself. That body burns, which has no virtue, and which does not serve the Guru. I have seen that the world is burning, in egotism and the love of duality. O Nanak, those who seek the Guru’s Sanctuary are saved; within their minds, they meditate on the True Word of the Shabad.

|| 1 || THIRD MEHL: Attuned to the Word of the Shabad, the soul-bride is rid of egotism, and she is glorified. If she walks steadily in the way of His Will, then she is adorned with decorations. Her couch becomes beautiful, and she constantly enjoys her Husband Lord; she obtains the Lord as her Husband. The Lord does not die, and she never suffers pain; she is a happy soul-bride forever. O Nanak, the Lord God unites her with Himself; she enshrines love and affection for the Guru.

|| 2 || PAUREE: Those who conceal and deny their Guru, are the most evil people. O Dear Lord, let me not even see them; they are the worst sinners and murderers. They wander from house to house, with impure minds, like wicked, forsaken women. But by great good fortune, they may meet the Company of the Holy; as Gurmukhs, they are reformed. O Lord, please be kind and let me meet the True Guru; I am a sacrifice to the Guru.

|| 23 || SHALOK, THIRD MEHL: Serving the Guru, peace is produced, and then, one does not suffer in pain. The cycle of birth and death is brought to an end, and death has no power over at all. His mind is imbued with the Lord, and he remains merged in the True Lord. O Nanak, I am a sacrifice to those who walk in the Way of the True Guru’s Will.

|| 1 || THIRD MEHL: Without the Word of the Shabad, purity is not obtained, even though the soul-bride may adorn herself with all sorts of decorations. She does not know the value of her Husband Lord; she is attached to the love of duality. She is impure, and ill-mannered, O Nanak; among women, she is the most evil woman.

|| 2 || PAUREE: Be kind to me, Lord, that I might chant the Word of Your Bani. May I meditate on the Lord’s Name, chant the Lord’s Name, and obtain the profit of the Lord’s Name. I am a sacrifice to those who chant the Name of the Lord, Har, Har, day and night. May I behold with my eyes those who worship and adore my Beloved True Guru. I am a sacrifice to my Guru, who has united me with my Lord, my friend, my very best friend.

|| 24 || SHALOK, FOURTH MEHL: The Lord loves His slaves; the Lord is the friend of His slaves. The Lord is under the control of His slaves, like the musical instrument under the control of the musician. The Lord’s slaves meditate on the Lord; they love their Beloved. Please, hear me, O God – let Your Grace rain over the whole world. The praise of the Lord’s slaves is the Glory of the Lord. The Lord loves His Own Glory, and so His humble servant is celebrated and hailed. That humble servant of the Lord meditates on the Naam, the Name of the Lord; the Lord, and the Lord’s humble servant, are one and the same. Servant Nanak is the slave of the Lord; O Lord, O God, please, preserve his honor.

|| 1 || FOURTH MEHL: Nanak loves the True Lord; without Him, he cannot even survive. Meeting the True Guru, one finds the Perfect Lord, and the tongue enjoys the sublime essence of the Lord.

|| 2 || PAUREE: Night and day, morning and night, I sing to You, Lord. All beings and creatures meditate on Your Name. You are the Giver, the Great Giver; we eat whatever You give us. In the congregation of the devotees, sins are eradicated. Servant Nanak is forever a sacrifice, a sacrifice, a sacrifice, O Lord.

|| 25 || SHALOK, FOURTH MEHL: He has spiritual ignorance within, and his intellect is dull and dim; he does not place his faith in the True Guru. He has deceit within himself, and so he sees deception in all others; through his deceptions, he is totally ruined. The True Guru’s Will does not enter into his consciousness, and so he wanders around, pursuing his own interests. If He grants His Grace, then Nanak is absorbed into the Word of the Shabad.

|| 1 || FOURTH MEHL: The self-willed manmukhs are engrossed in emotional attachment to Maya; in the love of duality, their minds are unsteady. Night and day, they are burning; day and night, they are totally ruined by their egotism.Within them, is the total pitch darkness of greed, and no one even approaches them. They themselves are miserable, and they never find peace; they are born, only to die, and die again. O Nanak, the True Lord God forgives those, who focus their consciousness on the Guru’s feet.

|| 2 || PAUREE: That Saint, that devotee, is acceptable, who is loved by God. Those beings are wise, who meditate on the Lord. They eat the food, the treasure of the Ambrosial Naam, the Name of the Lord. They apply the dust of the feet of the Saints to their foreheads. O Nanak, they are purified, bathing in the sacred shrine of the Lord.

|| 26 || SHALOK, FOURTH MEHL: Within the Gurmukh is peace and tranquility; his mind and body are absorbed in the Naam, the Name of the Lord. He contemplates the Naam, he studies the Naam, and he remains lovingly absorbed in the Naam. He obtains the treasure of the Naam, and his anxiety is dispelled. Meeting with the Guru, the Naam wells up, and his thirst and hunger are completely relieved. O Nanak, imbued with the Naam, he gathers in the Naam.

|| 1 || FOURTH MEHL: One who is cursed by the True Guru, abandons his home, and wanders around aimlessly. He is jeered at, and his face is blackened in the world hereafter. He babbles incoherently, and foaming at the mouth, he dies.What can anyone do? Such is his destiny, according to his past deeds.Wherever he goes, he is a liar, and by telling lies, he not liked by anyone. O Siblings of Destiny, behold this, the glorious greatness of our Lord and Master, O Saints; as one behaves, so does he receive.

TO BE CONTINUED

contined from vol 8 issue 48

From his pierced and quivering bosom then the cruel dart I drew,
And he sorrowed for his parents as his spirit heavenward flew, Thus unconscious, holy father, I have slayed thy stainless son, Speak my penance, or in mercy pardon deed unknowing done!’ Slow and sadly by their bidding to the fatal spot I led, Long and loud bewailed the parents by the cold unconscious dead,
And with hymns and holy water they performed the funeral rite, Then with tears that burnt and withered,
spake the hermit in his might: ‘Sorrow for a son beloved is a father’s direst woe,
Sorrow for a son beloved, Dasa-ratha, thou shalt know! See the parents weep and perish, grieving for a slaughtered son,
Thou shalt weep and thou shalt perish for a loved and righteous son! Distant is the expiation,—but in fulness of the time, Dasa-ratha’s death in anguish cleanses Dasa-ratha’s crime!’ Spake the old and sightless prophet; then he made the funeral pyre, And the father and the mother perished in the lighted fire,
Years have gone and many seasons, and in fulness of the time,
Comes the fruit of pride and folly and the harvest of my crime! Rama eldest born and dearest, Lakshman true and faithful son, Ah! forgive a dying father and a cruel action done, Queen Kaikeyi, thou hast heedless brought on Raghu’s race this stain,
Banished are the guiltless children and thy lord and king is slain! Lay thy hands on mine, Kausalya, wipe thy unavailing tear, Speak a wife’s consoling accents to a dying husband’s ear,
Lay thy hands on mine, Sumitra, vision falls my closing eyes, And for bravo and banished Rama wings my spirit to the skies! Hushed and silent passed the midnight, feebly still the monarch sighed,
Blessed Kausalya and Sumitra, blest his banished sons, and died.

THE MEETING OF THE BROTHERS

Sorrowing for his sire departed Bharat to Ayodhya came, But the exile of his brother stung his noble heart to flame, Scorning sin-polluted empire, travelling with each widowed queen,
Sought through wood and trackless jungle Chitra-kuta’s peaceful scene.
Royal guards and Saint Vasishtha loitered with the dames behind, Onward pressed the eager Bharat, Rama’s hermit-home to find, Nestled in a jungle thicket, Rama’s cottage rose in sight,
Thatched with leaves and twining branches, reared by Lakshman’s faithful might.
Faggots hewn of gnarléd branches, blossoms culled from bush and tree. Coats of bark and russet garments,
kusa spread upon the lea, Store of horns and branching antlers, fire-wood for the dewy night,– Spake the dwelling of a hermit suited for a hermit’s rite. “May the scene,” so Bharat uttered, “by the righteous rishi told, Markalvati’s rippling waters, Chitrakuta’s summit bold,
Mark the dark and trackless forest where the untamed tuskers roam, And the deep and hollow caverns where the wild beasts make their home, Mark the spacious wooded uplands, wreaths of smoke obscure the sky,
Hermits feed their flaming altars for their worship pure and high. Done our weary work and wand’ring,
righteous Rama here we meet, Saint and king and honoured elder! Bharat bows unto his feet,
Born a king of many nations, he hath forest refuge sought, Yielded throne and mighty kingdom for a hermit’s humble cot, Honour unto righteous Rama, unto Sita true and bold, Theirs be fair Kosala’s empire,
crown and sceptre, wealth and gold! Stately Sal and feathered palm-tree on the cottage lent their shade.
Strewn upon the sacred altar was the grass of kusa spread, Gaily on the walls suspended hung two bows of ample height, And their back with gold was pencilled, bright as INDRA’s bow of might, Cased in broad unfailing quivers arrows shone like light of day, And like flame-tongued fiery serpents cast a dread and lurid ray,
Resting in their golden scabbards lay the sword of warriors bold, And the targets broad and ample bossed with rings of yellow gold, Glove and gauntlet decked the cottage safe from fear of hostile men,
As from creatures of the forest is the lion’s lordly den! Calm in silent contemplation by the altar’s sacred fire, Holy in his pious purpose though begirt by weapons dire,
Clad in deer-skin pure and peaceful, poring on the sacred flame, In his bark and hermit’s tresses like an anchorite of fame, Lion-shouldered, mighty-arméd, but with gentle lotus eye.
Lord of wide earth ocean-girdled, but intent on penance high, Godlike as the holy BRAHMA,
on a skin of dappled deer Rama sat with meek-eyed Sita, faithful Lakshman loitered near! “Is this he whom joyous nations called to fair Ayodhya’s throne, Now the friend of forest-rangers wandering in the woods alone,
Is this he who robed in purple made Ayodhya’s mansions bright.. Now in jungle bark and deer-skin clad as holy anchorite, Is this be whose wreathéd ringlets fresh and holy fragrance shed, Now a hermit’s matted tresses cluster round his royal head, Is this he whose royal yajnas filled the earth with righteous fame,
Now inured to hermit’s labour by the altar’s sacred flame, Is this he whose brow and forehead royal gem and jewel graced, Heir to proud Kosala’s empire, eldest, noblest, and the best!” Thus lamented pious Bharat,
for his heart was anguish-rent,
As before the feet of Rama he in loving homage bent, “Arya!” in his choking accents this was all that Bharat said, “Arya!” spake the young Satrughna and he bent his holy head! Rama to his loving bosom raised his brothers from his feet, Ah, too deep is love for utterance when divided brothers meet, Faithful Guha, brave Sumantra, bowed to Rama’s righteous feet,
And a joy and mingled sadness filled the hermit’s calm retreat!

TO BE CONTINUED