CONTD FROM Vol 8 ISSUE 43

If he comes to realize the Command of the Lord’s Will, O Beloved, then he is blessed with Truth and Honor. || 6 || It is so difficult to speak it, O Beloved; how can we speak, and hear, the True Name? I am a sacrifice to those who praise the Lord, O Beloved. I have obtained the Name, and I am satisfied, O Beloved; by His Grace, I am united in His Union.

|| 7 || If my body were to become the paper, O Beloved, and my mind the inkpot; and if my tongue became the pen, O Beloved, I would write, and contemplate, the Glorious Praises of the True Lord. Blessed is that scribe, O Nanak, who writes the True Name, and enshrines it within his heart.

|| 8 || 3 || SORAT’H, FIRST MEHL, DU-TUKAS: You are the Giver of virtue, O Immaculate Lord, but my mind is not immaculate, O Siblings of Destiny. I am a worthless sinner, O Siblings of Destiny; virtue is obtained from You alone, Lord. || 1 || O my Beloved Creator Lord, You create, and You behold. I am a hypocritical sinner, O Siblings of Destiny. Bless my mind and body with Your Name, O Lord. || Pause || The poisonous Maya has enticed the consciousness, O Siblings of Destiny; through clever tricks, one loses his honor. The True Lord and Master abides in the consciousness, O Siblings of Destiny, if the Guru’s spiritual wisdom permeates it.

|| 2 || Beautiful, beautiful, the Lord is called, O Siblings of Destiny; beautiful, like the deep crimson color of the poppy. If man loves the Lord with detachment, O Siblings of Destiny, he is judged to be true and infallible in the Lord’s court and home. || 3 || You are pervading the realms of the underworld and the heavenly skies; Your wisdom and glories are in each and every heart. Meeting with the Guru, one finds peace, O Siblings of Destiny, and pride is dispelled from the mind.

|| 4 || Scrubbing with water, the body can be cleaned, O Siblings of Destiny, but the body becomes dirty again. Bathing in the supreme essence of spiritual wisdom, O Siblings of Destiny, the mind and body become pure. || 5 || Why worship gods and goddesses, O Siblings of Destiny? What can we ask of them? What can they give us? The stone gods are washed with water, O Siblings of Destiny, but they just sink in the water.

|| 6 || Without the Guru, the unseen Lord cannot be seen, O Siblings of Destiny; the world is drowning, having lost its honor. Greatness is in the hands of my Lord and Master, O Siblings of Destiny; as He is pleased, He gives. || 7 || That soulbride, who talks sweetly and speaks the Truth, O Siblings of Destiny, becomes pleasing to her Husband Lord. Pierced by His Love, she abides in Truth, O Siblings of Destiny, deeply imbued with the Lord’s Name. || 8 || Everyone calls God his own, O Siblings of Destiny, but the all-knowing Lord is known only through the Guru. Those who are pierced by His Love are saved, O Siblings of Destiny; they bear the Insignia of the True Word of the Shabad.

|| 9 || A large pile of firewood, O Siblings of Destiny, will burn if a small fire is applied. In the same way, if the Naam, the Name of the Lord, dwells in the heart for a moment, even for an instant, O Siblings of Destiny, then one meets the Lord with ease, O Nanak. || 10 || 4 || SORAT’H, THIRD MEHL, FIRST HOUSE, TI-TUKAS: ONE UNIVERSAL CREATOR GOD. BY THE GRACE OF THE TRUE GURU: You always preserve the honor of Your devotees, O Dear Lord; You have protected them from the very beginning of time. You protected Your servant Prahlaad, O Dear Lord, and annihilated Harnaakhash. The Gurmukhs place their faith in the Dear Lord, but the self-willed manmukhs are deluded by doubt.

|| 1 || O Dear Lord, this is Your Glory. You preserve the honor of Your devotees, O Lord Master; Your devotees seek Your Sanctuary. || Pause || The Messenger of Death cannot touch Your devotees; death cannot even approach them. The Name of the Lord alone abides in their minds; through the Naam, the Name of the Lord, they find liberation.Wealth and all the spiritual powers of the Siddhis fall at the feet of the Lord’s devotees; they obtain peace and poise from the Guru.

|| 2 || The self-willed manmukhs have no faith; they are filled with greed and self-interest. They are not Gurmukh – they do not understand the Word of the Shabad in their hearts; they do not love the Naam, the Name of the Lord. Their masks of falsehood and hypocrisy shall fall off; the self-willed manmukhs speak with insipid words. || 3 || You are pervading through Your devotees, O Dear God; through Your devotees, You are known. All the people are enticed by Maya; they are Yours, Lord – You alone are the Architect of Destiny. Overcoming my egotism and quieting the desires within my mind, I have come to realize the Word of the Guru’s Shabad.

|| 4 || God automatically does the work of those who love the Name of the Lord. By Guru’s Grace, he ever dwells in their minds, and He resolves all their affairs.Whoever challenges them is destroyed; they have the Lord God as their Savior. || 5 || Without serving the True Guru, no one finds the Lord; the self-willed manmukhs die crying out in pain. They come and go, and find no place of rest; in pain and suffering, they perish. But one who becomes Gurmukh drinks in the Ambrosial Nectar, and is easily absorbed in the True Name.

|| 6 || Without serving the True Guru, one cannot escape reincarnation, even by performing numerous rituals. Those who read the Vedas, and argue and debate without the Lord, lose their honor. True is the True Guru, and True is the Word of His Bani; in the Guru’s Sanctuary, one is saved. || 7 || Those whose minds are filled with the Lord are judged as true in the Court of the Lord; they are hailed as true in the True Court. Their praises echo throughout the ages, and no one can erase them. Nanak is forever a sacrifice to those who enshrine the Lord within their hearts.

|| 8 || 1 || SORAT’H, THIRD MEHL, DU-TUKAS: He Himself forgives the worthless, O Siblings of Destiny; He commits them to the service of the True Guru. Service to the True Guru is sublime, O Siblings of Destiny; through it, one’s consciousness is attached to the Lord’s Name.

|| 1 || The Dear Lord forgives, and unites with Himself. I am a sinner, totally without virtue, O Siblings of Destiny; the Perfect True Guru has blended me. || Pause || So many, so many sinners have been forgiven, O beloved one, by contemplating the True Word of the Shabad. They got on board the boat of the True Guru, who carried them across the terrifying world-ocean, O Siblings of Destiny.

|| 2 || I have been transformed from rusty iron into gold, O Siblings of Destiny, united in Union with the Guru, the Philosopher’s Stone. Eliminating my selfconceit, the Name has come to dwell within my mind, O Siblings of Destiny; my light has merged in the Light.

|| 3 || I am a sacrifice, I am a sacrifice, O Siblings of Destiny, I am forever a sacrifice to my True Guru. He has given me the treasure of the Naam; O Siblings of Destiny, through the Guru’s Teachings, I am absorbed in celestial bliss. || 4 || Without the Guru, celestial peace is not produced, O Siblings of Destiny; go and ask the spiritual teachers about this. Serve the True Guru forever, O Siblings of Destiny, and eradicate selfconceit from within.

|| 5 || Under Guru’s Instruction, the Fear of God is produced, O Siblings of Destiny; true and excellent are the deeds done in the Fear of God. Then, one is blessed with the treasure of the Lord’s Love, O Siblings of Destiny, and the Support of the True Name.

|| 6 || I fall at the feet of those who serve their True Guru, O Siblings of Destiny. I have fulfilled my life, O Siblings of Destiny, and my family has been saved as well. || 7 || The True Word of the Guru’s Bani, and the True Word of the Shabad, O Siblings of Destiny, are obtained only by Guru’s Grace. O Nanak, with the Name of the Lord abiding in one’s mind, no obstacles stand in one’s way, O Siblings of Destiny.

|| 8 || 2 || SORAT’H, THIRD MEHL: The Dear Lord is realized through the Word of His Shabad, O Siblings of Destiny, which is found only by perfect destiny. The happy soul-brides are forever in peace, O Siblings of Destiny; night and day, they are attuned to the Lord’s Love. || 1 || O Dear Lord, You Yourself color us in Your Love. Sing, continually sing His Praises, imbued with His Love, O Siblings of Destiny; be in love with the Lord. || Pause || Work to serve the Guru, O Siblings of Destiny; abandon selfconceit, and and focus your consciousness. You shall be in peace forever, and you shall not suffer in pain any longer, O Siblings of Destiny; the Lord Himself shall come and abide in your mind.

|| 2 || She who does not know the Will of her Husband Lord, O Siblings of Destiny, is an ill-mannered and bitter bride. She does things with a stubborn mind, O Siblings of Destiny; without the Name, she is false. || 3 || They alone sing the Lord’s Praises, who have such pre-ordained destiny written upon their foreheads, O Siblings of Destiny; through the Love of the True Lord, they find detachment. Night and day, they are imbued with His Love; they utter His Glorious Praises, O Siblings of Destiny, and they lovingly focus their consciousness on the Fearless Guru.

|| 4 || He kills and revives all, O Siblings of Destiny; serve Him, day and night. How can we forget Him from our minds, O Siblings of Destiny? His gifts are glorious and great. || 5 || The self-willed manmukh is filthy and doubleminded, O Siblings of Destiny; the finds no place of rest in the Court of the Lord. But if she becomes Gurmukh, then she chants the Glorious Praises of the Lord, O Siblings of Destiny; the meets her True Beloved, and merges in Him. || 6 || In this life, she has not focused her consciousness on the Lord, O Siblings of Destiny; how can she show her face when she leaves? In spite of the warning calls which were sounded, she has been plundered, O Siblings of Destiny; she yearned only for corruption.

|| 7 || Those who dwell upon the Naam, O Siblings of Destiny, their bodies are ever peaceful and tranquil. O Nanak, dwell upon the Naam; the Lord is infinite, virtuous and unfathomable, O Siblings of Destiny. || 8 || 3 || SORAT’H, FIFTH MEHL, FIRST HOUSE, ASHTAPADEES: ONE UNIVERSAL CREATOR GOD. BY THE GRACE OF THE TRUE GURU: The One who created the whole world, O Siblings of Destiny, is the Almighty Lord, the Cause of causes. He fashioned the soul and the body, O Siblings of Destiny, by His own power. How can He be described? How can He be seen, O Siblings of Destiny? The Creator is One; He is indescribable. Praise the Guru, the Lord of the Universe, O Siblings of Destiny; through Him, the essence is known.

|| 1 || O my mind, meditate on the Lord, the Lord God. He blesses His servant with the gift of the Naam; He is the Destroyer of pain and suffering. || Pause || Everything is in His home, O Siblings of Destiny; His warehouse is overflowing with the nine treasures. His worth cannot be estimated, O Siblings of Destiny; He is lofty, inaccessible and infinite. He cherishes all beings and creatures, O Siblings of Destiny; he continually takes care of them.