CONTD FROM Vol 7 ISSUE 31 || 1 || O bride of natural beauty, offer your loving prayers to the Lord. The Lord is pleasing to my mind and body; I am intoxicated in my Lord God’s Company. Imbued with the Love of God, I pray to the Lord, and through the Lord’s Name, I abide in peace. If you recognize His Glorious Virtues, then you shall come to know God; thus virtue shall dwell in you, and sin shall run away.

Without You, I cannot survive, even for an instant; by merely talking and listening about You, I am not satisfied. Nanak proclaims, “O Beloved, O Beloved!” His tongue and mind are drenched with the Lord’s sublime essence. || 2 || O my companions and friends, my Husband Lord is the merchant. I have purchased the Lord’s Name; its sweetness and value are unlimited. His value is invaluable; the Beloved dwells in His true home. If it is pleasing to God, then He blesses His bride.

Some enjoy sweet pleasures with the Lord, while I stand crying at His door. The Creator, the Cause of causes, the Allpowerful Lord Himself arranges our affairs. O Nanak, blessed is the soul-bride, upon whom He casts His Glance of Grace; she enshrines the Word of the Shabad in her heart. || 3 || In my home, the true songs of rejoicing resound; the Lord God, my Friend, has come to me.

He enjoys me, and imbued with His Love, I have captivated His heart, and given mine to Him. I gave my mind, and obtained the Lord as my Husband; as it pleases His Will, He enjoys me. I have placed my body and mind before my Husband Lord, and through the Shabad, I have been blessed. Within the home of my own self, I have obtained the ambrosial fruit. He is not obtained by intellectual recitation or great cleverness; only by love does the mind obtain Him. O Nanak, the Lord Master is my Best Friend; I am not an ordinary person.

|| 4 || 1 || AASAA, FIRST MEHL: The unstruck melody of the sound current resounds with the vibrations of the celestial instruments. My mind, my mind is imbued with the Love of my Darling Beloved. Night and day, my detached mind remains absorbed in the Lord, and I obtain my home in the profound trance of the celestial void. The True Guru has revealed to me the Primal Lord, the Infinite, my Beloved, the Unseen.

The Lord’s posture and His seat are permanent; my mind is absorbed in reflective contemplation upon Him. O Nanak, the detached ones are imbued with His Name, the unstruck melody, and the celestial vibrations. || 1 || Tell me, how can I reach that unreachable, that unreachable city? By practicing truthfulness and self-restraint, by contemplating His Glorious Virtues, and living the Word of the Guru’s Shabad.

Practicing the True Word of the Shabad, one comes to the home of his own inner being, and obtains the treasure of virtue. He has no stems, roots, leaves or branches, but He is the Supreme Lord over the heads of all. Practicing intensive meditation, chanting and self-discipline, people have grown weary; stubbornly practicing these rituals, they still have not found Him. O Nanak, through spiritual wisdom, the Lord, the Life of the world, is met; the True Guru imparts this understanding.

|| 2 || The Guru is the ocean, the mountain of jewels, overflowing with jewels. Take your bath in the seven seas, O my mind, and become pure. One bathes in the water of purity when it is pleasing to God, and obtains the five virtues by reflective meditation. Renouncing sexual desire, anger, deceit and corruption, he enshrines the True Name in his heart. When the waves of ego, greed and avarice subside, he finds the Lord Master, Merciful to the meek. O Nanak, there is no place of pilgrimage comparable to the Guru; the True Guru is the Lord of the world.

|| 3 || I have searched the jungles and forests, and looked upon all the fields. You created the three worlds, the entire universe, everything. You created everything; You alone are permanent. Nothing is equal to You. You are the Giver – all are Your beggars; without You, who should we praise? You bestow Your gifts, even when we do not ask for them, O Great Giver; devotion to You is a treasure over-flowing.Without the Lord’s Name, there is no liberation; so says Nanak, the meek.

|| 4 || 2 || AASAA, FIRST MEHL: My mind, my mind is attuned to the Love of my Beloved Lord. The True Lord Master, the Primal Being, the Infinite One, is the Support of the earth. He is unfathomable, unapproachable, infinite and incomparable. He is the Supreme Lord God, the Lord above all. He is the Lord, from the beginning, throughout the ages, now and forevermore; know that all else is false.

If one does not appreciate the value of good deeds and Dharmic faith, how can one obtain clarity of consciousness and liberation? O Nanak, the Gurmukh realizes the Word of the Shabad; night and day, he meditates on the Naam, the Name of the Lord. || 1 || My mind, my mind has come to accept, that the Naam is our only Friend. Egotism, worldly attachment, and the lures of Maya shall not go with you. Mother, father, famliy, children, cleverness, property and spouses – none of these shall go with you.

I have renounced Maya, the daughter of the ocean; reflecting upon reality, I have trampled it under my feet. The Primal Lord has revealed this wondrous show; wherever I look, there I see Him. O Nanak, I shall not forsake the Lord’s devotional worship; in the natural course, what shall be, shall be. || 2 || My mind, my mind has become immaculately pure, contemplating the True Lord. I have dispelled my vices, and now I walk in the company of the virtuous.

Discarding my vices, I do good deeds, and in the True Court, I am judged as true. My coming and going has come to an end; as Gurmukh, I reflect upon the nature of reality. O my Dear Friend, You are my all-knowing companion; grant me the glory of Your True Name. O Nanak, the jewel of the Naam has been revealed to me; such are the Teachings I have received from the Guru.

|| 3 || I have carefully applied the healing ointment to my eyes, and I am attuned to the Immaculate Lord. He is permeating my mind and body, the Life of the world, the Lord, the Great Giver. My mind is imbued with the Lord, the Great Giver, the Life of the world; I have merged and blended with Him, with intuitive ease. In the Company of the Holy, and the Saints’ Society, by God’s Grace, peace is obtained. The renunciates remain absorbed in devotional worship to the Lord; they are rid of emotional attachment and desire. O Nanak, how rare is that unattached servant, who conquers his ego, and remains pleased with the Lord.

|| 4 || 3 || 4 || 3 || RAAG AASAA, FIRST MEHL, CHHANT, SECOND HOUSE: ONE UNIVERSAL CREATOR GOD. BY THE GRACE OF THE TRUE GURU: You are everywhere, wherever I go, O True Creator Lord. You are the Giver of all, the Architect of Destiny, the Dispeller of distress. The Lord Master is the Dispeller of distress; all that happens is by His doing. Millions upon millions of sins, He destroys in an instant. He calls a swan a swan, and a crane a crane; He contemplates each and every heart. You are everywhere, wherever I go, O True Creator Lord.

|| 1 || Those who meditate on Him single-mindedly obtain peace; how rare are they in this world. The Messenger of Death does not draw near those who live the Guru’s Teachings; they never return defeated. Those who appreciate the Glorious Praises of the Lord, Har, Har, never suffer defeat; the Messenger of Death does not even approach them. Birth and death are ended for those who are attached to the feet of the Lord. Through the Guru’s Teachings, they obtain the sublime essence of the Lord, and the fruit of the Lord; they enshrine the Name of the Lord, Har, Har, in their hearts.

Those who meditate on Him single-mindedly obtain peace; how rare are they in this world. || 2 || He who created the world and assigned all to their tasks – unto Him I am a sacrifice. So serve Him, and gather profit, and you shall obtain honor in the Court of the Lord. That humble being, who recognizes the One Lord alone, obtains honor in the Court of the Lord. One who meditates on the Lord, through the Guru’s Teachings, obtains the nine treasures; he chants and repeats continually the Glorious Praises of the Lord.

Day and night, take the Naam, the Name of the Lord, the most sublime Primal Being. The One who created the world and assigned all to their tasks – I am a sacrifice to Him. || 3 || Those who chant the Naam look beautiful; they obtain the fruit of peace. Those who believe in the Name win the game of life. Their blessings are not exhausted, if it pleases the Lord, even though numerous ages may pass. Even though numerous ages may pass, O Lord Master, their blessings are not exhausted.

They do not age, they do not die and fall into hell, if they meditate on the Naam, the Name of the Lord. Those who chant the Lord’s Name, Har, Har, do not wither, O Nanak; they are not afflicted by pain. Those who chant the Naam look beautiful; they obtain the fruit of peace. Those who believe in the Name win the game of life. || 4 || 1 || 4 || ONE UNIVERSAL CREATOR GOD. BY THE GRACE OF THE TRUE GURU: AASAA, FIRST MEHL, CHHANT, THIRD HOUSE: Listen, O black deer: why are you so attached to the orchard of passion? The fruit of sin is sweet for only a few days, and then it grows hot and bitter.

That fruit which intoxicated you has now become bitter and painful, without the Naam. It is temporary, like the waves on the sea, and the flash of lightning.Without the Lord, there is no other protector, but you have forgotten Him. Nanak speaks the Truth. Reflect upon it, O mind; you shall die, O black deer. || 1 || O bumble bee, you wander among the flowers, but terrible pain awaits you.

I have asked my Guru for true understanding. I have asked my True Guru for understanding about the bumble bee, who is so involved with the flowers of the garden. When the sun rises, the body will fall, and it will be cooked in hot oil. You shall be bound and beaten on the road of Death, without the Word of the Shabad, O madman. Nanak speaks the Truth. Reflect upon it, O mind; you shall die, O bumble bee.

|| 2 || O my stranger soul, why do you fall into entanglements? The True Lord abides within your mind; why are you trapped by the noose of Death? The fish leaves the water with tearful eyes, when the fisherman casts his net. The love of Maya is sweet to the world, but in the end, this delusion is dispelled. So perform devotional worship, link your consciousness to the Lord, and dispel anxiety from your mind. Nanak speaks the Truth; focus your consciousness on the Lord, O my stranger soul.