The Sikh Gurus never believed in the exclusivity of their teachings. The Gurus undertook travels to spread their message to peoples of different cultures in their own native languages. The Gurus did not believe in the ideas of any language being ‘sacred’ or ‘special’. It is in this spirit that various Sikh scholars have undertaken efforts to translate Sri Guru Granth Sahib into a number of languages in order to spread the teachings of the Gurus and to bring the Sikh religion to the people of the world as Guru Nanak wished.
“Enshrine the Lord’s Name within your heart. The Word of the Guru’s Bani prevails throughout the world; through this Bani, the Lord’s Name is obtained.” (Guru Amar Das, Maru, pg. 1066)
The blind man has forgotten the Name; he is in limbo, neither here nor there. || 1 || Pause || Life and death come to all who are born. Everything here gets devoured by Death. He sits and examines the accounts, there where no one goes along with anyone. Those who weep and wail might just as well all tie bundles of straw. || 2 || Everyone says that God is the Greatest of the Great. No one calls Him any less. No one can estimate His Worth. By speaking of Him, His Greatness is not increased. You are the One True Lord and Master of all the other beings, of so many worlds.
|| 3 || Nanak seeks the company of the lowest of the low class, the very lowest of the low. Why should he try to compete with the great? In that place where the lowly are cared for – there, the Blessings of Your Glance of Grace rain down. || 4 || 3 || SIREE RAAG, FIRST MEHL: Greed is a dog; falsehood is a filthy street-sweeper. Cheating is eating a rotting carcass. Slandering others is putting the filth of others into your own mouth. The fire of anger is the outcaste who burns dead bodies at the crematorium. I am caught in these tastes and flavors, and in selfconceited praise. These are my actions, O my Creator! || 1 || O Baba, speak only that which will bring you honor.
They alone are good, who are judged good at the Lord’s Door. Those with bad karma can only sit and weep. || 1 || Pause || The pleasures of gold and silver, the pleasures of women, the pleasure of the fragrance of sandalwood, the pleasure of horses, the pleasure of a soft bed in a palace, the pleasure of sweet treats and the pleasure of hearty meals – these pleasures of the human body are so numerous; how can the Naam, the Name of the Lord, find its dwelling in the heart? || 2 || Those words are acceptable, which, when spoken, bring honor. Harsh words bring only grief.
Listen, O foolish and ignorant mind! Those who are pleasing to Him are good. What else is there to be said? || 3 || Wisdom, honor and wealth are in the laps of those whose hearts remain permeated with the Lord. What praise can be offered to them? What other adornments can be bestowed upon them? O Nanak, those who lack the Lord’s Glance of Grace cherish neither charity nor the Lord’s Name. || 4 || 4 || SIREE RAAG, FIRST MEHL: The Great Giver has given the intoxicating drug of falsehood. The people are intoxicated; they have forgotten death, and they have fun for a few days.
Those who do not use intoxicants are true; they dwell in the Court of the Lord. || 1 || O Nanak, know the True Lord as True. Serving Him, peace is obtained; you shall go to His Court with honor. || 1 || Pause || The Wine of Truth is not fermented from molasses. The True Name is contained within it. I am a sacrifice to those who hear and chant the True Name. Only one who obtains a room in the Mansion of the Lord’s Presence is deemed to be truly intoxicated. || 2 || Bathe in the waters of Goodness and apply the scented oil of Truth to your body, and your face shall become radiant.
This is the gift of 100,000 gifts. Tell your troubles to the One who is the Source of all comfort. || 3 || How can you forget the One who created your soul, and the praanaa, the breath of life? Without Him, all that we wear and eat is impure. Everything else is false. Whatever pleases Your Will is acceptable. || 4 || 5 || SIREE RAAG, FIRST MEHL: Burn emotional attachment, and grind it into ink. Transform your intelligence into the purest of paper. Make the love of the Lord your pen, and let your consciousness be the scribe. Then, seek the Guru’s Instructions, and record these deliberations.
Write the Praises of the Naam, the Name of the Lord; write over and over again that He has no end or limitation. || 1 || O Baba, write such an account, that when it is asked for, it will bring the Mark of Truth. || 1 || Pause || There, where greatness, eternal peace and everlasting joy are bestowed, the faces of those whose minds are attuned to the True Name are anointed with the Mark of Grace. If one receives God’s Grace, then such honors are received, and not by mere words. || 2 || Some come, and some arise and depart. They give themselves lofty names. Some are born beggars, and some hold vast courts.
Going to the world hereafter, everyone shall realize that without the Name, it is all useless. || 3 || I am terrified by the Fear of You, God. Bothered and bewildered, my body is wasting away. Those who are known as sultans and emperors shall be reduced to dust in the end. O Nanak, arising and departing, all false attachments are cut away. || 4 || 6 || SIREE RAAG, FIRST MEHL: Believing, all tastes are sweet. Hearing, the salty flavors are tasted; chanting with one’s mouth, the spicy flavors are savored. All these spices have been made from the Sound-current of the Naad.
The thirty-six flavors of ambrosial nectar are in the Love of the One Lord; they are tasted only by one who is blessed by His Glance of Grace. || 1 || O Baba, the pleasures of other foods are false. Eating them, the body is ruined, and wickedness and corruption enter into the mind. || 1 || Pause || My mind is imbued with the Lord’s Love; it is dyed a deep crimson. Truth and charity are my white clothes. The blackness of sin is erased by my wearing of blue clothes, and meditation on the Lord’s Lotus Feet is my robe of honor. Contentment is my cummerbund, Your Name is my wealth and youth. || 2 || O Baba, the pleasures of other clothes are false.
Wearing them, the body is ruined, and wickedness and corruption enter into the mind. || 1 || Pause || The understanding of Your Way, Lord, is horses, saddles and bags of gold for me. The pursuit of virtue is my bow and arrow, my quiver, sword and scabbard. To be distinguished with honor is my drum and banner. Your Mercy is my social status. || 3 || O Baba, the pleasures of other rides are false. By such rides, the body is ruined, and wickedness and corruption enter into the mind. || 1 || Pause || The Naam, the Name of the Lord, is the pleasure of houses and mansions.
Your Glance of Grace is my family, Lord. The Hukam of Your Command is the pleasure of Your Will, Lord. To say anything else is far beyond anyone’s reach. O Nanak, the True King does not seek advice from anyone else in His decisions. || 4 || O Baba, the pleasure of other sleep is false. By such sleep, the body is ruined, and wickedness and corruption enter into the mind. || 1 || Pause || 4 || 7 || SIREE RAAG, FIRST MEHL: With the body of saffron, and the tongue a jewel, and the breath of the body pure fragrant incense; with the face anointed at the sixtyeight holy places of pilgrimage, and the heart illuminated with wisdom – with that wisdom, chant the Praises of the True Name, the Treasure of Excellence. || 1 || O Baba, other wisdom is useless and irrelevant.
If falsehood is practiced a hundred times, it is still false in its effects. || 1 || Pause || You may be worshipped and adored as a Pir (a spiritual teacher); you may be welcomed by all the world; you may adopt a lofty name, and be known to have supernatural spiritual powers – even so, if you are not accepted in the Court of the Lord, then all this adoration is false. || 2 || No one can overthrow those who have been established by the True Guru. The Treasure of the Naam, the Name of the Lord, is within them, and through the Naam, they are radiant and famous. They worship the Naam, and they believe in the Naam.
The True One is forever Intact and Unbroken. || 3 || When the body mingles with dust, what happens to the soul? All clever tricks are burnt away, and you shall depart crying. O Nanak, those who forget the Naam – what will happen when they go to the Court of the Lord? || 4 || 8 || SIREE RAAG, FIRST MEHL: The virtuous wife exudes virtue; the unvirtuous suffer in misery. If you long for your Husband Lord, O soul-bride, you must know that He is not met by falsehood. No boat or raft can take you to Him. Your Husband Lord is far away. || 1 || My Lord and Master is Perfect; His Throne is Eternal and Immovable.
One who attains perfection as Gurmukh, obtains the Immeasurable True Lord. || 1 || Pause || The Palace of the Lord God is so beautiful. Within it, there are gems, rubies, pearls and flawless diamonds. A fortress of gold surrounds this Source of Nectar. How can I climb up to the Fortress without a ladder? By meditating on the Lord, through the Guru, I am blessed and exalted. || 2 || The Guru is the Ladder, the Guru is the Boat, and the Guru is the Raft to take me to the Lord’s Name.
The Guru is the Boat to carry me across the world-ocean; the Guru is the Sacred Shrine of Pilgrimage, the Guru is the Holy River. If it pleases Him, I bathe in the Pool of Truth, and become radiant and pure. || 3 || He is called the Most Perfect of the Perfect. He sits upon His Perfect Throne. He looks so Beautiful in His Perfect Place. He fulfills the hopes of the hopeless. O Nanak, if one obtains the Perfect Lord, how can his virtues decrease? || 4 || 9 || SIREE RAAG, FIRST MEHL: Come, my dear sisters and spiritual companions; hug me close in your embrace. Let’s join together, and tell stories of our All-powerful Husband Lord.