CONTINUED FROM VOL 2 ISSUE 3

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.

O Nanak, their faces are radiant; the Music of the Shabad, the Word of God, wells up within them. || 4 || 22 || SIREE RAAG, FIRST MEHL: Make your deals, dealers, and take care of your merchandise. Buy that object which will go along with you. In the next world, the All-knowing Merchant will take this object and care for it.

|| 1 || O Siblings of Destiny, chant the Lord’s Name, and focus your consciousness on Him. Take the Merchandise of the Lord’s Praises with you. Your Husband Lord shall see this and approve. || 1 || Pause || Those who do not have the Assets of Truth – how can they find peace? By dealing their deals of falsehood, their minds and bodies become false. Like the deer caught in the trap, they suffer in terrible agony; they continually cry out in pain.

|| 2 || The counterfeit coins are not put into the Treasury; they do not obtain the Blessed Vision of the Lord-Guru. The false ones have no social status or honor. No one succeeds through falsehood. Practicing falsehood again and again, people come and go in reincarnation, and forfeit their honor.

|| 3 || O Nanak, instruct your mind through the Word of the Guru’s Shabad, and praise the Lord. Those who are imbued with the love of the Name of the Lord are not loaded down by doubt. Those who chant the Name of the Lord earn great profits; the Fearless Lord abides within their minds. || 4 || 23 || SIREE RAAG, FIRST MEHL, SECOND HOUSE: Wealth, the beauty of youth and flowers are guests for only a few days. Like the leaves of the water-lily, they wither and fade and finally die.

|| 1 || Be happy, dear beloved, as long as your youth is fresh and delightful. But your days are few – you have grown weary, and now your body has grown old. || 1 || Pause || My playful friends have gone to sleep in the graveyard. In my doublemindedness, I shall have to go as well. I cry in a feeble voice. || 2 || Haven’t you heard the call from beyond, O beautiful soul-bride? You must go to your in-laws; you cannot stay with your parents forever. || 3 || O Nanak, know that she who sleeps in her parents’ home is plundered in broad daylight. She has lost her bouquet of merits; gathering one of demerits, she departs.

|| 4 || 24 || SIREE RAAG, FIRST MEHL, SECOND HOUSE: He Himself is the Enjoyer, and He Himself is the Enjoyment. He Himself is the Ravisher of all. He Himself is the Bride in her dress, He Himself is the Bridegroom on the bed. || 1 || My Lord and Master is imbued with love; He is totally permeating and pervading all. || 1 || Pause || He Himself is the fisherman and the fish; He Himself is the water and the net. He Himself is the sinker, and He Himself is the bait. || 2 || He Himself loves in so many ways. O sister soul-brides, He is my Beloved. He continually ravishes and enjoys the happy soul-brides; just look at the plight I am in without Him!

|| 3 || Prays Nanak, please hear my prayer: You are the pool, and You are the soul-swan. You are the lotus flower of the day and You are the water-lily of the night. You Yourself behold them, and blossom forth in bliss. || 4 || 25 || SIREE RAAG, FIRST MEHL, THIRD HOUSE: Make this body the field, and plant the seed of good actions. Water it with the Name of the Lord, who holds all the world in His Hands. Let your mind be the farmer; the Lord shall sprout in your heart, and you shall attain the state of Nirvaanaa. || 1 || You fool! Why are you so proud of Maya? Father, children, spouse, mother and all relatives – they shall not be your helpers in the end.

|| Pause || So weed out evil, wickedness and corruption; leave these behind, and let your soul meditate on God. When chanting, austere meditation and self-discipline become your protectors, then the lotus blossoms forth, and the honey trickles out. || 2 || Bring the twenty-seven elements of the body under your control, and throughout the three stages of life, remember death. See the Infinite Lord in the ten directions, and in all the variety of nature. Says Nanak, in this way, the One Lord shall carry you across. || 3 || 26 || SIREE RAAG, FIRST MEHL, THIRD HOUSE: Make good deeds the soil, and let the Word of the Shabad be the seed; irrigate it continually with the water of Truth. Become such a farmer, and faith will sprout.

This brings knowledge of heaven and hell, you fool! || 1 || Do not think that your Husband Lord can be obtained by mere words. You are wasting this life in the pride of wealth and the splendor of beauty. || 1 || Pause || The defect of the body which leads to sin is the mud puddle, and this mind is the frog, which does not appreciate the lotus flower at all. The bumble bee is the teacher who continually teaches the lesson. But how can one understand, unless one is made to understand? || 2 || This speaking and listening is like the song of the wind, for those whose minds are colored by the love of Maya. The Grace of the Master is bestowed upon those who meditate on Him alone. They are pleasing to His Heart.

|| 3 || You may observe the thirty fasts, and say the five prayers each day, but ‘Satan’ can undo them. Says Nanak, you will have to walk on the Path of Death, so why do you bother to collect wealth and property? || 4 || 27 || SIREE RAAG, FIRST MEHL, FOURTH HOUSE: He is the Master who has made the world bloom; He makes the Universe blossom forth, fresh and green. He holds the water and the land in bondage. Hail to the Creator Lord! || 1 || Death, O Mullah – death will come, so live in the Fear of God the Creator. || 1 || Pause || You are a Mullah, and you are a Qazi, only when you know the Naam, the Name of God. You may be very educated, but no one can remain when the measure of life is full. || 2 || He alone is a Qazi, who renounces selfishness and conceit, and makes the One Name his Support. The True Creator Lord is, and shall always be. He was not born; He shall not die.

|| 3 || You may chant your prayers five times each day; you may read the Bible and the Koran. Says Nanak, the grave is calling you, and now your food and drink are finished. || 4 || 28 || SIREE RAAG, FIRST MEHL, FOURTH HOUSE: The dogs of greed are with me. In the early morning, they continually bark at the wind. Falsehood is my dagger; through deception, I eat the carcasses of the dead. I live as a wild hunter, O Creator! || 1 || I have not followed good advice, nor have I done good deeds. I am deformed and horribly disfigured. Your Name alone, Lord, saves the world. This is my hope; this is my support. || 1 || Pause || With my mouth I speak slander, day and night. I spy on the houses of others – I am such a wretched low-life! Unfulfilled sexual desire and unresolved anger dwell in my body, like the outcasts who cremate the dead. I live as a wild hunter, O Creator! || 2 || I make plans to trap others, although I appear gentle.

I am a robber – I rob the world. I am very clever – I carry loads of sin. I live as a wild hunter, O Creator! || 3 || I have not appreciated what You have done for me, Lord; I take from others and exploit them. What face shall I show You, Lord? I am a sneak and a thief. Nanak describes the state of the lowly. I live as a wild hunter, O Creator! || 4 || 29 || SIREE RAAG, FIRST MEHL, FOURTH HOUSE: There is one awareness among all created beings. None have been created without this awareness. As is their awareness, so is their way. According to the account of our actions, we come and go in reincarnation.

|| 1 || Why, O soul, do you try such clever tricks? Taking away and giving back, God does not delay. || 1 || Pause || All beings belong to You; all beings are Yours. O Lord and Master, how can You become angry with them? Even if You, O Lord and Master, become angry with them, still, You are theirs, and they are Yours. || 2 || We are foul-mouthed; we spoil everything with our foul words. You weigh us in the balance of Your Glance of Grace. When one’s actions are right, the understanding is perfect. Without good deeds, it becomes more and more deficient. || 3 || Prays Nanak, what is the nature of the spiritual people? They are self-realized; they understand God. By Guru’s Grace, they contemplate Him; such spiritual people are honored in His Court.

|| 4 || 30 || SIREE RAAG, FIRST MEHL, FOURTH HOUSE: You are the River, All-knowing and All-seeing. I am just a fish – how can I find Your limit? Wherever I look, You are there. Outside of You, I would burst and die. || 1 || I do not know of the fisherman, and I do not know of the net. But when the pain comes, then I call upon You. || 1 || Pause || You are present everywhere. I had thought that You were far away. Whatever I do, I do in Your Presence. You see all my actions, and yet I deny them. I have not worked for You, or Your Name. || 2 || Whatever You give me, that is what I eat. There is no other door – unto which door should I go? Nanak offers this one prayer: this body and soul are totally Yours. || 3 || He Himself is near, and He Himself is far away; He Himself is in-between. He Himself beholds, and He Himself listens.