The leaf, once separated from the branch, shall not join with it again; all alone, it falls on its way to death. Prays Nanak, without the Lord’s Name, the soul wanders in suffering forever. || 1 || You are practicing deception secretly, but the Lord, the Knower, knows all. When the Righteous Judge of Dharma reads your account, you shall be squeezed like a sesame seed in the oil-press.

For the actions you committed, you shall suffer in pain, O mortal being; you shall be consigned to countless reincarnations. Emotionally attached to Maya, the great enticer, you shall lose this jewel of human life. Except for the Name of the One Lord, you are clever in everything else. Prays Nanak, those who have such pre-ordained destiny are attracted to doubt and emotional attachment.

|| 2 || No one advocates for the ungrateful person, who is separated from the Lord. The hardhearted Messengers of Death come and seize him. They seize him, and lead him away, to pay for his evil deeds; he was imbued with Maya, the great enticer. He was not Gurmukh – he did not chant the Glorious Praises of the Lord of the Universe; and now, the hot irons are put to his chest. He is ruined by sexual desire, anger and egotism; deprived of spiritual wisdom, he comes to regret. Prays Nanak, by his cursed destiny he has gone astray; with his tongue, he does not chant the Name of the Lord.

|| 3 || Without You, God, no one is our savior and protector. It is Your Nature, Lord, to save the sinners. O Savior of sinners, I have entered Your Sanctuary, O Lord and Master, Compassionate Ocean of Mercy. Please, save me from the deep, dark pit, O Creator, Cherisher of all hearts. I seek Your Sanctuary; please, cut away these heavy bonds, and give me the Support of the One Name. Prays Nanak, please give me Your Hand and save me, O Lord of the Universe, Merciful to the meek.

|| 4 || That day is judged to be fruitful, when I met with the Lord God. Total happiness was revealed, and pain was taken far away. Intuitive peace and poise, joy and eternal happiness come from constantly singing the Glorious Praises of the Lord of the World. Joining the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, I lovingly worship the Lord; I shall not wander again in reincarnation. He has hugged me close in His Loving Embrace, with intuitive ease, and the seed of my primal destiny has sprouted.

Prays Nanak, He Himself has met me; He shall never leave me again. || 5 || 4 || 7 || BIHAAGRAA, FIFTH MEHL, CHHANT: Listen to my prayer, O my Lord and Master. I am filled with millions of sins, but still, I am Your slave. O Destroyer of pain, Bestower of mercy, Fascinating Lord, Destroyer of sorrow and strife: I have come to Your Sanctuary; please preserve my honor. You are in all, O Immaculate Lord. God hears and beholds all; He is with us, the nearest of the near.

O Lord and Master, hear Nanak’s prayer; please save the servants of Your household. || 1 || You are eternal and all-powerful; I am a mere beggar, Lord. I am intoxicated with emotional attachment to Maya – save me, Lord! Bound down by greed, emotional attachment and corruption, I have made all sorts of bad mistakes. The creator is detached, and free of entanglement; one obtains the fruits of his own actions. Be kind to me, O Purifier of sinners; I am so tired of wandering through reincarnation. Prays Nanak, I am the slave of the Lord; God is the Support of my soul, and my breath of life.

|| 2 || You are great and all-powerful; my understanding is shallow, O Lord. You cherish even those who are ungrateful; Your Glance of Grace is perfect, Lord. Your wisdom is unfathomable, O Infinite Creator. I am lowly – I know nothing at all. Rejecting the jewel, I have saved the shell; I am a lowly, ignorant beast. I have gathered that fickle wealth which will forsake me; I committed sins, over and over again. Nanak seeks Your Sanctuary, Almighty Lord and Master; please, preserve my honor.

|| 3 || I was separated from Him, and now, He has united me with Himself. In the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, I sing the Glorious Praises of the Lord. Singing the Praises of the Lord of the Universe, forever sublime, the blissful Lord is revealed to me. My bed is adorned with God; my God has made me His own. Abandoning anxiety, I have become carefree, and I shall not suffer in pain any more. Nanak lives by gazing upon the Blessed Vision of His Darshan, singing the Glorious Praises of the Lord of the Universe, the Ocean of excellence.

|| 4 || 5 || 8 || BIHAAGRAA, FIFTH MEHL, CHHANT: O you of righteous faith, chant the Lord’s Name; why do you remain silent? with your eyes, you have seen the treacherous ways of Maya. Nothing shall go along with you, except the Name of the Lord of the Universe. Land and clothes, gold and silver – all of these things are useless. Children, spouse and worldly honors, elephants, horses and other corrupting influences shall not go with you. Prays Nanak, without the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, the whole world is false.

|| 1 || O king, why are you asleep? Why don’t you wake up to reality? It is useless to cry and whine about Maya, but so many weep and wail. So many weep and wail for Maya, the great enticer, but without the Name of the Lord, there is no peace. Thousands of clever tricks and efforts will not succeed. They go wherever the Lord wills them to go. In the beginning, in the end, and in the middle, He is allpervading everywhere; He is in each and every heart. Prays Nanak, those who join the Saadh Sangat go to the house of the Lord with honor.

|| 2 || O king of the people, you know your palaces and wise servants? You shall certainly have to separate from them; your attachment to them will cause you to regret. Beholding the phantom city, you have gone astray; how can you find stability now? Absorbed in things other than the Name of the Lord, this human life is wasted in vain. Indulging in egotistical actions, your thirst is not quenched. Your desires are not fulfilled, and you do not attain spiritual wisdom. Prays Nanak, without the Name of the Lord, many have departed with regret.

|| 3 || Showering His blessings, the Lord has made me His own. Grasping my arm, He has pulled me out of the mud, and blessed me with the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy. Worshipping the Lord in the Saadh Sangat, all my sins and sufferings are burnt away. This is the greatest religion, and the best act of charity; this alone shall go along with you. My tongue chants in adoration the Name of the One Lord and Master; my mind and body are drenched in the Lord’s Name. O Nanak, whoever the Lord unites with Himself, is filled with all virtues.

|| 4 || 6 || 9 || VAAR OF BIHAAGRAA, FOURTH MEHL: ONE UNIVERSAL CREATOR GOD. BY THE GRACE OF THE TRUE GURU: SHALOK, THIRD MEHL: By serving the Guru, peace is obtained; do not search for peace anywhere else. The mind is pierced by the Word of the Guru’s Shabad; it dwells with the Lord forever. O Nanak, they alone obtain the Naam, whom the Lord beholds with His Glance of Grace.

|| 1 || THIRD MEHL: The treasure of God’s Praise is such a blessed gift; it is used and spent by those to whom the Lord gives it.Without the True Guru, it does not come to hand; all have grown weary of performing religious rituals. O Nanak, the self-willed manmukhs of the world lack this wealth; when they are hungry in the next world, what will they have to eat there? || 2 || PAUREE: All are Yours – You belong to all. You created all. You are pervading within all – all meditate on You.

You accept the devotional worship of those who are pleasing to Your Mind. Whatever pleases the Lord God happens; all act as You cause them to act. Praise the Lord, the greatest of all; He preserves the honor of the humble Saints. || 1 || SHALOK, THIRD MEHL: O Nanak, the spiritually wise have conquered the world, but the world has conquered everyone.

Through the Name, their affairs are brought to perfection; whatever will be, will be. Under Guru’s Instruction, their minds are held steady; no one can make them waver. The Lord makes His devotees His own, and resolves their affairs. The self-willed manmukhs have been led astray from the very beginning; within them lurks greed, avarice and egotism. Their nights and days pass in argument and conflict; they do not contemplate the Word of the Shabad. The Creator has taken away their common sense and understanding, and all their speech is corrupt.

No matter what they are given, they are not satisfied; within them is desire, and the great darkness of ignorance. O Nanak, it is right to break with the selfwilled manmukhs; to them, emotional attachment to Maya is sweet. || 1 || THIRD MEHL: What can fear and skepticism do to those, who have given their heads to the Creator, and to the True Guru? The Protector Himself has protected their honor from the beginning of time. Meeting their Beloved, they find peace; they contemplate the True Word of the Shabad.

O Nanak, I serve the Giver of peace; He Himself is the Assessor. || 2 || PAUREE: All beings and creatures are Yours; You are the wealth of all. One unto whom You give, obtains everything; there is no one else to rival You. You alone are the Great Giver of all; I offer my prayer to You, Lord. One with whom You are pleased, is accepted by You; how blessed is such a person! Your wondrous play is pervading everywhere. Pain and pleasure are with You.

|| 2 || SHALOK, THIRD MEHL: The Gurmukhs are pleasing to the True Lord; they are judged to be true in the True Court. The minds of such friends are filled with bliss, as they contemplate the Word of the Guru’s Shabad. They enshrine the Shabad deep within; their pain is dispelled, and the Creator blesses them with the Divine Light. O Nanak, the Savior Lord shall save them, and shower them with His Mercy.

|| 1 || THIRD MEHL: Serve the Guru, and wait upon Him; as you work, maintain the Fear of God. As you serve Him, you will become like Him, if you walk in harmony with His Will. O Nanak, He Himself is everything; there is no other place to go. || 2 || PAUREE: You alone know Your greatness – there is no one else as great as You. If there were some other rival as great as You, then I would speak of him. You alone are as great as You are.

One who serves You finds peace; who else can compare to You? You are all-powerful to destroy and create, O Great Giver; all stand begging before You, with their palms pressed together. I see none as great as You, O Great Giver; You give in charity to the beings of all the continents, worlds, solar systems, nether regions and universes.

|| 3 || SHALOK, THIRD MEHL: O mind, you have no faith, and you have not embraced love for the Celestial Lord. You do not enjoy the sublime taste of the Shabad – what Praises of the Lord will you stubbornmindedly sing? O Nanak, one’s coming into the world is approved, if, as Gurmukh, he merges into the True Lord.