CONTD FROM Vol 8 ISSUE 30

|| 4 || 9 || SORAT’H, FIRST MEHL, PANCH-PADAS: You cannot save your own home from being plundered; why do you spy on the houses of others? That Gurmukh who joins himself to the Guru’s service, saves his own home, and tastes the Lord’s Nectar.

|| 1 || O mind, you must realize what your intellect is focused on. Forgetting the Naam, the Name of the Lord, one is involved with other tastes; the unfortunate wretch shall come to regret it in the end. || Pause || When things come, he is pleased, but when they go, he weeps and wails; this pain and pleasure remains attached to him. The Lord Himself causes him to enjoy pleasure and endure pain; the Gurmukh, however, remains unaffected.

|| 2 || What else can be said to be above the subtle essence of the Lord? One who drinks it in is satisfied and satiated. One who is lured by Maya loses this juice; that faithless cynic is tied to his evil-mindedness.

|| 3 || The Lord is the life of the mind, the Master of the breath of life; the Divine Lord is contained in the body. If You so bless us, Lord, then we sing Your Praises; the mind is satisfied and fulfilled, lovingly attached to the Lord.

|| 4 || In the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, the subtle essence of the Lord is obtained; meeting the Guru, the fear of death departs. O Nanak, chant the Name of the Lord, as Gurmukh; you shall obtain the Lord, and realize your pre-ordained destiny.

|| 5 || 10 || SORAT’H, FIRST MEHL: Destiny, pre-ordained by the Lord, looms over the heads of all beings; no one is without this pre-ordained destiny. Only He Himself is beyond destiny; creating the creation by His creative power, He beholds it, and causes His Command to be followed.

|| 1 || O mind, chant the Name of the Lord, and be at peace. Day and night, serve at the Guru’s feet; the Lord is the Giver, and the Enjoyer. || Pause || He is within – see Him outside as well; there is no one, other than Him. As Gurmukh, look upon all with the single eye of equality; in each and every heart, the Divine Light is contained.
|| 2 || Restrain your fickle mind, and keep it steady within its own home; meeting the Guru, this understanding is obtained. Seeing the unseen Lord, you shall be amazed and delighted; forgetting your pain, you shall be at peace.
|| 3 || Drinking in the ambrosial nectar, you shall attain the highest bliss, and dwell within the home of your own self. So sing the Praises of the Lord, the Destroyer of the fear of birth and death, and you shall not be reincarnated again.

|| 4 || The essence, the immaculate Lord, the Light of all – I am He and He is me – there is no difference between us. The Infinite Transcendent Lord, the Supreme Lord God – Nanak has met with Him, the Guru.

|| 5 || 11 || SORAT’H, FIRST MEHL, THIRD HOUSE: ONE UNIVERSAL CREATOR GOD. BY THE GRACE OF THE TRUE GURU: When I am pleasing to Him, then I sing His Praises. Singing His Praises, I receive the fruits of my rewards. The rewards of singing His Praises are obtained when He Himself gives them.

|| 1 || O my mind, through the Word of the Guru’s Shabad, the treasure is obtained; this is why I remain immersed in the True Name. || Pause || When I awoke within myself to the Guru’s Teachings, then I renounced my fickle intellect. When the Light of the Guru’s Teachings dawned, and then all darkness was dispelled.

|| 2 || When the mind is attached to the Guru’s Feet, then the Path of Death recedes. Through the Fear of God, one attains the Fearless Lord; then, one enters the home of celestial bliss.

|| 3 || Prays Nanak, how rare are those who reflect and understand, the most sublime action in this world. The noblest deed is to sing the Lord’s Praises, and so meet the Lord Himself. || 4 || 1 || 12 || SORAT’H, THIRD MEHL, FIRST HOUSE: ONE UNIVERSAL CREATOR GOD. BY THE GRACE OF THE TRUE GURU: All of Your servants, who relish the Word of Your Shabad, serve You. By Guru’s Grace, they become pure, eradicating selfconceit from within. Night and day, they continually sing the Glorious Praises of the True Lord; they are adorned with the Word of the Guru’s Shabad.
|| 1 || O my Lord and Master, I am Your child; I seek Your Sanctuary. You are the One and Only Lord, the Truest of the True; You Yourself are the Destroyer of ego. || Pause || Those who remain wakeful obtain God; through the Word of the Shabad, they conquer their ego. Immersed in family life, the Lord’s humble servant ever remains detached; he reflects upon the essence of spiritual wisdom. Serving the True Guru, he finds eternal peace, and he keeps the Lord enshrined in his heart.

|| 2 || This mind wanders in the ten directions; it is consumed by the love of duality. The foolish self-willed manmukh does not remember the Lord’s Name; he wastes away his life in vain. But when he meets the True Guru, then he obtains the Name; he sheds egotism and emotional attachment.

|| 3 || The Lord’s humble servants are True – they practice Truth, and reflect upon the Word of the Guru’s Shabad. The True Lord God unites them with Himself, and they keep the True Lord enshrined in their hearts. O Nanak, through the Name, I have obtained salvation and understanding; this alone is my wealth.

|| 4 || 1 || SORAT’H, THIRD MEHL: The True Lord has blessed His devotees with the treasure of devotional worship, and the wealth of the Lord’s Name. The wealth of the Naam, shall never be exhausted; no one can estimate its worth. With the wealth of the Naam, their faces are radiant, and they attain the True Lord.

|| 1 || O my mind, through the Word of the Guru’s Shabad, the Lord is found. Without the Shabad, the world wanders around, and receives its punishment in the Court of the Lord. || Pause || Within this body dwell the five thieves: sexual desire, anger, greed, emotional attachment and egotism. They plunder the Nectar, but the self-willed manmukh does not realize it; no one hears his complaint. The world is blind, and its dealings are blind as well; without the Guru, there is only pitch darkness.

|| 2 || Indulging in egotism and possessiveness, they are ruined; when they depart, nothing goes along with them. But one who becomes Gurmukh meditates on the Naam, and ever contemplates the Lord’s Name. Through the True Word of Gurbani, he sings the Glorious Praises of the Lord; blessed with the Lord’s Glance of Grace, he is enraptured.

|| 3 || The spiritual wisdom of the True Guru is a steady light within the heart. The Lord’s decree is over the heads of even kings. Night and day, the Lord’s devotees worship Him; night and day, they gather in the true profit of the Lord’s Name. O Nanak, through the Lord’s Name, one is emancipated; attuned to the Shabad, he finds the Lord. || 4 || 2 || SORAT’H, THIRD MEHL: If one becomes the slave of the Lord’s slaves, then he finds the Lord, and eradicates ego from within. The Lord of bliss is his object of devotion; night and day, he sings the Glorious Praises of the Lord. Attuned to the Word of the Shabad, the Lord’s devotees remain ever as one, absorbed in the Lord.

|| 1 || O Dear Lord, Your Glance of Grace is True. Show mercy to Your slave, O Beloved Lord, and preserve my honor. || Pause || Continually praising the Word of the Shabad, I live; under Guru’s Instruction, my fear has been dispelled. My True Lord God is so beautiful! Serving the Guru, my consciousness is focused on Him. One who chants the True Word of the Shabad, and the Truest of the True, the Word of His Bani, remains wakeful, day and night.

|| 2 || He is so very deep and profound, the Giver of eternal peace; no one can find His limit. Serving the Perfect Guru, one becomes carefree, enshrining the Lord within the mind. The mind and body become immaculately pure, and a lasting peace fills the heart; doubt is eradicated from within.

|| 3 || The Way of the Lord is always such a difficult path; only a few find it, contemplating the Guru. Imbued with the Lord’s Love, and intoxicated with the Shabad, he renounces ego and corruption. O Nanak, imbued with the Naam, and the Love of the One Lord, he is embellished with the Word of the Shabad.

|| 4 || 3 || SORAT’H, THIRD MEHL: Dear Beloved Lord, I praise You continually, as long as there is the breath within my body. If I were to forget You, for a moment, even for an instant, O Lord Master, it would be like fifty years for me. I was always such a fool and an idiot, O Siblings of Destiny, but now, through the Word of the Guru’s Shabad, my mind is enlightened.

|| 1 || Dear Lord, You Yourself bestow understanding. Dear Lord, I am forever a sacrifice to You; I am dedicated and devoted to Your Name. || Pause || I have died in the Word of the Shabad, and through the Shabad, I am dead while yet alive, O Siblings of Destiny; through the Shabad, I have been liberated. Through the Shabad, my mind and body have been purified, and the Lord has come to dwell within my mind. The Guru is the Giver of the Shabad; my mind is imbued with it, and I remain absorbed in the Lord.

|| 2 || Those who do not know the Shabad are blind and deaf; why did they even bother to come into the world? They do not obtain the subtle essence of the Lord’s elixir; they waste away their lives, and are reincarnated over and over again. The blind, idiotic, selfwilled manmukhs are like maggots in manure, and in manure they rot away.

|| 3 || The Lord Himself creates us, watches over us, and places us on the Path, O Siblings of Destiny; there is no one other than Him. No one can erase that which is pre-ordained, O Siblings of Destiny; whatever the Creator wills, comes to pass. O Nanak, the Naam, the Name of the Lord, abides deep within the mind; O Siblings of Destiny, there is no other at all.

|| 4 || 4 || SORAT’H, THIRD MEHL: The Gurmukhs practice devotional worship, and become pleasing to God; night and day, they chant the Naam, the Name of the Lord. You Yourself protect and take care of Your devotees, who are pleasing to Your Mind. You are the Giver of virtue, realized through the Word of Your Shabad. Uttering Your Glories, we merge with You, O Glorious Lord.

|| 1 || O my mind, remember always the Dear Lord. At the very last moment, He alone shall be your best friend; He shall always stand by you. || Pause || The gathering of the wicked enemies shall always practice falsehood; they do not contemplate understanding. Who can obtain fruit from the slander of evil enemies? Remember that Harnaakhash was torn apart by the Lord’s claws. Prahlaad, the Lord’s humble servant, constantly sang the Glorious Praises of the Lord, and the Dear Lord saved him.

|| 2 || The self-willed manmukhs see themselves as being very virtuous; they have absolutely no understanding at all. They indulge in slander of the humble spiritual people; they waste their lives away, and then they have to depart. They never think of the Lord’s Name, and in the end, they depart, regretting and repenting.