CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS ISSUE

|| 8 || 2 || SIREE RAAG, FIRST MEHL: O Lord, You are Your Own Glorious Praise. You Yourself speak it; You Yourself hear it and contemplate it. You Yourself are the Jewel, and You are the Appraiser. You Yourself are of Infinite Value. O True Lord, You are Honor and Glory; You Yourself are the Giver.

|| 1 || O Dear Lord, You are the Creator and the Cause. If it is Your Will, please save and protect me; please bless me with the lifestyle of the Lord’s Name.

|| 1 || Pause || You Yourself are the flawless diamond; You Yourself are the deep crimson color. You Yourself are the perfect pearl; You Yourself are the devotee and the priest. Through the Word of the Guru’s Shabad, You are praised. In each and every heart, the Unseen is seen.

|| 2 || You Yourself are the ocean and the boat. You Yourself are this shore, and the one beyond. O All-knowing Lord, You are the True Way. The Shabad is the Navigator to ferry us across. One who does not fear God shall live in fear; without the Guru, there is only pitch darkness.

|| 3 || The Creator alone is seen to be Eternal; all others come and go. Only You, Lord, are Immaculate and Pure. All others are bound up in worldly pursuits. Those who are protected by the Guru are saved. They are lovingly attuned to the True Lord.

|| 4 || Through the Shabad, they recognize the Dear Lord; through the Guru’s Word, they are attuned to Truth. Filth does not stick to the body of one who has secured a dwelling in his True Home. When the Lord bestows His Glance of Grace, we obtain the True Name. Without the Name, who are our relatives?

|| 5 || Those who have realized the Truth are at peace throughout the four ages. Subduing their egotism and desires, they keep the True Name enshrined in their hearts. In this world, the only real profit is the Name of the One Lord; it is earned by contemplating the Guru.

|| 6 || Loading the Merchandise of the True Name, you shall gather in your profits forever with the Capital of Truth. In the Court of the True One, you shall sit in truthful devotion and prayer. Your account shall be settled with honor, in the Radiant Light of the Name of the Lord.

|| 7 || The Lord is said to be the Highest of the High; no one can perceive Him. Wherever I look, I see only You. The True Guru has inspired me to see You. The Divine Light within is revealed, O Nanak, through this intuitive understanding.

|| 8 || 3 || SIREE RAAG, FIRST MEHL: The fish did not notice the net in the deep and salty sea. It was so clever and beautiful, but why was it so confident? By its actions it was caught, and now death cannot be turned away from its head.

|| 1 || O Siblings of Destiny, just like this, see death hovering over your own heads! People are just like this fish; unaware, the noose of death descends upon them.

|| 1 || Pause || The whole world is bound by death; without the Guru, death cannot be avoided. Those who are attuned to Truth are saved; they renounce duality and corruption. I am a sacrifice to those who are found to be Truthful in the True Court.

|| 2 || Think of the hawk preying on the birds, and the net in the hands of the hunter. Those who are protected by the Guru are saved; the others are caught by the bait.Without the Name, they are picked up and thrown away; they have no friends or companions.

|| 3 || God is said to be the Truest of the True; His Place is the Truest of the True. Those who obey the True One – their minds abide in true meditation. Those who become Gurmukh, and obtain spiritual wisdom – their minds and mouths are known to be pure.

|| 4 || Offer your most sincere prayers to the True Guru, so that He may unite you with your Best Friend. Meeting your Best Friend, you shall find peace; the Messenger of Death shall take poison and die. I dwell deep within the Name; the Name has come to dwell within my mind.

|| 5 || Without the Guru, there is only pitch darkness; without the Shabad, understanding is not obtained. Through the Guru’s Teachings, you shall be enlightened; remain absorbed in the Love of the True Lord. Death does not go there; your light shall merge with the Light.

|| 6 || You are my Best Friend; You are All-knowing. You are the One who unites us with Yourself. Through the Word of the Guru’s Shabad, we praise You; You have no end or limitation. Death does not reach that place, where the Infinite Word of the Guru’s Shabad resounds.

|| 7 || By the Hukam of His Command, all are created. By His Command, actions are performed. By His Command, all are subject to death; by His Command, they merge in Truth. O Nanak, whatever pleases His Will comes to pass. Nothing is in the hands of these beings.

|| 8 || 4 || SIREE RAAG, FIRST MEHL: If the mind is polluted, then the body is polluted, and the tongue is polluted as well. With false mouths, people speak falsehood. How can they be made pure? Without the Holy Water of the Shabad, they are not cleansed. From the True One alone comes Truth.

|| 1 || O soul-bride, without virtue, what happiness can there be? The Husband Lord enjoys her with pleasure and delight; she is at peace in the love of the True Word of the Shabad.

|| 1 || Pause || When the Husband goes away, the bride suffers in the pain of separation, like the fish in shallow water, crying for mercy. As it pleases the Will of the Husband Lord, peace is obtained, when He Himself casts His Glance of Grace.

|| 2 || Praise your Husband Lord, together with your bridesmaids and friends. The body is beautified, and the mind is fascinated. Imbued with His Love, we are enraptured. Adorned with the Shabad, the beautiful bride enjoys her Husband with virtue.

|| 3 || The soul-bride is of no use at all, if she is evil and without virtue. She does not find peace in this world or the next; she burns in falsehood and corruption. Coming and going are very difficult for that bride who is abandoned and forgotten by her Husband Lord.

|| 4 || The beautiful soul-bride of the Husband Lord – by what sensual pleasures has she been doomed? She is of no use to her Husband if she babbles in useless arguments. At the Door of His Home, she finds no shelter; she is discarded for seeking other pleasures.

|| 5 || The Pandits, the religious scholars, read their books, but they do not understand the real meaning. They give instructions to others, and then walk away, but they deal in Maya themselves. Speaking falsehood, they wander around the world, while those who remain true to the Shabad are excellent and exalted.

|| 6 || There are so many Pandits and astrologers who ponder over the Vedas. They glorify their disputes and arguments, and in these controversies they continue coming and going. Without the Guru, they are not released from their karma, although they speak and listen and preach and explain.

|| 7 || They all call themselves virtuous, but I have no virtue at all. With the Lord as her Husband, the soul-bride is happy; I, too, love that God. O Nanak, through the Shabad, union is obtained; there is no more separation.

|| 8 || 5 || SIREE RAAG, FIRST MEHL: You may chant and meditate, practice austerities and self-restraint, and dwell at sacred shrines of pilgrimage; you may give donations to charity, and perform good deeds, but without the True One, what is the use of it all? As you plant, so shall you harvest. Without virtue, this human life passes away in vain.

|| 1 || O young bride, be a slave to virtue, and you shall find peace. Renouncing wrongful actions, following the Guru’s Teachings, you shall be absorbed into the Perfect One.

|| 1 || Pause || Without capital, the trader looks around in all four directions. He does not understand his own origins; the merchandise remains within the door of his own house. Without this commodity, there is great pain. The false are ruined by falsehood.

|| 2 || One who contemplates and appraises this Jewel day and night reaps new profits. He finds the merchandise within his own home, and departs after arranging his affairs. So trade with the true traders, and as Gurmukh, contemplate God.

|| 3 || In the Society of the Saints, He is found, if the Uniter unites us. One whose heart is filled with His Infinite Light meets with Him, and shall never again be separated from Him. True is his position; he abides in Truth, with love and affection for the True One.

|| 4 || One who understands himself finds the Mansion of the Lord’s Presence within his own home. Imbued with the True Lord, Truth is gathered in. God is known throughout the three worlds. True is the Name of the True One.

|| 5 || The wife who knows that her Husband Lord is always with her is very beautiful. The soulbride is called to the Mansion of the His Presence, and her Husband Lord ravishes her with love. The happy soul-bride is true and good; she is fascinated by the Glories of her Husband Lord.

|| 6 || Wandering around and making mistakes, I climb the plateau; having climbed the plateau, I go up the mountain. But now I have lost my way, and I am wandering around in the forest; without the Guru, I do not understand. If I wander around forgetting God’s Name, I shall continue coming and going in reincarnation, over and over again.
TO BE CONTINUED