CONTD FROM Vol 8 ISSUE 35

|| 2 || O mind, chant the Naam, the Name of the Lord; worship the Naam, night and day, and recite the Naam. Listen to the Teachings of the Holy Saints, and all fear of death will be dispelled. Those blessed by God’s Grace are attached to the Word of the Guru’s Bani.

|| 3 || Who can estimate Your worth, God? You are kind and compassionate to all beings. Everything which You do, prevails; I am just a poor child – what can I do? Protect and preserve Your servant Nanak; be kind to him, like a father to his son.

|| 4 || 1 || SORAT’H, FIFTH MEHL, FIRST HOUSE, CHAUTUKAS: Praise the Guru, and the Lord of the Universe, O Siblings of Destiny; enshrine Him in your mind, body and heart. Let the True Lord and Master abide in your mind, O Siblings of Destiny; this is the most excellent way of life. Those bodies, in which the Name of the Lord does not well up, O Siblings of Destiny – those bodies are reduced to ashes. I am a sacrifice to the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, O Siblings of Destiny; they take the Support of the One and Only Lord.

|| 1 || So worship and adore that True Lord, O Siblings of Destiny; He alone does everything. The Perfect Guru has taught me, O Siblings of Destiny, that without Him, there is no other at all. || Pause || Without the Naam, the Name of the Lord, they putrefy and die, O Siblings of Destiny; their numbers cannot be counted.Without Truth, purity cannot be achieved, O Siblings of Destiny; the Lord is true and unfathomable. Coming and going do not end, O Siblings of Destiny; pride in worldly valuables is false. The Gurmukh saves millions of people, O Siblings of Destiny, blessing them with even a particle of the Name.

|| 2 || I have searched through the Simritees and the Shaastras, O Siblings of Destiny – without the True Guru, doubt does not depart. They are so tired of performing their many deeds, O Siblings of Destiny, but they fall into bondage again and again. I have searched in the four directions, O Siblings of Destiny, but without the True Guru, there is no place at all. By great good fortune, I found the Guru, O Siblings of Destiny, and I meditate on the Name of the Lord, Har, Har.

|| 3 || The Truth is forever pure, O Siblings of Destiny; those who are true are pure. When the Lord bestows His Glance of Grace, O Siblings of Destiny, then one obtains Him. Among millions, O Siblings of Destiny, hardly one humble servant of the Lord is found. Nanak is imbued with the True Name, O Siblings of Destiny; hearing it, the mind and body become immaculately pure.

|| 4 || 2 || SORAT’H, FIFTH MEHL, DU-TUKAS: As long as this person believes in love and hate, it is difficult for him to meet the Lord. As long as he discriminates between himself and others, he will distance himself from the Lord. || 1 || O Lord, grant me such understanding, that I might serve the Holy Saints, and seek the protection of their feet, and not forget them, for a moment, even an instant. || Pause || O foolish, thoughtless and fickle mind, such understanding did not come into your heart. Renouncing the Lord of Life, you have become engrossed in other things, and you are involved with your enemies.

|| 2 || Sorrow does not afflict one who does not harbor self-conceit; in the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, I have attained this understanding. Know that the babbling of the faithless cynic is like wind passing by. || 3 || This mind is inundated by millions of sins – what can I say? Nanak, Your humble servant has come to Your Sanctuary, God; please, erase all his accounts.

|| 4 || 3 || SORAT’H, FIFTH MEHL: Children, spouses, men and women in one’s household, are all bound by Maya. At the very last moment, none of them shall stand by you; their love is totally false. || 1 || O man, why do you pamper your body so? It shall disperse like a cloud of smoke; vibrate upon the One, the Beloved Lord. || Pause || There are three ways in which the body can be consumed – it can be thrown into water, given to the dogs, or cremated to ashes. He considers himself to be immortal; he sits in his home, and forgets the Lord, the Cause of causes. || 2 || In various ways, the Lord has fashioned the beads, and strung them on a slender thread. The thread shall break, O wretched man, and then, you shall repent and regret.

|| 3 || He created you, and after creating you, He adorned you – meditate on Him day and night. God has showered His Mercy upon servant Nanak; I hold tight to the Support of the True Guru. || 4 || 4 || SORAT’H, FIFTH MEHL: I met the True Guru, by great good fortune, and my mind has been enlightened. No one else can equal me, because I have the loving support of my Lord and Master.

|| 1 || I am a sacrifice to my True Guru. I am at peace in this world, and I shall be in celestial peace in the next; my home is filled with bliss. || Pause || He is the Innerknower, the Searcher of hearts, the Creator, my Lord and Master. I have become fearless, attached to the Guru’s feet; I take the Support of the Name of the One Lord.

|| 2 || Fruitful is the Blessed Vision of His Darshan; the Form of God is deathless; He is and shall always be. He hugs His humble servants close, and protects and preserves them; their love for Him is sweet to Him. || 3 || Great is His glorious greatness, and wondrous is His magnificence; through Him, all affairs are resolved. Nanak has met with the Perfect Guru; all his sorrows have been dispelled. || 4 || 5 || SORAT’H, FIFTH MEHL: To the happy person, everyone seems happy; to the sick person, everyone seems sick. The Lord and Master acts, and causes us to act; union is in His Hands.

|| 1 || O my mind, no one appears to be mistaken, to one who has dispelled his own doubts; he realizes that everyone is God. || Pause || One whose mind is comforted in the Society of the Saints, believes that all are joyful. One whose mind is afflicted by the disease of egotism, cries out in birth and death.

|| 2 || Everything is clear to one whose eyes are blessed with the ointment of spiritual wisdom. In the darkness of spiritual ignorance, he sees nothing at all; he wanders around in reincarnation, over and over again. || 3 || Hear my prayer, O Lord and Master; Nanak begs for this happiness: whereever Your Holy Saints sing the Kirtan of Your Praises, let my mind be attached to that place.

|| 4 || 6 || SORAT’H, FIFTH MEHL: My body belongs to the Saints, my wealth belongs to the Saints, and my mind belongs to the Saints. By the Grace of the Saints, I meditate on the Lord’s Name, and then, all comforts come to me. || 1 || Without the Saints, there are no other givers.Whoever takes to the Sanctuary of the Holy Saints, is carried across. || Pause || Millions of sins are erased by serving the humble Saints, and singing the Glorious Praises of the Lord with love. One finds peace in this world, and one’s face is radiant in the next world, by associating with the humble Saints, through great good fortune.

|| 2 || I have only one tongue, and the Lord’s humble servant is filled with countless virtues; how can I sing his praises? The inaccessible, unapproachable and eternally unchanging Lord is obtained in the Sanctuary of the Saints. || 3 || I am worthless, lowly, without friends or support, and full of sins; I long for the Shelter of the Saints. I am drowning in the deep, dark pit of household attachments – please save me, Lord!

|| 4 || 7 || SORAT’H, FIFTH MEHL, FIRST HOUSE: O Creator Lord, You fulfill the desires of those, within whose heart You abide. Your slaves do not forget You; the dust of Your feet is pleasing to their minds.

|| 1 || Your Unspoken Speech cannot be spoken. O treasure of excellence, Giver of peace, Lord and Master, Your greatness is the highest of all. || Pause || The mortal does those deeds, and those alone, which You ordained by destiny. Your servant, whom You bless with Your service, is satisfied and fulfilled, beholding the Blessed Vision of Your Darshan. || 2 || You are contained in all, but he alone realizes this, whom You bless with understanding. By Guru’s Grace, his spiritual ignorance is dispelled, and he is respected everywhere.

|| 3 || He alone is spiritually enlightened, he alone is a meditator, and he alone is a man of good nature. Says Nanak, one unto whom the Lord becomes Merciful, does not forget the Lord from his mind.

|| 4 || 8 || SORAT’H, FIFTH MEHL: The whole creation is engrossed in emotional attachment; sometimes, one is high, and at other times, low. No one can be purified by any rituals or devices; they cannot reach their goal. || 1 || O my mind, emancipation is attained in the Sanctuary of the Holy Saints.Without the Perfect Guru, births and deaths do not cease, and one comes and goes, over and over again. || Pause || The whole world is entangled in what is called the delusion of doubt. The perfect devotee of the Primal Lord God remains detached from everything.

|| 2 || Don’t indulge in slander for any reason, for everything is the creation of the Lord and Master. One who is blessed with the Mercy of my God, dwells on the Name in the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy. || 3 || The Supreme Lord God, the Transcendent Lord, the True Guru, saves all. Says Nanak, without the Guru, no one crosses over; this is the perfect essence of all contemplation.

|| 4 || 9 || SORAT’H, FIFTH MEHL: I have searched and searched and searched, and found that the Lord’s Name is the most sublime reality. Contemplating it for even an instant, sins are erased; the Gurmukh is carried across and saved. || 1 || Drink in the sublime essence of the Lord’s Name, O man of spiritual wisdom. Listening to the Ambrosial Words of the Holy Saints, the mind finds absolute fulfillment and satisfaction. || Pause || Liberation, pleasures, and the true way of life are obtained from the Lord, the Giver of all peace. The Perfect Lord, the Architect of Destiny, blesses His slave with the gift of devotional worship. || 2 || Hear with your ears, and sing with your tongue, and meditate within your heart on Him. The Lord and Master is all-powerful, the Cause of causes; without Him, there is nothing at all.

|| 3 || By great good fortune, I have obtained the jewel of human life; have mercy on me, O Merciful Lord. In the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, Nanak sings the Glorious Praises of the Lord, and contemplates Him forever in meditation. || 4 || 10 || SORAT’H, FIFTH MEHL: After taking your cleansing bath, remember your God in meditation, and your mind and body shall be free of disease. Millions of obstacles are removed, in the Sanctuary of God, and good fortune dawns.

|| 1 || The Word of God’s Bani, and His Shabad, are the best utterances. So constantly sing them, listen to them, and read them, O Siblings of Destiny, and the Perfect Guru shall save you. || Pause || The glorious greatness of the True Lord is immeasurable; the Merciful Lord is the Lover of His devotees. He has preserved the honor of His Saints; from the very beginning of time, His Nature is to cherish them.

|| 2 || So eat the Ambrosial Name of the Lord as your food; put it into your mouth at all times. The pains of old age and death shall all depart, when you constantly sing the Glorious Praises of the Lord of the Universe.