CONTD FROM Vol 8 ISSUE 41

|| 2 || 21 || 85 || SORAT’H, FIFTH MEHL: The Lord abides in my mind and body. Everyone congratulates me on my victory. This is the glorious greatness of the Perfect Guru. His value cannot be described. || 1 || I am a sacrifice to Your Name. He alone, whom You have forgiven, O my Beloved, sings Your Praises.

|| 1 || Pause || You are my Great Lord and Master. You are the support of the Saints. Nanak has entered God’s Sanctuary. The faces of the slanderers are blackened with ashes. || 2 || 22 || 86 || SORAT’H, FIFTH MEHL: Peace in this world, O my friends, and bliss in the world hereafter – God has given me this. The Transcendent Lord has arranged these arrangements; I shall never waver again.

|| 1 || My mind is pleased with the True Lord Master. I know the Lord to be pervading all. || 1 || Pause || All beings are Yours, O Merciful Lord. You cherish Your devotees. Your glorious greatness is wonderful and marvellous. Nanak ever meditates on the Naam, the Name of the Lord. || 2 || 23 || 87 || SORAT’H, FIFTH MEHL: The Lord is always with me. The Messenger of Death does not approach me. God holds me close in His embrace, and protects me. True are the Teachings of the True Guru.

|| 1 || The Perfect Guru has done it perfectly. He has beaten and driven off my enemies, and given me, His slave, the sublime understanding of the neutral mind. || 1 || Pause || God has blessed all places with prosperity. I have returned again safe and sound. Nanak has entered God’s Sanctuary. It has eradicated all disease. || 2 || 24 || 88 || SORAT’H, FIFTH MEHL: The True Guru is the Giver of all peace and comfort – seek His Sanctuary. Beholding the Blessed Vision of His Darshan, bliss ensues, pain is dispelled, and one sings the Lord’s Praises.

|| 1 || Drink in the sublime essence of the Lord, O Siblings of Destiny. Chant the Naam, the Name of the Lord; worship the Naam in adoration, and enter the Sanctuary of the Perfect Guru. || Pause || Only one who has such pre-ordained destiny receives it; he alone becomes perfect, O Siblings of Destiny. Nanak’s prayer, O Dear God, is to remain lovingly absorbed in the Naam.

|| 2 || 25 || 89 || SORAT’H, FIFTH MEHL: The Lord is the Cause of Causes, the Innerknower, the Searcher of hearts; He preserves the honor of His servant. He is hailed and congratulated throughout the world, and he tastes the sublime essence of the Word of the Guru’s Shabad. || 1 || Dear God, Lord of the world, You are my only support. You are all-powerful, the Giver of Sanctuary; twenty-four hours a day, I meditate on You. || Pause || That humble being, who vibrates upon You, O God, is not afflicted by anxiety. Attached to the Feet of the True Guru, his fear is dispelled, and within his mind, he sings the Glorious Praises of the Lord.

|| 2 || He abides in celestial peace and utter ecstasy; the True Guru has comforted him. He has returned home victorious, with honor, and his hopes have been fulfilled. || 3 || Perfect are the Teachings of the Perfect Guru; Perfect are the actions of God. Grasping hold of the Guru’s feet, Nanak has crossed over the terrifying world-ocean, chanting the Name of the Lord, Har, Har.

|| 4 || 26 || 90 || SORAT’H, FIFTH MEHL: Becoming merciful, the Destroyer of the pains of the poor has Himself devised all devices. In an instant, He has saved His humble servant; the Perfect Guru has cut away his bonds. || 1 || O my mind, meditate forever on the Guru, the Lord of the Universe. All illness shall depart from this body, and you shall obtain the fruits of your mind’s desires. || Pause || God created all beings and creatures; He is lofty, inaccessible and infinite. In the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, Nanak meditates on the Naam, the Name of the Lord; his face is radiant in the Court of the Lord.

|| 2 || 27 || 91 || SORAT’H, FIFTH MEHL: I meditate in remembrance on my Lord. Day and night, I ever meditate on Him. He gave me His hand, and protected me. I drink in the most sublime essence of the Lord’s Name. || 1 || I am a sacrifice to my Guru. God, the Great Giver, the Perfect One, has become merciful to me, and now, all are kind to me. || Pause || Servant Nanak has entered His Sanctuary. He has perfectly preserved his honor. All suffering has been dispelled. So enjoy peace, O my Siblings of Destiny!

|| 2 || 28 || 92 || SORAT’H, FIFTH MEHL: Hear my prayer, O my Lord and Master; all beings and creatures were created by You. You preserve the honor of Your Name, O Lord, Cause of causes. || 1 || O Dear God, Beloved, please, make me Your own. Whether good or bad, I am Yours. || Pause || The Almighty Lord and Master heard my prayer; cutting away my bonds, He has adorned me. He dressed me in robes of honor, and blended His servant with Himself; Nanak is revealed in glory throughout the world.

|| 2 || 29 || 93 || SORAT’H, FIFTH MEHL: All beings and creatures are subservient to all those who serve in the Lord’s Court. Their God made them His own, and carried them across the terrifying world-ocean. || 1 || He resolves all the affairs of His Saints. He is merciful to the meek, kind and compassionate, the ocean of kindness, my Perfect Lord and Master. || Pause || I am asked to come and be seated, everywhere I go, and I lack nothing. The Lord blesses His humble devotee with robes of honor; O Nanak, the Glory of God is manifest.

|| 2 || 30 || 94 || SORAT’H, NINTH MEHL: ONE UNIVERSAL CREATOR GOD. BY THE GRACE OF THE TRUE GURU: O mind, love the Lord.With your ears, hear the Glorious Praises of the Lord of the Universe, and with your tongue, sing His song. || 1 || Pause || Join the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, and meditate in remembrance on the Lord; even a sinner like yourself will become pure. Death is on the prowl, with its mouth wide open, friend. || 1 || Today or tomorrow, eventually it will seize you; understand this in your consciousness. Says Nanak, meditate, and vibrate upon the Lord; this opportunity is slipping away!

|| 2 || 1 || SORAT’H, NINTH MEHL: The mind remains in the mind. He does not meditate on the Lord, nor does he perform service at sacred shrines, and so death seizes him by the hair. || 1 || Pause || Wife, friends, children, carriages, property, total wealth, the entire world – know that all of these things are false. The Lord’s meditation alone is true. || 1 || Wandering, wandering around for so many ages, he has grown weary, and finally, he obtained this human body. Says Nanak, this is the opportunity to meet the Lord; why don’t you remember Him in meditation?

|| 2 || 2 || SORAT’H, NINTH MEHL: O mind, what evil-mindedness have you developed? You are engrossed in the pleasures of other men’s wives, and slander; you have not worshipped the Lord at all. || 1 || Pause || You do not know the way to liberation, but you run all around chasing wealth. In the end, nothing shall go along with you; you have entrapped yourself in vain. || 1 || You have not meditated or vibrated upon the Lord; you have not served the Guru, or His humble servants; spiritual wisdom has not welled up within you. The Immaculate Lord is within your heart, and yet you search for Him in the wilderness.

|| 2 || Now that you have obtained this human body, meditate on the Lord’s Feet; Nanak advises with this advice. || 3 || 3 || SORAT’H, NINTH MEHL: O mind, contemplate the Sanctuary of God. Meditating on Him in remembrance, Ganika the prostitute was saved; enshrine His Praises within your heart. || 1 || Pause || Meditating on Him in remembrance, Dhroo became immortal, and obtained the state of fearlessness. The Lord and Master removes suffering in this way – why have you forgotten Him?

|| 1 || As soon as the elephant took to the protective Sanctuary of the Lord, the ocean of mercy, he escaped from the crocodile. How much can I describe the Glorious Praises of the Naam? Whoever chants the Lord’s Name, his bonds are broken. || 2 || Ajaamal, known throughout the world as a sinner, was redeemed in an instant. Says Nanak, remember the Chintaamani, the jewel which fulfills all desires, and you too shall be carried across and saved.

|| 3 || 4 || SORAT’H, NINTH MEHL: What efforts should the mortal make, to attain devotional worship of the Lord, and eradicate the fear of death? || 1 || Pause || Which actions, what sort of knowledge, and what religion – what Dharma should one practice? What Name of the Guru should one remember in meditation, to cross over the terrifying world-ocean? || 1 || In this Dark Age of Kali Yuga, the Name of the One Lord is the treasure of mercy; chanting it, one obtains salvation. No other religion is comparable to this; so speak the Vedas. || 2 || He is beyond pain and pleasure, forever unattached; He is called the Lord of the world. He dwells deep within your inner self, O Nanak, like the image in a mirror.

|| 3 || 5 || SORAT’H, NINTH MEHL: O mother, how can I see the Lord of the world? In the utter darkness of emotional attachment and spiritual ignorance, my mind remains entangled. || 1 || Pause || Deluded by doubt, I have wasted my whole life; I have not obtained a stable intellect. I remain under the influence of corrupting sins, night and day, and I have not renounced wickedness. || 1 || I never joined the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, and I did not sing the Kirtan of God’s Praises. O servant Nanak, I have no virtues at all; keep me in Your Sanctuary, Lord.

|| 2 || 6 || SORAT’H, NINTH MEHL: O mother, my mind is out of control. Night and day, it runs after sin and corruption. How can I restrain it? || 1 || Pause || He listens to the teachings of the Vedas, the Puraanas and the Simritees, but he does not enshrine them in his heart, even for an instant. Engrossed in the wealth and women of others, his life passes away uselessly. || 1 || He has gone insane with the wine of Maya, and does not understand even a bit of spiritual wisdom. Deep within his heart, the Immaculate Lord dwells, but he does not know this secret.

|| 2 || When I came to the Sanctuary of the Holy Saints, all my evilmindedness was dispelled. Then, O Nanak, I remembered the Chintaamani, the jewel which fulfills all desires, and the noose of Death was snapped. || 3 || 7 || SORAT’H, NINTH MEHL: O man, grasp this Truth firmly in your soul. The whole world is just like a dream; it will pass away in an instant. || 1 || Pause || Like a wall of sand, built up and plastered with great care, which does not last even a few days, just so are the pleasures of Maya. Why are you entangled in them, you ignorant fool?

|| 1 || Understand this today – it is not yet too late! Chant and vibrate the Name of the Lord. Says Nanak, this is the subtle wisdom of the Holy Saints, which I proclaim out loud to you. || 2 || 8 || SORAT’H, NINTH MEHL: In this world, I have not found any true friend. The whole world is attached to its own pleasures, and when trouble comes, no one is with you. || 1 || Pause || Wives, friends, children and relatives – all are attached to wealth. When they see a poor man, they all forsake his company and run away.

TO BE CONTINUED