CONTD FROM Vol 8 ISSUE 47

|| 2 || PAUREE: Those who are permeated by falsehood, do not love the Truth. If someone speaks the Truth, falsehood is burnt away. The false are satisfied by falsehood, like the crows who eat manure. When the Lord grants His Grace, then one meditates on the Naam, the Name of the Lord. As Gurmukh, worship the Lord’s Name in adoration; fraud and sin shall disappear.

|| 10 || SHALOK, THIRD MEHL: O Shaykh, you wander in the four directions, blown by the four winds; bring your mind back to the home of the One Lord. Renounce your petty arguments, and realize the Word of the Guru’s Shabad. Bow in humble respect before the True Guru; He is the Knower who knows everything. Burn away your hopes and desires, and live like a guest in this world. If you walk in harmony with the True Guru’s Will, then you shall be honored in the Court of the Lord. O Nanak, those who do not contemplate the Naam, the Name of the Lord – cursed are their clothes, and cursed is their food.

|| 1 || THIRD MEHL: There is no end to the Lord’s Glorious Praises; His worth cannot be described. O Nanak, the Gurmukhs chant the Glorious Praises of the Lord; they are absorbed in His Glorious Virtues.

|| 2 || PAUREE: The Lord has adorned the coat of the body; He has embroidered it with devotional worship. The Lord has woven His silk into it, in so many ways and fashions. How rare is that man of understanding, who understands, and deliberates within. He alone understands these deliberations, whom the Lord Himself inspires to understand. Poor servant Nanak speaks: the Gurmukhs know the Lord, the Lord is True.

|| 11 || SHALOK, THIRD MEHL: Great men speak the teachings by relating them to individual situations, but the whole world shares in them. One who becomes Gurmukh knows the Fear of God, and realizes his own self. If, by Guru’s Grace, one remains dead while yet alive, the mind becomes content in itself. Those who have no faith in their own minds, O Nanak – how can they speak of spiritual wisdom?

|| 1 || THIRD MEHL: Those who do not focus their consciousness on the Lord, as Gurmukh, suffer pain and grief in the end. They are blind, inwardly and outwardly, and they do not understand anything. O Pandit, O religious scholar, the whole world is fed for the sake of those who are attuned to the Lord’s Name. Those who praise the Word of the Guru’s Shabad, remain blended with the Lord. O Pandit, O religious scholar, no one is satisfied, and no one finds true wealth through the love of duality. They have grown weary of reading scriptures, but still, they do not find contentment, and they pass their lives burning, night and day. Their cries and complaints never end, and doubt does not depart from within them. O Nanak, without the Naam, the Name of the Lord, they rise up and depart with blackened faces.

|| 2 || PAUREE: O Beloved, lead me to meet my True Friend; meeting with Him, I shall ask Him to show me the Path. I am a sacrifice to that Friend, who shows it to me. I share His Virtues with Him, and meditate on the Lord’s Name. I serve my Beloved Lord forever; serving the Lord, I have found peace. I am a sacrifice to the True Guru, who has imparted this understanding to me.

|| 12 || SHALOK, THIRD MEHL: O Pandit, O religious scholar, your filth shall not be erased, even if you read the Vedas for four ages. The three qualities are the roots of Maya; in egotism, one forgets the Naam, the Name of the Lord. The Pandits are deluded, attached to duality, and they deal only in Maya. They are filled with thirst and hunger; the ignorant fools starve to death. Serving the True Guru, peace is obtained, contemplating the True Word of the Shabad. Hunger and thirst have departed from within me; I am in love with the True Name. O Nanak, those who are imbued with the Naam, who keep the Lord clasped tightly to their hearts, are automatically satisfied.

|| 1 || THIRD MEHL: The selfwilled manmukh does not serve the Lord’s Name, and so he suffers in horrible pain. He is filled with the darkness of ignorance, and he does not understand anything. Because of his stubborn mind, he does not plant the seeds of intuitive peace; what will he eat in the world hereafter, to satisfy his hunger? He has forgotten the treasure of the Naam; he is caught in the love of duality. O Nanak, the Gurmukhs are honored with glory, when the Lord Himself unites them in His Union.

|| 2 || PAUREE: The tongue which sings the Lord’s Praises, is so very beautiful. One who speaks the Lord’s Name, with mind, body and mouth, is pleasing to the Lord. That Gurmukh tastes the the sublime taste of the Lord, and is satisfied. She sings continually the Glorious Praises of her Beloved; singing His Glorious Praises, she is uplifted. She is blessed with the Lord’s Mercy, and she chants the Words of the Guru, the True Guru.

|| 13 || SHALOK, THIRD MEHL: The elephant offers its head to the reins, and the anvil offers itself to the hammer; just so, we offer our minds and bodies to our Guru; we stand before Him, and serve Him. This is how the Gurmukhs eliminate their self-conceit, and come to rule the whole world. O Nanak, the Gurmukh understands, when the Lord casts His Glance of Grace.

|| 1 || THIRD MEHL: Blessed and approved is the coming into the world, of those Gurmukhs who meditate on the Naam, the Name of the Lord. O Nanak, they save their families, and they are honored in the Court of the Lord. || 2 || PAUREE: The Guru unites His Sikhs, the Gurmukhs, with the Lord. The Guru keeps some of them with Himself, and engages others in His Service. Those who cherish their Beloved in their conscious minds, the Guru blesses them with His Love. The Guru loves all of His Gursikhs equally well, like friends, children and siblings. So chant the Name of the Guru, the True Guru, everyone! Chanting the Name of the Guru, Guru, you shall be rejuvenated.

|| 14 || SHALOK, THIRD MEHL: O Nanak, the blind, ignorant fools do not remember the Naam, the Name of the Lord; they involve themselves in other activities. They are bound and gagged at the door of the Messenger of Death; they are punished, and in the end, they rot away in manure.

|| 1 || THIRD MEHL: O Nanak, those humble beings are true and approved, who serve their True Guru. They remain absorbed in the Name of the Lord, and their comings and goings cease.

|| 2 || PAUREE: Gathering the wealth and property of Maya, brings only pain in the end. Homes, mansions and adorned palaces will not go with anyone. He may breed horses of various colors, but these will not be of any use to him. O human, link your consciousness to the Lord’s Name, and in the end, it shall be your companion and helper. Servant Nanak meditates on the Naam, the Name of the Lord; the Gurmukh is blessed with peace.

|| 15 || SHALOK, THIRD MEHL: Without the karma of good actions, the Name is not obtained; it can be obtained only by perfect good karma. O Nanak, if the Lord casts His Glance of Grace, then under Guru’s Instruction, one is united in His Union.

|| 1 || FIRST MEHL: Some are cremated, and some are buried; some are eaten by dogs. Some are thrown into water, while others are thrown into wells. O Nanak, it is not known, where they go and into what they merge.

|| 2 || PAUREE: The food and clothes, and all the worldly possessions of those who are attuned to the Lord’s Name are sacred. All the homes, temples, palaces and waystations are sacred, where the Gurmukhs, the selfless servants, the Sikhs and the renouncers of the world, go and take their rest. All the horses, saddles and horse blankets are sacred, upon which the Gurmukhs, the Sikhs, the Holy and the Saints, mount and ride. All the rituals and Dharmic practices and deeds are sacred, for those who utter the Name of the Lord, Har, Har, the True Name of the Lord. Those Gurmukhs, those Sikhs, who have purity as their treasure, go to their Guru.

|| 16 || SHALOK, THIRD MEHL: O Nanak, forsaking the Name, he loses everything, in this world and the next. Chanting, deep meditation and austere self-disciplined practices are all wasted; he is deceived by the love of duality. He is bound and gagged at the door of the Messenger of Death. He is beaten, and receives terrible punishment.

|| 1 || THIRD MEHL: They inflict their hatred upon the Saints, and they love the wicked sinners. They find no peace in either this world or the next; they are born only to die, again and again. Their hunger is never satisfied, and they are ruined by duality. The faces of these slanderers are blackened in the Court of the True Lord. O Nanak, without the Naam, they find no shelter on either this shore, or the one beyond.

|| 2 || PAUREE: Those who meditate on the Lord’s Name, are imbued with the Name of the Lord, Har, Har, in their minds. For those who worship the One Lord in their conscious minds, there is no other than the One Lord. They alone serve the Lord, upon whose foreheads such preordained destiny is written. They continually sing the Glorious Praises of the Lord, and singing the Glories of the Glorious Lord, they are uplifted. Great is the greatness of the Gurmukhs, who, through the Perfect Guru, remain absorbed in the Lord’s Name.

|| 17 || SHALOK, THIRD MEHL: It is very difficult to serve the True Guru; offer your head, and eradicate self-conceit. One who dies in the Word of the Shabad shall never have to die again; his service is totally approved. Touching the philosopher’s stone, one becomes the philosopher’s stone, which transforms lead into gold; remain lovingly attached to the True Lord. One who has such pre-ordained destiny, comes to meet the True Guru and God. O Nanak, the Lord’s servant does not meet Him because of his own account; he alone is acceptable, whom the Lord forgives.

|| 1 || THIRD MEHL: The fools do not know the difference between good and bad; they are deceived by their selfinterests. But if they contemplate the Word of the Shabad, they obtain the Mansion of the Lord’s Presence, and their light merges in the Light. The Fear of God is always on their minds, and so they come to understand everything. The True Guru is pervading the homes within; He Himself blends them with the Lord. O Nanak, they meet the True Guru, and all their desires are fulfilled, if the Lord grants His Grace and so wills.

|| 2 || PAUREE: Blessed, blessed is the good fortune of those devotees, who, with their mouths, utter the Name of the Lord. Blessed, blessed is the good fortune of those Saints, who, with their ears, listen to the Lord’s Praises. Blessed, blessed is the good fortune of those holy people, who sing the Kirtan of the Lord’s Praises, and so become virtuous. Blessed, blessed is the good fortune of those Gurmukhs, who live as Gursikhs, and conquer their minds. But the greatest good fortune of all, is that of the Guru’s Sikhs, who fall at the Guru’s feet.

|| 18 || SHALOK, THIRD MEHL: One who knows God, and who lovingly focuses his attention on the One Word of the Shabad, keeps his spirituality intact. The nine treasures and the eighteen spiritual powers of the Siddhas follow him, who keeps the Lord enshrined in his heart. Without the True Guru, the Name is not found; understand this, and reflect upon it. O Nanak, through perfect good destiny, one meets the True Guru, and finds peace, throughout the four ages.

TO BE CONTINUED