Jubilation on spiritual victory :—
Joy! great joy! I have seen God.
I have tasted, I have tasted His sweet essence.
His sweet essence hath rained on my heart: through the kindness of the true Guru I have obtained composure.
Since the five enemies fled, my home hath become habitable, and I sing a song of rejoicing.
The holy saint being my intercessor, I am comforted and satisfied with the ambrosial Word.
Saith Nanak, when I saw God with mine eyes my heart was gratified with Him.
Highly adorned are my beautiful gates:
My continual guests are the beloved saints.
When I did homage to them and served them, they adjusted mine affairs.
God Himself is the Groomsman, He Himself is the Bridesman, He Himself is the priest, He Himself is the God of marriage.[1]
He Himself adjusteth His own affairs; He Himself sustaineth the world. [ p. 318 ]
Saith Nanak, when the Bridegroom sitteth at home with me adorned are my beautiful gates ;
The nine treasures in abundance then enter my house,
And I obtain everything, everything by meditating on the Name.
By meditation on the Name with composure and devotion God is ever my Helper.
My cares are at an end, my transmigration hath ceased, and my mind no longer feeleth anxiety. |
When I call out God’s name, spontaneous music playeth, and there is a scene of wondrous splendour.
Saith Nanak, when the Beloved is with me, I obtain the nine treasures.
All my brethren and friends became overjoyed
When I on meeting the Guru conquered in the very toilsome struggle of the arena ;
When on meeting the Guru I repeated God’s name, I conquered and the walls of the fortress of error were demolished.
I obtained the wealth of many treasures, and God stood by to assist me.
He whom God hath made His own possesseth divine knowledge, and is conspicuous among men.
Saith Nanak, the brethren and friends of him on whose side standeth God rejoice.
How man should love God :—
When water and milk are placed over a fire, the water alloweth not the milk to burn; O men, in that way love God.[2]
As the bumble-bee becometh entangled and intoxicated by the odour of the lotus, and leaveth it not even for a moment,
So relax not a whit thy love for God; dedicate to Him all thine ornaments and enjoyments.
Man in the company of the saints hath no fear of what is called the way of death where wailings are heard. [ p. 319 ]
Sing and meditate on God’s praises, and all thy sins and sorrows shall depart.
Saith Nanak, chant the song of God, O man, love Him and bear Him such affection in thy heart
As a fish beareth water ; it hath not a moment’s happiness out of it; such love bear God, O man.
The chatrik thirsty for raindrops chirrupeth every moment ‘ Rain, beautiful cloud ! ’
So love God, give Him thy soul and fix all thine attention on Him.
Be not proud, seek God’s protection, sacrifice thyself for a sight of Him.
The woman who hath true love for the Guru and with whom he is well pleased, shall meet her parted Spouse.
Saith Nanak, chant the song of the eternal God; love Him,
O my soul, and bear Him such affection
As the love of the sheldrake for the sun ; she feeleth much anxiety as to when she shall behold the day.
As the kokil in love with the mango sweetly singeth, so love God, O man:
Love God, be not proud, all are but guests of a single night.
Now why art thou, who camest and shalt depart naked, attached to and enamoured of the world ?
By entering the asylum of the feet of the pious, the worldly love thou feelest now shall depart, and stability be thine,
Saith Nanak, sing the chant of the Merciful Being, O man, and love God as the sheldrake watcheth for the day.
As the deer at night hearing the sound of the bell giveth its life; so, O man, bear love to God.
As a wife in love with her husband waiteth on her beloved ; so give thy heart to thy Darling :
So give thy heart to thy Darling, enjoy Him, and thou shalt obtain all happiness and bliss.
My friend, my Beloved, we have met after a very long time, and I have clothed myself in red.[3] [ p. 320 ]
When the Guru became the mediator, I saw God with mine eyes ; none appeareth to me like my Beloved.
Saith Nanak, chant the song of the compassionate and fascinating One; O man, grasp God’s feet and such love bear thou Him.
The great God to whom all creation is subject cannot be obtained by idle pilgrimages and ablutions :—
Of roaming and searching from forest to forest and of many ablutions [4] I have become very weary.
Nanak, when I met the holy man, I found God in my heart,
Whom countless munis and penitents seek for,
Whom millions of Brahmas worship, and whose name is uttered by men of divine knowledge ;
To meet whom, the Bright One, men perform devotion, penance, mortification, religious ceremonies, worship, many purifications and adorations,
Wander over the earth, and bathe at places of pilgrimage.
O God, men, forests, glades, beasts, and birds all worship il hee.
The merciful beloved God is found, O Nanak, and salvation obtained by meeting the society of the saints.
Millions of incarnations of Vishnu and of Shiv with the matted hair
Desire Thee, O merciful One; for Thee their souls and bodies feel endless longing.
The Lord is infinite and unapproachable, He is the allpervading God and Master.
Demigods, Sidhs, the crowd of celestial singers meditate on Thee; the Yakshas and Kinars utter Thy praises.
Millions of Indars and various gods repeat Thy name, O Lord, and hail Thee.
Thou art the Patron of the patronless, saith Nanak ; Thou art the compassionate ; associate me with the saints that I may be saved.[ p. 321 ]
Millions of Devis and Lakshmis serve Thee in divers ways.
Invisible and visible beings, wind, water, day and night adore Thee.
The stars, the moon, and the sun meditate on Thee; the earth and the heavens sing Thy praises.
All the sources of production and all articulate creatures ever meditate on Thee.
The Simritis, the Purans, the four Veds, and the six Shastars repeat Thy name.
Nanak, through the society of the saints meet the Purifier of sinners, to whom the saints are dear.
As much as God communicated to me, so much doth my tongue utter.
They who serve Thee unknown to me are without number.
Thou art the all-pervading, indefinalie, unfathomable Lord ; Thou art within and without all things.
We are beggars all, Thou alone art the Giver ; Thou art not far away ; nay, Thou art present and manifest.
Thou art in the power of Thy saints; how can their praises be recounted who meet Thee ?
May Nanak obtain the boon and honour to be allowed to place his head on the saints’ feet !
God confers bliss on those who love Him :—
Abiding is the marriage state of the saint ; her Spouse neither dieth nor departeth.
She who hath God for her Husband shall ever enjoy Him.
The Lord is indestructible and invisible; He is ever young and stainless.
He is not distant ; He is ever present ; He filleth every direction for ever and for ever.
He is the Lord of the soul from whom proceed salvation and wisdom ; I love the love of that Beloved.
Nanak expoundeth what he knoweth from the Guru’s instruction ; abiding is the married state of the saint ; her Spouse neither dieth nor departeth.
She who hath God for her Spouse enjoyeth great bliss.
Happy is such a woman, she is completely honoured :[ p. 322 ]
She enjoyeth honour, greatness, and happiness, she singeth God’s praises, and is ever with her great Lord.
She hath all perfections, the nine treasures ; her home is never empty, it containeth everything.
The married state of her whose speech is honeyed and who obeyeth her Beloved, shall ever be permanent.
Nanak expoundeth what he knoweth through the Guru’s instruction—she who hath God for her Spouse enjoyeth excessive bliss.
Come, my companions, to the holy man, and let us apply ourselves to his service.
Let us lay aside our pride, grind his corn, and wash his Leet:
Let us efface and not parade ourselves, and our troubles shall depart. .
Let us take the Guru’s protection, obey him, and be happy with whatsoever he doeth.
Let us do him the lowest service, dispel care, be wakeful and stand before him with clasped hands day and night.
Nanak expoundeth what he knoweth from the Guru’s instruction ; come, my companions, to the holy man, and let us apply ourselves to his service.
He on whose forehead such destiny hath been written applieth himself to the saints’ service.
The desires of him who hath obtained the company of the saints shall be fulfilled.
In the company of the saints are love of God and remembrance of His name.
The sins of superstition, worldly love, and duality all are abandoned by him,
In whose heart dwell peace, composure, and devotion ; he singeth God’s praises with joy and delight.
Nanak expoundeth what he knoweth through the Guru’s instruction—he on whose forehead such destiny hath been written, applieth himself to the saints’ service.
The Guru gives way to self-depreciation :—
I am a sinner, devoid of understanding and virtue, friendless and low,[ p. 323 ]
Foolish, hard-hearted, of mean birth, steeped in the mire of worldly love,
Enveloped in the filth of error, and in acts of pride and arrogance—the thought of death entereth not my heart.
Through spiritual ignorance I am entangled with domestic enjoyments and worldly love.
Youth fadeth away, age increaseth, Death which hovereth over me bideth his time.
Nanak representeth, my hope is in Thee, O God ; preserve me, lowly though I be, in the asylum of Thy saints.
I have wandered in many births and have suffered great pain in wombs.
Deeming enjoyments and gold delicious, I have become entangled with them.
Through transmigration I have been born innumerable times, and have wandered through many lands.
Now I have taken God’s protection, and obtained all comfort from His name.
O Protector, beloved Lord. by me nothing was or shall be effected.
Nanak hath obtained happiness, comfort, and joy through Thy mercy, and hath crossed over the ocean of the world.
God hath saved nominal saints: what fear have the real saints ?
In any case carefully listen to God’s praises.
By carefully listening to His word man obtaineth divine knowledge and the wealth of His name.
He becometh imbued with God’s love and singeth His praises.
Were the earth to become paper, the forests pens, and the wind a writer, |
The end of the Endless One could not be described ; Nanak hath grasped the protection of His feet.
The inward satisfaction obtained by devotion :— Day and night become pleasant by remembering God’s name. By love to His lotus feet wickedness and sin depart ; [ p. 324 ]
Pain, hunger, and poverty flee away, and man’s path appeareth clear.
When we meet the society of the saints and love the Name, the heart’s longings are satisfied.
By beholding God, man’s desires are fulfilled and his whole family saved.
Day and night, night and day, O Nanak, it is joy to remember God’s name.
The Guru prays for grace to remember God :—
To utter God’s name in the company of the spotless saints is a holy thought.
O God, saith Nanak, bestow mercy on me, that I may not forget Thy name for a moment !
The virtues of the man of pure life are conspicuous and God renders him happy. This chant is sung by Sikhs at marriages :—
The stars glitter on a clear night.[5]
Holy men the beloved of my Lord are awake ;
The beloved of my Lord are ever awake, and remember His name night and day.
They meditate in their hearts on His lotus feet, and forget Him not for a moment.
They renounce the mental sins of pride and worldly love, and efface the pain of wrong-doing.
Nanak representeth, the servants of God, the dear saints are ever awake.
My couch hath splendid trappings.
In my heart joy hath sprung up since I heard that my Lord was approaching.
On meeting my Lord I have entered on happiness and am filled with the essence of joy and delight.
He embraced me; my sorrows fled ; my soul, mind, and body all bloomed afresh.
I have obtained my heart’s desires by meditating on God ; the time of my union with Him I account auspicious.
Nanak representeth, when he met the Bearer of prosperity, the essence of all pleasure was prepared for him.[ p. 325 ]
My companions meeting me asked me to describe my Spouse.
I was so filled with the sweets of love that I could not speak.
The attributes of the Creator are deep, mysterious, and boundless ; the Veds have not found His limit.
She who meditateth on the Lord with devotion and love, who ever singeth His praises,
And is pleasing to her God, is full of all virtues and divine knowledge.
Nanak representeth, she who is dyed with the colour of God’s love shall be easily absorbed in Him.
When I began to sing songs of joy to God,
My friends became glad, my troubles and mine enemies fled away,
My happiness and comfort increased, I rejoiced in God’s name, and He Himself bestowed mercy on me.
I clung to His feet, and being ever wakeful I met Him.
Happy days came, I obtained peace with all treasures and was blended with God.
Nanak representeth, the saints of God are ever steadfast in seeking His protection.
Why should man fall away from God for the sake of short-lived pleasure ?>—
Rise and go, O traveller,[6] why delayest thou ?
Thine appointed time is complete; why covetest thou what is false ?
Thou covetest what is false, and by the deceit of Maya thou committest innumerable sins.
O wretched man, Death hath sought thee; thou shalt be overcome by him, and thy body shall be a heap of ashes.
Thou shalt depart leaving thy property and youth; no more shalt thou have clothing and food.
Saith Nanak, thine acts shall accompany thee, their effects cannot be effaced.
Instead of pleasure there ever resulteth pain from the commission of sin. [ p. 326 ]
Lo! as the deer is snared on a moonlight night,[7]
So the sins thou hast committed shall not forsake thee ; they shall lead thee away with a halter round thy neck.
Thou art deceived by a mirage ; thou embracest an unsubstantial lover ;
Thou art intoxicated with avarice, greed, and conceit ; thou art brimful of pride.
Nanak, man like the deer is destroyed by his ignorance, and his transmigration ceaseth not.
The fly is caught in the sweets—how can it take flight ?
The elephant falleth into a pit—how can it escape ?
It will be difficult for her to escape who remembereth not her Spouse even for a moment.
Her sufferings and punishment cannot be reckoned ; she shall obtain the fruit of her own acts
What she hath done in secret shall become manifest ; she shall be ruined in this world and the next.
Nanak, without the true Guru the proud self-willed man is ruined.
God’s servants live by clinging to His feet.
The Lord embraceth those who seek His protection.
He giveth them strength, understanding, divine knowledge and meditation; He Himself causeth them to utter His name.
God Himself is the society of His saints: it is He who saveth the world.
The Preserver ever preserveth those whose acts are pure ;
Nanak, they shall never go to hell; God’s saints are under His protection.
Man cannot hide his sins from God :—
What man doeth either by day or night shall be recorded on his forehead.
He from whom man seeketh to conceal his acts is with him and seeth them :
The Creator is with him and seeth them; why committeth he sin ?
Do good acts, repeat the Name, and thou shalt never go to hell. [ p. 327 ]
During the eight watches of the day repeat God’s name, and it shall accompany thee.
Ever worship in the company of the saints, O Nanak, and the sins thou hast committed shall be blotted out.
By violence and fraud thou fillest thy belly, O ignorant fool,
Although Godthe Giver continueth to give thee everything.
The compassionate Lord is ever the Bestower ; why forget Him ? _
Join the society of the saints and boldly worship God, so shall thy whole family be saved.
The Name is the support of the sidhs, the strivers, the gods, the munis, and the saints.
Nanak representeth, ever worship God the sole Creator.
Cheat no one; God assayeth everything.
They who practise falsehood and deception shall be born again in this world,
While those who have meditated on the one God have crossed over its ocean ;
Having abandoned lust, wrath, and blame of the blameless, they have entered the sanctuary of the Lord.
God pervadeth sea and land, the nether regions, and the firmament: He is exalted, inaccessible, and infinite.
Nanak representeth, God is the prop of His servants : His lotus feet are their support.
Lo! the world is a phantom city ; nothing is durable.
The enjoyments of the world shall not accompany thee.
God is ever with thee ; remember Him day and night.
Beside the one God there is none: burn the love of worldly things.
Deem that God in thy heart as thy friend, thy youth, thy wealth, thine all.
Nanak representeth, he who obtaineth God by great good fortune entereth on happiness and rest.
The effect of worldly love on man and other animals :—
The illusion of mammon is terrible,[8] the illusion of mammon [ p. 328 ] is terrible ; alas! great is its intoxication, it perverteth men’s natures, and their lives, alas! pass in vain.
In the deep and awful forest, in the deep and awful forest, alas! the thieves of the soul rob the house[9] in broad daylight, and night and day eat the plunder.[10]
By night and day they eat the plunder; life passeth away without God; come to me, O God, Thou Lord of mercy.
Without the companionship of the Beloved many births and deaths have taken place, and there is no salvation.
I am without family, beauty, distinction, or divine knowledge ; who is my cherisher but Thee, O God ?
With clasped hands Nanak hath entered Thy sanctuary ; O beloved Lord, grant him salvation.
Alas! as a fish out of water, a fish out of water dieth by separation from it, so how can I live without the Beloved ?
The deer faceth the arrow, it faceth the arrow, alas! it sacrificeth its life while absorbed in the pleasure of listening to the hunter’s bell.
Love to the Beloved hath sprung up within me: I have abandoned the world to meet Him: curses on the body which remaineth for one moment without Him !
Mine eyelids close not ; I am absorbed in the love of the Dear One; my mind anxiously looketh for Him night and day.
They who are imbued with God’s love and intoxicated with the Name, lose all fear, doubt, and worldly love.
Bestow mercy and compassion, O Thou compassionate, all-pervading God, that Nanak may be absorbed in Thy love.
The bumble-bee is humming, the bumble-bee is humming ; alas! intoxicated with the savour and odour of the honey of the flowers,[11] it entangleth itself in its love for the lotus.
The heart of the chatrik thirsteth, the heart of the chatrik [ p. 329 ] thirsteth ; its heart longeth for the beautiful cloud-drops ; when it drinketh all its fever departeth.
O Destroyer of fear, O Destroyer of sorrow, come to me: my soul and body feel for Thee excessive love.
Beautiful, clever, wise Lord, with what tongue shall I utter Thy praise ?
Take me by the hand, give me Thy name: he on whom Thou lookest with favour hath his sins erased.
Saith Nanak, he who beholdeth God the Purifier of sinners feeleth no pain.
I think of the Lord, I think of the Lord; me friendless preserve in Thine asylum: I delight to meet Thee who giveth delight to my soul.
I meditate on Thy beautiful form, I meditate on Thy beautiful form ; my soul longeth for a knowledge of Thee, O God, who preserveth the honour of Thy suppliants.
God who bestoweth full honour and destroyeth sorrow hath fulfilled all my desires.
Happy was that day when God embraced me : on meeting my Spouse my couch was adorned.
God casting a glance of favour on me, all my sins have been erased.
Nanak representeth, my desires have been fulfilled. I have found the Bearer of prosperity, the Treasury of excellences.
The Brahmans when celebrating marriages worship different gods and planets. ↩︎
The Guru’s meaning is that manthe water should sacrifice himself for God and God, the milk would blend him with Himself. ↩︎
Put on red clothes, and dyed my lips, hands, feet, &c. Red is worn by married women, but never by widows. ↩︎
Avgah. The gyanis translate this word search, but it is a not uncommon Sanskrit word bearing the meaning given. ↩︎
Night is here explained by human life, and the stars by virtues. ↩︎
The soul. ↩︎
When hunters are out and snares are laid. ↩︎
Also translated—A wall between God and man. ↩︎
In this world the deadly sins take possession of the heart. ↩︎
The gyanis translate—The sun eats men night and day, that is, time consumes man’s life. ↩︎
Man enjoys earthly pleasures. ↩︎