Selections from the Guru Granth Sahib · 111 of 228
Raag Gauree: The Word of the Devotees
Raag Gauree, The Word Of The Devotees:
One Universal Creator God. Truth Is The Name. Creative Being Personified. By Guru’s Grace:
Gauree Gwaarayree, Fourteen Chau-Padas Of Kabeer Jee:
I was on fire, but now I have found the Water of the Lord’s Name.
This Water of the Lord’s Name has cooled my burning body. ||1||Pause||
To subdue their minds, some go off into the forests;
but that Water is not found without the Lord God. ||1||
That fire has consumed angels and mortal beings, but the Water of the Lord’s Name saves His humble servants from burning. ||2||
In the terrifying world-ocean, there is an ocean of peace.
I continue to drink it in, but this Water is never exhausted. ||3||
Says Kabeer, meditate and vibrate upon the Lord, like the rainbird remembering the water.
The Water of the Lord’s Name has quenched my thirst. ||4||1||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
O Lord, my thirst for the Water of Your Name will not go away.
The fire of my thirst burns even more brightly in that Water. ||1||Pause||
You are the Ocean of Water, and I am just a fish in that Water.
In that Water, I remain; without that Water, I would perish. ||1||
You are the cage, and I am Your parrot.
So what can the cat of death do to me? ||2||
You are the tree, and I am the bird.
I am so unfortunate - I cannot see the Blessed Vision of Your Darshan! ||3||
Section 07 - Raag Gauree - Part 174 You are the True Guru, and I am Your new disciple.
Says Kabeer, O Lord, please meet me - this is my very last chance! ||4||2||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
When I realize that there is One, and only One Lord, why then should the people be upset? ||1||
I am dishonored; I have lost my honor.
No one should follow in my footsteps. ||1||Pause||
I am bad, and bad in my mind as well.
I have no partnership with anyone. ||2||
I have no shame about honor or dishonor.
But you shall know, when your own false covering is laid bare. ||3||
Says Kabeer, honor is that which is accepted by the Lord.
Give up everything - meditate, vibrate upon the Lord alone. ||4||3||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
If Yoga could be obtained by wandering around naked, then all the deer of the forest would be liberated. ||1||
What does it matter whether someone goes naked, or wears a deer skin, if he does not remember the Lord within his soul? ||1||Pause||
If the spiritual perfection of the Siddhas could be obtained by shaving the head, then why haven’t sheep found liberation? ||2||
If someone could save himself by celibacy, O Siblings of Destiny, why then haven’t eunuchs obtained the state of supreme dignity? ||3||
Says Kabeer, listen, O men, O Siblings of Destiny:
without the Lord’s Name, who has ever found salvation? ||4||4||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
Those who take their ritual baths in the evening and the morning are like the frogs in the water. ||1||
When people do not love the Lord’s Name, they must all go to the Righteous Judge of Dharma. ||1||Pause||
Those who love their bodies and try different looks, do not feel compassion, even in dreams. ||2||
The wise men call them four-footed creatures;
the Holy find peace in this ocean of pain. ||3||
Says Kabeer, why do you perform so many rituals?
Renounce everything, and drink in the supreme essence of the Lord. ||4||5||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
What use is chanting, and what use is penance, fasting or devotional worship, to one whose heart is filled with the love of duality? ||1||
O humble people, link your mind to the Lord.
Through cleverness, the four-armed Lord is not obtained. ||Pause||
Set aside your greed and worldly ways.
Set aside sexual desire, anger and egotism. ||2||
Ritual practices bind people in egotism;
meeting together, they worship stones. ||3||
Says Kabeer, He is obtained only by devotional worship.
Through innocent love, the Lord is met. ||4||6||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
In the dwelling of the womb, there is no ancestry or social status.
All have originated from the Seed of God. ||1||
Tell me, O Pandit, O religious scholar: since when have you been a Brahmin?
Don’t waste your life by continually claiming to be a Brahmin. ||1||Pause||
If you are indeed a Brahmin, born of a Brahmin mother, then why didn’t you come by some other way? ||2||
How is it that you are a Brahmin, and I am of a low social status?
How is it that I am formed of blood, and you are made of milk? ||3||
Says Kabeer, one who contemplates God, is said to be a Brahmin among us. ||4||7||
Section 07 - Raag Gauree - Part 175 Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
In the darkness, no one can sleep in peace.
The king and the pauper both weep and cry. ||1||
As long as the tongue does not chant the Lord’s Name, the person continues coming and going in reincarnation, crying out in pain. ||1||Pause||
It is like the shadow of a tree;
when the breath of life passes out of the mortal being, tell me, what becomes of his wealth? ||2||
It is like the music contained in the instrument;
how can anyone know the secret of the dead? ||3||
Like the swan on the lake, death hovers over the body.
Drink in the Lord’s sweet elixir, Kabeer. ||4||8||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
The creation is born of the Light, and the Light is in the creation.
It bears two fruits: the false glass and the true pearl. ||1||
Where is that home, which is said to be free of fear?
There, fear is dispelled and one lives without fear. ||1||Pause||
On the banks of sacred rivers, the mind is not appeased.
People remain entangled in good and bad deeds. ||2||
Sin and virtue are both the same.
In the home of your own being, is the Philosopher’s Stone; renounce your search for any other virtue. ||3||
Kabeer: O worthless mortal, do not lose the Naam, the Name of the Lord.
Keep this mind of yours involved in this involvement. ||4||9||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
He claims to know the Lord, who is beyond measure and beyond thought;
by mere words, he plans to enter heaven. ||1||
I do not know where heaven is.
Everyone claims that he plans to go there. ||1||Pause||
By mere talk, the mind is not appeased.
The mind is only appeased, when egotism is conquered. ||2||
As long as the mind is filled with the desire for heaven, he does not dwell at the Lord’s Feet. ||3||
Says Kabeer, unto whom should I tell this?
The Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, is heaven. ||4||10||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
We are born, and we grow, and having grown, we pass away.
Before our very eyes, this world is passing away. ||1||
How can you not die of shame, claiming, “This world is mine”?
At the very last moment, nothing is yours. ||1||Pause||
Trying various methods, you cherish your body, but at the time of death, it is burned in the fire. ||2||
You apply sandalwood oil to your limbs, but that body is burned with the firewood. ||3||
Says Kabeer, listen, O virtuous people:
your beauty shall vanish, as the whole world watches. ||4||11||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
Why do you cry and mourn, when another person dies?
Do so only if you yourself are to live. ||1||
I shall not die as the rest of the world dies, for now I have met the life-giving Lord. ||1||Pause||
People anoint their bodies with fragrant oils, and in that pleasure, they forget the supreme bliss. ||2||
There is one well, and five water-carriers.
Even though the rope is broken, the fools continue trying to draw water. ||3||
Says Kabeer, through contemplation, I have obtained this one understanding.
There is no well, and no water-carrier. ||4||12||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
The mobile and immobile creatures, insects and moths
- in numerous lifetimes, I have passed through those many forms. ||1||
Section 07 - Raag Gauree - Part 176 I lived in many such homes, O Lord, before I came into the womb this time. ||1||Pause||
I was a Yogi, a celibate, a penitent, and a Brahmchaaree, with strict self-discipline.
Sometimes I was a king, sitting on the throne, and sometimes I was a beggar. ||2||
The faithless cynics shall die, while the Saints shall all survive.
They drink in the Lord’s Ambrosial Essence with their tongues. ||3||
Says Kabeer, O God, have mercy on me.
I am so tired; now, please bless me with Your perfection. ||4||13||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee, With Writings Of The Fifth Mehl:
Kabeer has seen such wonders!
Mistaking it for cream, the people are churning water. ||1||Pause||
The donkey grazes upon the green grass;
arising each day, he laughs and brays, and then dies. ||1||
The bull is intoxicated, and runs around wildly.
He romps and eats and then falls into hell. ||2||
Says Kabeer, a strange sport has become manifest:
the sheep is sucking the milk of her lamb. ||3||
Chanting the Lord’s Name, my intellect is enlightened.
Says Kabeer, the Guru has blessed me with this understanding. ||4||1||14||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee, Panch-Padas:
I am like a fish out of water, because in my previous life, I did not practice penance and intense meditation. ||1||
Now tell me, Lord, what will my condition be?
I left Benares - I had little common sense. ||1||Pause||
I wasted my whole life in the city of Shiva;
at the time of my death, I moved to Magahar. ||2||
For many years, I practiced penance and intense meditation at Kaashi;
now that my time to die has come, I have come to dwell at Magahar! ||3||
Kaashi and Magahar - I consider them the same.
With inadequate devotion, how can anyone swim across? ||4||
Says Kabeer, the Guru and Ganaysha and Shiva all know that Kabeer died chanting the Lord’s Name. ||5||15||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
You may anoint your limbs with sandalwood oil, but in the end, that body will be burned with the firewood. ||1||
Why should anyone take pride in this body or wealth?
They shall end up lying on the ground; they shall not go along with you to the world beyond. ||1||Pause||
They sleep by night and work during the day, but they do not chant the Lord’s Name, even for an instant. ||2||
They hold the string of the kite in their hands, and chew betel leaves in their mouths, but at the time of death, they shall be tied up tight, like thieves. ||3||
Through the Guru’s Teachings, and immersed in His Love, sing the Glorious Praises of the Lord.
Chant the Name of the Lord, Raam, Raam, and find peace. ||4||
In His Mercy, He implants the Naam within us;
inhale deeply the sweet aroma and fragrance of the Lord, Har, Har. ||5||
Says Kabeer, remember Him, you blind fool!
The Lord is True; all worldly affairs are false. ||6||16||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee, Ti-Padas And Chau-Tukas:
I have turned away from death and turned to the Lord.
Pain has been eliminated, and I dwell in peac and comfort.
My enemies have been transformed into friends.
The faithless cynics have been transformed into good-hearted people. ||1||
Now, I feel that everything brings me peace.
Peace and tranquility have come, since I realized the Lord of the Universe. ||1||Pause||
Section 07 - Raag Gauree - Part 177 My body was afflicted with millions of diseases.
They have been transformed into the peaceful, tranquil concentration of Samaadhi.
When someone understands his own self, he no longer suffers from illness and the three fevers. ||2||
My mind has now been restored to its original purity.
When I became dead while yet alive, only then did I come to know the Lord.
Says Kabeer, I am now immersed in intuitive peace and poise.
I do not fear anyone, and I do not strike fear into anyone else. ||3||17||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
When the body dies, where does the soul go?
It is absorbed into the untouched, unstruck melody of the Word of the Shabad.
Only one who knows the Lord realizes Him.
The mind is satisfied and satiated, like the mute who eats the sugar candy and just smiles, without speaking. ||1||
Such is the spiritual wisdom which the Lord has imparted.
O mind, hold your breath steady within the central channel of the Sushmanaa. ||1||Pause||
Adopt such a Guru, that you shall not have to adopt another again.
Dwell in such a state, that you shall never have to dwell in any other.
Embrace such a meditation, that you shall never have to embrace any other.
Die in such a way, that you shall never have to die again. ||2||
Turn your breath away from the left channel, and away from the right channel, and unite them in the central channel of the Sushmanaa.
At their confluence within your mind, take your bath there without water.
To look upon all with an impartial eye - let this be your daily occupation.
Contemplate this essence of reality - what else is there to contemplate? ||3||
Water, fire, wind, earth and ether
- adopt such a way of life and you shall be close to the Lord.
Says Kabeer, meditate on the Immaculate Lord.
Go to that home, which you shall never have to leave. ||4||18||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee, Ti-Padas:
He cannot be obtained by offering your weight in gold.
But I have bought the Lord by giving my mind to Him. ||1||
Now I recognize that He is my Lord.
My mind is intuitively pleased with Him. ||1||Pause||
Brahma spoke of Him continually, but could not find His limit.
Because of my devotion to the Lord, He has come to sit within the home of my inner being. ||2||
Says Kabeer, I have renounced my restless intellect.
It is my destiny to worship the Lord alone. ||3||1||19||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
That death which terrifies the entire world
- the nature of that death has been revealed to me, through the Word of the Guru’s Shabad. ||1||
Now, how shall I die? My mind has already accepted death.
Those who do not know the Lord, die over and over again, and then depart. ||1||Pause||
Everyone says, “I will die, I will die.”
But he alone becomes immortal, who dies with intuitive understanding. ||2||
Says Kabeer, my mind is filled with bliss;
my doubts have been eliminated, and I am in ecstasy. ||3||20||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
There is no special place where the soul aches; where should I apply the ointment?
I have searched the body, but I have not found such a place. ||1||
He alone knows it, who feels the pain of such love;
the arrows of the Lord’s devotional worship are so sharp! ||1||Pause||
I look upon all His soul-brides with an impartial eye;
how can I know which ones are dear to the Husband Lord? ||2||
Says Kabeer, one who has such destiny inscribed upon her forehead - her Husband Lord turns all others away, and meets with her. ||3||21||
Section 07 - Raag Gauree - Part 178 Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
One who has the Lord as his Master, O Siblings of Destiny
- countless liberations knock at his door. ||1||
If I say now that my trust is in You alone, Lord, then what obligation do I have to anyone else? ||1||Pause||
He bears the burden of the three worlds;
why should He not cherish you also? ||2||
Says Kabeer, through contemplation, I have obtained this one understanding.
If the mother poisons her own child, what can anyone do? ||3||22||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
Without Truth, how can the woman be a true satee - a widow who burns herself on her husband’s funeral pyre?
O Pandit, O religious scholar, see this and contemplate it within your heart. ||1||
Without love, how can one’s affection increase?
As long as there is attachment to pleasure, there can be no spiritual love. ||1||Pause||
One who, in his own soul, believes the Queen Maya to be true, does not meet the Lord, even in dreams. ||2||
One who surrenders her body, mind, wealth, home and self
- she is the true soul-bride, says Kabeer. ||3||23||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
The whole world is engrossed in corruption.
This corruption has drowned entire families. ||1||
O man, why have you wrecked your boat and sunk it?
You have broken with the Lord, and joined hands with corruption. ||1||Pause||
Angels and human beings alike are burning in the raging fire.
The water is near at hand, but the beast does not drink it in. ||2||
By constant contemplation and awareness, the water is brought forth.
That water is immaculate and pure, says Kabeer. ||3||24||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
That family, whose son has no spiritual wisdom or contemplation
- why didn’t his mother just become a widow? ||1||
That man who has not practiced devotional worship of the Lord - why didn’t such a sinful man die at birth? ||1||Pause||
So many pregnancies end in miscarriage - why was this one spared?
He lives his life in this world like a deformed amputee. ||2||
Says Kabeer, without the Naam, the Name of the Lord, beautiful and handsome people are just ugly hunch-backs. ||3||25||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
I am forever a sacrifice to those humble beings who take the Name of their Lord and Master. ||1||
Those who sing the Glorious Praises of the Pure Lord are pure.
They are my Siblings of Destiny, so dear to my heart. ||1||Pause||
I am the dust of the lotus feet of those whose hearts are filled with the All-pervading Lord. ||2||
I am a weaver by birth, and patient of mind.
Slowly, steadily, Kabeer chants the Glories of God. ||3||26||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
From the Sky of the Tenth Gate, the nectar trickles down, distilled from my furnace.
I have gathered in this most sublime essence, making my body into firewood. ||1||
He alone is called intoxicated with intuitive peace and poise, who drinks in the juice of the Lord’s essence, contemplating spiritual wisdom. ||1||Pause||
Intuitive poise is the bar-maid who comes to serve it.
I pass my nights and days in ecstasy. ||2||
Through conscious meditation, I linked my consciousness with the Immaculate Lord.
Says Kabeer, then I obtained the Fearless Lord. ||3||27||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
The natural tendency of the mind is to chase the mind.
Section 07 - Raag Gauree - Part 179 Who has established himself as a Siddha, a being of miraculous spiritual powers, by killing his mind? ||1||
Who is that silent sage, who has killed his mind?
By killing the mind, tell me, who is saved? ||1||Pause||
Everyone speaks through the mind.
Without killing the mind, devotional worship is not performed. ||2||
Says Kabeer, one who knows the secret of this mystery, beholds within his own mind the Lord of the three worlds. ||3||28||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
The stars which are seen in the sky
- who is the painter who painted them? ||1||
Tell me, O Pandit, what is the sky attached to?
Very fortunate is the knower who knows this. ||1||Pause||
The sun and the moon give their light;
God’s creative extension extends everywhere. ||2||
Says Kabeer, he alone knows this, whose heart is filled with the Lord, and whose mouth is also filled with the Lord. ||3||29||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
The Simritee is the daughter of the Vedas, O Siblings of Destiny.
She has brought a chain and a rope. ||1||
She has imprisoned the people in her own city.
She has tightened the noose of emotional attachment and shot the arrow of death. ||1||Pause||
By cutting, she cannot be cut, and she cannot be broken.
She has become a serpent, and she is eating the world. ||2||
Before my very eyes, she has plundered the entire world.
Says Kabeer, chanting the Lord’s Name, I have escaped her. ||3||30||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
I have grasped the reins and attached the bridle;
abandoning everything, I now ride through the skies. ||1||
I made self-reflection my mount, and in the stirrups of intuitive poise, I placed my feet. ||1||Pause||
Come, and let me ride you to heaven.
If you hold back, then I shall strike you with the whip of spiritual love. ||2||
Says Kabeer, those who remain detached from the Vedas, the Koran and the Bible are the best riders. ||3||31||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
That mouth, which used to eat the five delicacies
- I have seen the flames being applied to that mouth. ||1||
O Lord, my King, please rid me of this one affliction:
may I not be burned in fire, or cast into the womb again. ||1||Pause||
The body is destroyed by so many ways and means.
Some burn it, and some bury it in the earth. ||2||
Says Kabeer, O Lord, please reveal to me Your Lotus Feet;
after that, go ahead and send me to my death. ||3||32||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
He Himself is the fire, and He Himself is the wind.
When our Lord and Master wishes to burn someone, then who can save him? ||1||
When I chant the Lord’s Name, what does it matter if my body burns?
My consciousness remains absorbed in the Lord’s Name. ||1||Pause||
Who is burned, and who suffers loss?
The Lord plays, like the juggler with his ball. ||2||
Says Kabeer, chant the two letters of the Lord’s Name - Raa Maa.
If He is your Lord and Master, He will protect you. ||3||33||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee, Du-Padas:
I have not practiced Yoga, or focused my consciousness on meditation.
Without renunciation, I cannot escape Maya. ||1||
How have I passed my life?
Section 07 - Raag Gauree - Part 180 I have not taken the Lord’s Name as my Support. ||1||Pause||
Says Kabeer, I have searched the skies, and have not seen another, equal to the Lord. ||2||34||
Gauree, Kabeer Jee:
That head which was once embellished with the finest turban
- upon that head, the crow now cleans his beak. ||1||
What pride should we take in this body and wealth?
Why not hold tight to the Lord’s Name instead? ||1||Pause||
Says Kabeer, listen, O my mind:
this may be your fate as well! ||2||35||
Thirty-Five Steps Of Gauree Gwaarayree. ||