Selections from the Guru Granth Sahib · 158 of 228

Raag Aasaa: Shalok, First Mehl

Shalok, First Mehl:

True are Your worlds, True are Your solar Systems.

True are Your realms, True is Your creation.

True are Your actions, and all Your deliberations.

True is Your Command, and True is Your Court.

True is the Command of Your Will, True is Your Order.

True is Your Mercy, True is Your Insignia.

Hundreds of thousands and millions call You True.

In the True Lord is all power, in the True Lord is all might.

True is Your Praise, True is Your Adoration.

True is Your almighty creative power, True King.

O Nanak, true are those who meditate on the True One.

Those who are subject to birth and death are totally false. ||1||

First Mehl:

Great is His greatness, as great as His Name.

Great is His greatness, as True is His justice.

Great is His greatness, as permanent as His Throne.

Great is His greatness, as He knows our utterances.

Great is His greatness, as He understands all our affections.

Great is His greatness, as He gives without being asked.

Great is His greatness, as He Himself is all-in-all.

O Nanak, His actions cannot be described.

Whatever He has done, or will do, is all by His Own Will. ||2||

Second Mehl:

This world is the room of the True Lord; within it is the dwelling of the True Lord.

By His Command, some are merged into Him, and some, by His Command, are destroyed.

Some, by the Pleasure of His Will, are lifted up out of Maya, while others are made to dwell within it.

No one can say who will be rescued.

O Nanak, he alone is known as Gurmukh, unto whom the Lord reveals Himself. ||3||

Pauree:

O Nanak, having created the souls, the Lord installed the Righteous Judge of Dharma to read and record their accounts.

There, only the Truth is judged true; the sinners are picked out and separated.

The false find no place there, and they go to hell with their faces blackened.

Those who are imbued with Your Name win, while the cheaters lose.

The Lord installed the Righteous Judge of Dharma to read and record the accounts. ||2||

Shalok, First Mehl:

Wonderful is the sound current of the Naad, wonderful is the knowledge of the Vedas.

Wonderful are the beings, wonderful are the species.

Wonderful are the forms, wonderful are the colors.

Wonderful are the beings who wander around naked.

Section 08 - Raag Aasaa - Part 118 Wonderful is the wind, wonderful is the water.

Wonderful is fire, which works wonders.

Wonderful is the earth, wonderful the sources of creation.

Wonderful are the tastes to which mortals are attached.

Wonderful is union, and wonderful is separation.

Wonderful is hunger, wonderful is satisfaction.

Wonderful is His Praise, wonderful is His adoration.

Wonderful is the wilderness, wonderful is the path.

Wonderful is closeness, wonderful is distance.

How wonderful to behold the Lord, ever-present here.

Beholding His wonders, I am wonder-struck.

O Nanak, those who understand this are blessed with perfect destiny. ||1||

First Mehl:

By His Power we see, by His Power we hear; by His Power we have fear, and the essence of happiness.

By His Power the nether worlds exist, and the Akaashic ethers; by His Power the entire creation exists.

By His Power the Vedas and the Puraanas exist, and the Holy Scriptures of the Jewish, Christian and Islamic religions. By His Power all deliberations exist.

By His Power we eat, drink and dress; by His Power all love exists.

- By His Power come the species of all kinds and colors; by His Power the living beings of the world exist.

By His Power virtues exist, and by His Power vices exist. By His Power come honor and dishonor.

By His Power wind, water and fire exist; by His Power earth and dust exist.

Everything is in Your Power, Lord; You are the all-powerful Creator. Your Name is the Holiest of the Holy.

O Nanak, through the Command of His Will, He beholds and pervades the creation; He is absolutely unrivalled. ||2||

Pauree:

Enjoying his pleasures, one is reduced to a pile of ashes, and the soul passes away.

He may be great, but when he dies, the chain is thrown around his neck, and he is led away.

There, his good and bad deeds are added up; sitting there, his account is read.

He is whipped, but finds no place of rest, and no one hears his cries of pain.

The blind man has wasted his life away. ||3||