Selections from the Guru Granth Sahib · 163 of 228
Raag Aasaa: Shalok, First Mehl (VI)
Section 08 - Raag Aasaa - Part 124 Shalok, First Mehl:
O Nanak, the soul of the body has one chariot and one charioteer.
In age after age they change; the spiritually wise understand this.
In the Golden Age of Sat Yuga, contentment was the chariot and righteousness the charioteer.
In the Silver Age of Traytaa Yuga, celibacy was the chariot and power the charioteer.
In the Brass Age of Dwaapar Yuga, penance was the chariot and truth the charioteer.
In the Iron Age of Kali Yuga, fire is the chariot and falsehood the charioteer. ||1||
First Mehl:
The Sama Veda says that the Lord Master is robed in white; in the Age of Truth, everyone desired Truth, abided in Truth, and was merged in the Truth.
The Rig Veda says that God is permeating and pervading everywhere;
among the deities, the Lord’s Name is the most exalted.
Chanting the Name, sins depart;
O Nanak, then, one obtains salvation.
In the Jujar Veda, Kaan Krishna of the Yaadva tribe seduced Chandraavali by force.
He brought the Elysian Tree for his milk-maid, and revelled in Brindaaban.
In the Dark Age of Kali Yuga, the Atharva Veda became prominent; Allah became the Name of God.
Men began to wear blue robes and garments; Turks and Pat’haans assumed power.
The four Vedas each claim to be true.
Reading and studying them, four doctrines are found.
With loving devotional worship, abiding in humility, O Nanak, salvation is attained. ||2||
Pauree:
I am a sacrifice to the True Guru; meeting Him, I have come to cherish the Lord Master.
He has taught me and given me the healing ointment of spiritual wisdom, and with these eyes, I behold the world.
Those dealers who abandon their Lord and Master and attach themselves to another, are drowned.
The True Guru is the boat, but few are those who realize this.
Granting His Grace, He carries them across. ||13||
Shalok, First Mehl:
The simmal tree is straight as an arrow; it is very tall, and very thick.
But those birds which visit it hopefully, depart disappointed.
Its fruits are tasteless, its flowers are nauseating, and its leaves are useless.
Sweetness and humility, O Nanak, are the essence of virtue and goodness.
Everyone bows down to himself; no one bows down to another.
When something is placed on the balancing scale and weighed, the side which descends is heavier.
The sinner, like the deer hunter, bows down twice as much.
But what can be achieved by bowing the head, when the heart is impure? ||1||
First Mehl:
You read your books and say your prayers, and then engage in debate;
you worship stones and sit like a stork, pretending to be in Samaadhi.
With your mouth you utter falsehood, and you adorn yourself with precious decorations;
you recite the three lines of the Gayatri three times a day.
Around your neck is a rosary, and on your forehead is a sacred mark;
upon your head is a turban, and you wear two loin cloths.
If you knew the nature of God, you would know that all of these beliefs and rituals are in vain.
Says Nanak, meditate with deep faith;
without the True Guru, no one finds the Way. ||2||
Pauree:
Abandoning the world of beauty, and beautiful clothes, one must depart.
He obtains the rewards of his good and bad deeds.
He may issue whatever commands he wishes, but he shall have to take to the narrow path hereafter.
Section 08 - Raag Aasaa - Part 125 He goes to hell naked, and he looks hideous then.
He regrets the sins he committed. ||14||
Shalok, First Mehl:
Make compassion the cotton, contentment the thread, modesty the knot and truth the twist.
This is the sacred thread of the soul; if you have it, then go ahead and put it on me.
It does not break, it cannot be soiled by filth, it cannot be burnt, or lost.
Blessed are those mortal beings, O Nanak, who wear such a thread around their necks.
You buy the thread for a few shells, and seated in your enclosure, you put it on.
Whispering instructions into others’ ears, the Brahmin becomes a guru.
But he dies, and the sacred thread falls away, and the soul departs without it. ||1||
First Mehl:
He commits thousands of robberies, thousands of acts of adultery, thousands of falsehoods and thousands of abuses.
He practices thousands of deceptions and secret deeds, night and day, against his fellow beings.
The thread is spun from cotton, and the Brahmin comes and twists it.
The goat is killed, cooked and eaten, and everyone then says, “Put on the sacred thread.”
When it wears out, it is thrown away, and another one is put on.
O Nanak, the thread would not break, if it had any real strength. ||2||
First Mehl:
Believing in the Name, honor is obtained. The Lord’s Praise is the true sacred thread.
Such a sacred thread is worn in the Court of the Lord; it shall never break. ||3||
First Mehl:
There is no sacred thread for the sexual organ, and no thread for woman.
The man’s beard is spat upon daily.
There is no sacred thread for the feet, and no thread for the hands;
no thread for the tongue, and no thread for the eyes.
The Brahmin himself goes to the world hereafter without a sacred thread.
Twisting the threads, he puts them on others.
He takes payment for performing marriages;
reading their horoscopes, he shows them the way.
Hear, and see, O people, this wondrous thing.
He is mentally blind, and yet his name is wisdom. ||4||
Pauree:
One, upon whom the Merciful Lord bestows His Grace, performs His service.
That servant, whom the Lord causes to obey the Order of His Will, serves Him.
Obeying the Order of His Will, he becomes acceptable, and then, he obtains the Mansion of the Lord’s Presence.
One who acts to please His Lord and Master, obtains the fruits of his mind’s desires.
Then, he goes to the Court of the Lord, wearing robes of honor. ||15||