Selections from the Guru Granth Sahib · 17 of 228

Raag Maajh: Shalok, First Mehl (IV)

Shalok, First Mehl:

Context

Raag Bairaaree is one of the shortest Raag sections in the Granth — only a few hundred lines, almost all by the Fourth Mehl (Guru Ram Das). The musical character is associated with the small hours after midnight in classical Hindustani practice, a register of quiet petition rather than full devotional fire. Within the architecture of the Granth, these brief chapters function the way the shorter Pauline epistles do in the New Testament: not less authoritative than the long ones, but holding a single mood the longer Raags would dilute. The mood here is the Sikh of the household who has remembered the Name in the dead of the night and is asking, in a low voice, to keep remembering it through the day to come.Bhai Vir Singh's commentary on the Raag system in Santhya Sri Guru Granth Sahib (1958-66); Pashaura Singh, The Guru Granth Sahib: Canon, Meaning and Authority (2000), ch. 4 on Raag organization.

It is difficult to be called a Muslim; if one is truly a Muslim, then he may be called one.

First, let him savor the religion of the Prophet as sweet; then, let his pride of his possessions be scraped away.

Becoming a true Muslim, a disciple of the faith of Mohammed, let him put aside the delusion of death and life.

As he submits to God's Will, and surrenders to the Creator, he is rid of selfishness and conceit.

And when, O Nanak, he is merciful to all beings, only then shall he be called a Muslim. ||1||

Fourth Mehl:

Renounce sexual desire, anger, falsehood and slander; forsake Maya and eliminate egotistical pride.

Renounce sexual desire and promiscuity, and give up emotional attachment. Only then shall you obtain the Immaculate Lord amidst the darkness of the world.

Renounce selfishness, conceit and arrogant pride, and your love for your children and spouse. Abandon your thirsty hopes and desires, and embrace love for the Lord.

O Nanak, the True One shall come to dwell in your mind. Through the True Word of the Shabad, you shall be absorbed in the Name of the Lord. ||2||

Pauree:

Neither the kings, nor their subjects, nor the leaders shall remain.

The shops, the cities and the streets shall eventually disintegrate, by the Hukam of the Lord's Command.

Those solid and beautiful mansions-the fools think that they belong to them.

Insight

'The Lord and Master has met servant Nanak, and the pain of the sickness of egotism has been eliminated.' Sikh theology has a precise diagnostic category for the disease being cured here: haumai, often glossed as 'ego' but more literally 'I-am-ness,' the prior assumption that the I is the operator behind every act. Guru Nanak's diagnosis is consistent across the Granth — haumai is not one sin among others but the underlying condition that generates all the others. Augustine's amor sui (self-love as the engine of the fallen will) and the Buddha's atta-māna (the conceit of self) are close cognates. The cure across all three traditions is the same in structure: the I is unseated only by being given to a larger I, whether Augustine's caritas, the Buddha's anatta-realization through the eightfold path, or what the Gurus call nadar (the Lord's gracious glance) and Naam.On haumai, Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh, The Birth of the Khalsa (2005), ch. 2; Augustine, City of God XIV.28; on māna in Pali Buddhism, Bhikkhu Bodhi (trans.), The Connected Discourses of the Buddha, SN 22.89.

The treasure-houses, filled with wealth, shall be emptied out in an instant.

The horses, chariots, camels and elephants, with all their decorations; the gardens, lands, houses, tents, soft beds and satin pavilions-Oh, where are those things, which they believe to be their own?

O Nanak, the True One is the Giver of all; He is revealed through His All-powerful Creative Nature. ||8||

Shalok, First Mehl:

If the rivers became cows, giving milk, and the spring water became milk and ghee;

If all the earth became sugar, to continually excite the mind;

Section 06 - Raag Maajh - Part 049 if the mountains became gold and silver, studded with gems and jewels

-even then, I would worship and adore You, and my longing to chant Your Praises would not decrease. ||1||

First Mehl:

If all the eighteen loads of vegetation became fruits, and the growing grass became sweet rice; if I were able to stop the sun and the moon in their orbits and hold them perfectly steady

-even then, I would worship and adore You, and my longing to chant Your Praises would not decrease. ||2||

First Mehl:

If my body were afflicted with pain, under the evil influence of unlucky stars;

and if the blood-sucking kings were to hold power over me

-even if this were my condition, I would still worship and adore You, and my longing to chant Your Praises would not decrease. ||3||

First Mehl:

If fire and ice were my clothes, and the wind was my food;

and even if the enticing heavenly beauties were my wives, O Nanak-all this shall pass away!

Even then, I would worship and adore You, and my longing to chant Your Praises would not decrease. ||4||

Pauree:

The foolish demon, who does evil deeds, does not know his Lord and Master.

Call him a mad-man, if he does not understand himself.

The strife of this world is evil; these struggles are consuming it.

Without the Lord's Name, life is worthless. Through doubt, the people are being destroyed.

One who recognizes that all spiritual paths lead to the One shall be emancipated.

One who speaks lies shall fall into hell and burn.

In all the world, the most blessed and sanctified are those who remain absorbed in Truth.

One who eliminates selfishness and conceit is redeemed in the Court of the Lord. ||9||

First Mehl, Shalok:

They alone are truly alive, whose minds are filled with the Lord.

O Nanak, no one else is truly alive;

those who merely live shall depart in dishonor;

everything they eat is impure.

Intoxicated with power and thrilled with wealth, they delight in their pleasures, and dance about shamelessly.

O Nanak, they are deluded and defrauded.

Without the Lord's Name, they lose their honor and depart. ||1||

First Mehl:

What good is food, and what good are clothes, if the True Lord does not abide within the mind?

What good are fruits, what good is ghee, sweet jaggery, what good is flour, and what good is meat?

What good are clothes, and what good is a soft bed, to enjoy pleasures and sensual delights?

What good is an army, and what good are soldiers, servants and mansions to live in?

O Nanak, without the True Name, all this paraphernalia shall disappear. ||2||

Pauree:

What good is social class and status? Truthfulness is measured within.

Pride in one's status is like poison-holding it in your hand and eating it, you shall die.

The True Lord's Sovereign Rule is known throughout the ages.

One who respects the Hukam of the Lord's Command is honored and respected in the Court of the Lord.

By the Order of our Lord and Master, we have been brought into this world.

The Drummer, the Guru, has announced the Lord's meditation, through the Word of the Shabad.

Some have mounted their horses in response, and others are saddling up.

Some have tied up their bridles, and others have already ridden off. ||10||