Selections from the Guru Granth Sahib · 86 of 228
Raag Gauree: Shalok (XXVIII)
Shalok:
After wandering and wandering, O God, I have come, and entered Your Sanctuary.
This is Nanak’s prayer, O God: please, attach me to Your devotional service. ||1||
ASHTAPADEE:
I am a beggar; I beg for this gift from You:
please, by Your Mercy, Lord, give me Your Name.
I ask for the dust of the feet of the Holy.
O Supreme Lord God, please fulfill my yearning;
may I sing the Glorious Praises of God forever and ever.
With each and every breath, may I meditate on You, O God.
May I enshrine affection for Your Lotus Feet.
May I perform devotional worship to God each and every day.
You are my only Shelter, my only Support.
Nanak asks for the most sublime, the Naam, the Name of God. ||1||
By God’s Gracious Glance, there is great peace.
Rare are those who obtain the juice of the Lord’s essence.
Those who taste it are satisfied.
They are fulfilled and realized beings - they do not waver.
They are totally filled to over-flowing with the sweet delight of His Love.
Spiritual delight wells up within, in the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy.
Taking to His Sanctuary, they forsake all others.
Deep within, they are enlightened, and they center themselves on Him, day and night.
Most fortunate are those who meditate on God.
O Nanak, attuned to the Naam, they are at peace. ||2||
The wishes of the Lord’s servant are fulfilled.
From the True Guru, the pure teachings are obtained.
Unto His humble servant, God has shown His kindness.
He has made His servant eternally happy.
The bonds of His humble servant are cut away, and he is liberated.
The pains of birth and death, and doubt are gone.
Desires are satisfied, and faith is fully rewarded, imbued forever with His all-pervading peace.
He is His - he merges in Union with Him.
Nanak is absorbed in devotional worship of the Naam. ||3||
Why forget Him, who does not overlook our efforts?
Why forget Him, who acknowledges what we do?
Section 07 - Raag Gauree - Part 140 Why forget Him, who has given us everything?
Why forget Him, who is the Life of the living beings?
Why forget Him, who preserves us in the fire of the womb?
By Guru’s Grace, rare is the one who realizes this.
Why forget Him, who lifts us up out of corruption?
Those separated from Him for countless lifetimes, are re-united with Him once again.
Through the Perfect Guru, this essential reality is understood.
O Nanak, God’s humble servants meditate on Him. ||4||
O friends, O Saints, make this your work.
Renounce everything else, and chant the Name of the Lord.
Meditate, meditate, meditate in remembrance of Him, and find peace.
Chant the Naam yourself, and inspire others to chant it.
By loving devotional worship, you shall cross over the world-ocean.
Without devotional meditation, the body will be just ashes.
All joys and comforts are in the treasure of the Naam.
Even the drowning can reach the place of rest and safety.
All sorrows shall vanish.
O Nanak, chant the Naam, the treasure of excellence. ||5||
Love and affection, and the taste of yearning, have welled up within;
within my mind and body, this is my purpose:
beholding with my eyes His Blessed Vision, I am at peace.
My mind blossoms forth in ecstasy, washing the feet of the Holy.
The minds and bodies of His devotees are infused with His Love.
Rare is the one who obtains their company.
Show Your mercy - please, grant me this one request:
by Guru’s Grace, may I chant the Naam.
His Praises cannot be spoken;
O Nanak, He is contained among all. ||6||
God, the Forgiving Lord, is kind to the poor.
He loves His devotees, and He is always merciful to them.
The Patron of the patronless, the Lord of the Universe, the Sustainer of the world, the Nourisher of all beings.
The Primal Being, the Creator of the Creation.
The Support of the breath of life of His devotees.
Whoever meditates on Him is sanctified, focusing the mind in loving devotional worship.
I am unworthy, lowly and ignorant.
Nanak has entered Your Sanctuary, O Supreme Lord God. ||7||
Everything is obtained: the heavens, liberation and deliverance, if one sings the Lord’s Glories, even for an instant.
So many realms of power, pleasures and great glories, come to one whose mind is pleased with the Sermon of the Lord’s Name.
Abundant foods, clothes and music come to one whose tongue continually chants the Lord’s Name, Har, Har.
His actions are good, he is glorious and wealthy;
the Mantra of the Perfect Guru dwells within his heart.
O God, grant me a home in the Company of the Holy.
All pleasures, O Nanak, are so revealed. ||8||20||