Hymns of the Sikh Gurus
Page 10
Says Nanak the slave,
I sing praises of the Creator, the Knower of all.
Asa Mahalla 4
You are my true Creator, my beloved Husband.
Whatever pleases You will be,
Whatever is mine has come from You.
1 All things are Yours, You are in everyone’s mind.
They who receive Your favour
receive the Jewel of the Name.
They who face the Guru, profit;
they who face the ego, lose.
You separate us from You, and You unite us to You.
2 You are the ocean and all are within You,
Without You, there is no other.
All life is Your sport.
We separate from You, we unite with You;
separated, our union is decreed by You.
3 Only by Your gift of knowledge do people know,
And they forever exalt and disclose Your virtues.
They who serve You find peace in their lives,
And they so easily merge with the divine Name.
4 You Yourself are the Creator, all that happens is Your doing,
Without You, there is no other.
Ever creating, You behold and know all.
Says Nanak the slave, through the Guru, You are revealed.
Asa Mahalla 1
1 Born into this lake of fiery waters
Their feet stuck in the slough of greed,
I see them sinking.
My foolish mind, why don’t you remember the One?
Forsaking the Divine, your virtues rot away.
2 Neither ascetic nor saint, nor learned,
I am a fool, my life is spun in foolishness.
Says Nanak, this is my prayer,
I seek the shelter of those who never forget You.
Asa Mahalla 5
1 You have obtained the human body,
Now is your chance to meet the Sustainer.
No other deed avails us,
But to join the faithful and recite the Name.
Let us prepare to swim across the ocean,
Life is waning in the dazzle of illusion.
2 Contemplation, penance, self-control, righteous action
were of no benefit,
I did not serve the faithful nor recognize
the divine Sovereign.
Says Nanak, our actions are low,
Grant us goodness, we seek refuge in You.
Chaupai Benati
1 Give me Your hand and protect me,
Fulfil the wishes of my heart.
May my mind stay steadfast at Your feet,
Care for me as Your own.
2 Destroy all my enemies,
Save me with Your own hands.
May my family live in peace,
Creator, and all my devotees and Sikhs.
3 Protect me with Your own hands,
Crush all my enemies today.
May my wish come true,
May I always thirst for worship of You.
4 May I contemplate no one but You,
Whatever I desire, may I receive from You.
Let my devotees and Sikhs cross the ocean,
Single out my enemies and slay them.
5 Protect me with Your own hands,
Absolve me from the fear of death,
Stay for ever on my side,
Revered One with the sword on Your banner, protect me.
6 Sustain me, my Sustainer,
My Beloved Sovereign, Friend of the pious,
Guardian of the poor, Destroyer of the corrupt.
You are the Owner of the fourteen worlds.
7 By Your command, Lord Brahma was born,
By Your command, Lord Shiva descended here,
By Your command, Lord Vishnu was revealed.
This entire universe is Your sport.
8 Who fashioned Lord Shiva as the ascetic,
Who crowned Lord Brahma as the king of the Vedas,
Who created and embellished the entire universe,
Our salutations to That One.
9 Who made the whole world,
Who produced gods, demons, and guardians,
Who is One from the beginning to the end of time,
Know That One as our Guru.
10 Our salutations are to That One alone,
Who creates all Its own citizens,
Who bestows virtue and happiness on the devoted,
Who instantly destroys all enemies.
11 You know the beatings of each and every heart,
Recognize the pain of the good and the bad.
From an ant to an elephant,
You look upon all with favour and rejoice.
12 When the pious suffer, You suffer too
When the pious rejoice, You rejoice too.
You feel the pain of each and every being,
Know the veils of each and every heart.
13 When You, Creator, expand,
Your subjects take on their countless forms.
When You recede,
Their bodies merge with You.
14 The diverse bodies in this world,
Praise You, each in their own way,
But You remain apart without support
The Vedas and the wise know Your mystery.
15 Formless! Immaculate! You need no support.
Primal Being! Without colour, without time, without birth.
Only a fool dares to describe
The mystery that no scripture knows.
16 He confuses You with a stone,
The great fool cannot distinguish the two.
He calls Lord Shiva the Eternal One,
He has no clue of the Formless One.
17 According to their own faculties,
People describe You in so many ways.
Your expanse cannot be fathomed;
We can never know how the world first began.
18 You have one form, without compare,
Here You are a beggar, there You are a king.
You created life from egg, from womb, from sweat,
From earth, such riches are given.
19 Here You sit, sumptuous as a king,
There You sit, shrunken as an ascetic;
The whole creation displays wonders.
You are before time, throughout time, and ever self-existent.
20 Grant me now Your protection,
Defend my Sikhs, attack my foes.
The tyrants who brutalize,
Destroy them on the battlefield.
21 Those who seek Your lap, You who carry the banner,
May their enemies die a terrible death.
Those who bow at Your feet,
May all their troubles be expelled.
22 Those who once remember the Timeless One,
The time of death does not approach them;
They are tended all the time,
And in no time, their enemies are undone.
23 Those You look upon with favour,
Their suffering ends at once,
Their homes are filled with treasures, material and spiritual,
Enemies cannot strike even their shadow.
24 Those who remember You once,
Are freed from the snare of death.
Those who say Your Name,
Are freed from poverty, enemy and misery.
25 You who have the sword on Your banner, I seek Your lap
Extend me Your hand and support me,
Guard me in every place,
Protect me from every enemy and misery.
Savayya
Since I held Your feet, I have eyes for no other.
Rama, Rahim, Purana or the Qur’an,
Countless faiths speak, but I do not follow any.
Smritis, Shastras and Vedas disclose many secrets,
but I do not believe any.
Revered One with the sword on Your banner,
all is fulfilled by Your favour. What can I say?
All I say is what
You make me say.
Dohra
Rejecting all other doors, I have come to Yours.
Hold me in your arms, protect my honour,
Gobind is Your slave.
Ramkali Mahalla 3 Anand
1 My mother, I am in bliss, for I have found my True Guru,
The True Guru I found so easily,
my mind rings with felicitations.
Jewel-like melodies with their families and fairies from afar
have come to sing the Word within me.
Those with minds that house the Divine,
they sing the sacred Word.
Nanak says, I am in bliss for I have found my True Guru.
2 My mind, stay for ever devoted to the Divine.
Devoted to the Divine, all your suffering is expelled,
You are welcomed, and all your actions fulfilled.
How could the all-Powerful Director slip from the mind?
Nanak says, my mind, stay for ever devoted to the Divine.
3 True Sovereign, what could Your home lack?
Your home overflows with everything,
and all that we own has come from You.
Let us always sing Your glory, Your Name ever in mind.
Abiding with the Name, we resonate
with the rapturous Word,
Nanak says, True Sovereign, what could Your home lack?
4 That True Name is my sole support, satisfying my hunger.
With peace and joy, It enters my mind,
fulfilling all my desires.
I offer myself to the Guru who has bestowed
all these glories.
Nanak says, listen to me, pious people, love the Word,
The True Name is my sole support.
5 The five instruments play the Word
in that fortunate house of the self,
Fortunate is that body where Your power abides
and rings with the Word.
You have placed the five demons under their control,
and You have slain thorny death.
Those graced by You from the beginning
are devoted to the Name.
Nanak says, they are happy, and their house rings
with the unstruck melody.
6 Fortunate ones, listen to this joyful song,
all our wishes will be fulfilled,
We obtain the Transcendent, all grief and sorrow
are left behind.
Suffering, sickness and fever depart,
when we hear the Revelation.
Through the Guru, the pious win understanding,
they are in bliss.
They who hear are pure, they who recite are pure,
for they are suffused with the True Guru;
Nanak says, they who sit at the Guru’s feet
ring with the unstruck melody.
Mundavani Mahalla 5
In the platter, three things lie:
truth, contentment, contemplation.
They contain the ambrosial Name,
by which we are all sustained.
They who eat, they who savour,
they are liberated.
This thing must not be abandoned;
ever and ever, keep it in your heart.
The dark ocean can be crossed
if we take hold of the Guru’s feet.
Says Nanak, this vastness is the Creator’s handiwork.
Shalok Mahalla 5
I do not understand Your wonders,
nor the way You made me capable.
I am base, without virtue,
but You had compassion for me,
Compassion that showered me with boundless mercy,
and I found a friend in the True Guru.
Says Nanak, I live to hear the Name
that quickens body and mind with radiant joy.
MORNING AND EVENING
Ardas
ARDAS (‘Petition’) is the basic prayer of the Sikhs which evolved as an anonymous composition within the community of the eighteenth century. It is recited while standing up. The leading member of the gathering, or any other person who is competent to read the Guru Granth, says the Ardas. The congregation joins in at intervals, exclaiming Vaheguru (‘Wonderful Guru’).
Ardas has powerful associations which remain constant for all occasions. These include remembering the Ultimate Reality, the Ten Gurus, their mergence with the Guru Granth, and events of Sikh heroism, devotion and martyrdom. Towards the end of the Ardas, a special blessing is called for the purpose of the gathering. Ardas finishes with the congregation praying for the prosperity and happiness of all humanity. While wishing for the good of all, the Sikhs bow in front of their sacred text, touch their foreheads to the ground, and seat themselves on the floor in front of it. Although not in the Guru Granth, Ardas is included in this selection because of its prominence in the life of the community.
There is One Being, all victory belongs to
the Wonderful Guru,
May the divine Might help us.
The Tenth Guru’s Ode to the divine Might.
First remember the divine Might,
then think of Guru Nanak,
Next Gurus Angad, Amar Das and Ram Das,
may they stand by us.
Gurus Arjan, Hargobind and Har Rai,
Think of Guru Harkrishan, that sight dispels all suffering.
Remember Guru Tegh Bahadur,
who brings the nine treasures to our home.
May they support us everywhere.
May the Tenth Guru, Gobind Singh,
support us everywhere.
The light of the Ten Gurus shines
in the Guru Granth Sahib,
Consider its sacred word, envisage its sacred sight,
And proclaim: Vaheguru, the Wonderful Guru!
The heroic deeds of the five beloved ones, the four princes, the forty who attained liberation,
The determined, the devout and the self-denying,
They who contemplated the Name, shared their earnings, established free kitchens, prepared for battle,
They who forgave others their faults,
Remember the purity and goodness of their deeds, Khalsaji, Proclaim: Vaheguru, the Wonderful Guru!
The Sikh men and women who gave their heads for their religion,
Whose limbs were cut off one by one,
Who were scalped, broken on the wheel, and sawn in pieces,
Who sacrificed their lives to serve the gurudwaras,
Their faith triumphed.
They served the Sikh religion with uncut hair to their last breath,
Remembering their steadfast faith, Khalsaji, Proclaim: Vaheguru, the Wonderful Guru!
Remember the five takhts, and all gurudwaras, Khalsaji, And proclaim: Vaheguru, the Wonderful Guru!
First of all, the Khalsa prays for remembrance of the Wonderful Guru, Vaheguru, Vaheguru, Vaheguru!
May this remembrance bring peace and happiness to all.
Wherever the Khalsa be, may Your protection and favour be there,
May our supplies in the kitchen and battlefield never fail,
May You uphold the honour of Your devotees,
May You grant victory to the Sikh community.
May the Sword aid us,
May the words of the Khalsa ever be exalted. Proclaim: Vaheguru, the Wonderful Guru!
Grant Your Sikhs the gift of the Sikh religion,
The gift of uncut hair, of good conduct and of knowledge,
The gift of trust, the gift of faith,
The gift of gifts, devotion to the Name,
And a bath in the sacred pool of Amritsar.
May the choirs that glorify You,
the flags which herald You,
and the places where we learn of Yon endure for ever.
May righteous action ever triumph. Proclaim: Vaheguru, the Wonderful Guru!
May Sikhs lower their egos, and raise their wisdom,
You Yourself are the Sustainer of wisdom, Vaheguru, the
Wonderful Guru!
Primal Being, eternal Sustainer of Your community,
May the Khalsa freely behold and serve Nankana Sahib and the other gurudwaras and all sacred places
From which we have been exiled.
Honour of the honourless, Power of the powerless,
Shield of the shieldless,
Our true Parent, Vaheguru, the Wonderful Guru!
We humbly offer our prayers in Your presence.
[At this point personal or communal prayers are said, e.g.]
May we be free of lust, anger, greed, attachment
and pride.
Overlook our flaws in reading and reciting the sacred text.
May everyone’s actions be fulfilled.
Join us with the faithful who inspire remembrance
of Your Name.
Says Nanak, may Your Name be ever ascendant.
And, through Your Will,
may everyone in the world fare well.
The Khalsa belongs to the Wonderful Guru,
Victory belongs to the Wonderful Guru!
NIGHT TIME AND DEATH
Kirtan Sohila
KIRTAN SOHILA, ‘Hymn of Praise’, is the finale to the evening prayers. It is recited just before going to bed as the Guru Granth is closed and ceremoniously carried to rest. It is also recited at cremation ceremonies. As with Rahiras, the hymns within Kirtan Sohila have a chorus which is placed in italics after the first stanza.
Kirtan Sohila consists of five hymns. The first three are by Guru Nanak, followed by one each from Guru Ram Das and Guru Arjan. The religions and artistic value of these hymns is superb. The first hymn visualizes the union of the individual self with the Ultimate Reality. The second presents the singularity of the Ultimate despite the endless diversity of scriptures, teachers and philosophies. The third rejects all modes of external piety and rituals, and vividly portrays the entire cosmos making a harmonious worship. Instead of salvers with lamps placed on them with incense and other offerings, the skies become an integrated platter, the sun and moon the lamps, stars the beads, and all vegetation an offering of flowers. Loud chanting is replaced by the inner unstruck melody playing motionlessly. The fourth hymn in the Sohila is by the Fourth Guru and it explains the import of the divine Name through which all suffering and transmigration is annulled. The fifth hymn, by Guru Arjan, celebrates life here in this world: we must avail ourselves of this wonderful opportunity to serve others and to win divine merit. The unknown Mystery becomes known to the enlightened person who thereafter enjoys the bliss and freedom of immortality. (Guru Granth, pp. 12–13.)