Hymns of the Sikh Gurus
Page 17
They who, through Your gifts, follow Your Name,
Says Nanak, they attain the highest state.
6 Your form is Truth, and True is Your seat,
You are the True Being, our sole Sovereign,
Your actions are True, and Truth is Your Word,
Your True Being is present in us all.
Your works are True, Your creation is True,
When the Source is True, Its output is Truth.
Purest of the pure are Your doings,
They who are enlightened see good in all.
Your True Name brings us joy and peace.
Says Nanak, from the Guru we gain our trust in Truth.
7 The faithful teach us Truth,
When it settles in us, we also become True.
Those who understand the love of Truth
Recite the Name, and they are freed.
You are Truth, Your creation is Truth,
You alone know Your own dimensions.
The universe belongs to You, You are its Creator,
No other can know it, no matter their speculations.
How can the created know their Creator?
Says Nanak, only what You will comes to pass.
8 We are awed by Your marvels,
Those who see savour the boundless joy.
Your devotees are flooded with Your brilliance,
And, by the Guru’s Word, they attain the four goals of life.
They freely give, and they rid us of suffering,
By their presence the world is saved.
They who serve them are fortunate indeed,
For in their company everyone is wrapped in You.
They who sing praise of the Ultimate Protector
Says Nanak, reap the fruit by the grace of the Guru.
17 Truth before time. Truth thoughout time.
Truth here and now. Says Nanak, Truth is evermore.
1 Your Feet are true, and true are those who touch them,
Worship of You is true, and true are those who serve You,
Vision of You is true, and true are those who see it,
Your Name is true, and true are those who reflect upon it.
You are Truth, and true is Your creation;
You are Virtue, and You are one with the virtuous.
Your Word is true, and true are those who recite it,
Your Revelation is true, and true are those who hear
Your Glory.
They who know Truth, become true,
Says Nanak, You are Truth, absolute Truth!
2 Those who realize the Truthful One in their hearts
Recognize the Source of all Creation.
They who entrust their hearts to the Divine
Have minds that are lit with the essence of knowledge.
Freed from anxiety, they live fearlessly,
They unite with their very Source.
When particular merges with its universal type,
Who can tell them apart?
This the wise and insightful discern.
Says Nanak, by meeting the One, we become One.
3 Your devotees are at Your command,
Your devotees attend You for ever,
Your devotees trust fully in You,
Your devotees live a pure life.
They know You are near them,
They shine with the radiance of Your Name.
Your devotees are nurtured by You.
Formless One, Your devotees are protected by You.
They who receive Your mercy, are Your devotees,
Says Nanak, and they remember You with every breath.
4 You cover the failings of Your devotees,
You maintain their honour,
You bestow glory on Your devotees,
And they recite the Name.
You Yourself keep up their esteem,
But none can see Your limits.
We cannot match the greatness of Your devotees,
For they are the highest of the high.
They who are inspired to serve You,
Says Nanak, are world-renowned.
5 A tiny ant empowered by You,
Can reduce a million armies to ashes.
Those whose lives You do not wish to end,
You guard with Your own Hand.
We humans try so many ways,
But all our efforts go to waste,
No other can preserve or destroy,
You alone are our Saviour.
Why then do we worry?
Says Nanak, just remember the ineffable and
wondrous One.
6 Let us remember the Divine again and again,
Quench mind and body with the ambrosial nectar.
They who obtain the Jewel of Name
See nothing else.
The Name is their wealth, the Name their beauty and joy,
The Name is their comfort, the Name
their constant company
They who drink the essence of the Name
Have mind and body fully immersed in it.
Awake, sitting or asleep, they are wrapped in Your Name,
Says Nanak, this is Your devotees’ undying aim.
7 Let us recite Your glory day and night,
Our power to praise is Your gift to us.
In our devotion and with deep joy,
We merge completely with You.
Our past and our present, we accept,
Knowing them as Your ordinance.
How can we express Your grandeur?
We cannot gauge a single virtue.
They who dwell in Your presence night and day,
Says Nanak, are fulfilled in their life.
8 My mind, seek their shelter,
Let us dedicate our minds and bodies
To those who recognize their Sovereign,
For they are truly the treasury of all gifts.
In their shelter, we find peace,
In their sight, suffering ends.
Discard all cleverness,
Serve them instead,
Then will we cease to come and go.
Says Nanak, always pay homage to them.
18 They who realize the True Being,
their name is the True Guru.
In their company, Sikhs are liberated.
Says Nanak, let us sing divine praise.
1 The True Guru protects the Sikhs,
The Guru is ever giving to the devotees,
The Guru washes away the impurities of their mind,
By the Guru’s Word the Name is exalted.
The True Guru sunders all bonds,
The Guru’s Sikhs turn away from evil,
The True Guru grants the gift of the Name,
The Guru’s Sikhs are so fortunate.
The True Guru blesses the Sikhs here and in the hereafter.
Says Nanak, the True Guru remembers the Sikhs with life.
2 Devotees who dwell in the home of the Guru
Must bear this mandate in their minds:
Don’t take credit for your actions,
Always and always remember the Name.
By selling their mind to the Guru,
All their tasks are fulfilled.
By serving with no desire for gain,
They find their Sovereign.
They who are granted Your compassion,
Says Nanak, they accept the Guru’s instruction.
3 The devotees who fully please the Guru,
Know the vastness of the Transcendent.
To the True Guru who is wrapped in the Name,
I offer myself countless times.
This Guru is a treasury of all gifts,
Dyed in divine brilliance, day and night.
The Ultimate is in the individual, the individual
is in the Ultimate,
The two are one, there is no duality.
A thousand clever feats will not enlighten us,
Says Nanak, only by good fortune is the Guru found.
4 Seeing the Guru brings me
aning and purity,
Touching the Guru’s feet arouses the good in us,
Entering the Guru’s presence inspires us to sing divine praise.
It grants us access to the Court.
Hearing the Guru’s Word calms our ears,
Our mind becomes content, our spirit refined.
Perfect is the Guru, immutable the message,
They who receive the Guru’s ambrosial sight
become like saints.
Endowed with countless virtues, the Guru cannot be
appraised,
Says Nanak, those who please the Guru obtain divine union.
5 How can our one tongue ever recite Your infinite praise?
You are the True Being, Absolute Intelligence.
What language can lead us to You?
You are unfathomable, unknown, ever serene.
You take no food, You are without enmity, and You always
bring us joy.
None can appraise Your value.
Countless devotees pay You homage
With hearts steeped in love for You.
We offer ourselves a hundred times to the Guru,
Says Nanak, whose grace enables us to praise the Divine.
6 Few are they who savour the Divine essence,
Who drink the ambrosial nectar and become immortal.
They are never destroyed,
For their minds glow with the treasury of virtues.
Day and night they remember the Divine
And they impart true instruction to the devotees.
Mock delights cannot sway them,
For their minds are absorbed only in the One.
As a light of the lamp expels darkness,
Says Nanak, these rare ones dispel all doubt, attachment
and suffering.
7 In scorching heat we are cooled,
Bliss is found, all suffering is annulled.
Fear of birth and death is erased,
All through the teachings of the faithful.
We live fearlessly, for fear departs,
We live peacefully, for all ailments depart,
We receive grace from the One to Whom we belong,
In the company of the faithful we recite Divine Praise.
We are freed from dualities and the cycles of transmigration,
Says Nanak, by hearing the glory of the Divine.
8 Totally transcendent and yet so palpable,
The Formless One takes on forms and enchants us all.
Creating Your own sports,
You alone know Your worth.
You are the sole Reality,
Invariably pervading us all.
On Your pattern and colour, the universe is woven,
Yet we recognize You only in the company of the faithful.
You uphold Your creation by Your own strength,
Says Nanak, I offer myself to You countless times.
19 We turn to ashes.
So earn the Name, says Nanak, this is our lasting wealth.
1 Reflect in the company of the faithful,
Remember the One, and draw strength from Its Name.
My friends, abandon all other efforts,
Plant the lotus feet deeply in your heart.
Our Creator, our Primal Cause is almighty,
Hold firmly the object of the Name.
Gather this wealth, and enjoy true fortune,
For this is the true teaching of the faithful.
Nurture only one desire,
Says Nanak, so that our maladies are dispelled.
2 The wealth we chase in every direction,
We receive by serving the Divine.
The comfort for which we are always thirsting,
We receive by loving the faithful.
The glory we seek in noble deeds,
We receive by contemplating the One.
The sickness for which countless remedies are tried,
We cure with the medicine of Divine praise.
The Name is the Treasure of treasures,
Says Nanak, by reciting it, we are received in the Court.
3 Through the Name we are enlightened,
Our craving for everything ends, peace is found.
The way of life is smooth and clear,
For those whose hearts are filled with the One.
The present age is blistering hot, the Name is refreshingly
cool,
Through contemplation we find joy for ever.
Fear is dispelled, our hopes fulfilled,
Our inner self shines bright with devotion,
So we make our way to the home of the Eternal One.
Says Nanak, we are freed from the snare of death.
4 Those who consider and discuss Reality are true humans,
False are they who merely live and die.
By serving the One we break the cycle of birth and death,
Casting our ego aside, we take shelter in the Guru.
Thus our precious human life is fulfilled,
We remember the One, the Source of every breath.
Countless efforts will never liberate us,
Nor studying various ancient texts.
Only by loving devotion to the Divine,
Says Nanak, are all our hopes fulfilled.
5 None of these riches follows us at death,
Then why be drowned in them, foolish mind?
Amongst children, friends, family and wives,
Who will be our ultimate support?
Fettered by power and worldly delights,
How can we be delivered?
Horses, elephants and sumptuous chariots,
False are they, and false is their display.
But, ignorant mind, do we know their Producer?
Says Nanak, when we forget the One, we end in regret.
6 My ignorant mind, follow the Guru’s teaching,
Without devotion, many clever people have failed.
My friend, love the Divine,
For that is how refinement is acquired.
By imprinting the lotus feet in our mind,
The vices from past lives are erased.
Let us remember the Name and remind others as well,
By hearing, reciting and living the Name, we are liberated.
The Name is the essence, the form and the reality;
Says Nanak, let us praise the Name spontaneously.
7 Singing of divine glory washes away filth,
And the fast-spreading poison of the ego is destroyed.
We live in peace and serenity if we remember the One,
With every breath we take, and every morsel we eat.
Cast aside all other cleverness, my mind,
And earn true wealth in the company of the faithful.
Engage in the true trade, and accumulate the divine Treasure,
Thus we find peace here and glory in the hereafter.
They regard everybody as equal, without distinction,
Says Nanak, they whose foreheads shine with good fortune
from before.
8 Remember the One, exalt the One,
Contemplate the One, desire only the One,
Sing the infinite praises of the One,
Immerse mind and body in the Supreme One.
There is only the One, the One alone is real
The Absolute One is .suffused in all,
Infinite expanses flow from the One,
And by recalling the One, evil is cast away.
The One radiates through our body and mind.
Says Nanak, we recognize the One by the grace of the Guru.
20 After wandering all around, I have come to You.
Says Nanak, it is my wish. May I always be devoted to You.
1 We beggars beg from You, our Sovereign.
Grant us the gift of Your Name.
We wish to serve Your devotees,
Fulfil our wish, my Transcendent.
May we always recite Your praise,
Reme
mber You with every breath.
May we worship Your lotus feet,
Love You night and day.
You are our sole support, You are our only shelter.
Says Nanak, I seek Your Name—the essence of all.
2 The sight of the Divine bestows bliss,
Rare are they who are blessed with it.
They who drink the divine essence are fulfilled,
They attain perfection, they never falter again.
They are deliriously filled with sweet love,
Surging with joy, in the company of the faithful.
With You as their shelter, they abandon all else,
Wrapped in You, they glow day and night.
Blessed are they who contemplate the Divine
Says Nanak, steeped in Your Name, we find bliss.
3 The desires of the devotees are fulfilled,
With the guidance of the True Guru.
The One graciously bestows favours,
The devotees are showered by eternal joy.
Bonds are severed, and freedom found,
Birth, death, suffering, all dualities come to an end,
Wishes are granted, and faith fulfilled,
With the Divine shining brightly in all.
From whence we emerge, into That we merge,
Says Nanak, through devotion we are absorbed in the Name.
4 Why forget who rewards our efforts?
Why forget who knows all our actions?
Why forget who gives us everything?
Why forget who blesses us with life?
Why forget who sustains us in the womb?
Through the grace of the Guru, just one in a million
understands.
Why forget who frees us from deadly illusions?
Why forget who reunites broken ties?
The essence of the Guru’s teaching,
Says Nanak, is to remember the Transcendent.
5 My good friends, follow my advice,
Discard all else, and contemplate the Name.
Remembering the Name, we find peace and joy,
So let us contemplate and help others as well.
By loving devotion we cross the fleeting world,
But without that devotion we end in ashes.
The treasury of the Name contains all peace and joy,
It extends a life-line to the drowning.
The Name ends all suffering,
Says Nanak, remember this treasury of virtues.