Hymns of the Gurus Read online

  He who drinks the nectar of the Name shall find fulfilment,

  He shall go to God’s court wearing robes of honour.

  In the hearts of those who love the Word, reverberate strains of the lute.

  Few there are who hearken to the guru’s words everyday and obtain understanding.

  O Nanak! Forget not the Name, let the Word be thy wage and gain release.

  * * *

  Chite disai dhaulhar bage bank duar

  Behold, gilded mansions with white ornamented gates!

  Knowing they are perishable and delude us into love of worldly things

  Our eyes rejoice at the sight.

  Likewise the human body; it shall decay and be mingled with the dust.

  If it hath love in it, nothing else will remain.

  Listen brother! Neither thy body nor thy wealth will accompany thee.

  The Name of Rama is real wealth; God gives it through the guru.

  If the Giver gives real wealth of the Name of Rama

  He who is befriended by the guru and the Creator shall not be questioned in the world to come.

  If God wills it, we shall be liberated; God alone can pardon us.

  The fool believes that daughters, sons and relations belong to him;

  He sees his wife and is pleased. He knows not that she who brings joy, also brings sorrow.

  Men of God are imbued with the Word, day and night imbibe Hari’s ambrosia.

  The mind of the unbeliever wavers and wanders in the futile quest after wealth.

  We waste ourselves in looking all round while the Real Thing is within us.

  The perverse preoccupied with themselves do not see it;

  The saintly secure it in their aprons.

  Infidel, who art without virtue, learn thy true origin!

  The body which is compounded of blood and semen shall be burnt in fire.

  Thy body is at the mercy of breath

  It will last as long as it is fated to last.

  We pray for long life; no one seeks death.

  Only he can be described as happy who through the guru’s teaching has God in his heart.

  Worthless is life without the Name,

  Wasted is life if it gains not a vision of God.

  As a man knows not his state when he sleeps at night,

  So one who hath pride in his heart knows not that he is in the coils of duality and maya’s serpent.

  Hearken to the teaching of your guru,

  Ponder on the nature of this world

  And you will see that life and the world are as dreams.

  As the fire of thirst is slaked by water,

  As mother’s milk is to her hungry child,

  As the lake is to the lotus and the fish,

  Without which they die—

  So is the nectar or Hari’s Name given by the guru, sayeth Nanak.

  ‘May my life be spent singing the songs of the Lord.’

  * * *

  Doongar dekh daravano paeidai daryas

  The mountain of life is awesome; I watch it from my father’s house and am terrified.

  It is steep and difficult to ascend; there is no ladder to climb.

  I took my guru’s teaching to my heart; the guru united me to God and I was saved.

  Brother! The ocean of life is fearful and hard to cross!

  If the perfect, the true guru, in his pleasure receives me,

  He will take me across on the Name of God.

  If all I do is to say ’I have to go’

  It will be of no avail.

  If in fact I realize that death is certain

  (Then I really know).

  Everyone who comes into the world must go;

  Only God and the guru are immortal.

  Praise the True One,

  Cherish the place where His praise is sung.

  Beautiful gateways,

  Houses and palaces

  Strongholds by the thousand;

  Elephants and horses richly caparisoned,

  Hundreds of thousands of troops—beyond all count.

  Not one of these will accompany you on your last journey.

  The fool pines away for them and dies in his ignorance.

  Man amasses gold and silver,

  He knows not that wealth is an entangling net.

  Man may have his dominion proclaimed by beat of drum throughout the whole world.

  He knows not that without the Name death will ever hover about his head.

  When the body collapses, the game of life is over,

  What then shall be the state of the evil-doers?

  Man delights when he sees his sons

  Has the sight of his wife on her couch;

  He wears perfumes of aloe and sandal; he dresses in fine clothes and ornaments

  Yet shall he leave his home and family; dust must return to dust.

  However great the title—chief, emperor or raja.

  Governor, khan, headman or chieftain,

  These are but faggots in the fire of pride.

  Turn your face against God and ye shall be

  As stalks of pampas in a forest fire.

  Whoever comes into the world

  Shall depart;

  However proud he be,

  Must die and go.

  The whole world is as a chamber black with soot;

  The body and soul which enter it are also blackened.

  Only they whom the guru preserves remain clean

  For the fire of desires is extinguished by prayer.

  O Nanak! We cross the ocean of life by the True Name of God who is the king of kings!

  May I not forget the Name of Hari; may the Name of Hari be as a jewel of my purchase.

  The perverse perish in the terrible ocean of the world;

  Only men of God cross the fathomless sea.

  * * *

  Paunai pani agni ka mel

  Air, water and fire

  Of these elements is our body made

  Within it is the restless agitation of the mind.

  It has nine doorways

  The tenth is the one through which one goes to meet God.

  O learned one, have you thought of this?

  Everyone can discourse, speak and listen.

  Only he who thinks for himself is a true scholar

  And a learned divine.

  The body is made of clay

  The sounds that emerge are of substance airy.

  Know you, O learned one,

  What dies when a man does die?

  Consciousness dies

  Then dies the ego

  But the soul, it dies not.

  What seek you in pilgrimage to sacred rivers?

  The priceless jewel is enthroned within your breast.

  The learned pandit reads much, declaims much

  But knows not of the treasure within.

  It is not I who die.

  But the demon of ignorance who is destroyed;

  The soul that sustains me dies not.

  Says Nanak, this is what the Lord the Creator has shown me

  Now I know there is neither birth nor death.

  * * *

  Jato jae kahan te avai

  Know you whence comes life?

  How we are born? Where we go when we die?

  Why some are caught in the cycle of birth and rebirth

  While others are freed to merge in the Deathless One?

  Those who have Him in their hearts

  And have His Name ever on their lips;

  Those who worship Him but seek no return

  To them gently comes birth and death.

  Thoughts arise in the mind, in the mind do they subside.

  Only the guru’s word gives us freedom,

  Contemplating upon it, we achieve deliverance.

  Like birds at dusk settling on trees

  To roost for the night

  Some joyous, some sorrowing; all lost in themselves.

  When dawns the day and gone is the night

&
nbsp; They look up at the sky and resume their wayward flight.

  So does man fulfil his destiny.

  Those who through the Lord’s Name have knowledge

  Know that the world is but a temporary shepherd’s hut

  In a pastureland.

  Man is a vessel overflowing with lust and anger.

  Without stores the shop looks desolate

  And so does the home

  So also the human frame without the treasure trove of the Name.

  The guru breaks down the massive walls of ignorance.

  By virtue of your past deeds you meet the holy,

  Truly joyful are godly men.

  Those that gently give up their bodies and soul to the Lord

  At their feet will Nanak prostrate himself.

  * * *

  Amrit kaya rahai sukhali baji eh sansaro

  Lookest thou upon thyself as immortal?

  Art thou happy in that fond delusion?

  The entire world plays this game of make-believe

  Thus hunger, greed and untruth we earn in ample measure.

  O body of mine! I have seen thee humbled,

  I have seen thee as dust upon the face of the earth.

  My soul, hearken to these words of mine!

  Good deeds will abide with thee

  But thou wilt not again have the opportunity to perform them.

  I speak to thee, my body

  Hearken unto these words of mine!

  Do not speak evil of others, pry not into their affairs

  Create not mischief and destroy confidence among people.

  Go not unto other men’s wives,

  Steal not nor commit other evil deeds

  Thy soul like the swan will fly away,

  Leaving thee widowed and untenanted in the world.

  O body of mine! Thou livest in a dream-world,

  What merit didst thou earn for thyself?

  It replied: ‘I stole whatever pleased my fancy

  I earned no merit in this life,

  I gained no moorings in the life to come,

  Thus did I waste away my human birth.

  O Baba Nanak, I was really caught in two minds

  And no one heeded my plight.’

  ‘Strings of horses I had, of Tadjik and Turkish blood

  Gold and silver I had, I was rich in raiment.

  O Nanak, none of these could I take with me.

  All had to be shed, all went to waste.

  Crystallized sugar and dried fruits, I tasted all

  They did not last,

  I found that only the Name of the Lord is immortal.’

  ‘Deep foundations I dug

  And on them raised high walls;

  But the temple I built collapsed in a rubbled heap.

  I hoarded my treasure, I gave nothing away.

  I was blind, I believed it was mine to keep

  Then like the golden Lanka all was gone.’

  O foolish, ignorant soul listen to me!

  Only the Lord’s will comes to pass.

  Our Master is a great Merchant Prince,

  We His travelling salesmen,

  Our souls and bodies are His investment

  He fills and re-animates as He wills.

  * * *

  Avar panch ham ek jana keo rakhao ghar bar mana

  They were five, I was alone

  How could I guard my home and my possessions?

  They beat and looted me again and again,

  To whom shall I lodge a complaint?

  My soul! Repeat the Name of Rama

  Facing thee is the army of Yama,

  The god of death.

  He raised the body like a house with many gates

  Within He put the soul as housewife.

  While she disports herself believing the house and all it has

  Is hers forever

  The five are forever plundering her.

  Death demolished the house,

  Looted all therein,

  And took the housewife captive.

  Death beat her with a rod

  And put a chain around her neck.

  The five took to their heels and fled.

  A wife wants silver and gold,

  Friends ask for food and drink,

  O Nanak, one who sins for such cheap gains

  Shall go to his doom bound in chains.

  * * *

  Rain gavaee soi ke divas gavaya khae

  I wasted my nights in sleep

  The days I wasted eating and enjoying,

  The priceless gift of life

  I bartered away for a cowrie shell.

  I knew not the Name of Rama

  Fool! You will regret this hereafter.

  Man buries his hoard under the earth.

  He seeks not God who is truly without limit.

  Those who go into the world seeking gain

  Lose the Lord when they return.

  If all one desired one got

  All of us would be wealthy;

  Not by words but by deeds do we reach

  The goal for which we aspire.

  O Nanak, the Creator takes care

  Of what He did create.

  We do not comprehend His Ordinances

  Nor why He makes some men great.

  * * *

  Choa chandan ank chadavau, pat patambar pehor hadavau

  I may perfume my body with scented aloe and sandal

  Drape it in silks and satins,

  Without the Name of Hari, how shall I find happiness?

  What shall I wear? What display?

  Without the Lord of the world, how shall I find happiness?

  I may wear ring in my ears and a necklace of pearls about my neck,

  I may sit on a red mattress adorned with poppy flowers,

  Without the Lord of the world, how shall I find happiness?

  I may possess a beautiful woman with bewitching eyes

  Lovelier for the sixteen kinds of beauty aids.

  Without the Lord of the world, forever shall I wander in frustration.

  I may have houses and mansions with luxurious couches to recline on,

  Gardens with gardeners tending flowerbeds at all hours,

  Without the Name of Hari, they will be abodes of sorrow.

  I may have horses and elephants, lancers and bondsmen

  Militia, mace-bearers and retainers,

  Without the Lord of the world, these will be but sham display.

  I may gain renown as a miracle maker,

  Have power to make gold, power to vanish at will.

  I may wear a crown on my head and over it a royal umbrella to shade me,

  Without the Lord of the world, how shall I find truth?

  I may be a khan, a chieftain, a king

  Order everyone about: ‘Come here you! And you!’

  It will all be sham display,

  Without the guru’s word my affairs will not prosper.

  By the guru’s teaching

  I have overcome my ego and my pride;

  By the guru’s teaching

  I know that God the destroyer of demons

  Doth within me reside.

  Nanak makes this supplications,

  ‘Master I crave Thy protection.’

  * * *

  Seva ek na janas avrey, parpanch biadh tyagai kavrey

  He who serves the One God will know no other,

  He does not concern himself with the world’s bitterness and strife;

  By love and truth he is united with the truest of the True.

  Such a man is a devotee of God,

  He sings praises of the Lord;

  He washes away the dirt on his person

  And makes his Union with God.

  The lotus in our hearts is upside down;

  The world heeds false messages and burns in error;

  Only he who meditates on the guru’s words will be saved.

  The bumble-bee and the moth, the elephant and the fish

  Like deer me
et their doom because of their own doings.

  So it is with men: cravings makes them blind to reality.

  Lust fills their hearts; they become lovers of women,

  Frustration and anger prove their undoing.

  They lose their minds and their poise

  Because they forget the Name.

  Concern with other people’s affairs makes their minds wander in error;

  They put halters around their necks and are enmeshed in troubles.

  Only the saintly who sing praises of God escape.

  As a widow will for the love of money give her body to strangers

  So we pledge our minds to others.

  Without the Lord as our lover we shall never find fulfilment.

  Study all the scriptures, all litanies recite

  Read all the religious epics and have them explained;

  Unless you are dyed in the essence of Truth

  Your mind will wobble in error.

  As the Chatrik bird loves the rain

  And cries for a few drops to slake its thirst;

  As the fish gambols in the waters,

  Nanak is athirst for the Name of Hari,

  He drinks and his heart is filled with joy.

  * * *

  Mundh rain duheladia jeeo need na avai

  Long and sleepless is the night (of life)

  For a woman separated from the Lord

  She wears away pining for Him,

  She becomes weak waiting and watching for the return of her Spouse.

  Her adornments, the sweet delicacies offered to her

  Are without taste; life has no purpose for her.

  Her youth bursting like heady wine turns sour

  But youth returns not; her bosom will not fill again.

  Sayeth Nanak: as with a woman so with us all

  We shall meet the Lord when He wills,

  Else our nights will be long and without sleep.

  If the wretched woman be deprived of her Lord and Husband

  How shall she find fulfilment?

  Without her Husband her house will not be a home.

  Ask her friends and companions, they will tell you

  Without the love of the Name

  There is no truth, no life of comfort.

  In your heart let there be truth,

  Let contentment be your companion,

  In your mind the guru’s message.

  These facilitate union with the Lover, our Husband.

  Sayeth Nanak, a woman who never forsakes the Name

  Is gently united with her Lord.

  Come my friends and companions!

  Let us praise the Lord, our Husband.

  I will ask my guru and write a message of love to be sent to Him,

  My guru hath shown me my True Lord.

  The perverse of mind will have cause to regret,

  My wayward mind has ceased to wander;