Hymns of the Gurus Read online

  It is stilled and I recognize the truth.

  The wine of truth renews its strength,

  The Word renews the vigour of love;

  O Nanak, when the Lord is gracious

  Truth is easily comprehended.

  ’Friends and companions! I am united with the Lord,

  My desires are fulfilled,

  My Beloved hath come to my home.

  Women! Sing hosannas to the Lord

  Sing songs of joy and bliss.

  The Lord hath fulfilled me.

  My sorrows are over.

  My friends rejoice

  My foes are filled with envy.’

  Such a woman’s prayer is true

  And true her earnings.

  With the palms of her hands joined she prays:

  ‘Lord, night and day let me live in Thy love.’

  Sayeth Nanak, when man and wife are thus united

  Are their desires truly fulfilled.

  * * *

  Sun nah prabhu jeo ekaldi ban mahe

  All alone am I in the wilderness

  O Lord, my Husband, listen to me!

  How can a wife be free to care

  Unless she finds You who are free of all care?

  She cannot live without her Husband

  Her nights are long and hard to endure

  For sleep comes not to her,

  O Lord of Love, listen to my prayer!

  Only my Love cares for me, none else gives a thought to me,

  Alone am I in my lamentation.

  O Nanak, the fortunate woman has her tryst with her Lord

  And becomes one with Him.

  Without Him her life is indeed a tale of sorrow.

  * * *

  Sun vadda akhai sab koi

  Having heard of Thy greatness

  All say Thou art great;

  How great Thou art

  We shall know when we see Thee;

  Thy worth cannot be valued

  Thy praise not put into words;

  Those who tried to speak of Thee were merged in Thee.

  O Great Master of mine! Of wisdom profound, of virtues a treasure!

  Of Thy great apron none hath the measure.

  All learned men with their loads of Vedic learning,

  All evaluations put together;

  Scholars, thinkers, teachers and those who teachers teach

  Could not even a sesame seed of Thy greatness gauge.

  All charities and giving of alms;

  All penances, all that good deeds gain

  Praises by Siddhas who perform miracles (all, all are in vain)

  Without Thy aid Siddhas could no miracles make

  None can come between us if Thou art compassionate.

  Sorry is the plight of one who tries to contain in words,

  Thy treasure is replete with words of praise.

  Whom Thou givest the power need try no other ways

  ‘This truth have I beheld,’ Nanak says.

  * * *

  Akhan jivan visrai mar jaun

  By prayer I live; without it I die.

  The Name of the True One is hard to say

  Hunger for the Name of the True One

  Fulfils that hunger and sorrows fly away.

  Why then forget Him, O mother of mine?

  The Lord is true, His Name is Truth divine.

  Praise of the True Name is a bare mustard seed (of His real greatness)

  We’ll speak of Him till we are weary of speech,

  (We run out of words) and yet not His values reach.

  If all together we exalted His nature

  It would neither increase nor decrease His stature.

  He does not die; He suffers no sorrow

  He goes on giving, His bounty never fails,

  This virtue alone hath He

  None like Him there was before

  None like Him shall hereafter be.

  Thy bounty is as great as Thy might

  Thou madest the day and also the night.

  He who forgets Thee is of low birth

  O Nanak! one without Name is lowest of the low-born.

  * * *

  Jeta sabad surat dhun teti jeta rup kaya teri

  All the sounds we hear are but a part of the mighty roar of Thy torrent,

  All the sights we see are but a part of Thy vast creation,

  Thou art the taste (in all we taste)

  Thou art the fragrance (in all that is fragrant)

  O mother of mine! no other hath these qualities.

  My Master is One

  He is One, brother, the only One.

  He is the Destroyer and the Redeemer

  He gives and He takes

  He regards and rejoices,

  He is the granter of grace.

  He is the Doer of whatever is to be done,

  No one else can make that claim.

  As He deals with us, so we speak of Him.

  Everything doth His greatness proclaim.

  In this dark age man’s mind is like a brewer’s vat

  Filled with the sweet wine of delusion.

  Sayeth humble Nanak,

  This is also one of Thy many manifestations.

  * * *

  Niv pae lagau gur apney atam Ram nihariya

  I bow low to clasp the feet of my guru,

  I have vision of God Rama.

  My mind meditated on Him

  In my heart I saw and enshrined Him.

  Utter the Name of Rama and be saved!

  By the guru’s grace

  The gem that is God you will find,

  The darkness of ignorance will be dispelled

  And your mind will be illumined.

  Mere lip-worship cannot break our fetters

  Nor dissipate delusions of the ego;

  When we meet the true guru, thoughts of self disappear

  And we reach our goal.

  Those who worship the Name of Hari

  Regard Him as their well-beloved Lord;

  Their hearts fill with peace

  As the oceans fill with water.

  The Bountiful Giver of life to the world

  Loves those who worship Him.

  Let the guru’s teaching guide your thinking,

  Hari will Himself take you across the ocean of life.

  He who kills himself battling his own heart finds God,

  In his own mind he vanquishes his cravings.

  Sayeth Nanak, if the Lord, Life-of-the-World be kind

  The gentle path of prayer we shall find.

  * * *

  Dudh bin dhen, pankh bin pankhi

  A cow that yields no milk

  A bird clipped of its wings

  Are of as little use as unwatered, withered vegetation;

  So like a king to whom no one makes salutation

  Is the heart without the Name:

  A cell in pitch-black darkness.

  When I forget Thee many sorrows assail me

  Lord, forsake me not in my afflictions.

  My eyes have lost their light

  My tongue hath lost its taste

  No sounds echo in my ear

  With the aid of crutches my feet move forward.

  Such is the harvest of bitter fruit reaped by those who serve not God.

  In the orchard of your heart, O man

  Sow seeds of the divine Word!

  Water it in plenty with love.

  Your trees will bear fruit of the One Name.

  If you make not this effort

  How do you expect to reap any harvest?

  All creatures are Thine

  If they serve Thee not,

  They will reap no fruit.

  Sorrow and joy are as Thou willest

  Without Thy Name there is no life.

  To kill thoughts of self within oneself

  Is true living; there is no other way to live.

  Sayeth Nanak, Thou art the Restorer of life

  Preserve us as it pleases Thee.

  * * *
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  Kaia Brahma man hai dhoti, gyan janeu dhyan kuspati

  If thy body were a Brahmin priest performing ritual

  Let thy heart be the dhoti he wears;

  Let divine knowledge be thy sacred thread

  Meditation the leaf-ring he wears on his finger,

  Instead of alms, beg for the name of God and thank Him.

  By the guru’s favour you will blend in your Maker.

  O pandit priest! Let the Name of God be thy purification,

  Let the Name be thy learning, wisdom and way of life.

  The sacred thread on the body means little

  Unless there be divine light within thee.

  Make remembrance of the Name

  The mark on thy forehead and thy dhoti.

  The Name shall abide by thee in this life

  And the life hereafter.

  Seek the Name and nothing else besides.

  With love in thy heart worship the Lord

  And burn away love for wealth.

  Seek only the One, seek no other.

  See the essence of reality

  Through the vault that opens the tenth gate

  Repeat His Name and upon it meditate.

  If love be thy sacred food

  Fear and superstition will flee;

  If the watchman is wakeful

  Thieves will not break in at night.

  Let knowledge that God is One be the mark

  on your forehead

  Consciousness of the God within the essence of learning.

  No one can win favour with God by mere performance of ritual;

  Mere recitation of sacred texts does not reveal His worth

  His secrets are not unravelled by the eighteen Puranas or the four Vedas.

  Sayeth Nanak, only the true guru can show you the Creator.

  * * *

  Kachi gagar deh duheli upjal binsai dukh pae

  The body is like a pitcher of soft clay filled with sorrow;

  It is made and unmade

  And each time it suffers.

  This world is like a turbulent sea,

  How shall we swim in it?

  Without the help of God and the guru

  We will not find the opposite shore.

  Except Thee I have no other, my Beloved!

  O Hari, except Thee I have no other!

  Thou giveth colour to all that is colourful

  Thou giveth shape to everything that hath shape;

  Thou forgiveth those on whom descends Thy grace.

  Maya is like a wicked mother-in-law

  Who will not let me make a home

  Nor let me meet my Lord and Husband.

  (In gratitude) shall I clasp the feet of my friends and companions.

  For by the kindness of my guru

  The Lord hath looked upon me with favour

  And I shall be saved.

  I meditated

  I conquered my mind and perceived

  There is no greater friend than Thou.

  As you ordain, so shall I live.

  Sorrow and joy you apportion, I’ll accept.

  Hopes and ambitions have I dispelled

  I’ll seek neither the good nor the neutral nor the evil

  The blessed fourth stage I’ll find in the guru’s teaching

  The assemblage of the saintly will be my sanctuary.

  All our learning and thinking

  All prayers and penances

  Are directed to God who is beyond comprehension and whose secret is unravelled.

  Sayeth Nanak, my mind is imbued with the Name of Rama,

  Teaching of the guru hath pointed out to me the gentle path of sahaj and service.

  * * *

  Vidya vichari tan parupkari

  If you desire to acquire true knowledge

  Make people’s welfare thy aim in life.

  When you master your five senses

  Life itself will become a pilgrimage.

  When the mind is stilled

  It hears the tinkle of a dancer’s bells.

  What then can Yama do to thee?

  He who abandons desires,

  Is the real sanyasi.

  He who has mastered passions

  Enjoys his body and is a true yogi.

  He who has compassion

  And looks within himself

  Is like a sky-clad Digambar hermit.

  For he has killed his self without killing anyone.

  O Nanak, he who knows Thy sportive ways

  Knows Thou art One but hath many disguises.

  * * *

  Tit sarvade bhai lai nivasa

  We live in a pond whose waters

  He Himself hath filled with fire;

  Our feet are stuck in the mud of attachment

  We cannot move; many have I seen sunk in the mire.

  Heart! Foolish heart! Never dwellest thou on the One

  If thou forgettest thy Lord,

  Thou shalt dissipate the deserts of the virtue.

  Neither continent, nor truthful, nor learned am I,

  Foolish and ignorant was I begot;

  Nanak prays for the protection of those

  Who never have Thine Name forgot.

  * * *

  Deeva mera ek nam dukh vich paya tel

  The Name of the Lord is my only lamp

  In it I put my sorrows of oil;

  The brighter burns the flame

  The quicker is consumed the oil

  Thus I escape encounter with the demon of death.

  People, do not mock me!

  Just as a thousand piles of logs

  Can be lit by a tiny spark

  (So can the Name set alight the world).

  (For my obsequial ceremony)

  Instead of rice-cakes and leaf-plates

  Be used the Name of God.

  The Name of the True Creator shall also my oblations be,

  In this world and the worlds to come

  In the future and in time past

  He alone hath been my refuge.

  Lord, Thy praise will be my pilgrimage to Benares

  My soul will dip into the waters of the holy Ganga

  My ablution will be performed if day and night I cherish Thee.

  Some rice-cakes are offered to the ancestors,

  Others to the spirits that wander round the globe;

  But it is the Brahmins who eat them all.

  O Nanak, if there is grace upon the rice-cake

  Never never will it go to waste.

  * * *

  Man maigal sakat devana, ban khand maya moh hairana

  Our mind is like a rogue elephant erazed with notions of its own might.

  It lives in a jungle of delusions and attachment.

  It runs hither and thither in terror of death

  If it finds the guru to guide, it will find its sanctuary.

  Without the guru’s word, the mind will not be stilled;

  Repeat the Name of Rama, it is utterly pure

  Abandon other ritual, it is bitterness of the ego.

  How can this wayward mind be stilled?

  Unless it understands, it will suffer at the hands of death.

  God is our Saviour,

  The true guru can unite us with God.

  He can draw the thorn of death out of our flesh

  He can make truth triumphant.

  The mind though compounded of five elements

  Determines our destiny for it is the doer

  And in the mind is law divine.

  The mind of the fool worships power and is full of greed,

  By the guru’s advice it worships the Name, is freed

  And attains eternal felicity.

  Under the guru’s instruction the mind finds its true function;

  Under the guru’s instruction the mind comprehends the three worlds.

  The mind can be a celibate yogi or the householder.

  The mind can be a performer of penances;

  Under the guru’s instruction it can realize G
od.

  Thus doth the restless mind come to rest

  And relinquish thoughts of self.

  In every heart is the contagion of duality;

  Under instruction of the guru (it avoids the contagion)

  It tastes the divine essence of God.

  And at every door of every home and mansion it is welcomed with honour.

  This mind of ours can be a monarch

  And the hero of the field of battle,

  The guru gives it the gift of the Name and makes it fearless.

  Man, conquer your five enemies

  (lust, anger, greed, attachment and pride)

  Reduce them to servitude

  And along with your ego bundle them into one!

  The music of the guru’s message fulfils

  Man loses taste for other food.

  The guru’s message awakens the mind to worship.

  It hears music unstruck and meditates on the Name

  It understands its spiritual self and becomes formless.

  In the mansion of the Lord is our mind purified

  The guru teaches it to love and worship.

  Day and night it sings praises of God—such grace the guru brings

  In every heart is God who is without end and without a beginning.

  This mind is drunk with juices of God

  Under the guru’s instruction find God, the curer of all ailments.

  Sit at the feet of the guru and become a worshipper

  Nanak is the slave of the slaves of the people of God.

  * * *

  Roodo Thakur mahro roodi Gurbani

  Excellent is my Master,

  Excellent are the songs of the guru,

  The very fortunate meet the true guru

  And attain salvation.

  I am lowest of the low,

  I am Thy slave boy,

  As Thou keepest so shall I live.

  Thy name will ever be on my lips.

  I thirst for vision of Thee

  Thy ordinances my heart accepts

  My Master holds greatness in the palm of His hand

  If it be His pleasure, I will be received with honour.

  Do not regard the True One as far away,

  He is within us.

  Whichever way I turn, I see Him there;

  Who has evaluated Him?

  He makes, He demolishes,

  He watches and glories in His work.

  By treading the saintly path

  We shall have His vision

  And thus appraise His worth.

  Such are the doings of the guru

  That in this life we can earn profit.

  But we can only find the true guru

  If it is writ in our book of fate.

  The perverse of mind will forever suffer loss

  They stumble in superstition and mislead others

  The perverse of mind are like the blind.

  If they recall Him not to their mind,

  How can they expect to see Him?

  When you have attached yourself to the True One

  Consider your lives on earth worthwhile;