Ang 1415

All have come, wearing the robes of sexual desire and anger. Some are born, and some pass away. They come and go according to the Hukam of the Lord’s Command. Their comings and goings in reincarnation do not end; they are imbued with the love of duality. Bound in bondage, they are made to wander, and they cannot do anything about it. ||17|| Those, upon whom the Lord showers His Mercy, come and meet the True Guru. Meeting with the True Guru, they turn away from the world; they remain dead while still alive, with intuitive peace and poise. O Nanak, the devotees are imbued with the Lord; they are absorbed in the Name of the Lord. ||18|| The intellect of the self-willed manmukh is fickle; he is very tricky and clever within. Whatever he has done, and all that he does, is useless. Not even an iota of it is acceptable. The charity and generosity he pretends to give will be judged by the Righteous Judge of Dharma. Without the True Guru, the Messenger of Death does not leave the mortal alone; he is ruined by the love of duality. Youth slips away imperceptibly, old age comes, and then he dies. The mortal is caught in love and emotional attachment to children and spouse, but none of them will be his helper and support in the end. Whoever serves the True Guru finds peace; the Name comes to abide in the mind. O Nanak, great and very fortunate are those who, as Gurmukh, are absorbed in the Naam. ||19|| The self-willed manmukhs do not even think of the Name; without the Name, they cry in pain. They do not worship the Lord, the Supreme Soul; how can they find peace in duality? They are filled with the filth of egotism; they do not wash it away with the Word of the Shabad. O Nanak, without the Name, they die in their filth; they waste the priceless opportunity of this human life. ||20|| The self-willed manmukhs are deaf and blind; they are filled with the fire of desire. They have no intuitive understanding of the Guru’s Bani; they are not illumined with the Shabad. They do not know their own inner being, and they have no faith in the Guru’s Word. The Word of the Guru’s Shabad is within the being of the spiritually wise ones. I am forever a sacrifice to them. Servant Nanak is the slave of those Gurmukhs who serve the Lord. ||21||

The poisonous snake, the serpent of Maya, has surrounded the world with its coils, O mother! The antidote to this poisonous venom is the Name of the Lord; the Guru places the magic spell of the Shabad into the mouth. Those who are blessed with such pre-ordained destiny come and meet the True Guru. Meeting with the True Guru, they become immaculate, and the poison of egotism is eradicated. Radiant and bright are the faces of the Gurmukhs; they are honored in the Court of the Lord. Servant Nanak is forever a sacrifice to those who walk in harmony with the Will of the True Guru. ||22|| The True Guru, the Primal Being, has no hatred or vengeance. His heart is constantly attuned to the Lord. Whoever directs hatred against the Guru, who has no hatred at all, only sets his own home on fire. Anger and egotism are within him night and day; he burns, and suffers constant pain. They babble and tell lies, and keep on barking, eating the poison of the love of duality. For the sake of the poison of Maya, they wander from house to house, and lose their honor. They are like the son of a prostitute, who does not know the name of his father. They do not remember the Name of the Lord, Har, Har; the Creator Himself brings them to ruin. The Lord showers His Mercy upon the Gurmukhs, and reunites the separated ones with Himself. Servant Nanak is a sacrifice to those who fall at the Feet of the True Guru. ||23|| Those who are attached to the Naam, the Name of the Lord, are saved; without the Name, they must go to the City of Death. O Nanak, without the Name, they find no peace; they come and go in reincarnation with regrets. ||24|| When anxiety and wanderings come to an end, the mind becomes happy. By Guru’s Grace, the soul-bride understands, and then she sleeps without worry. Those who have such pre-ordained destiny meet with the Guru, the Lord of the Universe. O Nanak, they merge intuitively into the Lord, the Embodiment of Supreme Bliss. ||25|| Those who serve their True Guru, who contemplate the Word of the Guru’s Shabad, who honor and obey the Will of the True Guru, who keep the Lord’s Name enshrined within their hearts, are honored, here and hereafter; they are dedicated to the business of the Lord’s Name. Through the Word of the Shabad, the Gurmukhs gain recognition in that Court of the True Lord. The True Name is their merchandise, the True Name is their expenditure; the Love of their Beloved fills their inner beings. The Messenger of Death does not even approach them; the Creator Lord Himself forgives them. O Nanak, they alone are wealthy, who are imbued with the Naam; the rest of the world is poor. ||26||