Ang 351

AASAA, FIRST MEHL: He created the air, and He supports the whole world; he bound water and fire together. The blind, ten-headed Raavan had his heads cut off, but what greatness was obtained by killing him? ||1|| What Glories of Yours can be chanted? You are totally pervading everywhere; You love and cherish all. ||1|| Pause|| You created all beings, and You hold the world in Your Hands; what greatness is it to put a ring in the nose of the black cobra, as Krishna did? Whose Husband are You? Who is Your wife? You are subtly diffused and pervading in all. ||2|| Brahma, the bestower of blessings, entered the stem of the lotus, with his relatives, to find the extent of the universe. Proceeding on, he could not find its limits; what glory was obtained by killing Kansa, the king? ||3|| The jewels were produced and brought forth by churning the ocean of milk. The other gods proclaimed “We are the ones who did this!” Says Nanak, by hiding, how can the Lord be hidden? He has given each their share, one by one. ||4||7||

AASAA, FIRST MEHL: The vine of good actions and character has spread out, and it bears the fruit of the Lord’s Name. The Name has no form or outline; it vibrates with the unstruck Sound Current; through the Word of the Shabad, the Immaculate Lord is revealed. ||1|| One can speak on this only when he knows it. He alone drinks in the Ambrosial Nectar. ||1|| Pause|| Those who drink it in are enraptured; their bonds and shackles are cut away. When one’s light blends into the Divine Light, then the desire for Maya is ended. ||2|| Among all lights, I behold Your Form; all the worlds are Your Maya. Among the tumults and forms, He sits in serene detachment; He bestows His Glance of Grace upon those who are engrossed in the illusion. ||3|| The Yogi who plays on the instrument of the Shabad gains the Blessed Vision of the Infinitely Beautiful Lord. He, the Lord, is immersed in the Unstruck Shabad of the Word, says Nanak, the humble and meek. ||4||8||

AASAA, FIRST MEHL: My virtue is that I carry the load of my words upon my head. The real words are the Words of the Creator Lord. How useless are eating, drinking and laughing, if the Lord is not cherished in the heart! ||1|| Why should someone care for anything else, if throughout his life, he gathers in that which is truly worth gathering? ||1|| Pause|| The intellect of the mind is like a drunken elephant. Whatever one utters is totally false, the most false of the false. So what face should we put on to offer our prayer, when both virtue and vice are close at hand as witnesses? ||2|| As You make us, so we become. Without You, there is no other at all. As is the understanding which You bestow, so do we receive. As it pleases Your Will, so do You lead us. ||3|| The divine crystalline harmonies, their consorts, and their celestial families — from them, the essence of Ambrosial Nectar is produced. O Nanak, this is the wealth and property of the Creator Lord. If only this essential reality were understood! ||4||9||

AASAA, FIRST MEHL: When by His Grace He came to my home, then my companions met together to celebrate my marriage. Beholding this play, my mind became blissful; my Husband Lord has come to marry me. ||1|| So sing — yes, sing the songs of wisdom and and reflection, O brides. My spouse, the Life of the world, has come into my home. ||1|| Pause|| When I was married within the Gurdwara, the Guru’s Gate, I met my Husband Lord, and I came to know Him. The Word of His Shabad is pervading the three worlds; when my ego was quieted, my mind became happy. ||2|| He Himself arranges His own affairs; His affairs cannot be arranged by anyone else. By the affair of this marriage, truth, contentment, mercy and faith are produced; but how rare is that Gurmukh who understands it! ||3|| Says Nanak, that Lord alone is the Husband of all. She, upon whom He casts His Glance of Grace, becomes the happy soul-bride. ||4||10||

AASAA, FIRST MEHL: Home and forest are the same, for one who dwells in the balance of intuitive peace and poise. His evil- mindedness departs, and the Praises of God take its place. To chant the True Name with one’s mouth is the true ladder. Serving the True Guru, one finds one’s own place within the self. ||1|| To conquer the mind is the knowledge of the six Shaastras. The Divine Light of the Lord God is perfectly pervading. ||1|| Pause|| Excessive thirst for Maya makes people wear all sorts of religious robes. The pain of corruption destroys the body’s peace. Sexual desire and anger steal the wealth of the self within. But by abandoning duality, one is emancipated through the Naam, the Name of the Lord. ||2|| In the Lord’s Praise and adoration is intuitive peace, poise and bliss. The Love of the Lord God is one’s family and friends. He Himself is the Doer, and He Himself is the Forgiver. My body and mind belong to the Lord; my life is at His Command. ||3|| Falsehood and corruption cause terrible suffering. All the religious robes and social classes look just like dust. Whoever is born, continues to come and go. O Nanak, only the Naam and the Lord’s Command are eternal and everlasting. ||4||11||