First Mehl

: To take what rightfully belongs to another, is like a Muslim eating pork, or a Hindu eating

beef.

Our Guru, our Spiritual Guide, stands by us, if we do not eat those carcasses.

By mere talk, people do not earn passage to Heaven. Salvation comes only from the practice

of Truth.

By adding spices to forbidden foods, they are not made acceptable.

O Nanak, from false talk, only falsehood is obtained. ||2||

First Mehl:

There are five prayers and five times of day for prayer; the five have five names.

Let the first be truthfulness, the second honest living, and the third charity in the Name of

God.

Let the fourth be good will to all, and the fifth the praise of the Lord.

Repeat the prayer of good deeds, and then, you may call yourself a Muslim.

O Nanak, the false obtain falsehood, and only falsehood. ||3||

Pauree:

Some trade in priceless jewels, while others deal in mere glass.

When the True Guru is pleased, we find the treasure of the jewel, deep within the self.

Without the Guru, no one has found this treasure. The blind and the false have died in their

endless wanderings.

The self-willed manmukhs putrefy and die in duality. They do not understand contemplative

meditation.

Without the One Lord, there is no other at all. Unto whom should they complain?

Some are destitute, and wander around endlessly, while others have storehouses of wealth.

Without God's Name, there is no other wealth. Everything else is just poison and ashes.

O Nanak, the Lord Himself acts, and causes others to act; by the Hukam of His Command, we

are embellished and exalted. ||7||

Shalok, First Mehl:

It is difficult to be called a Muslim; if one is truly a Muslim, then he may be called one.

First, let him savor the religion of the Prophet as sweet; then, let his pride of his possessions

be scraped away.

Becoming a true Muslim, a disciple of the faith of Mohammed, let him put aside the delusion

of death and life.

As he submits to God's Will, and surrenders to the Creator, he is rid of selfishness and

conceit.

And when, O Nanak, he is merciful to all beings, only then shall he be called a Muslim. ||1||

Fourth Mehl:

Renounce sexual desire, anger, falsehood and slander; forsake Maya and eliminate egotistical

pride.

Renounce sexual desire and promiscuity, and give up emotional attachment. Only then shall

you obtain the Immaculate Lord amidst the darkness of the world.

Renounce selfishness, conceit and arrogant pride, and your love for your children and spouse.

Abandon your thirsty hopes and desires, and embrace love for the Lord.

O Nanak, the True One shall come to dwell in your mind. Through the True Word of the

Shabad, you shall be absorbed in the Name of the Lord. ||2||

Pauree:

Neither the kings, nor their subjects, nor the leaders shall remain.

The shops, the cities and the streets shall eventually disintegrate, by the Hukam of the Lord's

Command.

Those solid and beautiful mansions-the fools think that they belong to them.

The treasure-houses, filled with wealth, shall be emptied out in an instant.

qwjI rQ quKwr hwQI pwKry ] bwg imlK Gr bwr ikQY is Awpxy ] qMbU plµG invwr srwiecy

The horses, chariots, camels and elephants, with all their decorations; the gardens, lands,

houses, tents, soft beds and satin pavilions-Oh, where are those things, which they believe to

be their own?

O Nanak, the True One is the Giver of all; He is revealed through His All-powerful Creative

Nature. ||8||

Shalok, First Mehl:

If the rivers became cows, giving milk, and the spring water became milk and ghee;

If all the earth became sugar, to continually excite the mind;

pMnw 142

if the mountains became gold and silver, studded with gems and jewels

-even then, I would worship and adore You, and my longing to chant Your Praises would not

decrease. ||1||

First Mehl:

If all the eighteen loads of vegetation became fruits,

and the growing grass became sweet rice; if I were able to stop the sun and the moon in

their orbits and hold them perfectly steady

-even then, I would worship and adore You, and my longing to chant Your Praises would not

decrease. ||2||

First Mehl:

If my body were afflicted with pain, under the evil influence of unlucky stars;

and if the blood-sucking kings were to hold power over me

-even if this were my condition, I would still worship and adore You, and my longing to chant

Your Praises would not decrease. ||3||

First Mehl:

If fire and ice were my clothes, and the wind was my food;

and even if the enticing heavenly beauties were my wives, O Nanak-all this shall pass away!

Even then, I would worship and adore You, and my longing to chant Your Praises would not

decrease. ||4||

Pauree:

The foolish demon, who does evil deeds, does not know his Lord and Master.

Call him a mad-man, if he does not understand himself.

The strife of this world is evil; these struggles are consuming it.

Without the Lord's Name, life is worthless. Through doubt, the people are being destroyed.

One who recognizes that all spiritual paths lead to the One shall be emancipated.

One who speaks lies shall fall into hell and burn.

In all the world, the most blessed and sanctified are those who remain absorbed in Truth.

One who eliminates selfishness and conceit is redeemed in the Court of the Lord. ||9||

First Mehl, Shalok:

They alone are truly alive, whose minds are filled with the Lord.

O Nanak, no one else is truly alive;

those who merely live shall depart in dishonor;

everything they eat is impure.

Intoxicated with power and thrilled with wealth, they delight in their pleasures, and dance

about shamelessly.

O Nanak, they are deluded and defrauded.

Without the Lord's Name, they lose their honor and depart. ||1||

First Mehl:

What good is food, and what good are clothes,

if the True Lord does not abide within the mind?

What good are fruits, what good is ghee, sweet jaggery, what good is flour, and what good is

meat?

What good are clothes, and what good is a soft bed, to enjoy pleasures and sensual delights?

What good is an army, and what good are soldiers, servants and mansions to live in?

O Nanak, without the True Name, all this paraphernalia shall disappear. ||2||

Pauree:

What good is social class and status? Truthfulness is measured within.

Pride in one's status is like poison-holding it in your hand and eating it, you shall die.

The True Lord's Sovereign Rule is known throughout the ages.

One who respects the Hukam of the Lord's Command is honored and respected in the Court

of the Lord.

By the Order of our Lord and Master, we have been brought into this world.

The Drummer, the Guru, has announced the Lord's meditation, through the Word of the

Shabad.

Some have mounted their horses in response, and others are saddling up.

Some have tied up their bridles, and others have already ridden off. ||10||

Shalok, First Mehl:

When the crop is ripe, then it is cut down; only the stalks are left standing.

The corn on the cob is put into the thresher, and the kernels are separated from the cobs.

Placing the kernels between the two mill-stones, people sit and grind the corn.

Those kernels which stick to the central axle are spared-Nanak has seen this wonderful

vision! ||1||

First Mehl:

Look, and see how the sugar-cane is cut down. After cutting away its branches, its feet are

bound together into bundles,

pMnw 143

and then, it is placed between the wooden rollers and crushed.

What punishment is inflicted upon it! Its juice is extracted and placed in the cauldron; as it is

heated, it groans and cries out.

And then, the crushed cane is collected and burnt in the fire below.

Nanak: come, people, and see how the sweet sugar-cane is treated! ||2||

Pauree:

Some do not think of death; they entertain great hopes.

They die, and are re-born, and die, over and over again. They are of no use at all!

In their conscious minds, they call themselves good.

The King of the Angels of Death hunts down those self-willed manmukhs, over and over

again.

The manmukhs are false to their own selves; they feel no gratitude for what they have been

given.

Those who merely perform rituals of worship are not pleasing to their Lord and Master.

Those who attain the True Lord and chant His Name are pleasing to the Lord.

They worship the Lord and bow at His Throne. They fulfill their pre-ordained destiny. ||11||

First Mehl, Shalok:

What can deep water do to a fish? What can the vast sky do to a bird?

What can cold do to a stone? What is married life to a eunuch?

You may apply sandalwood oil to a dog, but he will still be a dog.

You may try to teach a deaf person by reading the Simritees to him, but how will he learn?

You may place a light before a blind man and burn fifty lamps, but how will he see?

You may place gold before a herd of cattle, but they will pick out the grass to eat.

You may add flux to iron and melt it, but it will not become soft like cotton.

O Nanak, this is the nature of a fool-everything he speaks is useless and wasted. ||1||

First Mehl:

When pieces of bronze or gold or iron break,

the metal-smith welds them together again in the fire, and the bond is established.

If a husband leaves his wife,

their children may bring them back together in the world, and the bond is established.

When the king makes a demand, and it is met, the bond is established.

When the hungry man eats, he is satisfied, and the bond is established.

In the famine, the rain fills the streams to overflowing, and the bond is established.

There is a bond between love and words of sweetness.

When one speaks the Truth, a bond is established with the Holy Scriptures.

Through goodness and truth, the dead establish a bond with the living.

Such are the bonds which prevail in the world.

The fool establishes his bonds only when he is slapped in the face.

Nanak says this after deep reflection:

through the Lord's Praise, we establish a bond with His Court. ||2||

Pauree:

He Himself created and adorned the Universe, and He Himself contemplates it.

Some are counterfeit, and some are genuine. He Himself is the Appraiser.

The genuine are placed in His Treasury, while the counterfeit are thrown away.

The counterfeit are thrown out of the True Court-unto whom should they complain?

They should worship and follow the True Guru-this is the lifestyle of excellence.

The True Guru converts the counterfeit into genuine; through the Word of the Shabad, He

embellishes and exalts us.

Those who have enshrined love and affection for the Guru, are honored in the True Court.

Who can estimate the value of those who have been forgiven by the Creator Lord Himself?

||12||

Shalok, First Mehl:

All the spiritual teachers, their disciples and the rulers of the world shall be buried under the

ground.

The emperors shall also pass away; God alone is Eternal.

You alone, Lord, You alone. ||1||

First Mehl:

Neither the angels, nor the demons, nor human beings, nor the Siddhas, nor the seekers shall

remain on the earth.

Who else is there?

pMnw 144

You alone, Lord, You alone. ||2||

First Mehl:

Neither the just, nor the generous, nor any humans at all, nor the seven realms beneath the

earth, shall remain.

The One Lord alone exists. Who else is there?

You alone, Lord, You alone. ||3||

First Mehl:

Neither the sun, nor the moon, nor the planets, nor the seven continents, nor the oceans, nor

food, nor the wind-nothing is permanent.

You alone, Lord, You alone. ||4||

First Mehl:

Our sustenance is not in the hands of any person.

The hopes of all rest in the One Lord.

The One Lord alone exists-who else is there?

You alone, Lord, You alone. ||5||

First Mehl:

The birds have no money in their pockets.

They place their hopes on trees and water.

He alone is the Giver.

You alone, Lord, You alone. ||6||

First Mehl:

O Nanak, that destiny which is pre-ordained and written on one's forehead

-no one can erase it.

The Lord infuses strength, and He takes it away again.

You alone, O Lord, You alone. ||7||

Pauree:

True is the Hukam of Your Command. To the Gurmukh, it is known.

Through the Guru's Teachings, selfishness and conceit are eradicated, and the Truth is

realized.

True is Your Court. It is proclaimed and revealed through the Word of the Shabad.

Meditating deeply on the True Word of the Shabad, I have merged into the Truth.

The self-willed manmukhs are always false; they are deluded by doubt.

They dwell in manure, and they do not know the taste of the Name.

Without the Name, they suffer the agonies of coming and going.

O Nanak, the Lord Himself is the Appraiser, who distinguishes the counterfeit from the

genuine. ||13||

Shalok, First Mehl:

Tigers, hawks, falcons and eagles-the Lord could make them eat grass.

And those animals which eat grass-He could make them eat meat. He could make them

follow this way of life.

He could raise dry land from the rivers, and turn the deserts into bottomless oceans.

He could appoint a worm as king, and reduce an army to ashes.

All beings and creatures live by breathing, but He could keep us alive, even without the

breath.

O Nanak, as it pleases the True Lord, He gives us sustenance. ||1||

First Mehl:

Some eat meat, while others eat grass.

Some have all the thirty-six varieties of delicacies,

while others live in the dirt and eat mud.

Some control the breath, and regulate their breathing.

Some live by the Support of the Naam, the Name of the Formless Lord.

The Great Giver lives; no one dies.

O Nanak, those who do not enshrine the Lord within their minds are deluded. ||2||

Pauree:

By the karma of good actions, some come to serve the Perfect Guru.

Through the Guru's Teachings, some eliminate selfishness and conceit, and meditate on the

Naam, the Name of the Lord.

Undertaking any other task, they waste their lives in vain.

Without the Name, all that they wear and eat is poison.

Praising the True Word of the Shabad, they merge with the True Lord.

Without serving the True Guru, they do not obtain the of peace; they are consigned to

reincarnation, over and over again.

Investing counterfeit capital, they earn only falsehood in the world.

O Nanak, singing the Praises of the Pure, True Lord, they depart with honor. ||14||

Shalok, First Mehl:

When it pleases You, we play music and sing; when it pleases You, we bathe in water.

pMnw 145

When it pleases You, we smear our bodies with ashes, and blow the horn and the conch

shell.

When it pleases You, we read the Islamic Scriptures, and are acclaimed as Mullahs and

Shaykhs.

When it pleases You, we become kings, and enjoy all sorts of tastes and pleasures.

When it pleases You, we wield the sword, and cut off the heads of our enemies.

When it pleases You, we go out to foreign lands; hearing news of , we come back

again.

When it pleases You, we are attuned to the Name, and when it pleases You, we become

pleasing to You.

Nanak utters this one prayer; everything else is just the practice of falsehood. ||1||

First Mehl:

You are so Great-all Greatness flows from You. You are So Good-Goodness radiates from

You.

You are True-all that flows from You is True. Nothing at all is false.

Talking, seeing, speaking, walking, living and dying-all these are transitory.

By the Hukam of His Command, He creates, and in His Command, He keeps us. O Nanak, He

Himself is True. ||2||

Pauree:

Serve the True Guru fearlessly, and your doubt shall be dispelled.

Do that work which the True Guru asks you to do.

When the True Guru becomes merciful, we meditate on the Naam.

The profit of devotional worship is excellent. It is obtained by the Gurmukh.

The self-willed manmukhs are trapped in the darkness of falsehood; they practice nothing but

falsehood.

Go to the Gate of Truth, and speak the Truth.

The True Lord calls the true ones to the Mansion of His Presence.

O Nanak, the true ones are forever true; they are absorbed in the True Lord. ||15||

Shalok, First Mehl:

The Dark Age of Kali Yuga is the knife, and the kings are butchers; righteousness has

sprouted wings and flown away.

In this dark night of falsehood, the moon of Truth is not visible anywhere.

I have searched in vain, and I am so confused; in this darkness, I cannot find the path.

In egotism, they cry out in pain.

Says Nanak, how will they be saved? ||1||

Third Mehl:

In this Dark Age of Kali Yuga, the Kirtan of the Lord's Praise has appeared as a Light in the

world.

How rare are those few Gurmukhs who swim across to the other side!

The Lord bestows His Glance of Grace;

O Nanak, the Gurmukh receives the jewel. ||2||

Pauree:

Between the Lord's devotees and the people of the world, there can never be any true

alliance.

The Creator Himself is infallible. He cannot be fooled; no one can fool Him.

He blends His devotees with Himself; they practice Truth, and only Truth.

The Lord Himself leads the people of the world astray; they tell lies, and by telling lies, they

eat poison.

They do not recognize the ultimate reality, that we all must go; they continue to cultivate the

poisons of sexual desire and anger.

The devotees serve the Lord; night and day, they meditate on the Naam.

Becoming the slaves of the Lord's slaves, they eradicate selfishness and conceit from within.

In the Court of their Lord and Master, their faces are radiant; they are embellished and

exalted with the True Word of the Shabad. ||16||

Shalok, First Mehl:

Those who praise the Lord in the early hours of the morning and meditate on Him singlemindedly,

are the perfect kings; at the right time, they die fighting.

In the second watch, the focus of the mind is scattered in all sorts of ways.

So many fall into the bottomless pit; they are dragged under, and they cannot get out again.

pMnw 146

In the third watch, both hunger and thirst bark for attention, and food is put into the mouth.

That which is eaten becomes dust, but they are still attached to eating.

In the fourth watch, they become drowsy. They close their eyes and begin to dream.

Rising up again, they engage in conflicts; they set the stage as if they will live for 100 years.

If at all times, at each and every moment, they live in the fear of God

-O Nanak, the Lord dwells within their minds, and their cleansing bath is true. ||1||

Second Mehl:

They are the perfect kings, who have found the Perfect Lord.

Twenty-four hours a day, they remain unconcerned, imbued with the Love of the One Lord.

Only a few obtain the Darshan, the Blessed Vision of the Unimaginably Beauteous Lord.

Through the perfect karma of good deeds, one meets the Perfect Guru, whose speech is

perfect.

O Nanak, when the Guru makes one perfect, one's weight does not decrease. ||2||

Pauree:

When You are with me, what more could I want? I speak only the Truth.

Plundered by the thieves of worldly affairs, she does not obtain the Mansion of His Presence.

Being so stone-hearted, she has lost her chance to serve the Lord.

That heart, in which the True Lord is not found, should be torn down and re-built.

How can she be weighed accurately, upon the scale of perfection?

No one will say that her weight has been shorted, if she rids herself of egotism.

The genuine are assayed, and accepted in the Court of the All-knowing Lord.

The genuine merchandise is found only in one shop-it is obtained from the Perfect Guru.

||17||

Shalok, Second Mehl:

Twenty-four hours a day, destroy the eight things, and in the ninth place, conquer the body.

Within the body are the nine treasures of the Name of the Lord-seek the depths of these

virtues.

Those blessed with the karma of good actions praise the Lord. O Nanak, they make the Guru

their spiritual teacher.

In the fourth watch of the early morning hours, a longing arises in their higher consciousness.

They are attuned to the river of life; the True Name is in their minds and on their lips.

The Ambrosial Nectar is distributed, and those with good karma receive this gift.

Their bodies become golden, and take on the color of spirituality.

If the Jeweller casts His Glance of Grace, they are not placed in the fire again.

Throughout the other seven watches of the day, it is good to speak the Truth, and sit with

the spiritually wise.

There, vice and virtue are distinguished, and the capital of falsehood is decreased.

There, the counterfeit are cast aside, and the genuine are cheered.

Speech is vain and useless. O Nanak, pain and pleasure are in the power of our Lord and

Master. ||1||

Second Mehl:

Air is the Guru, Water is the Father, and Earth is the Great Mother of all.

Day and night are the two nurses, in whose lap all the world is at play.

Good deeds and bad deeds-the record is read out in the Presence of the Lord of Dharma.

According to their own actions, some are drawn closer, and some are driven farther away.

Those who have meditated on the Naam, the Name of the Lord, and departed after having

worked by the sweat of their brow

-O Nanak, their faces are radiant in the Court of the Lord, and many others are saved along

with them! ||2||

Pauree:

The True Food is the Love of the Lord; the True Guru has spoken.

With this True Food, I am satisfied, and with the Truth, I am delighted.

True are the cities and the villages, where one abides in the True of the self.

When the True Guru is pleased, one receives the Lord's Name, and blossoms forth in His

Love.