Lehal Library

ਃ ਃ ਃ ਃ 141 O Nanak, God shall preserve your honor. ॥1॥ 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. 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;