Pearls of Gurbani

[naam_jap]

Raag Gauree Poorbee, Baawan Akhree Of Kabeer Jee:

One Universal Creator God. Truth Is The Name. Creative Being Personified.

By Guru's Grace:

Through these fifty-two letters, the three worlds and all things are

described.

These letters shall perish; they cannot describe the Imperishable Lord.

||1||

Wherever there is speech, there are letters.

No one can know Him as He is. ||2||

If I come to know the Lord, what can I say; what good does it do to speak?

He is contained in the seed of the banyan-tree, and yet, His expanse

spreads across the three worlds. ||3||

One who knows the Lord understands His mystery, and bit by bit, the mystery

disappears.

Turning away from the world, one's mind is pierced through with this

mystery, and one obtains the Indestructible, Impenetrable Lord. ||4||

The Muslim knows the Muslim way of life; the Hindu knows the Vedas and

Puraanas.

To instruct their minds, people ought to study some sort of spiritual

wisdom. ||5||

I know only the One, the Universal Creator, the Primal Being.

I do not believe in anyone whom the Lord writes and erases.

If someone knows the One, the Universal Creator,

he shall not perish, since he knows Him. ||6||

KAKKA: When the rays of Divine Light come into the heart-lotus,

the moon-light of Maya cannot enter the basket of the mind.

And if one obtains the subtle fragrance of that spiritual flower,

he cannot describe the indescribable; he could speak, but who would

understand? ||7||<

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KHAKHA: The mind has entered this cave.

It does not leave this cave to wander in the ten directions.

Knowing their Lord and Master, people show compassion;

then, they become immortal, and attain the state of eternal dignity. ||8||

GAGGA: One who understands the Guru's Word

does not listen to anything else.

He remains like a hermit and does not go anywhere,

when he grasps the Ungraspable Lord and dwells in the sky of the Tenth

Gate. ||9||

GHAGHA: He dwells in each and every heart.

Even when the body-pitcher bursts, he does not diminish.

When someone finds the Path to the Lord within his own heart,

why should he abandon that Path to follow some other path? ||10||

NGANGA: Restrain yourself, love the Lord, and dismiss your doubts.

Even if you do not see the Path, do not run away; this is the highest

wisdom. ||11||

CHACHA: He painted the great picture of the world.

Forget this picture, and remember the Painter.

This wondrous painting is now the problem.

Forget this picture and focus your consciousness on the Painter. ||12||

CHHACHHA: The Sovereign Lord of the Universe is here with you.

Why are you so unhappy? Why don't you abandon your desires?

O my mind, each and every moment I try to instruct you,

but you forsake Him, and entangle yourself with others. ||13||

JAJJA: If someone burns his body while he is still alive,

and burns away the desires of his youth, then he finds the right way.

When he burns his desire for his own wealth, and that of others,

then he finds the Divine Light. ||14||

JHAJHA: You are entangled in the world, and you do not know how to get

untangled.

You hold back in fear, and are not approved by the Lord.

Why do you talk such nonsense, trying to convince others?

Stirring up arguments,

you shall only obtain more arguments. ||15||

NYANYA: He dwells near you, deep within your heart; why do you leave Him

and go far away?

I searched the whole world for Him, but I found Him near myself. ||16||

TAINKA: It is such a difficult path, to find Him within your own heart.

Open the doors within, and enter the Mansion of His Presence.

Beholding the Immovable Lord, you shall not slip and go anywhere else.

You shall remain firmly attached to the Lord, and your heart will be happy.

||17||

T'HAT'HA: Keep yourself far away from this mirage.

With great difficulty, I have calmed my mind.

That cheater, who cheated and devoured the whole world

- I have cheated that cheater, and my mind is now at peace. ||18||

DADDA: When the Fear of God wells up, other fears depart.

Other fears are absorbed into that Fear.

When one rejects the Fear of God, then other fears cling to him.

But if he becomes fearless, the fears of his heart run away. ||19||

DHADHA: Why do you search in other directions?

Searching for Him like this, the breath of life runs out.

When I returned after climbing the mountain,

I found Him in the fortress - the fortress which He Himself made. ||20||

NANNA: The warrior who fights on the battle-field should keep up and press

on.

He should not yield, and he should not retreat.

Blessed is the coming of one

who conquers the one and renounces the many. ||21||

TATTA: The impassable world-ocean cannot be crossed over;

the body remains embroiled in the three worlds.

But when the Lord of the three worlds enters into the body,

then one's essence merges with the essence of reality, and the True Lord is

attained. ||22||

T'HAT'HA: He is Unfathomable; His depths cannot be fathomed.

He is Unfa

thomable; this body is impermanent, and unstable.

The mortal builds his dwelling upon this tiny space;

without any pillars, he wishes to support a mansion. ||23||

DADDA: Whatever is seen shall perish.

Contemplate the One who is unseen.

When the key is inserted in the Tenth Gate,

then the Blessed Vision of the Merciful Lord's Darshan is seen. ||24||

DHADHA: When one ascends from the lower realms of the earth to the higher

realms of the heavens, then everything is resolved.

The Lord dwells in both the lower and higher worlds.

Leaving the earth, the soul ascends to the heavens;

then, the lower and higher join together, and peace is obtained. ||25||

NANNA: The days and nights go by; I am looking for the Lord.

Looking for Him, my eyes have become blood-shot.

After looking and looking,when He is finally found,

then the one who was looking merges into the One who was looked for. ||26||

PAPPA: He is limitless; His limits cannot be found.

I have attuned myself to the Supreme Light.

One who controls his five senses

rises above both sin and virtue. ||27||

FAFFA: Even without the flower, the fruit is produced.

One who looks at a slice of that fruit

and reflects on it, will not be consigned to reincarnation.

A slice of that fruit slices all bodies. ||28||

BABBA: When one drop blends with another drop,

then these drops cannot be separated again.

Become the Lord's slave, and hold tight to His meditation.

If you turn your thoughts to the Lord, the Lord will take care of you like

a relative. ||29||

BHABHA: When doubt is pierced, union is achieved.

I have shattered my fear, and now I have come to have faith.

I thought that He was outside of me, but now I know that He is within me.

When I came to understand this mystery, then I reco

gnized the Lord. ||30||

MAMMA: Clinging to the source, the mind is satisfied.

One who knows this mystery understands his own mind.

Let no one delay in uniting his mind.

Those who obtain the True Lord are immersed in delight. ||31||

MAMMA: The mortal's business is with his own mind; one who disciplines his

mind attains perfection.

Only the mind can deal with the mind; says Kabeer, I have not met anything

like the mind. ||32||

This mind is Shakti; this mind is Shiva.

This mind is the life of the five elements.

When this mind is channeled, and guided to enlightenment,

it can describe the secrets of the three worlds. ||33||

YAYYA: If you know anything, then destroy your evil-mindedness, and

subjugate the body-village.

When you are engaged in the battle, don't run away; then, you shall be

known as a spiritual hero. ||34||

RARRA: I have found tastes to be tasteless.

Becoming tasteless, I have realized that taste.

Abandoning these tastes, I have found that taste.

Drinking in that taste, this taste is no longer pleasing. ||35||

LALLA: Embrace such love for the Lord in your mind,

that you shall not have to go to any other; you shall attain the supreme

truth.

And if you embrace love and affection for Him there,

then you shall obtain the Lord; obtaining Him, you shall be absorbed in His

Feet. ||36||

WAWA: Time and time again, dwell upon the Lord.

Dwelling upon the Lord, defeat shall not come to you.

I am a sacrifice, a sacrifice to those, who sing the praises of the Saints,

the sons of the Lord.

Meeting the Lord, total Truth is obtained. ||37||

WAWA: Know Him. By knowing Him, this mortal becomes Him.

When this soul and that Lord are blended, then, having been blended, they

cannot be known separat

ely. ||38||

SASSA: Discipline your mind with sublime perfection.

Refrain from that talk which attracts the heart.

The heart is attracted, when love wells up.

The King of the three worlds is perfectly pervading and permeating there.

||39||

KHAKHA: Anyone who seeks Him, and by seeking Him, finds Him, shall not be

born again.

When someone seeks Him, and comes to understand and contemplate Him,

then he crosses over the terrifying world-ocean in an instant. ||40||

SASSA: The bed of the soul-bride is adorned by her Husband Lord;

her skepticism is dispelled.

Renouncing the shallow pleasures of the world, she obtains the supreme

delight.

Then, she is the soul-bride; He is called her Husband Lord. ||41||

HAHA: He exists, but He is not known to exist.

When He is known to exist, then the mind is pleased and appeased.

Of course the Lord exists, if one could only understand Him.

Then, He alone exists, and not this mortal being. ||42||

Everyone goes around saying, "I'll take this, and I'll take that."

Because of that, they suffer in terrible pain.

When someone comes to love the Lord of Lakhshmi,

his sorrow departs, and he obtains total peace. ||43||

KHAKHA: Many have wasted their lives, and then perished.

Wasting away, they do not remember the Lord, even now.

But if someone, even now, comes to know the transitory nature of the world

and restrain his mind,

he shall find his permanent home, from which he was separated. ||44||

The fifty-two letters have been joined together.

But people cannot recognize the One Word of God.

Kabeer speaks the Shabad, the Word of Truth.

One who is a Pandit, a religious scholar, must remain fearless.

It is the business of the scholarly person to join letters.

The spiritual person contemplat

es the essence of reality.

According to the wisdom within the mind,

says Kabeer, so does one come to understand. ||45||

[V]

Mohe na Bisaro Mia jaan tera