In the Sanctuary of the Holy, chant the Lord's Name.
Through the True Guru's Teachings, one comes to know His state and extent.
Nanak: chant the Name of the Lord, Har, Har, O my mind; the Lord, the Uniter, shall unite you with Himself. ||17||3||9||
Maaroo, First Mehl:
Remain in your own home, O my foolish and ignorant mind.
Meditate on the Lord - concentrate deep within your being and meditate on Him.
Renounce your greed, and merge with the infinite Lord. In this way, you shall find the door of liberation. ||1||
If you forget Him, the Messenger of Death will catch sight of you.
All peace will be gone, and you will suffer in pain in the world hereafter.
Chant the Name of the Lord as Gurmukh, O my soul; this is the supreme essence of contemplation. ||2||
Chant the Name of the Lord, Har, Har, the sweetest essence.
As Gurmukh, see the essence of the Lord deep within.
Day and night, remain imbued with the Lord's Love. This is the essence of all chanting, deep meditation and self-discipline. ||3||
Speak the Guru's Word, and the Name of the Lord.
In the Society of the Saints, search for this essence.
Follow the Guru's Teachings - seek and find the home of your own self, and you shall never be consigned to the womb of reincarnation again. ||4||
Bathe at the sacred shrine of Truth, and sing the Glorious Praises of the Lord.
Reflect upon the essence of reality, and lovingly focus your consciousness on the Lord.
At the very last moment, the Messenger of Death will not be able to touch you, if you chant the Name of the Beloved Lord. ||5||
The True Guru, the Primal Being, the Great Giver, is all-knowing.
Whoever has Truth within himself, merges in the Word of the Shabad.
One whom the True Guru unites in Union, is rid of the overpowering fear of death. ||6||
The body is formed from the union of the five elements.
Know that the Lord's jewel is within it.
The soul is the Lord, and the Lord is the soul; contemplating the Shabad, the Lord is found. ||7||
Abide in truth and contentment, O humble Siblings of Destiny.
Hold tight to compassion and the Sanctuary of the True Guru.
Know your soul, and know the Supreme Soul; associating with the Guru, you shall be emancipated. ||8||
The faithless cynics are stuck in falsehood and deceit.
Day and night, they slander many others.
Without meditative remembrance, they come and then go, and are cast into the hellish womb of reincarnation. ||9||
The faithless cynic is not rid of his fear of death.
The Messenger of Death's club is never taken away.
He has to answer to the Righteous Judge of Dharma for the account of his actions; the egotistical being carries the unbearable load. ||10||
Tell me: without the Guru, what faithless cynic has been saved?
Acting egotistically, he falls into the terrifying world-ocean.
Without the Guru, no one is saved; meditating on the Lord, they are carried across to the other side. ||11||
No one can erase the Guru's blessings.
The Lord carries across those whom He forgives.
The pains of birth and death do not even approach those whose minds are filled with God, the infinite and endless. ||12||
Those who forget the Guru come and go in reincarnation.
They are born, only to die again, and continue committing sins.
The unconscious, foolish, faithless cynic does not remember the Lord; but when he is stricken with pain, then he cries out for the Lord. ||13||
Pleasure and pain are the consequences of the actions of past lives.
The Giver, who blesses us with these - He alone knows.
So who can you blame, O mortal being? The hardships you suffer are from your own actions. ||14||