Where are the games, the stables, the horses? Where are the drums and the bugles?
Where are the sword-belts and chariots?
Where are those scarlet uniforms? Where are the rings and the beautiful faces?
They are no longer to be seen here. || 1 ||
This world is Yours; You are the Lord of the Universe.
In an instant, You establish and disestablish. You distribute wealth as it pleases You. || 1 || Pause ||
Where are the houses, the gates, the hotels and palaces? Where are those beautiful way-stations?
Where are those beautiful women, reclining on their beds, whose beauty would not allow one to sleep?
Where are those betel leaves, their sellers, and the haremees?
They have vanished like shadows. || 2 ||
For the sake of this wealth, so many were ruined; because of this wealth, so many have been disgraced.
It was not gathered without sin, and it does not go along with the dead.
Those, whom the Creator Lord would destroy — first He strips them of virtue. || 3 ||
Millions of religious leaders failed to halt the invader, when they heard of the Emperor’s invasion.
He burned the rest-houses and the ancient temples; he cut the princes limb from limb, and cast them into the dust.
None of the Mugals went blind, and no one performed any miracle. || 4 ||
The battle raged between the Mugals and the Pathaans, and the swords clashed on the battlefield.
They took aim and fired their guns, and they attacked with their elephants.
Those men whose letters were torn in the Lord’s Court, were destined to die, O Siblings of Destiny! || 5 ||
The Hindu women, the Muslim women, the Bhattis and the Rajputs — some had their robes torn away, from head to foot, while others came to dwell in the cremation ground.
Their husbands did not return home — how did they pass their night? || 6 ||
The Creator Himself acts, and causes others to act.
Unto whom should we complain?
Pleasure and pain come by Your Will; unto whom should we go and cry?
The Commander issues His Command, and is pleased.
O Nanak ! we receive what is written in our destiny. || 7 || 12 ||
AASAA, KAAFEE, FIRST MEHL, EIGHTH HOUSE, ASHTAPADEES:
ONE UNIVERSAL CREATOR GOD. BY THE GRACE OF THE TRUE GURU:
As the shepherd is in the field for only a short time, so is one in the world.
Practicing falsehood, they build their homes. || 1 ||
Wake up! Wake up! O sleepers, see that the travelling merchant is leaving. || 1 || Pause ||
Go ahead and build your houses, if you think you will stay here forever and ever.
The body shall fall, and the soul shall depart; if only they knew this. || 2 ||
Why do you cry out and mourn for the dead? The Lord is, and shall always be.
You mourn for that person, but who will mourn for you? || 3 ||
You are engrossed in worldly entanglements, O Siblings of Destiny! and you are practicing falsehood. T
he dead person does not hear anything at all; your cries are heard only by other people. || 4 ||
Only the Lord, who causes the mortal to sleep, O Nanak! can awaken him again.
One who understands his true home, does not sleep. || 5 ||
If the departing mortal can take his wealth with him, then go ahead and gather wealth yourself.
See this, reflect upon it, and understand. || 6 ||
Make your deals, and obtain the true merchandise, or else you shall regret it later.
Abandon your vices, and practice virtue, and you shall obtain the essence of reality. || 7 ||
Plant the seed of Truth in the soil of Dharmic faith, and practice such farming.
Only then will you be known as a merchant, if you take your profits with you. || 8 ||
If the Lord shows His Mercy, one meets the True Guru; contemplating Him, one comes to understand.
Then, one chants the Naam, hears the Naam, and deals only in the Naam. || 9 ||
As is the profit, so is the loss; this is the way of the world. Whatever pleases His Will, O Nanak! is glory for me. || 10 || 13 ||
AASAA, FIFTH MEHL:
I have searched in the four directions, but no one is mine.
If it pleases You, O Lord Master ! then You are mine, and I am Yours. || 1 ||
There is no other door for me; where shall I go to worship?
You are my only Lord; Your True Name is in my mouth. || 1 || Pause ||
Some serve the Siddhas, the beings of spiritual perfection, and some serve spiritual teachers; they beg for wealth and miraculous powers.
May I never forget the Naam, the Name of the One Lord.
This is the wisdom of the True Guru. || 2 ||
Why do the Yogis, the revellers, and the beggars wander in foreign lands?
They do not understand the Word of the Guru’s Shabad, and the essence of excellence within them. || 3 ||
The Pandits, the religious scholars, the teachers and astrologers, and those who endlessly read the Puraanas, do not know what is within; God is hidden deep within them. || 4 ||
Some penitents perform penance in the forests, and some dwell forever at sacred shrines.
The unenlightened people do not understand themselves — why have they become renunciates? || 5 ||
Some control their sexual energy, and are known as celibates. But without the Guru’s Word, they are not saved, and they wander in reincarnation. || 6 ||
Some are householders, servants, and seekers, attached to the Guru’s Teachings.
They hold fast to the Naam, to charity, to cleansing and purification; they remain awake in devotion to the Lord. || 7 ||
Through the Guru, the Gate of the Lord’s Home is found, and that place is recognized. Nanak does not forget the Naam; his mind has surrendered to the True Lord. || 8 || 14 ||
[GGS Page 417- 418]
Back to previous page