The Kind One will give us a robe of honour, and by His favour we shall reach the gate of salvation. [1]
Nanak, we shall thus know that God is altogether true.[2]
V
He is not established, nor is He created.
The pure one existeth by Himself.
They who worshipped Him have obtained honour.
Nanak, sing His praises who is the Treasury of excellences.
Sing and hear and put His love into your hearts.
Thus shall your sorrows be removed, and you shall be absorbed in Him who is the abode of happiness.[3]
Under the Guru s instruction God's word is heard ; under the Guru's instruction its knowledge is acquired; under the Guru's instruction man learns that God is everywhere contained.[4]
The Guru is Shiv ; the Guru is Vishnu and Brahma ; the Guru is Parbati, Lakhshmi,[5] and Saraswati.[6]
- ↑ This verse is also translated - By our former acts we acquire this human vesture, and by God's favour reach the gate of salvation.
The body is first formed, and then the soul from another body enters it. God decides in what body the soul is to have residence until the body perishes. The acts of previous births are adjusted when the soul attains a human body. It is the acts done in a human body which accompany the soul to future states of existence. - ↑ This verse is commonly translated - we shall then know that God is all in all Himself; but this translation does not appear to harmonize with the preceding part of the pauri.
- ↑ Also translated - and you shall take happiness to your homes.
- ↑ This very difficult verse is also translated-
(a) Under the Guru's instruction God's word is heard; under the Guru's instruction the knowledge of it is acquired ; it is contained in the Guru's instruction.
(b) The voice of God is found as well in other compositions as in the Veds ; the voice of God is all-pervading.
(c) The pious know the Guru's instruction, that God is every where contained.
(d) The voice of the Guru is as the Veds for the holy ; they are absorbed in it. - ↑ The Hindu goddess of wealth and riches, consort of Vishnu, and mother of Kam the god of love.
- ↑ The goddess of eloquence and learning and patroness of arts and sciences.
This verse is also translated-
(a) He is greater than Shiv ; greater than Vishnu and Brahma ; greater than Pārbati, Lakhshmi, and Saraswati.
(b) For the holy the Guru is Shiv; the Guru is Vishnu and Brahma ; the Guru is Pārbati, Lakhshmi, and Saraswati.
The tenth Guru says :-
Khanda prithme sāj ke Jin sab sansār upāiya-
God first created the sword, the emblem of Death, and then the world.
So here Shiv obtains precedence as the agent of destruction. The word uttered by God became the source of knowledge of Him through the Guru in the three forms of Shiv, Vishnu, and Brahma.
