Hukamnama Katha (Wed, 20 Jan 2021)

7th Maagh (Samvat 552 Nanakshahi)

SORAT'H, FIRST MEHL, TI-TUKAS:

Hope and desire are entrapments, O Siblings of Destiny. Religious rituals and ceremonies are traps. Because of good and bad deeds, one is born into the world, O Siblings of Destiny; forgetting the Naam, the Name of the Lord, he is ruined. This Maya is the enticer of the world, O Siblings of Destiny; all such actions are corrupt. || 1 || Listen, O ritualistic Pandit: that religious ritual which produces happiness, O Siblings of Destiny, is contemplation of the essence of the soul. || Pause || You may stand and recite the Shaastras and the Vedas, O Siblings of Destiny, but these are just worldly actions. Filth cannot be washed away by hypocrisy, O Siblings of Destiny; the filth of corruption and sin is within you. This is how the spider is destroyed, O Siblings of Destiny, by falling head-long in its own web. || 2 || So many are destroyed by their own evil-mindedness, O Siblings of Destiny; in the love of duality, they are ruined. Without the True Guru, the Name is not obtained, O Siblings of Destiny; without the Name, doubt does not depart. If one serves the True Guru, then he obtains peace, O Siblings of Destiny; his comings and goings are ended. || 3 || True celestial peace comes from the Guru, O Siblings of Destiny; the immaculate mind is absorbed into the True Lord. One who serves the Guru, understands, O Siblings of Destiny; without the Guru, the way is not found. What can anyone do, with greed within? O Siblings of Destiny, by telling lies, they eat poison. || 4 || O Pandit, by churning cream, butter is produced. By churning water, you shall only see water, O Siblings of Destiny; this world is like that. Without the Guru, he is ruined by doubt, O Siblings of Destiny; the unseen Divine Lord is in each and every heart. || 5 || This world is like a thread of cotton, O Siblings of Destiny, which Maya has tied on all ten sides. Without the Guru, the knots cannot be untied, O Siblings of Destiny; I am so tired of religious rituals. This world is deluded by doubt, O Siblings of Destiny; no one can say anything about it. || 6 || Meeting with the Guru, the Fear of God comes to abide in the mind; to die in the Fear of God is one's true destiny. In the Court of the Lord, the Naam is far superior to ritualistic cleansing baths, charity and good deeds, O Siblings of Destiny. One who implants the Naam within himself, through the Guru's halter - O Siblings of Destiny, the Lord dwells in his mind, and he is free of hypocrisy. || 7 || This body is the jeweller's shop, O Siblings of Destiny; the incomparable Naam is the merchandise. The merchant secures this merchandise, O Siblings of Destiny, by contemplating the Word of the Guru's Shabad. Blessed is the merchant, O Nanak, who meets the Guru, and engages in this trade. || 8 || 2 ||