CANTO XII
PROLOGUE
Happy are the meek in spirit, who efface them-
selves and are poor.
The arrogantly great are effaced by their own pride.
1
He who has in him the pined of sovereignty,
Shall be lowered into the pit of hell as a dog.
He who prides himself on his beauty,
Shall be turned into the meanest worm that lives in dung.
He who esteems himself as a man of works
Shall have to work his way through many a life and death.
He who is proud of his wealth and land
Is a fool blind and senseless.
When God out of His mercy lends humility to a man’s heart,
He gets liberation in this world and peace in the next.
2
If a man if puffed up with his riches,
He will lose all; not so much as a straw will go with him.
If he sets his hopes on a multitude of men and arms,
They may melt away in the shock of a moment.
If he crows over others for his personal bravery,
Who knows his person may not be reduced to ashes
it a moment?
If he esteems nobody before his presuming self,
The heavenly Judge will lay him low for it.
If by the grace of the Guru he is able to efface his pride,
He will find acceptance in the court of God.
3
A man may do thousands of good deeds in egoism;
All are vain; he merely tires himself out.
Or he may feed his pride by going through various penances;
He will be hailed from heaven into hell, and from hell
into heaven.
By no such devices can he soften his soul;
How can he enter into the kingdom of God?
As long as a man deems himself good,
No goodness can approach him.
But if he is humble in his heart before everybody,
He will be known as a man of unalloyed virtue.
4
As long as a man thinks he can do something by himself,
So long he shall find no peace. ;
If he takes credit for anything done by him,
He shall have to wander from life to life.
So long as he holds some as his enemies, and others
as friends,
He mind will never be at rest.
So long as he is wrapped up in the illusory joys of life,
He lays himself open to Divine retribution.
But when God’s mercy overtakes him, his bonds are broken,
And, Guru-guided, he is released from his pride.
5
When a man has earned a thousand, he hankers after a
million:
He is never satisfied with his hoardings.
He indulges in all sorts of evil Passions,
Yet his craving is not appeased; he only ruins himself.
Without contentment there can be no satisfaction:
All is idle-busy life, as in a dream,
Peace—entire peace—is found only in the love of the Name,
Which is obtained by a lucky few.
It rests with God who is all in all,
Bend your thoughts on Him with every breath.
6
God is the doer of all man’s doing.
There is no resource with the poor mortal,
Who becomes what God makes him in His regard.
The Lord is everything.
Whatever He does is from His sweet pleasure.
He is detached from all, and is yet with all.
He sees everything, understands everything, and treats
everything with discrimination.
He is one, and is also manifold.
No death or disappearance for Him, and no coming or
going.
His ageless presence is diffused everywhere.
7
His ‘teacher-mind’ broods over His creation,
And His ‘pupil-mind’ working in the process understands
the instruction.
The process itself is an extension of His being.
Everything that is, is of Him; He is the Creator.
Nothing can happen apart from Him.
He is here, there, and everywhere.
He stages plays of endless shifting scenes,
And Himself acts in them the wondrous parts.
He is in all minds, and all minds are in Him.
There is nothing here to measure Him with.
8
The Lord God is verily verily true;
This is declared by a rare few touched by the Guru’s grace.
All that He has made is also verily verily true:
Some few in millions have had the sense to realize this.
Thy form is verily verily fair,
Extremely sweet, superb and beyond compare.
Pure and undefiled is Thy word,
Heard in the inner recesses of the heart, and spoken
to the listening ears of faith.
Holy, holy, holy and immaculate
Is he who meditates on the Name with all the love
of his soul.
