Sohila Rag Gauri Dipaki Mahalla 1
1 If there be a home for praise
and thoughts of the Creator,
Let that home sing in celebration
and remember our Designer.
You sing a hymn of glory
to my Fearless One,
I offer myself to the hymn of glory
which brings everlasting joy.
2 Ever and ever, all creatures are nurtured
and cared for by the Giver.
Your bounty cannot be measured,
who can reckon that Giver.
3 The wedding day is written,
come friends, come pour the oil together.
Give me your blessings, my friends,
that I may join my Sovereign.
4 Each and every home receives this marriage thread,
the invitations are sent to each and all.
Nanak says, remember the Sender,
for the day will come for all.
Rag Asa Mahalla 1
There are six schools with six leaders and six doctrines,
But there is only One Guru, though in countless guises.
My old friend, the school that sings the glory of our Creator,
Will bring you honour if you make it your home.
2 Moments become seconds, minutes, hours,
days and months.
The sun is one, however many seasons there may be,
Nanak says, the Creator has so many forms.
Rag Dhanasri Mahalla 1
1 The sky is our platter, the sun and moon our lamps,
it is studded with pearls, the starry galaxies,
The wafting scent of sandalwood is our incense,
the gentle breeze, our whisk,
all vegetation, the bouquet of flowers we offer to You.
What an act of worship!
This truly is Your worship, You who sunder life from death.
The unstruck sound within is the drum to which we chant.
2 You have a thousand eyes yet without eye are You,
You have a thousand faces yet without face are You,
You have a thousand feet yet without foot are You,
You have a thousand scents yet without scent are You,
I am enchanted by Your wonders.
3 There is a Light in all, and that Light is You,
By that Light we are all illumined.
The Light is revealed through the Guru’s teaching,
Whatever pleases You is worship of You.
4 My mind is greedy as the bumblebee,
Night and day I long to drink the ambrosia of
Your lotus-feet.
Nanak says, grant nectar to this thirsty bird,
Grant me a dwelling in Your Name.
Rag Gauri Purbi Mahalla 4
1 This body is a city teeming with lust and anger.
The company of holy people can shatter these vices.
The meeting with the Guru that is written,
anchors the mind to the immutable Centre.
There is merit in joining our palms to greet holy people,
There is merit in prostrating before holy people.
2 The deluded have not tasted the elixir of love,
they are pierced by the thorn of ego.
As they move on, the thorn pierces more painfully,
till the end where death awaits with staff poised to strike.
3 But the devotees steeped in the Name
are sundered from the suffering of life and death;
They attain the Everlasting, the Supreme Being,
and they are honoured in regions far and beyond.
4 We are poor and low, but we still belong to You,
Highest of the high, protect us and keep us with You.
Nanak says, Your Name alone is my support and sustenance,
the Divine Name alone brings perfect joy.
Rag Gauri Purbi Mahalla 5
1 I beg you listen to me, my friends,
now is the time to serve the holy ones,
Divine profits earned here
bring comfort in the hereafter.
Our life grows shorter by the day.
My mind, meet with the Guru and fulfil yourself.
2 This world is sunk in doubts and vices,
but the enlightened can swim across.
The one who is woken, the one who is given a sip of elixir,
knows the story that cannot be told.
3 Make that transaction for which you came into this world,
through the Guru, deposit the Divine in your mind.
So easily will you find the joy that dwells
within your own self,
and no more will you enter the circle of living and dying.
4 Knower of all hearts, our Creator,
Fulfiller of our desires,
Your slave Nanak asks for this happiness,
make me the dust of the feet of the holy ones.
MARRIAGE
Lavan
LAVAN, composed by Guru Ram Das, is the hymn in four stanzas which is recited and sung to solemnize nuptials in Sikhism. The Sikh marriage ceremony is known as Anand Karaj, ‘Blissful Occasion’; it can take place anywhere, home or gurudwara, so long as the Guru Granth is present. This is the religious as well as the legal part of the marriage, and was officially recognized as such in India by the Sikh Marriage Act of 1909. The ceremony is now universally observed by the Sikhs.
The marriage ceremony commences with the opening of the Guru Granth and with the reading of Lavan. Lavan, literally ‘circling’, describes marriage as a rite of passage into higher and higher circles of existence. In Sikhism marriage is both literal and metaphorical. On the literal level it is a union of two people; on the metaphorical level it is a union of the microcosmic self with the Macrocosmic Reality. After husband and wife become one, they begin their passage together to a union with the Ultimate.
The journey begins with active work in the world and adoration of the Name. The second verse describes a higher state wherein the Ultimate Reality is recognized within all that is seen and heard. The Divine is encountered everywhere and the mystical melody is heard within the depths of the self. In the third circle, that feeling surges higher and the self becomes fully absorbed in the divine love. As the fourth round commences, the divine sweetness begins to pervade the entire self and unites the individual with the Infinite Self.
As each verse is recited and sung, the couple reverently circumambulate the Guru Granth clockwise. The relatives accompany them to show their support. During the fourth round, the bride and groom are showered with petals by the entire congregation as a sign of rejoicing. The ceremony concludes with the customary singing of passages from Anand (see pp. 133–5) and the recitation of Ardas (see pp. 137–41), with the entire congregation standing up this time. Finally hukam, the divine command, is received from the Guru Granth by opening it at random, and karahprashad, the sweet sacrament, is served to the entire congregation. (Guru Granth, pp. 773–4.)
1 Creator, as we revolve in the first divine circle,
we resolve to return to the world of action.
As we resolve to act rightfully, and make Your Word
our god and scripture, our misdeeds are dispelled.
Scriptures steadfastly urge us to act righteously
and contemplate Your Name.
By remembering the True Guru,
all our misdeeds and offences are dispelled.
Bliss is ours at once, we are blessed with great fortune,
and the Divine tastes so very sweet.
Nanak the slave says, in the first circle
the wedding ceremony is begun.
2 In the second circle,
we meet the True Guru, the Primal Being.
By the fear of the Fearless One,
our self gets rid of the filthy ego.
In pure awe of the Divine, we sing praise day and night,
and we see the Divine present everywhere.
> Infinite in all directions,
intimate in everyone,
Within and without, there is only the One.
Joining the faithful, we sing songs of joy.
Nanak the slave says, in the second circle
the soundless Word begins to play.
3 In the third circle,
the bliss of detachment fills the mind.
By joining the faithful, we join the Transcendent One.
We are blessed.
We attain the Immaculate One, we worship the One
with praise, and we recite the Word.
By joining the faithful, we join the Blessed One.
We tell the untellable story.
Our heart begins to beat with the divine melody.
We recite the Name with fortune glowing bright on our foreheads.
Nanak the slave says, in the third circle
the Divine One rises in our detached mind.
4 In the fourth circle,
we find equanimity, we unite with the Divine One.
Through the Guru, we naturally become one with the One, body and mind exult in delicious joy.
But we taste the sweetness only if we please That One,
by meditating day and night.
My Guide, all my desires are fulfilled;
through the divine Name, felicitations ring.
The Sovereign’s blessing completes the wedding rite;
and the bride is in bliss with the Name in her heart.
Nanak the slave says, in the fourth circle
the imperishable Groom is wed.
COMMUNAL
Barah Maha
BARAH MAHA by Guru Nanak is in Rag Tukhari. It follows the seasonal cycle of the year. Many passages from it are popularly sung in Kirtan, the Sikh devotional concert. Barah Maha stands out in Sikh literature for its poetic splendour and philosophical importance. The movement of the twelve months—beginning with Chet, the first month of spring—and the effect of their passage on different species are vividly portrayed as metaphor for the phases of the spiritual journey. Guru Nanak richly fuses universal and particular time and space in the person of a young bride ardently searching for her divine Bridegroom through the cameos of the changing reality of the twelve months. (Guru Granth, pp. 1107–10.)
Tukhari Channt Mahalla 1
1 Hear us,
we reap the fruits of our past deeds;
The joy or suffering each receives
is good, for it comes from You.
This whole creation is Yours, what power have I?
I cannot live one moment without the Divine.
Without the Lover I am friendless and in pain,
but through the Guru, I drink the nectar.
We are enmeshed in the creation of the Formless One,
yet to contemplate the Divine is the best of deeds.
Nanak says, the woman watches the way of her Lover.
Hear me, You who pervade my very being.
2 The chatrik bird cries for the Lover,
the koel bird sings in praise.
Embraced by her Beloved,
the woman savours all delights.
Only she who pleases her Lover is embraced,
and she alone is the true bride.
She makes her body with its nine doors the lofty palace,
her own house enshrines the Beloved.
I am all Yours and You are mine, my Dearest,
I revel in Your love night and day.
Nanak says, the chatrik cries, Beloved, Beloved,
and the koel is made lovely by the call.
3 Hear me, my Beloved, I am bathed in Your Love,
My mind and body are immersed in You,
unable to forget You for an instant.
How can remembrance slip, I offer myself to You.
I live only to sing Your praise.
No one belongs to me and I belong to no one;
without the Divine One, I cannot live.
I seek Your support.
By living at Your feet, my body is purified.
Nanak says, through the Guru’s Word
vision grows wide, comfort deep,
and the mind is centred.
4 The ambrosial drops are showering down.
The Beloved comes to her so naturally,
and the bride is so deeply in love.
The Divine One enters the bodily haven of the woman,
awake and virtuous, who pleases her Groom.
In every home the Lover revels in the true brides;
why then am I forsaken?
Clouds are cast low in the sky,
and the showers are delightful,
my mind and body are rapturous in love.
Nanak says, with the shower of the ambrosial Word
the Divine One graciously enters our dwelling.
5 Chet is glorious, the bumblebees delight in spring,
Barren woods bloom, and I long for my Beloved
to come home.
If the Beloved does not come, how can a woman be happy?
Her body trembles with yearning.
The koel sings happily in the mango grove;
how can I bear the ache inside?
The bumblebee hovers around the blossom boughs.
Mother, how can I live in this deathly state?
Nanak says, in the month of Chet, joy comes naturally,
if the woman finds the divine Groom in her house.
6 Vaisakh is glorious, the branches dressed
in their colourful best.
The woman watches at her door, for the divine Groom.
‘Please have compassion and enter.
Come home, Beloved, take me across the impassable ocean;
without You I am not worth a penny.
Who could assess my worth if I were to please You?
Someone seek and show my Lover to me;
I know my Lover is within, not far away;
I recognize the Mansion of the Divine.’
Nanak says, in the month of Vaisakh
one finds the Beloved if consciousness abides
in the Word, and mind is devoted in faith.
7 The month of Jeth is glorious, why forget the Beloved?
The land burns like an oven,
the woman offers her prayers.
Praying and reflecting on the Lover’s virtues,
she seeks approval.
The Unattached One dwells in the True Mansion;
if That One allows, I will enter.
I am lowly and I am helpless; how can I attain
the joys of the Mansion without the Divine?
Nanak says, in Jeth, if the woman knows herself
in the One, she is graced with virtue.
8 Asarh is glorious, the sun blazes in the sky
And the earth suffers agony, scorching in heat like fire.
The sap is sucked dry in smouldering death for all,
but the action continues;
The chariot of the sun moves on
and the woman searches for shade.
In the woods of the Bar, the cricket drones.
She who piles up misdeeds in this life faces suffering ahead but she who gathers truth receives everlasting joy.
Nanak says, those who are blessed with such a mind
live and die steeped in the Divine.
9 In Savan, bloom, my mind, for the clouds have burst,
and the monsoon season has arrived.
My mind and body yearn
but my Lover is far away in foreign lands.
The Beloved does not come home, I am sighing to death, and the lightning strikes fear in me.
I lie alone on the bed, tormented;
mother, the pain is like death to me.
Without the Divine One, how can there be sleep or hunger?
What clothing can soothe the skin?
Nanak says, the bride is truly wed
when she is embraced by her Beloved.
10 In Bhadon, she is lost in delusions
,
in her brimming youth, she is full of regret.
Water and land are awash
in the roaring revelry of the season.
Rain sheeting the dark night,
how can the young woman find joy?
Frogs croak and peacocks screech,
The chatriks call for their beloved,
and snakes go biting about.
The mosquitoes are stinging, the lakes overflowing,
but how can there be comfort without the Divine?
Nanak says, I will ask my Guru the way and go;
follow only that path which leads to the Lover.
11 In Assu, do come to me, my Beloved,
this woman is dying in agony.
She meets if the Beloved unites,
but not when she strays from the path.
Consumed by her misdeeds, she is abandoned,
her hair fades like the flowering water reeds.
More hot months ahead, the cold season behind me,
my heart trembles as I behold this passage.
In all directions, the boughs are green,
but that is sweet which ripens of its own accord.
Nanak says, come meet me, my Beloved, in Assu,
Hymns of the Sikh Gurus Page 11
