When the crop is ripe, then it is cut down; only the stalks are left standing.

The corn on the cob is put into the thresher, and the kernels are separated from the cobs.

Placing the kernels between the two mill-stones, people sit and grind the corn.

Those kernels which stick to the central axle are spared-Nanak has seen this wonderful vision! ||1||

First Mehl:

Look, and see how the sugar-cane is cut down. After cutting away its branches, its feet are bound together into bundles,

Section 06 - Raag Maajh - Part 050

and then, it is placed between the wooden rollers and crushed.

What punishment is inflicted upon it! Its juice is extracted and placed in the cauldron; as it is heated, it groans and cries out.

And then, the crushed cane is collected and burnt in the fire below.

Nanak: come, people, and see how the sweet sugar-cane is treated! ||2||

Pauree:

Some do not think of death; they entertain great hopes.

They die, and are re-born, and die, over and over again. They are of no use at all!

In their conscious minds, they call themselves good.

The King of the Angels of Death hunts down those self-willed manmukhs, over and over again.

The manmukhs are false to their own selves; they feel no gratitude for what they have been given.

Those who merely perform rituals of worship are not pleasing to their Lord and Master.

Those who attain the True Lord and chant His Name are pleasing to the Lord.

They worship the Lord and bow at His Throne. They fulfill their pre-ordained destiny. ||11||

First Mehl, Shalok:

What can deep water do to a fish? What can the vast sky do to a bird?

What can cold do to a stone? What is married life to a eunuch?

You may apply sandalwood oil to a dog, but he will still be a dog.

You may try to teach a deaf person by reading the Simritees to him, but how will he learn?

You may place a light before a blind man and burn fifty lamps, but how will he see?

You may place gold before a herd of cattle, but they will pick out the grass to eat.

You may add flux to iron and melt it, but it will not become soft like cotton.

O Nanak, this is the nature of a fool-everything he speaks is useless and wasted. ||1||

First Mehl:

When pieces of bronze or gold or iron break,

the metal-smith welds them together again in the fire, and the bond is established.

If a husband leaves his wife,

their children may bring them back together in the world, and the bond is established.

When the king makes a demand, and it is met, the bond is established.

When the hungry man eats, he is satisfied, and the bond is established.

In the famine, the rain fills the streams to overflowing, and the bond is established.

There is a bond between love and words of sweetness.