Those dealers who abandon their Lord and Master and attach themselves to another, are drowned.

The True Guru is the boat, but few are those who realize this.

Granting His Grace, He carries them across. ||13||

Shalok, First Mehl:

The simmal tree is straight as an arrow; it is very tall, and very thick.

But those birds which visit it hopefully, depart disappointed.

Its fruits are tasteless, its flowers are nauseating, and its leaves are useless.

Sweetness and humility, O Nanak, are the essence of virtue and goodness.

Everyone bows down to himself; no one bows down to another.

When something is placed on the balancing scale and weighed, the side which descends is heavier.

The sinner, like the deer hunter, bows down twice as much.

But what can be achieved by bowing the head, when the heart is impure? ||1||

First Mehl:

You read your books and say your prayers, and then engage in debate;

you worship stones and sit like a stork, pretending to be in Samaadhi.

With your mouth you utter falsehood, and you adorn yourself with precious decorations;

you recite the three lines of the Gayatri three times a day.

Around your neck is a rosary, and on your forehead is a sacred mark;

upon your head is a turban, and you wear two loin cloths.

If you knew the nature of God,

you would know that all of these beliefs and rituals are in vain.

Says Nanak, meditate with deep faith;

without the True Guru, no one finds the Way. ||2||

Pauree:

Abandoning the world of beauty, and beautiful clothes, one must depart.

He obtains the rewards of his good and bad deeds.

He may issue whatever commands he wishes, but he shall have to take to the narrow path hereafter.

Section 08 - Raag Aasaa - Part 125

He goes to hell naked, and he looks hideous then.

He regrets the sins he committed. ||14||

Shalok, First Mehl:

Make compassion the cotton, contentment the thread, modesty the knot and truth the twist.

This is the sacred thread of the soul; if you have it, then go ahead and put it on me.

It does not break, it cannot be soiled by filth, it cannot be burnt, or lost.

Blessed are those mortal beings, O Nanak, who wear such a thread around their necks.

You buy the thread for a few shells, and seated in your enclosure, you put it on.

Whispering instructions into others' ears, the Brahmin becomes a guru.

But he dies, and the sacred thread falls away, and the soul departs without it. ||1||

First Mehl:

He commits thousands of robberies, thousands of acts of adultery, thousands of falsehoods and thousands of abuses.

He practices thousands of deceptions and secret deeds, night and day, against his fellow beings.

The thread is spun from cotton, and the Brahmin comes and twists it.