Shabd is the essence of all worship

 

All our endeavors, practices and rituals are to achieve Shabd.  The devotion to Shabd is acceptable to God, and He grants us Salvation thereby.

The devotionis that of the Shabd.  *69

                                                                                   GURU AMAR DAS

The practice of the Master's Word is the essence of all worship. *70

                                                                                            GURU NANAK

Nothing but the practiceof the Shabd leads to the Reality.

One cannot, by any means, get out of the world of attachments.  In this context Guru Nanak says:

In this world true devotion is that of Shabd,

Without Shabd, one remains an egoistic fool.  *71

                                                                                            GURU NANAK

In the present age--Kali Yuga--the worship that is acceptable to God is that of Shabd.

In Kali Yuga, communion with the Word is the true Kirtan.

It is the true devotion by which ye shall escape all I-ness.  *72

                                                                                   GURU AMAR DAS

It is with Shabd that a Jiva is transformed from clay into gold and from filth into a pure crystal.

By listening to the Word of the Master, one turns from brittle glass into solid gold,

By tasting the Word of the Master one is transformed from poison into Nectar.  *73

                                                                                   GURU RAM DAS

In this way one reaps the full benefit of his human birth.

By contact with the True Word, a devotee carns his merit.

The lightof the soul dawns within and he lives in perpetual ecstasy. *74

                                                                                   GURU AMAR DAS

Shabd is identical with Hukam and Naam.  In fact, all these words mean the Expression or Power of God.

He who accepts His Will, is accepetable to Him,

With the help of the Master's Shabd, know ye the Naam.  *75

                                                                                   GURU AMAR DAS

Shabd is Soma Ras, very sweet and delicious:

Sweet is the Word of the Master,

Such an elixir one finds within.  *76

                                                                                            GURU NANAK

Shabd is an inexhaustible treasure and ever remains full.

So long as His mercy lasts, the stream of life can never run dry,

O Nanak! Shabd is inexhaustible, distribute It as thou wilt.  *77

                                                                                                     GURU ARJAN

Shabd is Limitless and All-pervading.  The anget of death cannot come near It.

Thou art the Omniscient friend and Thou alone can contact us,

All praise to the Word of the Guru, it is boundless indeed,

Even the Angel of Death cannot reach where the limitless Word prevails.  *78

                                                                                            GURU NANAK

Shabd is All-pervading and Immanent:

The Sun of Shabd illumined all the Four Ages,

A devotee alone meditates on the Bani.  *79

                                                                                            GURU NANAK

Shabd spreads in Its fullness everywhere:

Shabd spreads in Its fullness everywhere:

Consider not that Hari is far off,

He is the nearest of the near,

He is ever in attention with eyes and ears,

And spreads everywhere in fullness.  *80

                                                                                   GURU AMAR DAS

Shabd or Hukam is the Controlling Power of God:

Thy Command (Hukam) holds Its sway on all sides,

Thy Word (Naam) reverberates everywhere,

Shabd is immanent in all,

The true God meets us if Thou so ordaineth.  *81

                                                                                            GURU NANAK

Shabd abides in the holy temple of the body and as such may be found therein:

Search for Shabd in the temple of the body,

And get to the percious Naam therein.  *82

                                                                                   GURU AMAR DAS

Shabd can be contacted in the body by a process of inversion and self-analysis:

Discipline the body to cross over the ocean of life,

And meditate on the Essence of the Soul,

The devotion to the Master grants perpentual ecstasy,

The Shabd of all virtues dwells within, in abundance.  *83

                                                                                            GURU NANAK

Guru Nanak tells us of the abode of Shabd:

Cross over the Sukhmana, leaving Ida and Pingla aside, to comprehend the Incomprehensible,

Far above these three the True Master manifests the Shabd.  *84

                                                                                            GURU NANAK