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THE SIDDH GOSHT (Translated from the original in Gurmukhi by INNI KAUR)
Snuggled in the Guru Granth Sahib on pages 938-946 are seventy-three exquisite stanzas that encapsulate the philosophy of Guru Nanak. Written in a musical measure is a discourse between Guru Nanak and the Nath yogis. The latter were ascetics (siddhs) who had renounced the world and made their home in the caves of the Himalayas, where they practiced their religious austerities; they subscribed to the belief system that certain mental and physical exercises are necessary for acquiring occult powers (also known as siddhs), which in turn would lead to the attainment of liberation.
So what is the Siddh Gosht?
The Siddh Gosht is a series of questions put before Guru Nanak by the yogis. What is fascinating is that the questions of the yogis are the very same questions we face in the world today. Guru Nanak answers the yogis in their language, using their idiom and symbolism. His answers are as fresh and enlightening as they were some five centuries ago. His belief that liberation can be attained while "living in this world" by becoming truth-oriented, comes out loud and clear. For Guru Nanak, true yoga is a meditative remembrance of the Word, but must be combined with selfless service to those in need in the community.
While there is some difference of opinion over the time and place when the Siddh Gosht was composed and about which siddhs were present during the dialogue, there is no question regarding the authorship.
In "The Dialogue" below, the words of the siddhs are presented in itallics; Guru Nanak's response in each case is shown in regular font.
THE DIALOGUE
The siddhs join
The saintly congregation
And offer salutations.
Says Nanak:
I salute
The Infinite One
Who is beyond reach.
Siddhs:
Speak truthfully-
Who are you?
What is your name?
Which path do you follow?
What is your life's aim?
Nanak:
I speak only Truth.
I bow only
To the Infinite One.
I dedicate my life
To the Infinite One.
I seek
A truthful congregation
To experience Equipoise.
In wandering
I see no merit.
Liberation comes from
The Word.
Where is your home?
Where have you come from?
Where are you going?
You were once a wanderer.
Now, you are a householder.
Which path are you pursing?
Enlighten us.
My home is
In the Infinite One
That dwells in all.
I've come from Truth,
To Truth I'll return.
I pursue only Truth
By Guru's Grace.
This world is an impassable ocean.
How does one cross over?
Give us your thoughtful reply,
Says Charpat.
To the one who claims
To know all,
What answer can I give?
Attune the mind
To the Word.
Amidst desires,
Be without desire.
Amidst attachment,
Live detached.
Then,
Like a lotus in muddy waters,
Like a duck floating in a stream,
You, too, will cross over.
The truth-oriented
Realizes -
The self is
Merged in
Truth.
How does one find
The Guru's door?
The fickle mind
Sits in its true home,
But knows naught.
When the Word is imbued,
It becomes an anchor.
Mind steadies.
Truth Graces.
One arrives.
We shun the world
And abide in the woods.
We eat fruit and roots
And bathe at sacred sites.
Thus, filth touches us not
And we obtain fruits of peace.
This ancient wisdom
Is our way to union.
Says Loharipa, Gorakha's disciple.
With mind attuned to
The Word,
Live in the world.
Without the Word,
Worldly hunger devours.
Desire not another's
Beauty or wealth.
Steady the mind.
Sleep light, eat light.
It is quintessential
Wisdom.
O Nanak,
Wear our colors,
Our earrings,
Our patched coat
Amongst the twelve schools of yoga
And the six schools of philosophy,
Ours is the best.
Adopt our way -
Suffering disappears.
This is the way
To attain union.
Without the Word,
Religious robes are useless.
Without the Word,
There is no yoga.
Without the Word,
There is no liberation.
Word is the
Teacher that liberates.
Overcome
Lust
Wrath
Greed
Attachment
Ego.
Let
Truth
Contentment
Continence
Become your companions.
Dwell on
The One.
See the One
In all.
Truth Graces.
Divine Union
Is attained.
Who is in all?
Who is free from rebirth?
Who overcomes duality?
Who is born?
Who dies?
Who pervades the three regions?
The Infinite One
Is in all.
The truth-oriented
Is liberated.
The one permeated in the Word
Overcomes duality.
It is ego
That is born.
It is ego
That dies.
Truth pervades
The three regions.
How does one get entangled with worldly attachments?
How is purity lost?
How is it regained?
How is the darkness of ignorance lifted?
One who explains this Reality
Is our Teacher.
When Truth becomes distant,
Worldly attachments entangle.
In egotistical deeds,
Purity is lost.
Becoming truth-oriented,
It is regained.
Meeting the Teacher,
The veil of ignorance is lifted.
Why did you leave home?
Why did you wander?
Why did you wear the hermit robes?
What are you trading?
How will you ferry your followers across?
I became a wanderer
In search of
Truth-Oriented individuals.
I wore the hermit robes
To meet
Seekers of Truth.
I am a trader of Truth.
The truth-oriented
Will be ferried across.
How did you change your destiny?
Who absorbs you?
How have you stilled your hopes and desires?
How have you found the Light within?
Life is full of desires, how have you overcome them?
The Word
Changed my destiny.
The Unstruck Melody
Absorbs me.
Living Truth
Ended my reincarnations.
The Word
Burnt my worldly desires.
Becoming truth-oriented,
I found the Light within.
Desires are three-tiered:
Sloth
Restlessness
Ignorance.
Overcoming them,
Truth itself emancipates.
What is the beginning?
Where does the Infinite One live?
What are the markings of spiritual wisdom?
Who lives in all hearts?
How does one overcome the fear of death?
How can one enter fearlessly?
How is Equipoise attained?
How does one overcome the Five Thieves?
(Lust, anger, greed, attachment, ego)
The Beginning:
A state of indescribable wonder,
A state of profound stillness,
Is the abode of the Infinite One.
The conquest of desire
Is the marking of spiritual wisdom.
The Infinite One
Abides in all hearts.
Living
The Word
Overcomes
The fear of Death.
The Word enlightens.
The Word conquers.
The Word reveals.
Equipoise is attained.
Eradicating
Ego
Individualism
Duality,
The thieving five
Are overcome.
Where do we come from?
Where do we go?
Where do we rest in salvation?
The one who reveals this mystery,
We consider him the Teacher.
How does one find the Quintessence?
How does one become truth-oriented?
We emerge
In Divine Command.
We leave
In Divine Command.
We rest
In Divine Command.
Through Word,
Equipoise is attained.
Accepting
Divine Command,
Truth will unfold,
Reality will reveal.
Intuitively, one receives
The Immaculate Essence.
The heart in which
Rests Truth -
That heart
Has merged.
The Teacher
Knows.
The disciple that serves
This Teacher
Forsaking all,
Finds Truth.
A yogi
Is one
Who
Kills his ego,
Becomes sans desire
And
Enshrines the Truth
Deep within.
Knowing Oneness,
Experiencing Oneness,
Obliterating ego,
Duality dissipates.
Within flowers -
The Lotus
Illuminating one.
The journey begins.
When the self dies,
One sees oneself
In all life.
The journey has begun.
True Wisdom
One attains.
Truth
Untruth
Worldliness
Detachment
One discriminates.
Reflecting on
Virtue and wisdom
Is the
Essence of True Living.
Through the Word,
Reincarnation ends.
Forgetting the Word,
The ego-oriented suffer,
They know no peace.
The truth-oriented
Lives in Truth.
The truth-oriented
Attains
The jewel Truth.
The truth-oriented
Enshrines
The jewel Truth.
The truth-oriented
Practices Truth
In
Thought
Word
Deed.
In the truth-oriented
Resides
The Word
Compassion
Purity.
The truth-oriented
Intuitively understands
The ancient scriptures.
The truth-oriented
Knows the mystery
Of all hearts.
The truth-oriented
Rises above
Worldly give and take.
The truth-oriented
Obtains
The eight occult powers
And universal wisdom.
The truth-oriented
Discriminates between
Truth and falsehood.
The truth-oriented
Knows
Both
Worldliness and renunciation.
The truth-oriented
Is the bridge
That carries millions ashore.
The truth-oriented
Breaks
The cycle of birth and death.
The truth-oriented
Knows
The mystery of the Unspoken Word.
The truth-oriented
Is liberated
Through the Word.
In the midst of family,
Living righteously,
In contemplation,
Through pure conduct
Inspiring others,
The truth-oriented
Merges
In the Infinite One.
The Infinite One
Created earth
For the truth-oriented.
It is a play of
Creation and destruction.
What is the source?
Which teachings hold true?
Who is your Teacher?
Whose disciple are you?
How do you stay unattached?
The air is the source.
It is the first breath.
The teachings of
The True Teacher
Hold true.
The Divine Word
Is my Teacher.
I, its disciple.
Attached to the
Word,
I remain detached.
Immersed in Word,
Ego becomes distant.
True contemplation
Takes place.
Immersed in Word,
True conversation
With the seekers of Truth
Takes place.
Immersed in Word,
One understands
The three worlds.
Immersed in Word,
One finds the
Door of liberation.
Immersed in Word,
Divine Nectar flows.
Ego's fire
Is extinguished.
The path is hard, without ascetic discipline,
How does one cross over?
The soul lives in a body of passion.
Where is the cave
That tranquils the mind?
Hard it is
For the self-centered
To cross over.
Eradicating "I",
Erasing duality,
One crosses over.
When Word resides within,
Body and mind are cooled,
Immersed in Truth.
When the focused mind
Is in deep absorption,
The soul rests
In the Cave of Equipoise,
Its true home.
How is the mind enlightened?
How is Wisdom attained?
How is fear of death overcome?
Who is the warrior who conquers death?
How is the honor of the Truth-Oriented preserved?
Immersed in Word,
Body and mind become one.
Breath rises
To the Tenth Door.
Grace
Happens.
Eternal Light
Floods in.
Darkness is dispelled.
Wisdom is attained.
The Word within
Shatters
The fear of death.
Pain and pleasure
Are alike
To the conqueror of death.
The truth-oriented
Sees
The One
In all -
Becoming
A treasure of Truth.
Where abides the Word?
Who supports the breath?
How is the mind stabilized?
How can the Unseen be seen?
The Word abides
In the heart of all beings.
The Infinite One
Supports breath.
Enshrined in the Word,
Mind stabilizes.
The Word
Pervades all beings.
As air is all-pervading,
So is the Infinite One.
Through Grace,
One understands
The three energy channels:
Sushmana
Ida
Pingala.
But
The Infinite One
Is beyond
The energy channels.
Through
The Word,
The Unseen
Is seen.
If air is the true substance of life,
Where does air draw its sustenance?
Which is the way to wisdom?
What kind of wisdom holds the mind?
What is the practice of a Siddha?
The Word
Is the true sustenance.
The Truth
Is the true regulator of breath.
Imbued in the Word,
Intoxicated with Truth,
Divine Nectar flows,
The soul settles in peace.
When Word
Holds the mind,
Pain and pleasure become alike.
But rare is one
Who realizes this.
When there was no life,
Where did the mind and breath reside?
In the Silence.
In the Stillness.
Everyone, everything
Is part of that Silence.
How did the world form?
How is pain ended?
How does one merge in Truth?
Out of ego, came the world.
Forsaking the Word, pain endures.
Without the Word, one wanders.
Reflect on this.
Contemplate the Word
Conquer the ego
Still the mind.
Enshrine Truth.
Overcome the fear of Death
Become Truth-Oriented.
Nanak prays:
O Infinite One -
You are the state.
You are the extent.
You are in the hidden.
You are in the revealed.
The seekers seek.
The disciples beg.
Throughout the ages,
It is Your Play.
Snuggled in the Guru Granth Sahib on pages 938-946 are seventy-three exquisite stanzas that encapsulate the philosophy of Guru Nanak. Written in a musical measure is a discourse between Guru Nanak and the Nath yogis. The latter were ascetics (siddhs) who had renounced the world and made their home in the caves of the Himalayas, where they practiced their religious austerities; they subscribed to the belief system that certain mental and physical exercises are necessary for acquiring occult powers (also known as siddhs), which in turn would lead to the attainment of liberation.
So what is the Siddh Gosht?
The Siddh Gosht is a series of questions put before Guru Nanak by the yogis. What is fascinating is that the questions of the yogis are the very same questions we face in the world today. Guru Nanak answers the yogis in their language, using their idiom and symbolism. His answers are as fresh and enlightening as they were some five centuries ago. His belief that liberation can be attained while "living in this world" by becoming truth-oriented, comes out loud and clear. For Guru Nanak, true yoga is a meditative remembrance of the Word, but must be combined with selfless service to those in need in the community.
While there is some difference of opinion over the time and place when the Siddh Gosht was composed and about which siddhs were present during the dialogue, there is no question regarding the authorship.
In "The Dialogue" below, the words of the siddhs are presented in itallics; Guru Nanak's response in each case is shown in regular font.
THE DIALOGUE
The siddhs join
The saintly congregation
And offer salutations.
Says Nanak:
I salute
The Infinite One
Who is beyond reach.
Siddhs:
Speak truthfully-
Who are you?
What is your name?
Which path do you follow?
What is your life's aim?
Nanak:
I speak only Truth.
I bow only
To the Infinite One.
I dedicate my life
To the Infinite One.
I seek
A truthful congregation
To experience Equipoise.
In wandering
I see no merit.
Liberation comes from
The Word.
Where is your home?
Where have you come from?
Where are you going?
You were once a wanderer.
Now, you are a householder.
Which path are you pursing?
Enlighten us.
My home is
In the Infinite One
That dwells in all.
I've come from Truth,
To Truth I'll return.
I pursue only Truth
By Guru's Grace.
This world is an impassable ocean.
How does one cross over?
Give us your thoughtful reply,
Says Charpat.
To the one who claims
To know all,
What answer can I give?
Attune the mind
To the Word.
Amidst desires,
Be without desire.
Amidst attachment,
Live detached.
Then,
Like a lotus in muddy waters,
Like a duck floating in a stream,
You, too, will cross over.
The truth-oriented
Realizes -
The self is
Merged in
Truth.
How does one find
The Guru's door?
The fickle mind
Sits in its true home,
But knows naught.
When the Word is imbued,
It becomes an anchor.
Mind steadies.
Truth Graces.
One arrives.
We shun the world
And abide in the woods.
We eat fruit and roots
And bathe at sacred sites.
Thus, filth touches us not
And we obtain fruits of peace.
This ancient wisdom
Is our way to union.
Says Loharipa, Gorakha's disciple.
With mind attuned to
The Word,
Live in the world.
Without the Word,
Worldly hunger devours.
Desire not another's
Beauty or wealth.
Steady the mind.
Sleep light, eat light.
It is quintessential
Wisdom.
O Nanak,
Wear our colors,
Our earrings,
Our patched coat
Amongst the twelve schools of yoga
And the six schools of philosophy,
Ours is the best.
Adopt our way -
Suffering disappears.
This is the way
To attain union.
Without the Word,
Religious robes are useless.
Without the Word,
There is no yoga.
Without the Word,
There is no liberation.
Word is the
Teacher that liberates.
Overcome
Lust
Wrath
Greed
Attachment
Ego.
Let
Truth
Contentment
Continence
Become your companions.
Dwell on
The One.
See the One
In all.
Truth Graces.
Divine Union
Is attained.
Who is in all?
Who is free from rebirth?
Who overcomes duality?
Who is born?
Who dies?
Who pervades the three regions?
The Infinite One
Is in all.
The truth-oriented
Is liberated.
The one permeated in the Word
Overcomes duality.
It is ego
That is born.
It is ego
That dies.
Truth pervades
The three regions.
How does one get entangled with worldly attachments?
How is purity lost?
How is it regained?
How is the darkness of ignorance lifted?
One who explains this Reality
Is our Teacher.
When Truth becomes distant,
Worldly attachments entangle.
In egotistical deeds,
Purity is lost.
Becoming truth-oriented,
It is regained.
Meeting the Teacher,
The veil of ignorance is lifted.
Why did you leave home?
Why did you wander?
Why did you wear the hermit robes?
What are you trading?
How will you ferry your followers across?
I became a wanderer
In search of
Truth-Oriented individuals.
I wore the hermit robes
To meet
Seekers of Truth.
I am a trader of Truth.
The truth-oriented
Will be ferried across.
How did you change your destiny?
Who absorbs you?
How have you stilled your hopes and desires?
How have you found the Light within?
Life is full of desires, how have you overcome them?
The Word
Changed my destiny.
The Unstruck Melody
Absorbs me.
Living Truth
Ended my reincarnations.
The Word
Burnt my worldly desires.
Becoming truth-oriented,
I found the Light within.
Desires are three-tiered:
Sloth
Restlessness
Ignorance.
Overcoming them,
Truth itself emancipates.
What is the beginning?
Where does the Infinite One live?
What are the markings of spiritual wisdom?
Who lives in all hearts?
How does one overcome the fear of death?
How can one enter fearlessly?
How is Equipoise attained?
How does one overcome the Five Thieves?
(Lust, anger, greed, attachment, ego)
The Beginning:
A state of indescribable wonder,
A state of profound stillness,
Is the abode of the Infinite One.
The conquest of desire
Is the marking of spiritual wisdom.
The Infinite One
Abides in all hearts.
Living
The Word
Overcomes
The fear of Death.
The Word enlightens.
The Word conquers.
The Word reveals.
Equipoise is attained.
Eradicating
Ego
Individualism
Duality,
The thieving five
Are overcome.
Where do we come from?
Where do we go?
Where do we rest in salvation?
The one who reveals this mystery,
We consider him the Teacher.
How does one find the Quintessence?
How does one become truth-oriented?
We emerge
In Divine Command.
We leave
In Divine Command.
We rest
In Divine Command.
Through Word,
Equipoise is attained.
Accepting
Divine Command,
Truth will unfold,
Reality will reveal.
Intuitively, one receives
The Immaculate Essence.
The heart in which
Rests Truth -
That heart
Has merged.
The Teacher
Knows.
The disciple that serves
This Teacher
Forsaking all,
Finds Truth.
A yogi
Is one
Who
Kills his ego,
Becomes sans desire
And
Enshrines the Truth
Deep within.
Knowing Oneness,
Experiencing Oneness,
Obliterating ego,
Duality dissipates.
Within flowers -
The Lotus
Illuminating one.
The journey begins.
When the self dies,
One sees oneself
In all life.
The journey has begun.
True Wisdom
One attains.
Truth
Untruth
Worldliness
Detachment
One discriminates.
Reflecting on
Virtue and wisdom
Is the
Essence of True Living.
Through the Word,
Reincarnation ends.
Forgetting the Word,
The ego-oriented suffer,
They know no peace.
The truth-oriented
Lives in Truth.
The truth-oriented
Attains
The jewel Truth.
The truth-oriented
Enshrines
The jewel Truth.
The truth-oriented
Practices Truth
In
Thought
Word
Deed.
In the truth-oriented
Resides
The Word
Compassion
Purity.
The truth-oriented
Intuitively understands
The ancient scriptures.
The truth-oriented
Knows the mystery
Of all hearts.
The truth-oriented
Rises above
Worldly give and take.
The truth-oriented
Obtains
The eight occult powers
And universal wisdom.
The truth-oriented
Discriminates between
Truth and falsehood.
The truth-oriented
Knows
Both
Worldliness and renunciation.
The truth-oriented
Is the bridge
That carries millions ashore.
The truth-oriented
Breaks
The cycle of birth and death.
The truth-oriented
Knows
The mystery of the Unspoken Word.
The truth-oriented
Is liberated
Through the Word.
In the midst of family,
Living righteously,
In contemplation,
Through pure conduct
Inspiring others,
The truth-oriented
Merges
In the Infinite One.
The Infinite One
Created earth
For the truth-oriented.
It is a play of
Creation and destruction.
What is the source?
Which teachings hold true?
Who is your Teacher?
Whose disciple are you?
How do you stay unattached?
The air is the source.
It is the first breath.
The teachings of
The True Teacher
Hold true.
The Divine Word
Is my Teacher.
I, its disciple.
Attached to the
Word,
I remain detached.
Immersed in Word,
Ego becomes distant.
True contemplation
Takes place.
Immersed in Word,
True conversation
With the seekers of Truth
Takes place.
Immersed in Word,
One understands
The three worlds.
Immersed in Word,
One finds the
Door of liberation.
Immersed in Word,
Divine Nectar flows.
Ego's fire
Is extinguished.
The path is hard, without ascetic discipline,
How does one cross over?
The soul lives in a body of passion.
Where is the cave
That tranquils the mind?
Hard it is
For the self-centered
To cross over.
Eradicating "I",
Erasing duality,
One crosses over.
When Word resides within,
Body and mind are cooled,
Immersed in Truth.
When the focused mind
Is in deep absorption,
The soul rests
In the Cave of Equipoise,
Its true home.
How is the mind enlightened?
How is Wisdom attained?
How is fear of death overcome?
Who is the warrior who conquers death?
How is the honor of the Truth-Oriented preserved?
Immersed in Word,
Body and mind become one.
Breath rises
To the Tenth Door.
Grace
Happens.
Eternal Light
Floods in.
Darkness is dispelled.
Wisdom is attained.
The Word within
Shatters
The fear of death.
Pain and pleasure
Are alike
To the conqueror of death.
The truth-oriented
Sees
The One
In all -
Becoming
A treasure of Truth.
Where abides the Word?
Who supports the breath?
How is the mind stabilized?
How can the Unseen be seen?
The Word abides
In the heart of all beings.
The Infinite One
Supports breath.
Enshrined in the Word,
Mind stabilizes.
The Word
Pervades all beings.
As air is all-pervading,
So is the Infinite One.
Through Grace,
One understands
The three energy channels:
Sushmana
Ida
Pingala.
But
The Infinite One
Is beyond
The energy channels.
Through
The Word,
The Unseen
Is seen.
If air is the true substance of life,
Where does air draw its sustenance?
Which is the way to wisdom?
What kind of wisdom holds the mind?
What is the practice of a Siddha?
The Word
Is the true sustenance.
The Truth
Is the true regulator of breath.
Imbued in the Word,
Intoxicated with Truth,
Divine Nectar flows,
The soul settles in peace.
When Word
Holds the mind,
Pain and pleasure become alike.
But rare is one
Who realizes this.
When there was no life,
Where did the mind and breath reside?
In the Silence.
In the Stillness.
Everyone, everything
Is part of that Silence.
How did the world form?
How is pain ended?
How does one merge in Truth?
Out of ego, came the world.
Forsaking the Word, pain endures.
Without the Word, one wanders.
Reflect on this.
Contemplate the Word
Conquer the ego
Still the mind.
Enshrine Truth.
Overcome the fear of Death
Become Truth-Oriented.
Nanak prays:
O Infinite One -
You are the state.
You are the extent.
You are in the hidden.
You are in the revealed.
The seekers seek.
The disciples beg.
Throughout the ages,
It is Your Play.
