Sri Guru Nanak Dev Jee draws out a wonderful picture of a False and a True Sannyassi, the renunciate. A False Sannyassi, who abandons his household responsibilities, and leaves his home and and hearth in search of God., describes in an Astpadi in Maru Rag, Sri Guru Granth Sahib, given below. The Great Guru draws home that without reflection of our Mind on God abiding in us, no one can lead a rational life. The Maya of Three Qualities (3 Gunas Of Matter) is most powerful, which no one can win over. Man led by his inner passions and instincts, is deluded, and jumps into the deep dark well of hell.
In the section 1 Rahao (Pause), the Guru states
"O Baba, this is the way of life of the Sannyaasi, the renunciate. Through the SABDA (God in him), he is to enshrine love for the One Lord. One who is imbued with Your Name, Lord, he remains satisfied and fulfilled. 1 . Pause ."
In the last three sections of the Aspadi below also, the Guru gives the description of a True Synnassi, who lives with God abiding in him, and leads a happy contented life and attains salvation.
The purpose of giving this Important Astapadi of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Jee is that we Sikhs should understand what Gurmat has been taught, and to stop going astray. If we had understood this Reality, surely we would never have built a Gurdwara, so called "Hem Kund Sahib" at the height of more than 14,000 feet above sea level, which remains more than eight months snow bound, not accessible to pay visit; nothing grows there, and no one ever lived there. Could Sri Guru Gobind Singh Jee in his previous life went there and lived there in search of God!!! The text of Gurbani has totally been senselessly interpreted.
Sri Guru Nanak Dev Jee's Composition follows -
"The self-willed manmukh, in a fit of passion, abandons his home, and is ruined; then, he spies on the homes of others. He neglects his household duties, and does not meet with the True Guru (God abiding in him); he is caught in the whirlpool of evil-mindedness. Wandering in foreign lands and reading scriptures, he grows weary, and his thirsty desires only increase. His perishable body does not remember the SABDA (God in him); like a beast, he fills his belly. 1 .
O Baba, this is the way of life of the Sannyaasi, the renunciate. Through the SABDA (God in him), he is to enshrine love for the One Lord. One who is imbued with Your Name, Lord, he remains satisfied and fulfilled. 1 . Pause .
He dyes his robes with saffron dye, and wearing these robes, he goes out begging. Tearing his robes, he makes a patched coat, and puts the money in his wallet. From house to house he goes begging, and tries to teach the world; but his mind is blind, and so he loses his honor. He is deluded by doubt, and does not relex his mind on SABDA (God in him). He loses his life in the gamble. 2.
Without reflection of mind on the Guru (God the Guide, in him), the fire within is not quenched; and outside, the fire still burns. Without living with God abiding in him, there is no devotional worship. How can anyone, by himself, know the Lord? Slandering others, one lives in hell; within him is hazy darkness. Wandering to the eixty-eight sacred shrines of pilgrimage, he is ruined. How can the filth of sin be washed away? 3 .
He sifts through the dust, and applies ashes to his body, but he is searching for the path of Maya's wealth. Inwardly and outwardly, he does not know the One Lord; if someone tells him the Truth, he grows angry. He reads the scriptures, but tells lies; such is the intellect of one who has no guru. Without chanting the Naam, how can he find peace? Without the Name, how can he look good? 4 .
Some shave their heads, some keep their hair in matted tangles; some keep it in braids, while some keep silent, filled with egotistical pride. Their minds waver and wander in ten directions, without loving devotion and devoid of enlightenment. They abandon the Ambrosial Nectar, and drink the deadly poison, driven mad by Maya. Past actions cannot be erased; without understanding the Hukam of the Lord's Command, they become beasts. 5 .
With bowl in hand, wearing his patched coat, great desires well up in his mind. Abandoning his own wife, he is engrossed in sexual desire; his thoughts are on the wives of others. He teaches and preaches, but does not contemplate the SABDA (God in him); he is bought and sold on the street. With poison within, he pretends to be free of doubt; he is ruined and humiliated by the Messenger of Death. 6 .
He alone is a Sannyaasi, who serves the True Guru (God the Guide in him), and removes his self-conceit from within. He does not ask for clothes or food; without asking, he accepts whatever he receives. He does not speak empty words; he gathers in the wealth of tolerance, and burns away his anger with the Naam. Blessed is such a householder, Sannyaasi and Yogi, who focuses his consciousness on the Lord's feet. . 7 .
Amidst hope, the Sannyaasi remains unmoved by hope; he remains lovingly focused on the One Lord. He drinks in the sublime essence of the Lord, and so finds peace and tranquility; in the home of his own being, he remains absorbed in the deep trance of meditation. His mind does not waver; as Gurmukh, he understands. He restrains it from wandering out. Following the Guru's (Divine in him) Teachings, he searches the home of his body, and obtains the wealth of the Naam. 8.
Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are exalted, imbued with contemplative meditation on the Naam. The sources of creation, speech, the heavens and the underworld, all beings and creatures, are infused with Your Light. All comforts and liberation are found in the Naam, and God's Word; I have enshrined the True Name within my heart. Without the Naam, no one is saved; O Nanak, with the Truth, cross over to the other side. 9 .7"
(Page 1012, SGGS, Maru M.1 (Astpadi))