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CHAPTER III
The Guru, on one occasion seeing his parents and relations standing
around him to consider his condition, composed a hymn in the Rag Gauri
Cheti[2]:--
Since when have I a mother? Since when a father? Whence have we
come?
[1. Malār.
2 Gauri is a rāgini or consort of Sri Rāg, and has nine
varieties, one of which is the Cheti.]
From fire and bubbles of water are we sprung; for what object
were we created?
My Lord, who knoweth Thy merits?
My demerits cannot be numbered.
How many shrubs and trees have we seen! how many beasts created by
Thee!
How many species of creeping things, and how many birds hast Thou
caused to fly!
Men break through the shops and great houses of cities and
stealing therefrom go homewards.
They look before them, they look behind them, but where can they
hide themselves from Thee?
The banks of streams of pilgrimage, the nine regions I of the
earth, shops, cities, and market-places have I seen.
Becoming a shopkeeper I take a scale and try to weigh my
actions in my heart.
My sins are numerous as the waters of the seas and the ocean.
Bestow compassion, extend a little mercy, save me who am like a
sinking stone.
My soul is burning like fire; it is as though shears were
cutting my heart.
Nanak humbly representeth--he who obeyeth God's order is
happy day and night.[2]
Kalu then desired that his son should embrace a mercantile life. He
instructed him to go to Chuharkana in the present district of
Gujranwala, and buy there salt, turmeric, and other articles to trade
with. Nanak set out with a servant, and on the way met some holy men,
whose vows obliged them to remain naked in all seasons. Nanak was
struck with this peculiarity, and inquired of their head-priest
Santren if they had no clothes to wear, or if, having clothes, they
found it uncomfortable to
[1. The ancient Indian Geographers divided the earth into nine
regions or continents.
2 Gauri.]
wear them. Before he could receive an answer, Nanak was reminded by
his servant of his more practical mission, and counselled to proceed
to Chuharkana in obedience to his father's instructions. Nanak,
however, was not to be thwarted in his object. He pressed the priest
for an answer. The priest replied that his company required not
clothes or food, except in so far as the latter was voluntarily
bestowed on them. To avoid all luxury they dwelt in forests, and not
in peopled towns and villages. Nanak thought he had found what he had
sought for, and said to his servant that he had already obeyed his
father's instructions, which were to spend his money to the best
advantage. He therefore gave the holy men the money with which his
father had provided him. Upon this they asked him his name, and he
said that he was Nanak Nirankari, or Nanak the worshipper of the
Formless One, that is, God. Nanak was prevailed upon to take the money
to the nearest village to buy food for the holy men, who had not
tasted any for some days.
When the faqirs took their departure, Nanak was censured by his
servant for his reckless prodigality. He then realized the nature of
his act, and did not go home, but sat under a tree outside the village
of Talwandi. He was there found by his father, who cuffed him for his
disobedience. The aged tree under which he sat is still preserved. A
wall has been. built around it for protection. Within the enclosure
are found religious men in prayer and contemplation. The tree is known
as the Thamb Sahib, or the holy trunk.
Jai Ram, during his yearly visits to Talwandi at the close of the
spring harvest, had ample opportunities of cultivating Nanak's
acquaintance, and appreciating his good qualities. Rai Bular, too, was
no apathetic advocate of Nanak. It was agreed between him and Jai Ram that Nanak was a saint ill-treated by his
father; and Jai Ram promised to cherish him and find him occupation in
Sultanpur. Nanak's departure to his brother-in-law was precipitated by
another act of worldly indiscretion. He had entered into companionship
with a faqir who visited the village. Nanak told him, as he did the
other faqirs, that his name was Nanak Nirankari; and a friendly
intimacy sprang up between them. The faqir was probably a swindler,
and coveted a brass lota, or drinking vessel, and a gold wedding ring
which Nanak wore, and asked that they might be presented to him. Nanak
acceded to the request, to the further sorrow and indignation of his
parents. After that it was not difficult to induce Kalu to allow his
son to proceed to Sultanpur to join Jai Ram and Nanaki.
The other members of Nanak's family also unanimously approved of
his decision. Nanak's wife alone, on seeing him make preparations for
his journey, began to weep, and said, 'My life, even here thou hast
not loved me; when thou goest to a foreign country, how shalt thou
return?' He answered, 'Simple woman, what have I been doing here?'
Upon this she again entreated him, 'When thou satest down at home, I
possessed in my estimation the sovereignty of the whole earth; now
this world is of no avail to me.' Upon this he grew compassionate, and
said, 'Be not anxious; thy sovereignty shall ever abide.' She replied,
'My life, I will not remain behind; take me with thee.' Then Nanak
said, 'I am now going away. If I can earn my living, I will send for
thee. Obey my order.' She then remained silent.
When Nanak asked Rai Bular's permission to depart, the Rai gave him
a banquet. The Rai then requested him to give him any order he
pleased, that is, to state what favour he might grant him. Nanak
replied:--
I give thee one order if thou wilt comply with it.
When thine own might availeth not, clasp thy hands and worship
God.
Jai Ram introduced Nanak as an educated man to the Governor, Daulat
Khan, who appointed him storekeeper and gave him a dress of honour as
a preliminary of service. Nanak began to apply himself to his duties,
and so discharged them that everybody was gratified and congratulated
him. He was also highly praised to the Governor, who was much pleased
with his new servant. Out of the provisions which Guru Nanak was
allowed, he devoted only a small portion to his own maintenance; the
rest he gave to the poor. He used continually to spend his nights
siring hymns to his Creator.
If Nanak, when weighing out provisions, went as far as the number
thirteen--tera--he used to pause and several times repeat the
word--which also means 'Thine,' that is, 'I am Thine, O Lord,'--before
he went on weighing.
The minstrel Mardana subsequently came from Talwandi and became
Nanak's private servant. Mardana was of the tribe of Dums, who are
minstrels by heredity. He used to accompany Nanak on the rabab, or
rebeck.[1] Other friends too followed. Nanak introduced them to the
Khan and procured them employment. They all got a living by Nanak's
favour, and were happy. At dinner-time they came and sat down with
him, and every night there was continual singing. A watch before day,
Nanak used to go to the neighbouring Bein river and perform his
ablutions. When day dawned, he went to discharge the duties of his
office.
One day after bathing Nanak disappeared in the
[1. This instrument, which was of Arabian origin, has fallen into
disuse in Northern India. It had from four to six strings of goat-gut
with steel strings for resonance.]
forest, and was taken in a vision to God's presence. He was offered
a cup of nectar, which he gratefully accepted. God said to him, 'I am
with thee. I have made thee happy, and also those who shall take thy
name. Go and repeat Mine, and cause others to do likewise. Abide
uncontaminated by the world. Practise the repetition of My name,
charity, ablutions, worship, and meditation. I have given thee this
cup of nectar, a pledge of My regard.' The Guru stood up and made a
prostration. He then sang the following verses to the accompaniment of
the spontaneous music of heaven:--
Were I to live for millions of years and drink the air for my
nourishment;
Were I to dwell in a cave where I beheld, not sun or moon, and
could not even dream of sleeping,[1]
I should still not be able to express Thy worth; how great shall I
call Thy name?
O true Formless One, Thou art in Thine own place-
As I have often heard I tell my tale--If it please Thee, show Thy
favour unto me.
Were I to be felled and cut in pieces, were I to be ground in a
mill;
Were I to be burned in a fire, and blended with its ashes,
I should still not be able to express Thy worth; how great shall I
call Thy name?
Were I to become a bird and fly to a hundred heavens;
Were I to vanish from human gaze and neither eat nor drink,
I should still not be able to express Thy worth; how great shall I
call Thy name?
Nanak, had I hundreds of thousands of tons of paper and a desire
to write on it all after the deepest research;
Were ink never to fail me, and could I move my pen like the wind,
[1. That is, were I to lead even the most ascetic life possible.]
I should still not be able to express Thy worth; how great
shall I call Thy name?[1]
Hereupon a voice was heard, 'O Nanak, thou hast seen My
sovereignty.' Then Nanak said, 'O Sire, what is anything that mortal
can say, and what can be said or heard after what I have seen? Even
the lower animals sing Thy praises.' Upon this, the Guru uttered the
preamble of the Japji:--
There is but one God whose name is True, the Creator, devoid of
fear and enmity, immortal, unborn, self-existent, great, and
bountiful.[2]
The True One was in the beginning; The True One was in the primal
age.
The True One is, was, O Nanak, and the True One also shall be.
When Nanak had finished, a voice was heard again: 'O Nanak, to him
upon whom My look of kindness resteth, be thou merciful, as I too
shall be merciful. My name is God, the primal Brahm, and thou art the
divine Guru.'
The Guru then uttered the following hymn:--
Thou wise and omniscient, art an ocean; how can I a fish obtain
a knowledge of Thy limit?
Wherever I look, there art Thou; if I am separated from Thee, I
shall burst.
I know neither Death the fisherman nor his net.
When I am in sorrow, then I remember Thee.
Thou art omnipresent though I thought Thee distant.
What I do is patent unto Thee;
Thou beholdest mine acts, yet I deny them.
I have not done Thy work or uttered Thy name;
Whatever Thou givest, that I eat.
There is no other gate than Thine; to whose gate shall I go?
Nanak maketh one supplication--
Soul and body are all in Thy power.
[1. Sri Rāg.
2 The ordinary translation of Gur parsād, 'By the Guru's
favour.' does not seem appropriate here.]
Thou art near, Thou art distant, and Thou art midway.
Thou seest and hearest; by Thy power didst Thou create the world.
Whatever order pleaseth Thee, saith Nanak, that is
acceptable.[1]
After three days the Guru came forth from the forest. The people
thought he had been drowned in the neighbouring river; and how had he
returned to life? He then went home, and gave all that he had to the
poor. A great crowd assembled, and Nawab Daulat Khan, the Governor,
also came. He inquired what had happened to Nanak, but received no
reply. Understanding, however, that the Guru's acts were the result of
his abandonment of this world, the Governor felt sad, said it was a
great pity, and went home.
It was the general belief at this time that Nanak was, possessed
with an evil spirit, and a Mulla or Muhammadan priest was summoned to
exorcise it. The Mulla began to write an amulet to hang round Nanak's
neck. While the Mulla was writing Nanak uttered the following:--
When the field is spoiled where is the harvest heap?
Cursed are the lives of those who write God's name and sell it.
The Mulla, paying no attention to Nanak's serious objurgation,
continued the ceremony of exorcism and finally addressed the supposed
evil spirit, 'Who art thou?' The following reply issued from Nanak's
mouth:--
Some say poor Nanak is a sprite, some say that he is a demon,
Others again that he is a man.
Those who were present then concluded that Nanak was not possessed,
but had become insane.
On hearing this Nanak ordered Mardana to play the rebeck and
continued the stanza:--
[1. Sri Rag.]
Simpleton Nanak hath become mad upon the Lord.[1]
And knoweth none other than God.
When one is mad with the fear of God,
And recognizeth none other than the one God,
He is known as mad when he doeth this one thing--
When he obeyeth the Master's order--in what else is there wisdom?
When man loveth the Lord and deemeth himself worthless,
And the rest of the world good, he is called mad.[2]
After this, Guru Nanak donned a religious costume and associated
constantly with religious men. He remained silent for one day, and the
next he uttered the pregnant announcement, 'There is no Hindu and no
Musalman.' The Sikhs interpret this to mean generally that both Hindus
and Muhammadans had forgotten the precepts of their religions. On a
complaint made by the Nawab's Qazi, or expounder of Muhammadan law,
the Guru was summoned before Daulat Khan to give an explanation of his
words. He refused to go, saying, 'What have I to do with your Khan?'
The Guru was again called a madman. His mind was full of his mission,
and whenever he spoke be merely said, 'There is no Hindu and no
Musalman.' The Qazi was not slow to make another representation to the
Governor on the impropriety of Nanak's utterance. Upon this the
Governor sent for him. A footman went and told the Guru that the
Governor had requested him to come to him. Then Guru Nanak stood up
and went to the Governor. The Governor addressed him, 'Nanak, it is my
misfortune that such an officer as thou should have become a faqir.'
The Governor then seated him beside him, and directed his Qazi to ask,
now that Nanak was in conversational mood, the meaning of his
utterance. The Qazi became thoughtful, and smiled. He then asked
Nanak, 'What hath happened to thee, that
[1. S. colloquialism.
2. Māru.]
thou sayest there is no Hindu and no Musalman?
The Guru, not being engaged in controversy with Hindus at the time,
gave no answer to the first part of the question. In explanation of
his statement that there was no Musalman he uttered the following:--
To be[1] a Musalman is difficult; if one be really so, then one
may be called a Musalman.
Let one first love the religion of saints,[2] and put aside pride
and pelf[3] as the file removeth rust.
Let him accept the religion of his pilots, and dismiss anxiety
regarding death or life;[4]
Let him heartily obey the will of God, worship the Creator, and
efface himself--
When he is kind to all men, then Nanak, shall he be indeed a
Musalman.[5]
The Qazi then put further questions to the Guru. The Guru called on
Mardana to play the rebeck, and sang to it the following replies and
instructions adapted for Muhammadans:--
Make kindness thy mosque, sincerity thy prayer-carpet, what is
just and lawful thy Quran,
Modesty thy circumcision, civility thy fasting, so shalt thou be a
Musalman;
Make right conduct thy Kaaba,[6] truth thy spiritual guide, good
works thy creed and thy prayer,
The will of God thy rosary, and God will preserve thine honour, O
Nanak
[1 In the original, 'to be called a Musalman.' The same idiom is
found in Greek.
2. Also translated--(a) Let him first of all make his
religion agreeable to men; (b) let him first love his saints
and his religion.
3. Also translated--(a) which bring trouble; (b) to
dispel pride and worldly love is to be filed or cleansed of
impurities.
4. This verse is also translated--Being resigned to God, obedient (dīn),
and lowly (mahāne), let man set aside all fear of birth and
death--the transmigration which so exercises the oriental mind.
5. Mājh ki Wār.
6. The great cube-like Muhammadan temple at Makka to which the
faithful make pilgrimages.]
Nanak, let others' goods[1] be to thee as swine to the
Musalman and kine to the Hindu;[2]
Hindu and Musalman spiritual teachers will go bail for thee if
thou eat not carrion.[3]
Thou shalt not go to heaven by lip service; it is by the practice
of truth thou shalt be delivered.
Unlawful food will not become lawful by putting spices[4] therein.
Nanak, from false words only falsehood can be obtained.
There are five prayers, five times for prayer, and five names for
them[5]--
The first should be truth, the second what is right, the third
charity in God's name,
The fourth good intentions, the fifth the praise and glory of God.
If thou make good works the creed thou repeatest, thou shalt be a
Musalman.
They who are false, O Nanak, shall only obtain what is altogether
false.
The Qazi became astonished at being thus lectured. Prayers had
become to him a matter of idle lip-repetition of Arabic texts, while
his mind was occupied with his worldly affairs.
It was now the time for afternoon prayer. The whole company,
including Nanak, went to the mosque. Up rose the Qazi and began the
service. The Guru looked towards him and laughed in his face. When
prayer was over, the Qazi complained to the Nawab of Nanak's conduct.
The Guru said he had laughed because the Qazi's prayer was not
[1. Literally--rights, or what is due to thy neighbour.
2. The Musalmāns abstain from the flesh of swine, and the Hindus
from the flesh of kine.
3. What is not thine own.
4. This means that, if wealth be improperly obtained, a portion of
it bestowed in alms will be no atonement.
5. Prayers, or rather texts from the Qurān, are repeated by strict
Musalmāns at dawn, at midday, in the afternoon, in the evening, and
before going to sleep at night.]
accepted of God. The Qazi asked Nanak to state the reason for his
conclusion. The Guru replied that immediately before prayer the Qazi
had unloosed a new-born filly. While he ostensibly performed divine
service, he remembered there was a well in the enclosure, and his mind
was filled with apprehension lest the filly should fall into it. His
heart was therefore not in his devotions. The Guru informed the Nawab
also that while he was pretending to pray, he was thinking of
purchasing horses in Kabul. Both admitted the truth of the Guru's
statements, said he was favoured of God, and fell at his feet. The
Guru then uttered the following:--
He is a Musalman who effaceth himself,
Who maketh truth and contentment his holy creed,
Who neither toucheth what is standing, nor eateth what hath
fallen--
Such a Musalman shall go to Paradise.
The whole company of Musalmans at the capital--the descendants of
the Prophet, the tribe of shaikhs,[l] the qazi, the muftis,[2] and the
Nawab himself, were all amazed at Nanak's words. The Muhammadans then
asked the Guru to tell them of the power and authority of his God, and
how salvation could be obtained. Upon this the Guru addressed them as
follows:--
At God's gate there dwell thousands of Muhammads, thousands of
Brahmas, of Vishnus, and of Shivs;[3]
Thousands upon thousands of exalted Rams,[4] thousands of
spiritual guides, thousands of religious garbs;
[1. Shaikhs are superiors of darweshes or Muhammadan monks,
but the title has now in India a much more extended signification, and
is very often adopted by Hindu converts to Islam.
2. Muhammadan jurists.
3. Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiv, form the Hindu trinity, and are
respectively the gods of creation, preservation, and destruction.
4. Ram Chandar, king of Ayudhia, deified by the Hindus. He and his
consort Sita will be found often mentioned.]
Thousands upon thousands of celibates, true men, and Sanyasis;[1]
Thousands upon thousands of Gorakhs,[2] thousands upon thousands
of superiors of Jogis;
Thousands upon thousands of men sitting in attitudes of
contemplation, gurus, and their disciples who make supplications;
Thousands upon thousands of goddesses and gods, thousands of
demons;
Thousands upon thousands of Muhammadan priests, prophets,
spiritual leaders, thousands upon thousands of qazis, mullas, and
shaikhs--
None of them obtaineth peace of mind without the instruction of
the true guru.
How many hundreds of thousands of sidhs[3] and strivers,[4] yea,
countless and endless!
All are impure without meditating on the word of the true guru.
There is one Lord over all spiritual lords, the Creator whose name
is true.
Nanak, His worth cannot be ascertained; He is endless and
incalculable.[5]
It is said that Daulat Khan, the Musalman ruler, on hearing this
sublime hymn, fell at Guru Nanak's feet. The people admitted that God
was speaking through Nanak's mouth, and that it was useless to
catechize him further. The Nawab, in an outburst
[1. The Sanyāsis are anchorets who have abandoned the
world, and are popularly believed to have overcome nature. The word sanyās
means renunciation.
2. Gorakh was a famous Jogi who lived many centuries ago. His
followers slit their ears, and make Shiv the special object of their
worship. The name Gorakh, meaning Supporter of the earth, is often
used for God in the sacred writings of the Sikhs.
3. Sidhs, in Sanskrit Siddhs, are persons who by the
practice of Jog are popularly supposed to acquire extended life and
miraculous powers.
4. Sādhik, persons aspiring to be Sidhs.
5. Banno's Granth Sāhib, An account of Banno will be found in the
life of Guru Arjan.]
of affectionate admiration, offered him a sacrifice of his
authority and estate. Nanak, however, was in no need of temporal
possessions, and went again into the society of religious men. They
too offered him their homage, and averred that he was desirous of the
truth and abode in its performance. Nanak replied:--
My beloved, this body, first steeped in the base of
worldliness,[1] hath taken the dye of avarice.
My beloved, such robe[2] pleaseth not my Spouse; How can woman
thus dressed go to His couch?
I am a sacrifice, O Benign One, I am a sacrifice unto Thee.
I am a sacrifice unto those who repeat Thy name.
Unto those who repeat Thy name I am ever a sacrifice.
Were this body, my beloved friends, to become a dyer's vat, the
Name to be put into it as madder,
And the Lord the Dyer to dye therewith, such colour had never been
seen.
O my beloved, the Bridegroom is with those whose robes are thus
dyed.
Nanak's prayer is that he may obtain the dust of such persons'
feet.
God Himself it is who decketh, it is He who dyeth, it is He who
looketh with the eye of favour.
Nanak, if the bride be pleasing to the Bridegroom, he will enjoy
her of his own accord.[3]
Upon this the faqirs kissed the Guru's feet, the Governor also
came, and all the people, both Hindu and Musalman, attended to salute
and take final leave of him. Some complaints had been made of his
extravagance as storekeeper; but, when the Governor made an
investigation, he found the
[1. A metaphor from the dyer's trade. Clothes before the process of
dyeing are steeped in alum as a base or mordant the better to retain
the dye.
2. Cholra, a coat which reaches to the knees; choli,
its diminutive, is a woman's bodice.
3 That is, man will be happy if he by good works make himself
acceptable to God. The hymn is from Tilang.]
storehouse full and all the Guru's accounts correct. Nay, it was
discovered that money was due to him from the State. The Guru,
however, refused to receive it and requested the Nawab to dispose of
it in relieving the wants of the poor.
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CHAPTER IV
After a short stay with the holy men with whom he had recently been
consorting, the Guru, in company with Mardana, proceeded to Saiyidpur,
the present city of Eminabad, in the Gujranwala district of the Panjab.
Nanak and his companion took shelter in the house of Lalo, a
carpenter. When dinner was ready, Lalo informed the Guru, and asked
him to eat it within sacred lines.[1] The Guru said, 'The whole earth
is my sacred lines, and he who loveth truth is pure. Wherefore remove
doubt from thy mind.' On this Lalo served dinner, and the Guru ate it
where he was seated. After two days the Guru desired to take his
departure, but was prevailed on by Lalo to make a longer stay. The
Guru consented, but soon found himself an object of obloquy because
he, the son of a Khatri, abode in the house of a Sudar. After a
fortnight, Malik Bhago, steward of the Pathan who owned Saiyidpur,
gave a great feast, to which Hindus of all four castes were invited. A
Brahman went and told the Guru that, as all the four castes had been
invited, he too should partake of Malik Bhago's bounty. The Guru
replied, 'I belong not to any of the four castes; why am I invited?'
The Brahman replied, 'It is on this account people call thee a
heretic. Malik Bhago will be displeased with thee for refusing his
hospitality.' On this the Brahman went away, and
[1. Enclosures, generally smeared with cow-dung to make them holy,
within which Hindus pray and cook their food.]
Malik Bhago fed his guests, but the Guru was not among them.
When subsequently Malik Bhago heard of the Guru's absence from the
feast, he ordered him to be produced. Bhago inquired why he had not
responded to his invitation. The Guru replied, that he was a faqir who
did not desire dainty food, but if his eating from the hands of Malik
Bhago afforded that functionary any gratification, he would not be
found wanting. Malik Bhago was not appeased, but charged the Guru, who
was the son of a Khatri, while refusing to attend his feast, with
dining with the low-caste Lalo. Upon this the Guru asked Malik Bhago
for his share, and at the same time requested Lalo to bring him bread
from his house. When both viands arrived, the Guru took Lalo's coarse
bread in his right hand and Malik Bhago's dainty bread in his left,
and squeezed them both. It is said that from Lalo's bread there issued
milk, and from Malik Bhago's, blood. The meaning was that Lalo's bread
had been obtained by honest labour and was pure, while Malik Bhago's
had been obtained by bribery and oppression and was therefore impure.
The Guru hesitated not to accept the former.
After this the Guru and Mardana proceeded to a solitary forest,
nowhere entering a village or tarrying on the bank of a river. On the
way they were overtaken by hunger, and Mardana complained. The Guru
directed him to go straight on and enter a village where the Upal
Khatris dwelt. He had only to stand in silence at the doors of their
houses, when Hindus and Musalmans would come to do him homage, and not
only supply him with food, but bring carpets and spread them before
him to tread on. Mardana did as he had been directed, and succeeded in
his errand.
Mardana subsequently received an order to go to another village. He
there also received great homage. {p. 45} The villagers came and fell
at his feet, and offered him large presents of money[1] and clothes.
These he tied up in bundles and took to the Guru. On seeing them the
Guru laughed, and asked Mardana what he had brought. He answered that
the villagers had made him large presents of money and clothes, and he
thought that he would bring them to his master. The Guru replied that
they did not belong to either of them. Mardana inquired how he was to
dispose of them. The Guru told him to throw them away, an order which
he at once obeyed. The Guru explained to him the disastrous effects of
offerings on laymen. 'Offerings are like poison and cannot be
digested. They can only bring good by fervent adoration of God at all
hours. When man performeth scant worship and dependeth on offerings
for his subsistence, the effect on him is as if he had taken poison.'
The Guru and Mardana are said to have visited a notorious robber
called Shaikh Sajjan. With extreme impartiality he had built for his
Hindu guests a temple, and for his Muhammadan guests a mosque; and he
otherwise ostensibly provided them with everything necessary for their
comfort. His hospitality, however, was as false as that of the famous
Greek robber, Procrustes. When night came on, Sajjan dismissed his
guests to sleep. He then threw them into a well in which they
perished. Next morning he took up a pilgrim's staff and rosary, and
spread out a carpet to pray in the true spirit of an ancient Pharisee.
Shaikh Sajjan, seeing the Guru, interpreted the look of spiritual
satisfaction on his countenance into a consciousness of worldly
wealth, and expected much profit from such a windfall. He as usual
invited his guests to go to sleep. The Guru asked permission to recite
a hymn to God, and having obtained it, repeated the following:--
[1. Literally--twenty-fives, because it used to be the Indian
custom to count money in heaps of twenty-five each.]
Bronze is bright and shining, but, by rubbing, its sable
blackness appeareth,
Which cannot be removed even by washing a hundred times.
They are friends I who travel with me as I go along,
And who are found standing ready whenever their accounts are
called for.
Houses, mansions, palaces painted on all sides,
When hollow within, are as it were crumbled and useless.
Herons arrayed in white dwell at places of pilgrimage;
Yet they rend and devour living things, and therefore should not
be called white.[2]
My body is like the simmal tree;[3] men beholding me mistake
me.[4]
Its fruit is useless: such qualities my body possesseth.
I am a blind man carrying a burden while the mountainous[5] way is
long.
I want eyes which I cannot get; how can I ascend and traverse the
journey?
Of what avail are services, virtues, and cleverness?
Nanak, remember the Name, so mayest thou be released from thy
shackles.[6]
Shaikh Sajjan, on hearing this warning and heart-searching hymn,
came to his right understanding. He knew that all the faults were his
own, which the Guru had attributed to himself. Upon this he made
[1. The name Sajjan also means friend. There is here a pun on the
word.
2. The heron, though white, has a black heart.
3. The Bombax heplaphyllum. It bears no fruit in the true
sense of the word. Its pods yield cotton, which is unfit for textile
purposes. Its wood is very brittle, and almost useless for carpentry.
4. Like birds which peck at what they suppose to be the fruit of
the simmal tree, but find none. The gyānis exercise their ingenuity
on this line, and translate--The parrots (mai jan) looking at
it make a mistake.
5. Dūgar, thence the tribe of Dogras in the Kāngra and
adjacent districts. Dogra literally means hillman.
6. Sūhi.]
him obeisance, kissed his feet, and prayed him to pardon his sins.
Then the Guru said, 'Shaikh Sajjan, at the throne of God grace is
obtained by two things, open confession and reparation for wrong.'
Shaikh Sajjan asked him to perform for him those things by which sins
were forgiven and grace obtained. Then the Guru's heart was touched,
and he asked him to truly state how many murders he had committed.
Shaikh Sajjan admitted along catalogue of the most heinous crimes. The
Guru asked him to produce all the property of his victims that he had
retained in his possession. The Shaikh did so, whereupon the Guru told
him to give it all to the poor. He obeyed the mandate, and became a
follower of the Guru after receiving charanpahul.[1] It is said that
the first Sikh temple[2] was constructed on the spot where this
conversation had been held.
The Guru, hearing of a religious fair at Kurkhetar near Thanesar,
in the present district of Ambala, on the occasion of a solar eclipse
desired to visit it with the object of preaching to the assembled
pilgrims. Needing refreshment, he began to cook a deer which a
disciple had presented to him. The Brahmans expressed their horror at
his use of flesh, upon which he replied:--
Man is first conceived in flesh, he dwelleth in flesh.
When he quickeneth, he obtaineth a mouth of flesh his bone, skin,
and body are made of flesh.
[1. Also called charanāmrit. This was a form of initiation by
drinking the water in which the Guru's feet had been washed. The
preamble of the Japji was read at the same time. The ceremony was
inaugurated by Guru Nānak.
2. Dharmsāl. In modern times this word means a charitable
rest-house where the Granth Sahib is kept and divine worship held,
where travellers obtain free accommodation, and children receive
religious instruction. A temple at a place visited by a Guru is now
called Gurdwāra.
3. The ancient Kurukshetra, the scene of the great battle between
the Pandavs and Kauravs. In Hindu books it is called the Navel of the
earth, and it is held that worldly beings were there created. Khulāsat-ul-Tawārikh.]
When he is taken out of the womb, he seizeth teats of flesh.
His mouth is of flesh, his tongue is of flesh, his breath is in
flesh.
When he groweth up he marrieth, and bringeth flesh home with him.
Flesh is produced from flesh; all man's relations are made from
flesh.
By meeting the true Guru and obeying God's order, everybody shall
go right.
If thou suppose that man shall be saved by himself, he
shall not; Nanak, it is idle to say so.
The following is also on the same subject:--
Fools wrangle about flesh, but know not divine knowledge or
meditation on God.
They know not what is flesh, or what is vegetable, or in what sin
consisteth.
It was the custom of the gods to kill rhinoceroses, roast them and
feast.
They who forswear flesh and hold their noses when near it, devour
men at night.
They make pretences to the world, but they know not divine
knowledge or meditation. on God.
Nanak, why talk to a fool? He cannot reply or understand what is
said to him.
He who acteth blindly is blind; he hath no mental eyes.
Ye were produced from the, blood of your parents, yet ye eat not
fish or flesh.
When man and woman meet at night and cohabit,
A foetus is conceived from flesh; we are vessels of flesh.
O Brahman, thou knowest not divine knowledge or meditation on God,
yet thou callest thyself clever.
Thou considerest the flesh that cometh from abroad[1] bad,
O my lord, and the flesh of thine own home good.
All animals have sprung from flesh, and the soul taketh its abode in
flesh.
[1. The flesh of animals.]
They whose guru is blind, eat things that ought not to be
eaten, and abstain from what ought to be eaten.
In flesh we are conceived, from flesh we are born; we are vessels
of flesh.
O Brahman, thou knowest not divine knowledge or meditation on God,
yet thou callest thyself clever.
Flesh is allowed in the Purans, flesh is allowed in the books of
the Musalmans, flesh hath been used in the four ages.
Flesh adorneth sacrifice and marriage functions; flesh hath always
been associated with them.
Women, men, kings, and emperors spring from flesh.
If they appear to you to be going to hell, then accept not their
offerings.
See how wrong it would be that givers should go to hell and
receivers to heaven.
Thou understandest not thyself, yet thou instructest others; O
Pandit, thou art very wise![1]
O Pandit, thou knowest not from what flesh hath sprung.
Corn, sugar-cane, and cotton are produced from water;[2] from
water the three worlds are deemed to have sprung.
Water saith, 'I am good in many ways'; many are the modifications
of water.
If thou abandon the relish of such things, thou shalt be
superhuman, saith Nanak deliberately.[3]
The Guru succeeded in making many converts at Kurkhetar. When
departing, he thus addressed his Sikhs: 'Live in harmony, utter the
Creator's name, and if any one salute you therewith, return his salute
with the addition true, and say "Sat Kartar ", the True
Creator, in reply. There are four ways by which, with the repetition
of God's name, men may reach Him. The first is holy companionship, the
second truth, the third contentment, and the fourth restraint of the
senses. By whichsoever of these
[1. Said ironically.
2 Water assists the growth of vegetables, and on vegetables animals
are fed.
3 Mālar ki Wār.]
doors a man entereth, whether he be a hermit or a householder, he
shall find God.'
The Guru next visited Hardwar in pursuance of his mission. A great
crowd was assembled from the four cardinal points for the purpose of
washing away their sins. The Guru saw that, while they were cleansing
their bodies, their hearts remained filthy; and none of them
restrained the wanderings of his mind or performed his ablutions with
love and devotion. While they were throwing water towards the east for
the manes of their ancestors, the Guru went among them, and, putting
his hands together so as to form a cup, began to throw water towards
the west, and continued to do so until a large crowd had gathered
round him. Men in their astonishment began to inquire what he was
doing, and whether he was a Hindu or Muhammadan. If the latter, why
had he come to a Hindu place of pilgrimage? If he were a Hindu, why
should he throw water towards the west instead of towards the rising
sun? And who had taught him to do so? In reply, the Guru asked them
why they threw water towards the east. To whom were they offering it,
and who was to receive it? They replied that they were offering
libations to the manes of their ancestors. It would satisfy them, and
be a source of happiness to themselves.
The Guru then asked how far distant their ancestors were. A learned
man among them replied that their ancestors were thousands of miles
distant. The Guru, upon this, again began to throw palmfuls of water
towards the west. They reminded him that he had not answered their
questions, or vouchsafed any information regarding himself. He replied
that, before he had set out from his home in the west, he had sown a
field and left no one to irrigate it. He was therefore throwing water
in its direction, that it might remain green and not dry up. His field
was on a mound where rain-water would not rest, and he was obliged to have recourse to this form of
irrigation. On hearing this, the spectators thought he was crazed, and
told him he was sprinkling water in vain, for it would never reach his
field. Where was his field and where was he, and how could the water
ever reach it? 'Thou art a great fool, thy field shall never become
green by what thou art doing.' The Guru replied, 'Ye have forgotten
God. Without love and devotion your minds have gone astray. My field,
which you say this water cannot reach, is near, but your ancestors are
very far away, so how can the water ye offer them ever reach them or
profit them? Ye call me a fool, but ye are greater fools yourselves.'
The Guru after a little time again broke silence, and said, 'The
Hindus are going to hell. Death will seize and mercilessly punish
them.' A Brahman replied, 'How can they who repeat God's name go to
hell? Thou hast in the first place acted contrary to our custom, and
now thou hast the audacity to tell us that we are going to hell.' The
Guru replied, 'It is true that, if ye repeat the Name with love, ye
shall not be damned. But when ye take rosaries in your hands, and sit
down counting your beads, ye never think of God, but allow your minds
to wander thinking of worldly objects. Your rosaries are therefore
only for show, and your counting your beads is only hypocrisy. One of
you is thinking of his trade with Multan, another of his trade with
Kabul, another of his trade with Dihli, and the gain that shall in
each case accrue.' The people, on hearing the Guru thus accurately
divine their thoughts, began to think him a god, and prayed him to
pardon them and grant them salvation by making them his disciples.
The Guru, requiring fire to cook his food, went into a Brahman's
cooking-square for it. The Brahman charged him with having defiled his
viands. The Guru replied that they had already been defiled. Upon this the following was composed:--
Evil mindedness is a low woman,[1] cruelty a butcher's wife, a
slanderous heart a sweeper woman, wrath which ruineth the world
a pariah woman.
What availeth thee to have drawn the lines of thy cooking place
when these four are seated with thee?
Make truth, self-restraint, and good acts thy lines, and the
utterance of the Name thine ablutions.
Nanak, in the next world be is best who walketh not in the way of
sin.[2]
While at Hardwar the Brahmans pressed the Guru to return to his
allegiance to the Hindu religion. They pointed out the spiritual
advantages of sacrifices and burnt-offerings, and of the worship of
cremation-grounds, gods, and goddesses. The Guru replied that the
sacrifices and burnt-offerings of this age consisted in giving food to
those who repeated God's name and practised humility. And where the
Guru's hymns were read, there was scant worship of places of burial or
cremation, or of gods, goddesses, and ignorant priests. As to the
homage paid the latter, the Guru said that men were ruined thereby, as
sweetmeats are spoiled by flies settling on them.
Guru Nanak and Mardana departed thence, and proceeded to Panipat, a
place famous in Indian history as the scene of three great decisive
battles. At that time a successor of Shaikh Sharaf[3] was the
[1. Dūmni, the wife of a Dūm.
2. Sri Rāg ki Wār.
3. Shaikh Sharaf, whose patronymic was Abū Ali Qalandar, received
instruction at the age of forty years from Khwāja Qutub-ul-Din, who
was also spiritual guide of Shaikh Farīd and of the Emperor Shams-ul-Din
Altmish. Shaikh Sharaf says of himself, 'Learned men gave me a licence
to teach and to pronounce judicial decisions, which offices I
exercised for twenty years. Unexpectedly I received a call from God,
and throwing all my learned books into the Jamna, I set out on travel.
In Turkey I fell in with Shams-ul-din Tabrezi and Maulānā Jalāl-ul-Dīn
Rūmi, who presented me with a robe and turban and with many books,
which in their presence I threw into the river. {footnote p. 53}
Subsequently I came to Pānīpat and there lived as a recluse.' His
tomb is there.]
Muhammadan priest of the place. A disciple called Tatihari went to
fetch a pot of water for his spiritual guide from the well near which
the Guru and Mardana had sat down to rest. The Guru wore a Persian hat
and a nondescript costume, which Tatihari took for that of a Persian
darwesh. He addressed the Guru with the Muhammadan salutation, 'Salam
Alaikum' (the peace of God be with you). Nanak replied, 'Salam Alekh'
(salutation to the Invisible). Tatihari was astonished, and said that
until then nobody had distorted his salutation. He went and told his
religious superior, the Shaikh, that he had met a darwesh who had
taken the liberty of punning on the Muhammadan salutation. The Shaikh
at once resolved to go himself to see the man who had saluted the
Invisible One, and inquire what he knew regarding Him.
The Shaikh, on arriving, asked the Guru what religious denomination
his head-dress denoted, and why he did not shave his head in orthodox
fashion. The Guru replied:--
When man hath shaved his mind he hath shaved his head;[1]
Without shaving his mind he findeth not the way.
Let him cut off his head and place it before his guru.
If he resign his own wisdom, he shall be saved by the wisdom of
his guru.
To become the dust of the feet of all is to shave the head.
Such a hermit appreciateth the words of the guru;
That is the way in which the head is shaved, O brother.
Few are there who shave their heads according to the instruction
of their guru.
Nanak having abandoned all pleasures, affections, and egotism,
Hath put on a hat of this fashion.[2]
[1. That is, has laid aside egotism.
2. This and the following hymns bearing on the jog philosophy
express Guru Nānak's ideas on the subject. These hymns are not found
in the Granth Sāhib.]
The Shaikh then asked the Guru to what religious sect he belonged.
The Guru replied --
Under the instructions of my Guru[1] I remain His disciple.
My stole and my hat consist in grasping the Word in my heart.
I have turned the flowing river into a streak of sand.[2]
I sit there at mine ease and am happy.[3]
I have dispelled joy and sorrow.
Having put on my stole I have killed all mine enemies;[4]
I have settled in the silent city and abide therein
There I learned how to wear this stole.
Having forsaken my family I live alone--
Nanak having put on this stole is happy.
The Shaikh next inquired to what sect the Guru's loin-cloth
belonged. The Guru replied:--
By the word and instruction of the Guru my mind hath obtained
peace;
I restrain my five senses and abide apart from the world
I close mine eyes and my mind bath ceased to wander.
I have locked up the ten gates[5] of my body,
And I sit in contemplation in its sixty-eight chambers.[6]
With this loin-cloth I shall neither grow old nor die.
Putting on a loin-cloth I dwell alone
And drink from the waterfall[7] of the brain.
I discard my low intelligence for the lofty wisdom of my Guru.
In this way Nanak weareth a loin-cloth.
[1. Nānak's Guru was God. See Sorath xi, Mahalla I, and Gur Dās's
Wār, xiii, 25.
2. My brain is in a state of repose.
3. The wanderings of the mind hither and thither have ceased.
4. Dusht, literally, ill-wishers, then man's evil passions.
5. The apertures or openings of the body frequently mentioned in
Oriental medical and theological sciences. Nine of them can be easily
enumerated, the tenth is the brain.
6. In Jog philosophy the breath is supposed to wander in
sixty-eight chambers of the body.
7. Jogis believe that nectar falls or trickles from the brain in a
state of exaltation.]
Then again the Shaikh desired to know what sect the Guru's slippers
denoted. The Guru replied:--
By associating with those who go the right way I have obtained
all knowledge.
I have reduced my mind to the caste of fire and wind;[1]
I abide in the manner of the earth or a tree;
I can endure the cutting and digging of my heart;[2]
I desire to be as a river or sandal
Which whether pleased or displeased conferreth advantage on all.
Having churned the churn[3] of this world I am exalted,
And having abandoned evil I appear before my God.
To those, who put on their slippers while meditating on Him,
O Nanak, mortal sin shall not attach.
Again the Shaikh said, 'Explain to me what a darwesh is.' The Guru,
ordering Mardana to play the rebeck, composed the following hymn:--
He who while he liveth is dead, while be waketh is asleep,[4]
who knowingly alloweth himself to be plundered,[5]
And who having abandoned everything meeteth his Creator, is a
darwesh
Few servants of Thine, O God, are darweshes at heart,
Who feel not joy, sorrow, anger, wrath, pride, or avarice
Who look on gold as dross, and consider what is right to be
lawful;
Who obey the summons of God and heed none other;
Who seated in a contemplative attitude in the firmament[6] play
spontaneous music--
Saith Nanak, neither the Veds nor the Quran know the praises of
such holy men.
[1. That is--I have no more caste than fire and wind.
2. Cutting, as applied to a tree, and digging to earth. That is--I
can endure every form of torture.
3. Having extracted all pleasures from this world.
4. Who takes no heed of the world.
5. That is, who effaces himself.
6. That is, in the brain in a state of exaltation.]
The Shaikh finally said, 'Well done! why make a further examination
of him who beareth witness to God? Even to behold him is sufficient.'
Then he shook hands with the Guru, kissed his feet and departed.
Guru Nanak journeyed on and arrived in Dihli. An elephant belonging
to the reigning sovereign Ibrahim Lodi had just died; and the keepers,
regretting the loss of the animal whose service had afforded them
maintenance, were bewailing its death. The Guru inquired whose the
elephant was. They replied in Oriental fashion, that it was the
Emperor's, but that all things belonged to God. The Guru said. that
the elephant was alive, and bade them go and rub its forehead with
their hands, and say at the same time, 'Wah Guru'--hail to the
Guru![1] It is said that the elephant stood up to the astonishment of
all. The Emperor, having received information of the miracle, sent for
the animal, mounted it, and went to the Guru, and asked if it was he
who had restored it to life. The Guru replied, 'God is the only
Destroyer and Re-animater. Prayers are for faqirs, and mercy for Him.'
The monarch then asked, if the elephant were killed would the Guru
again restore it. The Guru, not wishing to be treated as an itinerant
showman, replied:--
It is He (pointing on high) who destroyeth and destroying re-animateth;
Nanak, there is none but the one God.
The animal then died, the inference of the chroniclers being that
it died at the will of the Guru, as it had been previously called to
life by him. The Emperor ordered him to again revivify it. The Guru
replied, 'Hail to your Majesty! Iron when heated in the fire becometh
red, and cannot be held for a moment in the hand. In the same way
faqirs
[1. Wāhguru generally means God. We here merely give its apparent
meaning.]
become red in the heat of God's love, and cannot be constrained.'
The Monarch, it is said, was pleased at this reply, and requested the
Guru to accept a present from him. The Guru replied:--
Nanak is hungry for God, and careth for naught besides. I ask
for God, I ask for nothing else.
The king returned to his palace, and the Guru continued his
wanderings.
The Guru next proceeded to Bindraban, where he saw enacted the play
called Krishanlila, in which the exploits of Krishan[1] are
represented. Krishan appears making love to milkmaids, stealing their
clothes while they were bathing, and killing his uncle Kans. The Guru
expressed his dissatisfaction with the subject of the performance
The disciples play, the gurus dance,
Shake their feet, and roll their heads.
Dust flieth and falleth on their hair;
The audience seeing it laugh and go home.
For the sake of food the performers beat time,
And dash themselves on the ground.
The milkmaids sing, Krishans sing,
Sitas and royal Rams sing.
Fearless is the Formless One, whose name is true,
And whose creation is the whole world.
The worshippers on whom God bestoweth kindness worship Him;
Pleasant is the night for those who long for Him in their hearts.
By the Guru's instruction to his disciples this knowledge is
obtained,
[1. Krishan son of Vasudev, by his wife Devaki, was born, according
to Indian tradition, 3185 B.C. Cattle-grazing was the original calling
of the family, and Krishan is celebrated for his adventures among the
milkmaids of Mathura. In the Bhagavat Gīta, an episode of the
Sanskrit epic Mahābhārat, he declared himself to be God, the
supreme Soul, the Creator of the world, and its Destroyer; and he has
been accepted as such by Hindus, who deem him an incarnation of
Vishnu.]
That the Kind One saveth those on whom He looketh with favour.
Oil-presses, spinning-wheels, hand-mills, potters' wheels,
Plates,[1] whirlwinds, many and endless,
Tops, churning-staves, threshing-frames,
Birds tumble and take no breath.
Men put animals on stakes and swing them round.
O Nanak, the tumblers are innumerable and endless.
In the same way men bound in entanglements are swung round;
Every one danceth according to his own acts--
They who dance and laugh shall weep on their departure,
They cannot fly or obtain supernatural power.
Leaping and dancing are mental recreations,
Nanak, they who have the fear of God in their hearts have also
love.[2]
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CHAPTER V
The Guru set out towards the east, having arrayed himself in a
strange motley of Hindu and Muhammadan religious habiliments. He put
on a mango-coloured jacket, over which he threw a white safa or sheet.
On his head he carried the hat of a Musalman Qalandar[3], while he
wore a necklace of bones, and imprinted a saffron mark on his forehead
in the style of Hindus. This was an earnest of his desire to found a
religion which should be acceptable both to Hindus and Muhammadans
without conforming to either faith. As the Guru and his attendant
proceeded, they met a Muhammadan notable called Shaikh Wajid. The
Shaikh alighted under a tree, and his bearers began to shampoo and fan
him. This afforded matter for contemplation to Mardana, and he asked
the Guru whether there was not one God for the rich and another for
the poor. The Guru replied that there
[1. Thāl, plates poised on a stick and spun round.
2. Āsa ki War.
3. A Muhammadan anchoret who abandons all worldly ties and
possessions. he corresponds to the Indian Sanyāsi.]
was only one God. Mardana then put his question in another form:
'Who created this man who rideth in a sedan of ease while the bearers
have no shoes. to their feet? Their legs are naked while they shampoo
and fan him.' The Guru replied with the following verses:--
They who performed austerities in their former lives, are now
kings and receive tribute on earth.
They who were then wearied, are now shampooed by others.
The Guru continued in prose: 'O Mardana, whoever is born hath come
naked from his mother's womb, and joy or misery is the result of
actions in previous states of existence.' Upon this, Mardana fell at
the Guru's feet.
As Guru Nanak and Mardana journeyed on, they arrived at Gorakhmata,
or temple of Gorakh, some twenty miles north of Pilibhit, in the
United Provinces of India.[1] There they observed a pipal-tree[2] of
many a religious reminiscence. Years previously it had withered from
age, but it is related that when the holy man sat beneath it, it
suddenly became green. The biographer of the Guru states that Sidhs
came on that occasion and addressed him: 'O youth, whose disciple art
thou, and from whom hast thou obtained instruction?'
Guru Nanak, in reply, composed the following hymn:--
What is the scale? What the weights? What weighman[3] shall I
call for Thee?
Who is the guru from whom I should receive instruction, and by
whom I should appraise Thy worth?
O my Beloved, I know not Thy limit.
Thou fillest sea and land, the nether and upper regions it is Thou
Thyself who art contained in everything.
[1. The place is now known as Nānakmata, in memory of the Guru's
visit.
2. The Ficus religiosa.
3. This line appears to mean that God cannot be weighed or
estimated.]
My heart is the scale, my understanding the weight, Thy service
the weighman I employ.
I weigh the Lord in my heart, and thus I fix my attention.
Thou Thyself art the tongue of the balance, the weight, and the
scales; Thou Thyself art the weighman;
Thou Thyself beholdest, Thou Thyself understandest, Thou Thyself
art the dealer with Thee.[1]
A blind man, a low-born person, and a stranger come but for a
moment, and in a moment depart.
In such companionship Nanak abideth; how can he, fool that he is,
obtain Thee?[2]
Then the Sidhs said, 'O youth, become a Jogi, and adopt the dress
of our order, so shalt thou find the true way and obtain the merits of
religion.' The Guru replied with the following hymn:--
Religion consisteth not in a patched coat, or in a Jogi's
staff, or in ashes smeared over the body;
Religion consisteth not in earrings worn, or a shaven head, or in
the blowing of horns.[3]
Abide pure amid the impurities of the world; thus shalt thou find
the way of religion.
Religion consisteth not in mere words;
He who looketh on all men as equal is religious.
Religion consisteth not in wandering to tombs[4] or places of
cremation, or sitting in attitudes of contemplation;[5]
Religion consisteth not in wandering in foreign countries, or in
bathing at places of pilgrimages.
Abide pure amid the impurities of the world; thus shalt thou find
the way of religion.
On meeting a true guru doubt is dispelled and the wanderings of
the mind restrained.
It raineth nectar, slow ecstatic music is heard, and man is happy
within himself.
[1. In the Granth Sahib God is the wholesale merchant from whom all
grace and good gifts proceed, and men are the dealers who receive from
Him.
2. Sūhi.
3. The Jogis blow deers' horns.
4. Marhī, a structure raised over the ashes of the dead.
5. Tāri lagāna is to sit cross-legged in contemplative
attitude as Buddha is represented.]
Abide pure amid the impurities of the world; thus shalt thou
find the way of religion.
Nanak, in the midst of life be in death; practise such
religion.
When thy horn soundeth without being blown, thou shalt obtain the
fearless dignity--
Abide pure amid the impurities of the world, thus shalt thou find
the way of religion.[1]
On hearing this the Sidhs made Guru Nanak obeisance. The Guru,
having infused sap into the pipal-tree by sitting under it,
necessarily became a great being in their estimation.
The Guru and his musical attendant proceeded to Banaras[2], the
head quarters of the Hindu religion, and the birthplace of the
renowned Kabir, then dead but not forgotten. The Guru and Mardana sat
down in a public square of the city. At that time the chief Brahman of
the holy city was Pandit Chatur Das. On going to bathe he saw the Guru
and made the Hindu salutation, 'Ram Ram!' On observing the Guru's
dress, he twitted him with possessing no salagram[3] though he called
himself a faqir, with wearing no necklace of sacred basil and no
rosary. 'What saintship hast thou obtained?' The Guru replied:--
O Brahman, thou worshippest and propitiatest the salagram, and deemest
it a good act to wear a necklace of sweet basil.[4]
Why irrigate barren land and waste thy life?
Why apply plaster to a frail tottering wall?
Repeating God's name, form a raft for thy salvation; may
the Merciful have mercy on thee!
[1. Sūhi.
2. Banaras, in Sanskrit Bārānasi, is derived from Barna and Asi,
two tributary streams of the Ganges.
3. A quartzose stone bearing the impression of ammonites and
believed by the Hindus to represent Vishnu petrified by a curse of
Brinda for possessing her in the guise of her spouse. Sālagrams are
found in the Gandika and Son rivers.
4. Thereby denoting that he was dedicated to the god Vishnu.]
Chatur Das replied: 'O saint, the salagram and the necklace of
sweet basil may indeed be useless as the irrigation of barren land,
but tell me by what means the ground may be prepared and God found.'
The Guru replied:--
Make God the well, string His name for the necklace of
waterpots, and yoke thy mind as an ox thereto.
Irrigate with nectar and fill the parterres therewith; thus shalt
thou belong to the Gardener.
The Pandit inquired: 'The soil is irrigated, but how can it yield
produce until it hath been dug up and prepared for the seed?' The Guru
explained how this was to be done:--
Beat both thy lust and anger into a spade, with which dig up
the earth, O brother:
The more thou diggest, the happier shalt thou be: such work shall
not be effaced in vain.
The Pandit replied: 'I am the crane, and thou art the primal swan
of God. My understanding is overcome by my senses.' The Guru
replied:--
If thou, O Merciful One, show mercy, a crane shall change into
a swan.
Nanak, slave of slaves, supplicateth. O Merciful One have mercy.'
The Pandit then admitted that the Guru was a saint of God, and
asked him to bless the city and sing its praises. The Guru inquired in
what the specialty of the city consisted. The Pandit said it was
learning, by which wealth was acquired. 'The world admireth the ground
on which the possessor of wealth treadeth. By applying the mind to
learning, thou shalt become a high priest.' The Guru replied in a
series of metaphors:--
The City[2] is frail, the king; is a boy and loveth the wicked;
He is said to have two mothers[4] and two fathers[5] O Pandit,
think upon this.
[1. Basant.
2. The body.
3. The heart.
4. Hope and desire.
5. Love and hate.]
O, sir Pandit, instruct me
How I am to obtain the Lord of life.
Within me is the fire,[1] the garden[2] is in bloom, and I have an
ocean[3] within my body.
The moon and sun[4] are both in my heart; thou hast not obtained
such knowledge?
He who subdueth mammon knoweth that God is everywhere diffused;
He may be known by this mark that he storeth contentment as his
wealth.[5]
The king dwelleth with those who listen not to advice, and
who are not grateful for what they receive.
Nanak, slave of slaves, representeth, O God, in one moment
Thou makest the small great and the great small.[6]
Chatur Das requested further information. 'Sir, shall the name of
God be to any extent obtained by what we teach the people and what we
learn ourselves?' The Guru inquired in return: 'O religious teacher,
what hast thou read? What teachest thou the people, and what knowledge
dost thou communicate to thy disciples?' The Pandit replied: 'By the
will of God I teach the people the fourteen sciences--reading,
swimming, medicine, alchemy, astrology, singing the six rāgs and
their raginis, the science of sexual enjoyment, grammar, music,
horsemanship, dancing, archery, theology, and statesmanship.' The Guru
replied that better than all these was knowledge of God.' Upon this he
repeated the long composition called the Oamkar in the Rag
[1. The fire of evil passions.
2 Of my youth.
3. Of desires. Man is here the measure of infinity. The ocean is
supposed to contain fire which consumes it and hinders its increase.
This fire is called barwānal, and is supposed to be near the
Equator.
4. Meditation and divine knowledge.
5. Also translated--He who hoardeth mercy instead of wealth
recognizeth God.
6. Literally--in a moment thou canst make a tola a māsha, and in a
moment a māsha a tola. A tola is 180 grains avoirdupois, the weight
of a rupee. A māsha is the twelfth part of a tola. The hymn is from
Basant.]
Ramkali, the first two pauris or stanzas of which are as follow:--
It is the one God who created Brahma;[1]
It is the one God who created our understanding;
It is from the one God the mountains and the ages of the world
emanated;
It is the one God who bestoweth knowledge.
It is by the word of God man is saved.
It is by the name of the one God the pious are saved.
Hear an account of the letter O--[2]
O is the best letter in the three worlds.
Hear, O Pandit, why writest thou puzzles?
Write under the instruction of the Guru the name of God, the
Cherisher of the world.
He created the world with ease: in the three worlds there is one
Lord of Light.
Under the Guru's instruction select gems and pearls, and thou
shalt obtain God the real thing.
If man understand, reflect, and comprehend what he readeth, he
shall know at last that the True One is everywhere.[3]
The pious man knoweth and remembereth the truth--that without the
True One the world is unreal.
On hearing the whole fifty-four stanzas of the Oamkar, the Pandit
fell at the Guru's feet, and became a Sikh and possessor of God's
name.
During the Guru's stay at Banaras Krishan Lal and Har Lal, two
eminent young pandits, went to visit him, and he explained to them the
tenets and principles of his religion.
From Banaras the Guru proceeded to Gaya, the famous place of
pilgrimage, where Buddha in days long past made his great renunciation
and performed his memorable penance. There the Guru uttered the
following in reply to Brahmans who had
[1. This means that the true God is superior to all other gods.
2. The symbol of the eternal God. It is here used instead of the
Name.
3. Nirantar, pervades creation uninterruptedly.]
urged him to perform the ceremonies usual among Hindus for the
repose of the souls of ancestors.
The Name alone, is my lamp, suffering the oil I put therein.
The lamp's light hath dried it up, and I have escaped meeting
Death.
O ye people, make me not an object of derision.
The application of a particle of fire will destroy even
hundreds of thousands of logs heaped together.[1]
God is my barley rolls[2] and leafy platters[3] the Creator's name
the true obsequies.[4]
In this world and the next, in the past and the future, that is my
support.
Thy praises are as the Ganges and Banaras to me; my soul laveth
therein.
If day and night I love Thee, then shall my ablution be true.
Some rolls are offered to the gods, some to the manes but it is
the Brahman who kneadeth and eateth them.
Nanak, the rolls which are the gift of God are never exhausted.[6]
The Guru and Mardana in the course of their travels found
themselves at a grain-dealer's house. A son had just been born to one
of the partners, and several people had come to offer him
congratulations. Some threw red powder[7] in token of joy, and voices
of blessing and congratulation filled the neighbourhood. Mardana sat
down and gazed on the
[1. That is, God's name will remove hundreds of thousands of sins.
2. Pind; this word also means the body which is supposed to
be put together by the offering of these rolls.
3. Pattal, literally, plates of leaves generally of the palās
(Butea frondosa) in which food is placed.
4. Kiriyā, the ceremonies performed on the thirteenth day
after death.
5. Chhamchari, those who walked the earth, the manes of
ancestors.
6. Āsa.
7. Red powder is thrown on passers-by in India on occasions of
festivity. The practice is particularly resorted to on the occasion of
the Holi, a Hindu saturnalia.]
spectacle. In the evening, when the grain-dealer's entertainment
was at an end, he stood up and went to his private apartments without
taking any notice of Mardana. The latter went to the Guru, who sat at
some distance, informed him of the birth of the child, and gave him an
account of the entertainment. The Guru smiled, and said it was not a
son who had been born in the grain-dealer's house' but a creditor who
had come to settle his account He would remain for the night and
depart in the morning. Then the Guru ordered Mardana to play the
rebeck, and sang to its strains the following hymn:--
I
In the first watch of night, my merchant friend, the child by
God's order entereth the womb.
With body reversed it performeth penance within, O merchant
friend, and prayeth to the Lord--
It prayeth to the Lord in deep meditation and love.
It cometh naked into the world, and again it departeth naked.
Such destiny shall attend it as God's pen hath recorded upon its
forehead.
Saith Nanak, in the first watch the child on receiving the order
entereth the womb.
II
In the second watch of night, O merchant friend, it forgetteth
to meditate on God.
It is dandled in the arms, O merchant friend, like Krishan in the
house of Yasodha.
The child is dandled in the arm, and its mother saith, 'This is my
son.'
Think on this, O thoughtless and stupid man,[1] nothing shall be
thine at last.
Thou knowest not Him who created thee; meditate upon Him in thy
heart.
Saith Nanak, the child hath forgotten to meditate at the second
watch.
[1. Man in the original might be translated mind, but
the word includes the heart in the next line.]
III.
At the third watch of night, O merchant friend, man's thoughts
are of woman and the pleasures of youth;
He thinketh not of God's name, O merchant friend, which would
release him from his bondage.
Man thinketh not of God's name, but groweth beside himself with
worldly love.
Devoted to woman and intoxicated with his youth he wasteth his
life in vain.
He hath not traded in virtue or made good acts his friends.
Saith Nanak, in the third watch man's thoughts are of woman and the
pleasures of youth.
IV
In the fourth watch of night, O merchant friend, the reaper
cometh to the field;
The secret hath been given to none when Death shall seize and take
away his victim.
Think upon God; the secret hath been given to none when Death
shall seize and take man away.
Hollow are the lamentations around. In one moment man's goods
become another's.
He shall obtain those things on which he hath set his heart.[1]
Saith Nanak, O mortal, in the fourth watch the reaper hath reaped
the field.[2]
When morning came, the grain-dealer's child died, and the
grain-dealer and his relatives came forth weeping and wailing. Mardana
asked the Guru what sudden change of fortune had come to those who
yesterday had been engaged in their rejoicings
[1. It is supposed that man shall receive in the next world the
things which formed the object of his last thoughts in this. He who
has not fixed his thoughts on God at the last moment shall not find
Him, but begin anew a course of transmigration. See Trilochan, Gūjari,
vol. vi.
2. Sri Rāg Pahare.]
and saturnalia. Then the Guru uttered the following on the
vicissitudes of human life:--
They to whose faces were uttered gratulations and hundreds of
thousands of blessings,
Now smite their heads in grief; and their minds and bodies
suffer agony.
Of the dead some are buried, others are thrown into rivers.'
The gratulations have passed away; but even so do thou, O Nanak,
praise the True One.
As the Guru and Mardana pursued their way they saw a small enclosed
field of gram.[3] The watchman of the field began to roast some for
his dinner, while the Guru and Mardana gazed at him at a distance. As
the watchman was preparing to eat, he saw them, and it occurred to him
that they wanted something more dainty than gram, so he would go to
his house and bring them better fare and comfortable bedding. As he
stood up, the Guru, who did not wish to trouble him, asked whither he
was going, and, on being informed, uttered the following verses:--
Thy pallet is a coverlet and mattress for me; thy love is my
dainty dish.
Nanak is already satiated with thy good qualities; come
back, O monarch.
In due time. the watchman obtained spiritual dignity in return for
his, kind intentions towards the Guru.
There was at that time a shopkeeper whose mind had taken a
religious bent, and who desired to meet a religious guide. He heard of
Guru Nanak's arrival, and vowed that he would not eat or drink until
he had had all interview with him. Having
[1. The Musalmāns burn their dead. The Hindus cremate them, or
throw them into their sacred streams.
2. Chanā, Cicer arietinum, chick peas, oil which horses are
fed ill India. It is called gram by Europeans. When roasted green it
is sometimes eaten by the poorer classes.]
once visited the Guru he continually went to him to receive
religious instruction. A neighbouring shopkeeper heard of his friend's
visits, and said that he too would go to see the holy man. They
proceeded together, but on the way the second shopkeeper saw a woman
of whom he became enamoured, and his visit to Nanak was indefinitely
postponed. It was the custom of both to set out together, one to visit
his mistress, and the other to visit the Guru. The second shopkeeper
desired to put the fortunes of both to the test, and said, 'Thou
practisest good works, while I practise bad works. Let us see what
shall happen to each of us to-day. If I arrive first, I will sit down
and wait for thee; and if thou arrive first, then wait for me.' This
was agreed upon. The second shopkeeper went to the house of his
mistress as usual, but did not find her. He then proceeded to the spot
where his friend had agreed to meet him, but his friend, who on that
day tarried long with the Guru, had not yet arrived. The second
shopkeeper needing some occupation in his solitude, drew out his knife
and began to whittle the ground with it, when he found a shining gold
coin. He continued his excavations with the weak delving implement he
possessed, when, to his disappointment, he only discovered a jar of
charcoal. He had, however, obtained some reward for his labour.
Meanwhile the first shopkeeper arrived in doleful case. Having left
the Guru, a thorn pierced his foot. He bound up the wound, and
proceeded sore limping to the trysting-place. His friend told him of
his better fortune. They both saw that he who went daily to commit sin
prospered, while he who went to his religious teacher to pray and
meditate on God, suffered; and they agreed to refer to Guru Nanak for
an explanation of their unequal and unmerited fates. The Guru
explained that the sinful shopkeeper had in a former birth given a
gold coin as alms to a holy mail. That coin was converted into many gold coins as a reward for the alms-giver, but, when he entered on
his career of sin, the gold coins were turned into charcoal. The
original gold coin was, however, restored. The shopkeeper who visited
the Guru, had deserved to die by an impaling stake for the sins of
deceit and usury, but, as be continued to progress in virtue, the
impaling stake was reduced in size till it became merely a thorn.
Having been pierced by it, he had fully expiated the sins of a former
birth. Thus may the decree of destiny be altered by the practice of
virtue. Both men were thoroughly satisfied with this explanation of
unequal retribution. The sinful as well as the virtuous man fell at
Guru Nanak's feet, and both became true worshippers of God. The Guru
then uttered the following verses:--
The heart is the paper, conduct the ink;[1] good and bad are
both recorded therewith.
Man's life is as his acts constrain him; there is no limit to Thy
praises, O God.
O fool, why callest thou not to mind Thy Creator?
Thy virtues have dissolved away by thy forgetfulness of God.
Night is a small net, day a large one; there are as many meshes as
there are gharis in the day.
With relish thou ever peckest at the bait, and art ensnared O
fool, by what skill shalt thou escape?
The body is the furnace, the mind the iron therein; five fires[2]
are ever applied to it.
Sin is the charcoal added thereto, by which the mind is heated;
anxiety is the pincers.
The mind hath turned into dross, but it shall again become gold
when it meeteth such a Guru
As will bestow the ambrosial name of the one God; then, Nanak, the
mind shall become fixed.[3]
[1. Literally--Conduct---heart being the paper--the ink.
2. The deadly sins.
3. Māru.]
The Guru then took the opportunity of discoursing on the immoral
shopkeeper's peculiar vice: 'Man is fickle when he beholdeth a
courtesan; he then hath a special desire for love's play, and can in
no way be restrained. On meeting her he loseth his human birth. Bereft
of his religion he falleth into hell, where he undergoeth punishment
and profusely lamenteth. Wherefore look not on her, but pass thy time
among the holy.'
After this they all separated, and the Guru and Mardana continued
their wanderings. On the way they were encountered by robbers. On
seeing Guru Nanak, they said to themselves that he on whose face shone
such happiness could not be without wealth. They accordingly went and
stood around the Guru. As they beheld him morning dawned, so they were
able to examine him more closely. He asked them who they were, and
what they wanted. They candidly replied that they were thags,[1] and
had come to rob him. The Guru gave them spiritual instruction, and
said that their sins should be wiped out when they had abandoned their
evil career, turned to agriculture, and bestowed charity out of the
spoils in their possession. They acted on his suggestions, began to
repeat the Name, and reform their lives. The Guru on that occasion
composed the following:--
Covetousness is a dog, falsehood a sweeper, food obtained by
deceit carrion;
Slander of others is merely others' filth in our mouths the fire
of anger is a sweeper.[2]
Pleasures and self-praise-these are mine acts, O Creator.
My friends, doth any one obtain honour by mere words ~
Call them the best, who arc the best at the gate of the Lord; they
who do base acts sit and weep.
[1. Indian robbers who generally effect their purpose by the use of
stupefying and poisonous drugs.
2. Also translated--Slander of others is our neighbour's dirt,
filthy language a sweeper, anger fire.]
There is pleasure in gold, pleasure in silver and in women,
pleasure in the perfume of sandal;
There is pleasure in horses, pleasure in couches and in palaces,
pleasure in sweets, and pleasure in meats.
When such are the pleasures of the body, how shall God's name
obtain a dwelling therein?
It is proper to utter the words by which honour is obtained.
Injury resulteth from uttering harsh words; hearken, O foolish and
ignorant man.
They who please God are good; what more can be said?
They in whose heart God is contained possess wisdom, honour, and
wealth.
What need is there of praising them? What further decoration can
they obtain?
Nanak, they who are beyond God's favouring glance love not
charity or His name.[1]
By the following the Guru recommended agricultural labour:--
The oxen are disciples,[2] the ploughman is their Shaikh;[3]
The earth is a book, the furrow the writing.
The sweat of the ploughman's brow falleth to his heels,
And every one eateth of his earning.[4]
They who eat the fruit of their earning and bestow a little from
it,
O Nanak, recognize the true way.
Then the Guru departed thence.
[1. Sri Rāg.
2 Mushāiq. This is the Arabic mashshāq, a striver.
3. Their spiritual guide.
Compare:--
'On its oxen and its husbandmen
An empire's strength is laid.']
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CHAPTER VI
The Guru and Mardana went to Kamrup,[l] a country whose women were
famous for their skill in incantation and magic. It was governed by a
queen called Nurshah in the Sikh chronicles. She with several of her
females went to the Guru and tried to obtain influence over him.
Then the Guru uttered the following verses:--
You buy saline earth,[2] and want musk into the bargain:
Without good works, Nanak, how shall you meet your Spouse?
The Guru continued as follows:--
The virtuous wife enjoyeth her husband; why doth the bad one
bewail?
If she become virtuous, then shall she too go to enjoy her
husband.
My Spouse is an abode of sweetness; why should He enjoy other
women?
If a woman become virtuous and turn her heart into a thread,
She shall string her Spouse's heart thereon like a priceless gem.
I show the way to others, but walk not in it myself; I say I have already
traversed it.
If thou, O my Spouse, speak not to me, how shall I abide in Thy
house?
Nanak, excepting One there is none besides.
If Thy wife, O Spouse, remain attached to Thee, she shall enjoy
Thee.[4]
Nurshah observed that her people's spells were of no avail, however
much they tried. The Guru, on
[1. In the time of the Guru it is believed that Kāwarū, or Kāmrūp,
included at least the present districts of Goalpāra and Kāmrūp.
2 Kallar, impure nitrate of soda found in sandy soils in
India.
3. Compare--
'Fungar
vice cotis, acutum
Reddere quae ferrum valet, exsors ipsa secandi.'--HORACE.
4. Wadhans.]
beholding their fruitless efforts, uttered the following hymn in
the Suhi measure entitled Kuchajji, or the woman of bad character:--
I am a worthless woman; in me are faults; how can I go to enjoy
my Spouse?
My Spouse's wives are one better than the other; O my life,
who careth for me?[1]
My female friends who have enjoyed their Spouse are in the shade
of the mango.[2]
I do not possess their virtues; to whom can I attribute blame?[3]
What attributes of Thine, O Lord, shall I blazon abroad? What
names of Thine shall I repeat?
I cannot even attain one of Thy many excellences: I am ever
a sacrifice unto Thee.
Gold, silver, pearls, and rubies which gladden the heart-
These things the Bridegroom hath given me, and I have fixed my
heart on them.[4]
I had palaces of brick fashioned with marble.
In these luxuries I forgot the Bridegroom and sat not near Him.
The kulangs cry in the heavens,[5] and the cranes have come to
roost.[6]
The woman goeth to her father-in-law's;[7] how shall she show her
face as she proceedeth?
As morning dawned she soundly slept, and forgot her journey.
She separated from Thee, O Spouse, and therefore stored up
grief her herself.
[1. Literally-who knoweth my name?
2. That is, they are fortunate. The mango is an evergreen, and its
leaves always afford shelter.
3. It is my own fault that I possess not virtue.
4. And forgotten the Giver.
5. The Orientals believe that very old men hear noises in their
heads. The kulang is a large stately Indian bird.
6. Grey hair has come.
7. In the Granth Sāhib the present world is called one's father's'
house, and the next world one's father-in-law's.]
In Thee, O Lord, are merits; in me all demerits: Nanak
bath this one representation to make.
Every night is for the virtuous woman; may I though unchaste obtain
a night also![1]
Nurshah grew weary of her efforts. She felt that her ill success
was the result of her sins. Her women then, beating drums, stood in
front of the Guru, and began to dance and sing. He on that occasion
composed the following hymn:--
The impulses of my heart are my cymbals and madiras.[2]
The world is my drum; this is the music that playeth for Me.
Saints like Narad dance under the influence of this Kal
age.[3]
They who call themselves continent and virtuous also enter the
dance.
Nanak, I am a sacrifice to the Name.
The world is blind in the opinion of those who know the
Lord.
Contrary to custom, a disciple eateth from the hand of his guru,
And goeth and dwelleth with him only for the sake of food.[4]
If man were to live and eat hundreds of years,
Only that day would be acceptable in which he recognized the Lord.
Compassion is not exercised by merely beholding a suitor;
There is no one who receiveth or giveth not bribes.
The king dispenseth justice when his palm is filled.
If a man make a request for God's sake nobody heedeth him.
Nanak, men nowadays are men only in shape and name:
[1. She has grown grey in sin, and is not desirable to her Husband.
2. The madīras were struck with a stick, and somewhat corresponded
to European triangles.
3. Even saints dance for pleasure, and not for the love of God in
this age.
4. This is described as a custom of this degenerate age. The proper
course would be for the disciple to feed his master.
5. A bribe must be paid to the judge.]
In action they are dogs; shall they be accepted at God's gate?
If man by the favour of his guru deem himself a guest in this
world,
He shall acquire some honour in God's court.[1]
Again the Guru uttered the following verses:--
In words we are good, but in acts bad.
We are impure-minded and black-hearted, yet we wear the
white robes of innocence.[2]
We envy those who stand and serve at His gate.
They who love the Bridegroom and enjoy the pleasure of His
embraces,
Are lowly even in their strength, and remain humble.
Nanak, our lives shall be profitable if we meet such women.[3]
When the Guru had uttered these verses, Nurshah thought she would
tempt him with wealth. Her attendants brought pearls, diamonds, gold,
silver, coral, sumptuous dresses, all things precious the state
treasury contained, and laid them at his feet. The Guru rejected all
the proffered presents, and uttered the following hymn, which he sang
to Mardana's rebeck:--
O silly woman, why art thou proud?
Why enjoyest thou not the love of God[4] in thine own home?
The Spouse is near; O foolish woman, why searchest thou abroad?
Put the surma[5] needles of God's fear into thine eyes, and
ear the decoration of love.
Thou shalt be known as a devoted happy wife[6] if thou love the
Bridegroom.
[1. Asa.
2. Literally--we are white outside.
3. Sri Rāg ki Wār.
4. The Indian husband is deemed as a god by his wife.
5 A species of collyrium.
6. Suhāgan, from the Sanskrit su, good, and bhāg fortune, is
applied to a wife whose husband is alive. Her lot is happy, and her
state deemed holy in comparison with that of a widow.]
What shall a silly woman do if she please not her Spouse?
However much she implore, she may not enter His chamber.
Without God's grace she obtaineth nothing, howsoever she may
strive.
Intoxicated with avarice, covetousness, and pride, she is absorbed
in mammon.
It is not by these means the Bridegroom is obtained; silly is the
woman who thinketh so.
Go and ask the happy wives[1] by what means they obtained their
Spouse--
'Whatever He doeth accept as good; have done with cleverness and
orders.
'Apply thy mind to the worship of His feet by whose love what is
most valued is obtained.[2]
'Do whatever the Bridegroom biddeth thee; give Him thy body and
soul; such perfumes apply.'[3]
Thus speak the happy wives:[4] 'O sister, by these means the
Spouse is obtained.
'Efface thyself, so shalt thou obtain the Bridegroom; what other
art is there?'
Only that day is of account when the Bridegroom looketh with
favour; the wife hath then obtained the wealth of the world.
She who pleaseth her Spouse is the happy wife Nanak, she is the
queen of them all.
She is saturated with pleasure, intoxicated with happiness,[5] and
day and night absorbed in His love.
She is beautiful and fair to view, accomplished, and it is she
alone who is wise.[6]
[1. Who have God for their spouse.
2. That is, salvation. Also translated--from whom the wealth of
love is obtained.
3. That is, let these be thy blandishments.
4. This is the reply of the favourite wives showing how they won
God as their Spouse.
5. Sahij. This word has many meanings in the Granth Sāhib.
It means natural disposition, easily, slowly, divine knowledge, divine
tranquillity, God, &c. In some of its meanings it is derived from sah,
with, and ja, born.
6 Tilang.]
Nurshah and her women, on hearing this hymn, twisted their
head-dresses around their necks in token of submission, and fell at
the Guru's feet. They asked how they could obtain salvation. The Guru
told them to repeat God's name, conscientiously perform their domestic
duties, renounce magic, and they should thus secure future happiness.
It is said that they became followers of Guru Nanak, and thus secured
salvation.
The Guru, on leaving Kamrup, entered a wilderness. There Kaljug[1]
came to tempt him. Mardana became sore afraid. The Guru remonstrated
with him; asked why he was afraid of Kaljug; if he felt fear it ought
to be the fear of God.
The Guru then sang the following hymn:--
Put the fear of God[2] into thy heart; then the fear of Death
shall depart in fear.
What is that fear by fearing which the fear of Death may
take fright?
O God, there is no other abode than in Thee
Whatever happeneth is according to Thy pleasure.
Fear if thou have any other fear than that of God
Fear is mental disturbance.
The soul dieth not, neither is it drowned; it is saved through
fear of God.
He who made something will make something.
By His order man cometh; by His order man goeth
Before and behind us His order prevaileth.
The swan of the heart aspireth to fly to heaven
But on the way it is a target for great hunger which restraineth
it.
Let the swan make fear its eating, drinking, and support
Without such food the stupid bird would die.
Who hath a helper let anybody say.
Everybody is Thine; Thou art the helper of all.
[1. Kaljug here means Satan.
2. Dar ghar, the abode of fear, is explained by the gyānis to mean
God.]
Nanak, to name and meditate on Him to whom belong
Men, lower animals, wealth, and property, is difficult.[1]
Mardana inquired who Kaljug was, by what signs he was known unto
men, and what prerogative he exercised? The Guru replied:--
When true men speak the truth and suffer for it; when penitents
fail to perform penance in their homes;
When he who repeateth the name of God meeteth obloquy--these are
the signs of the Kaljug.[2]
Kaljug offered the Guru the wealth of the world if he would abandon
his mission. He said, 'I possess everything. Say but the word, and I
will build thee a palace of pearls, inlay it with gems, and plaster it
with fragrant aloes and sandal. I will bring thee very beautiful
women, and give thee the wealth of the world, the power of working
miracles, and confer upon thee the sovereignty of the East and of the
West. Take whatever pleaseth thee.' The Guru informed him that he
himself had renounced all sovereignty. What could he do with what
Kaljug offered him, which moreover belonged to others? Then the Guru
uttered the following stanza:--
Were a mansion of pearls erected and inlaid with gems for me;
Perfumed with musk, saffron, fragrant aloes and sandal to confer
delight;
May it not be that on beholding these things I may forget Thee, O
God, and not remember Thy name!
My soul burneth without Thee.
I have ascertained from my Guru that there is no other shelter than
in God.
Were the earth to be studded with diamonds and rubies, and my
couch to be similarly adorned;
Were fascinating damsels whose faces were decked with jewels to
shed lustre and enhance the pleasure of the scene
[1. Gauri.
2. Rāmkali.]
May it not be that on beholding them I may forget Thee and not
remember Thy name!
Were I to become a Sidh and work miracles; could I command the
wealth of the universe to come to me;
Could I disappear and appear at pleasure, and were the
world to honour me;
May it not be that on beholding these things I may forget Thee and
not remember Thy name!
Were I to become a monarch on my throne and raise an army;
Were dominion and regal revenue mine--O Nanak, they would be all
worthless--
May it not be that on beholding these things I may forget Thee and
not remember Thy name![1]
Then Kaljug went round him in adoration, fell at his feet, and took
his departure.
On the way Guru and Mardana sought shelter in a village, but were
not allowed to remain there. The villagers began to play practical
jokes on them. The Guru on that occasion uttered the following
verses:--
When I remain silent, they say I have no understanding in my
heart;
When I speak, they say I chatter too much;
When I sit, they say I have spread my pallet to stay;
When I go away, they say I have thrown dust on my head;[2]
When I bow down, they say I perform my devotions through fear.
I can do nothing by which I may spend my time in peace.
Both here and hereafter may the Creator preserve Nanak's honour!
Then the Guru composed the following hymn in the Rag Malar:--
[1. Sri Rāg.
2 That is, I have become a faqir and dishonoured my family.]
Death is forgotten amid eating and drinking, laughter and
sleep.
By forgetting the Lord man hath ruined himself and rendered his
life accursed; he is not to tarry here.
O man, ponder on the one Name,
And thou shalt go to thy home with honour.
What do they who worship Thee give Thee? Nay, they
cease not to beg of Thee.
Thou conferrest gifts on all creatures; Thou art the life
within their lives.
The pious who meditate on God receive nectar; it is they who are
pure.
Day and night repeat the Name, O mortal, that thine
impurities may be washed away.
As is the season so the comfort of the body, and so the
body itself.[1]
O Nanak, that season is agreeable in which God's name is
repeated; but what is any season without the Name?
The Guru and Mardana did not remain long in that village. Mardana
asked the Guru what his decision was regarding its inhabitants. He
replied, 'O Mardana, may they remain here! '
The inhabitants of the next village at which they arrived showed
them great attention. They remained there, however, for only one
night, and departed next morning. The Guru when leaving said that the
village should be abandoned. Then Mardana remarked, 'Sir, the village
in which we were not allowed to sit down, thou hast blessed; and that
which bestowed great attention and kindness on us thou hast cursed.'
The Guru replied, 'Mardana, if the people of the former village remove
to another, they shall ruin it; but if the people of the latter
village remove to another, they shall save it.'
The Guru returned from Kamrup by the great river Brahmaputra, and
then made a coasting voyage to Puri on the Bay of Bengal, where Vishnu
or
[1. That is, the condition of the body is as changeable as the
seasons.]
Krishan, under the name of Jagannath, lord of the world, is
specially worshipped. When the lamps were lit in the evening the Guru
was invited by the high priest to stand up and join in the god's
worship, which was of a gorgeous and imposing character. In that rich
temple offerings to the god were made on salvers studded with pearls.
On the salvers were placed flowers and censers. A fan was employed to
excite the flames of the incense, while the lamps around threw light
over the temple. But the use of these articles showed artificial
worship, while the expanse of the firmament, the sun and the moon, the
procession of the stars, the natural incense of the sandal, the winds
and forests, were the fitting accessories of Nanak's purer worship of
the God of creation. The Guru therefore, instead of accepting the high
priest's invitation to adore the idol, raised his eyes to heaven, and
gave utterance to the following hymn:--
The sun and moon, O Lord, are: thy lamps; the firmament, Thy
salver; the orbs of the stars, the pearls enchased in it.
The perfume of the sandal[1] is Thine incense; the wind is Thy
fan;[2] all the forests are Thy flowers, O Lord of light.[3]
[1. Maliānlo, literally--the wind from the Malay tree.
2. In the original, chauri, a flapper made from the tail of
the yak or Thibetan cow, and used in India to brush away flies.
3 The following is Dr. Trumpp's translation of these two verses:--
The dish is made of the sky, the sun and moon are made the
lamps, the orbs of stars are, so to say, the pearls.
The wind is incense-grinding, the wind swings the fly-brush, the
whole blooming wood is the flames (of the lamps).
While the present author was engaged in translating the sacred
writings of the Sikhs at their request, one Bhāi Gurumukh Singh
projected a rival translation, which was to surpass all others. His modus
operandi was to alter Dr. Trumpp's words here and there, and thus
produce what he perhaps deemed would be an original version. He
circulated the following as his translation of these lines:--
The sky is for my plate (for arti); the sun and moon are for
lamps; (and) rows of stars are as it were for pearls.
The air of sandal wood for perfumary smoke, the wind (for my) fan
and all the rows of blooming forests (for flowers), O Lord of
light.
]
What worship is this, O Thou Destroyer of birth?[1] Unbeaten
strains of ecstasy are the trumpets of Thy worship.
Thou hast a thousand eyes and yet not one[2] eye; Thou hast a
thousand forms and yet not one form;[3]
Thou hast a thousand pure feet and yet not one foot;
Thou hast a thousand organs of smell and yet not one organ--I am
fascinated by this play of Thine.[4]
The light which is in everything is Thine, O Lord of light.
From its brilliancy everything is brilliant;
By the Guru's teaching the light becometh manifest.
What pleaseth Thee is the real arati.[5]
O God, my mind is fascinated with Thy lotus feet as the bumble-bee
with the flower: night and day I thirst for them.
Give the water of Thy grace to the sarang[6] Nanak, so that he may
dwell in Thy name,[7]
[1. That is, or transmigration.
2. Thou hast man, spiritual eyes, but no material eye,
3. Thy manifestations are many yet Thou hast no bodily form.
4. Also translated--In this way Thou hast enchanted the world.
5. In memory of the circumstance recorded in the text the Sikhs
repeat several prayers in the evening. The prayers are collectively
called Ārati, and consist of this hymn and some others, which will be
noted in their proper place. The word Ārati originally meant waving
lamps at night before an idol.
6. The Sārang, or pied Indian cuckoo, the Cuculus Melanoleukos is
supposed to drink water only when the moon is in the mansion of
Arcturus, so, when its time comes to drink, it is naturally thirsty.
This bird is also known under the names chātrik and papīha. Its love
is celebrated in song and story. It is in full voice on the approach
of the Indian monsoon, when its plaintive strains are heard clearest
at night. It is said that they make love's unhealed wounds bleed anew.
###
7. Dhanāsari.]
While at Jagannath, Guru Nanak met a Brahman who kept his eyes and
nose closed so as to receive no pleasure from these organs. He averred
that in that state he with his mental eyes saw the secrets of the
world. Nanak hid his lota and the Brahman could not find it, so Nanak
by the following hymn in the Dhanasari measure twitted him on his want
of omniscience:--
This is not the age, there is. no longer acquaintance with jog;
this is not the way of truth.
The holy places in the world have fallen; the world is thus
ruined.
In this Kal age God's name is the best thing.
Thou closest thine eyes and holdest thy nose to deceive the world.
Thou holdest thy nose with thy thumb and first two fingers, and
sayest that thou seest the three worlds.
But thou seest not what is behind thee, this is a wonderful
thing.[1]
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CHAPTER VII
The Guru and Mardana after their travels in Eastern India returned
to the Panjab, and proceeded on a visit to the shrine of Shaikh Farid,
a Moslem saint, at a place then called Ajodhan, but now Pak Pattan, in
the southern part of that province. A saint called Shaikh Brahm (Ibrahim)
was then the incumbent of the shrine. He was the first to speak. On
seeing the Guru, whom he knew to be a religious man, dressed in
ordinary secular costume, he said:--
Either seek for high position[2] or for God.
Put not thy feet on two boats lest thy property founder.[3]
The Guru replied:--
[1. Also translated--lo! this is thy devotional attitude, Padam
āsan is one of the Jogis' attitudes.
2. Muqaddami, literally, the headship of a town.
3. The meaning is--lead either a Secular or a religious life. Do
not combine both.]
Put thy feet on two boats and thy property also on them:[1]
One boat may sink, but the other shall cross over.[2]
For me there is no water, no boat, no wreck, and no loss.
Nanak, the True One is my property and wealth, and He is naturally
everywhere contained.
Shaikh Brahm replied:--
O Farid, the world is enamoured of the witch[3] who is found
to be when her secret is known.
Nanak, while thou lookest on, the field[4] is ruined.
Upon this the Guru urged:--
O Farid, love for the witch hath prevailed from the very
beginning.
Nanak, the field shall not be ruined if the watchman be on the
alert.
Then Shaikh Brahm:--
Farid, my body faileth, my heart is broken, and no strength
whatever remaineth me.
Arise, beloved, become my physician and give me medicine.
Then the Guru exhorted him:--
My friend, examine the truth, lip-worship is hollow.
Nanak, the Beloved is not far from thee; behold Him in thy heart.
Then Shaikh Brahm uttered the following:--
When thou oughtest to have made thy raft, thou didst not do so;
When the full river[5] overfloweth, it is difficult to cross over.
[1. That is, enjoy the world and also remember God.
2. The body may perish, but the soul shall be saved.
3. Worldly love.
4. Man's body.
5. When the body has completed its measure of sin. Sarwar
is, literally, a tank or lake, but Shaikh Brahm refers to the broad
river Satluj, near which he lived.]
Put not thy hand into the fire or it will burn,[1] my dear.
Some have obtained honour for themselves by uttering God's name.
As milk will not return to the udder, so the soul will not again
enter the same body.
Saith Farid, O my companions, when the Spouse calleth you,
The soul shall depart in perplexity, and the body become a heap of
dust.[2]
The Guru replied by a hymn in the same measure:--
Make a raft of devotion and penance, so mayest thou cross the
stream.[3]
There is no lake, no overflowing; such a road is easy.
O Lord, Thy name alone is the madder with which my robe is dyed.
Such colour is everlasting, O my dear.
If thou, my beloved, go not thus arrayed to meet the Bridegroom,
how canst thou meet Him?
If thou possess virtues, He will meet thee.
If He become united with thee, He will not part from thee; that
is, if union be really effected.
It is the True One who putteth an end to transmigration.
She who hath abandoned egotism hath sewed for herself a garment to
please the Bridegroom.
Under the Guru's instruction she obtaineth her reward in the
ambrosial converse of her Lord.
Nanak saith, O female companions, the Lord is thoroughly dear.
We are His slaves, true is our Spouse.
Then Shaikh Brahm uttered the following:--
They who have heart-felt love for God are the true;
But they who have one thing in their hearts and utter another are
accounted false.
[1. Also translated--Touch not safflower: its dye will depart.
2. Sūhi.
3. Wahela, also translated--comfortably.]
They who are imbued with the love of God and a longing to
behold Him are also true.
They who forget God's name are a burden to the earth.
God hath attached to His skirt those who were darweshes at His
gate.
Blest the mothers who bore them; profitable was their advent into
the world.
O Cherisher, Thou art illimitable, unapproachable, and endless.
I kiss the feet of those who recognize the True One.
I seek Thy shelter, O God; it is Thou who pardonest.
Grant Thy worship as charity to Shaikh Farid.[1]
On this the Guru uttered the hymn called Suchajji, the fortunate,
in the Suhi measure:--
When I have Thee I have everything; Thou, O Lord, art my
treasure.
In Thee I dwell in peace, in Thee to dwell is my pride;
If it please Thee, Thou bestowest a throne and greatness;
if it please Thee, Thou makest man a forlorn mendicant;
If it please Thee, rivers flow over dry land, and the lotus
bloometh in the heavens;
If it please Thee, man crosseth the terrible ocean; if it please
Thee, he is drowned therein;
If it please Thee, Thou art my merry Spouse--I am absorbed in Thy
praises, O Lord[2] of excellences.
If it please Thee, O Lord, Thou terrifiest me, and then I am
undone with transmigration.
O Lord, Thou art inaccessible and unequalled; I am exhausted
uttering Thy praises.
What can I ask of Thee? What can I say to Thee? I hunger and
thirst for a sight of Thee.
Under the instruction of the Guru I have obtained the Lord;
Nanak's prayer hath been granted.
[1. Āsa.
2. Tāsh is a Persian word meaning Lord. The gyānis translate it
vessel.]
The Guru and Shaikh Brahm remained together that night in the
forest. A kind-hearted and charitable villager who had seen them, took
them a basin of milk before daylight. The Shaikh separated his own
share from that of the Guru, and uttered these verses:--
Devotion in the beginning of the night is the blossom, in
the end of the night[1] the fruit.
They who watch obtain gifts from the Lord.[2]
The Guru responded:--
Gifts are the Lord's; what can prevail against Him?[3]
Some who are awake receive them not; others who are asleep He
awaketh, and conferreth presents upon them.[4]
The Guru then asked Shaikh Brahm to put his hand into the milk and
feel what was in it. Farid found that it contained four gold coins.
Upon this the villager, deeming that he was in the hands of magicians,
went away without his basin. The Guru uttered the following hymn
I
O thou with the beautiful eyes, in the first watch of a dark
night
Watch thy property, O mortal; thy turn shall come next.
When thy turn cometh, who will awake thee? Death shall taste thy
sweets as thou sleepest.
The night is dark; what shall become of thee when the thief
breaketh into and robbeth thy house?
O inaccessible, incomparable Protector, hear my supplication.
O Nanak, the fool hath never thought of God; what can he see in a
dark night?
[1. That is, the end of life.
2. Farīd's Sloks.
3. No one can force Him to bestow His gifts.
4. Sri Rāg ki Wār.]
II
It is the second watch; awake, O heedless one.
Watch thy property, O mortal; thy field is being eaten up.
Watch thy field, love God's praises; while thou art awake, the
thief shall not touch thee.
Then shalt thou not go the way of Death, nor suffer from him;
the fear and dread of him shall depart.
The lamps of the sun and moon shall shine for thee, if thou under
the Guru's instruction ponder on the True One in thy heart, and
utter His name with thy lips.
Nanak, the fool heedeth not even now; how shall he obtain
happiness in the second watch?
III
It is the third watch, thou art wrapt in slumber.
By wealth, children, and wives men are afflicted with sorrow:
Yet wealth, children, wives, and worldly possessions are dear to
man; he nibbleth at the bait, and is continually caught.
If man under the Guru's instruction meditate on the Name, he shall
obtain rest, and Death shall not seize him.[1]
Transmigration and death never forsake us; without the Name we are
afflicted.
Nanak, in the third watch men, under the influence of the three
qualities,[2] feel worldly love.
[1. Death only seizes the soul which has to undergo further
transmigration. He does not harass the emancipated soul.
2 The three gunas or qualities of goodness, passion, and
darkness--or reality, impulse, and ignorance--are frequently mentioned
in Sikh as well as Hindu sacred literature. The Mosaic and Zoroastrian
systems recognized two principles, good and evil, in the economy of
nature. It was the Indian sage Kapila who discerned the three
principles or qualities above stated. He beheld good, moderately good,
and evil everywhere in creation. He believed that these qualities, but
in different degrees, pervade all things, and are the distinguishing
characteristics of matter implanted in it by the Creator Himself.
The demigods possess goodness in excess, the demons darkness, and
men passion. Manu thus defines the three qualities: 'It ought to be
known that the three gunas or fetters of the soul are goodness,
passion, and darkness. Restrained by one or more of these it is ever
{footnote p. 90} attached to forms of existence. Whenever any one of
the three qualities predominates, it causes the embodied spirit to
abound in that quality.' The aim of the soul apparently should be to
divest itself all three qualities. Compare Plato's distinction of the
three parts of the mind corresponding to the three classes of his
ideal state.]
IV
It is the fourth watch; the sun riseth.
They who night and day are watchful have saved their homes.
Night is pleasant for those who under the Guru's instruction watch
and apply themselves to the Name.
They who act according to the instruction of the Guru shall not be
born again; the Lord will befriend them.
In the fourth watch hands shake, feet and frames totter,
eyes grow dim, and men's bodies become like ashes.
Nanak, without God's name abiding in the mind man is unhappy
during the four watches.
V
The knot of life is open; arise, thine allotted time
hath come.
All pleasures and happiness are at an end; Death will lead thee
captive away.
Without being seen or heard he will lead thee captive, when it so
pleaseth God.
His turn shall come to every one; the ripe field shall ever be cut
down.
An account of every ghari and moment shall be taken, and the soul
shall obtain punishment or reward.
Nanak, God made everything, demigods and men are herein agreed.[1]
When the Guru and Shaikh Brahm left the forest the villager
returned to fetch his basin. On lifting it up, it is said, he found
that it had become gold, and was filled with gold coins. Then he began
to repent of his suspicions, and confessed to himself that they were
religious men. If he had come with
[1. Tukhāri Chhant.]
his heart disposed towards God, he would have gained holiness. 'I
came with worldliness, and worldliness have I found.' Upon this he
took up his basin and departed.
Shaikh Brahm remarked that it was difficult for those who attached
themselves to mammon to obtain salvation, and inquired what aid
besides God's name was ordinarily necessary for future happiness. The
Guru replied with the following hymn:--
The union of father and mother produceth a body,
On which the Creator hath written its destiny,
The gifts, the divine lights, and the greatness allotted
it;
But on associating with mammon it loseth remembrance of God.
O foolish man, why art thou proud?
Thou shalt have to depart when it pleaseth the Lord.
Abandon pleasures, and peace and happiness shall be thine.
Thou shalt have to leave thy home; no one is permanent here.
Eat a little and leave a little,
If thou art again to return to this world.[1]
Man decketh his body, dresseth it in silk,
And issueth many orders;
He maketh a couch of ease and sleepeth thereon.
Why weepeth he when he falleth into the hands of Death?[2]
Domestic entanglements are a whirlpool, O brother
Sin is a stone which floateth not over.
Put thy soul on the raft of God's fear, and thou shalt be saved.
Saith Nanak, such a raft God giveth but to few.[3]
Then the people brought them bread, but Shaikh Brahm said that he
had already dined. The people, annoyed that their offerings were thus
spurned, said
[1. That is, to practise great economy would be useless for him who
is not to return to this world.
2. If man disregard the present opportunity of doing good works,
why should he afterwards weep when Death seizes him for punishment?
3. Māru.]
to him: 'You must be a liar from that country where Farid, who wore
a wooden cake on his stomach, held religious sway. Whenever any one
offered him food he used to say he had taken dinner.'[1] Upon this
Shaikh Brahm said: 'What shall be my condition, who am ever saying
that I have dined, when I am only fasting?' The Guru was pleased to
observe the Shaikh's tender conscience, and said to him: 'Shaikh Brahm,
God is in thee.' The Shaikh then asked the Guru to tell him of God,
and by what virtues and merits He was to be found. The Guru replied as
follows:--
Come, my sisters and dear companions, embrace me.
Having embraced me, tell me tales of the Omnipotent Spouse.
In the true Lord are all merits, in- us all demerits.
O Creator, every one is in Thy power.
Meditate on the one Word; where Thou, O God, art, what more
is required?
Go ask the happy wife by what merits she enjoyeth her Spouse-
'Composure, contentment, and sweet discourse are mine ornaments.
'I met my Beloved, who is an abode of pleasure, when I heard the
Guru's word.'
How great, O God, is Thy power! how great Thy gifts!
How many men and lower animals utter Thy praises day and night!
How many are Thy forms and colours! how many castes high and low!
When the true Guru is found, truth is produced, and man
becoming true is absorbed in the truth.
When man is filled with fear through the Guru's instructions, then
he obtaineth understanding, and honour resulteth.
Nanak, the true King then blendeth man with Himself.[2]
[1. An account of Farid will be found in the sixth volume of this
Work.
2. Sri Rāg.]
The Guru, after his pleasant visit to Shaikh Brahm and his
district, where he made several converts, proceeded to a country
called Bisiar, probably the state of Bushahir in the Himalayas, where
he was ill received. The inhabitants, deeming his presence pollution,
purified every place he had stood on. One man alone, Jhanda, a
carpenter, was found to treat him with hospitality. He took him to his
house, washed his feet, and drank the water used for the purpose.
While drinking, it was revealed to him that Nanak was a Guru. He
joined him in his wanderings.
The Guru and his companions directed their steps to the East. They
went to an island in the ocean where they could obtain no food. There
the Guru composed the Jugawali, a poem (no longer extant) on the four
ages of the world. Jhanda committed it to writing and circulated it,
With the new composition in his possession he returned to his own
country, leaving the Guru and Mardana to continue their pilgrimage.
Not long after they found themselves in a lonely desert. Mardana
began to feel the pangs of hunger, and thus addressed his master: 'We
are lost in this great wilderness, from which God alone can extricate
us. Here I shall fall into the clutches of some wild animal which will
kill and eat me.' The Guru asked him to take care, and nothing should
come near him. He further consoled him by stating that they were not
in a desert, as the place where God's name was uttered was always
inhabited. 'Many better men than we ', said the Guru, 'have endured
greater hardships.' Upon this he composed the following:--
The demigods in order to behold Thee, O God, made pilgrimages
in sufferings and hunger.
Jogis and Jatis[1] go their own ways, and don ochre-coloured
garbs.
[1. Jatis, men vowed to perpetual continence.]
For Thy sake, O my Lord, the darweshes are imbued with love.
Thy names are various, Thy forms are various, the number of Thy
merits cannot be told.
Men leaving houses and homes, palaces, elephants and horses go
abroad.
Priests, prophets, holy and sincere men leave the world to obtain
salvation.
They abandon good living, rest, happiness, and dainties; they doff
clothes, and wear skins.
Imbued with Thy name they in anguish and pain become darweshes at
Thy gate.
They don skins, carry begging bowls, staves, and wear hair-tufts,
sacrificial threads, and loin-cloths.
Thou art the Lord, I am Thy player; Nanak representeth, what is
caste?[1]
The Guru further remonstrated with his attendant: 'We cannot
succeed without God's word. Think of some hymn and play the rebeck.'
Mardana replied that his throat was collapsing for want of food, and
he had no strength to move, much less to play. The Guru then pointed
to a tree and told him to eat his fill of its fruit, but take none
with him. Mardana accordingly began to eat, and so much enjoyed the
flavour of the fruit, that he thought he would eat what he could, and
also take some with him, lest he might soon again find himself in a
similar plight.
As they continued their wanderings, Mardana again felt hungry, so
he drew forth his stock of fruit. Directly he tasted it he fell down.
The Guru inquired what had happened. Mardana confessed his
disobedience of his master's instructions in having brought with him
and eaten some of the forbidden fruit. The Guru remonstrated with him
for his disregard of orders. The fruit was poisonous, but the Guru had
blessed it for the occasion and made
[1. Āsa.]
{p. 95}
it wholesome, The Guru put his foot on Mardana's forehead as he lay
stretched on the ground, and he at once revived.
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CHAPTER VIII
Mardana had by this time had enough of travel, hardship, and.
hunger, and thus addressed his master: 'Blessings on thy devotion and
thy deeds! Thou art a holy man who hast abandoned the world, who
neither eatest nor drinkest, and who never enterest a village. How can
I remain with thee?' The Guru asked him on what conditions he would
change his mind and continue to accompany him. He replied, 'I will
remain with thee if thou satisfy my hunger in the same way as thou
satisfiest thine own; and if thou also promise not to take notice of
anything I do.' The Guru agreed to these conditions, and told him he
should be happy in this world and the next. Mardana then fell at his
feet.
It would appear however, that Mardana soon represented to the Guru
the duty and propriety of returning home, and seeing his parents after
twelve years' wandering. The Guru adopted his suggestion, and they
both directed their steps towards Talwandi. They halted in the forest
some three miles from the village. Mardana asked permission to go home
and inquire if his people were dead or alive. The Guru replied, 'Since
thou desire it, go and see thy people. Go also to my father Kalu's
house, but mention not my name. Return quickly.'
When Mardana reached his house he found several persons assembled
there. They all affectionately greeted him, and said he had grown like
Nanak. He was a great man now, and no longer the humble person he had
been before. Mardana, having seen his people, proceeded to the house
of Kalu, and sat down in his courtyard. The Guru's mother, on seeing him, arose, embraced him, and wept for joy. She asked for
some account of her son Nanak. By that time a great crowd had
assembled, and every one wanted to hear about him. Mardana evaded all
inquiries, only telling people that he had been with Nanak. He then
went away. The Guru's mother at once suspected that he must have had
some object in departing so quickly, and that her son could not be far
off. She again arose, and taking some clothes and sweets for Nanak,
followed Mardana and overtook him. She earnestly requested him to take
her to her son. Mardana made no answer, but went on his way, she
following.
Nanak arose on seeing his mother, and respectfully saluted her. She
kissed his forehead and began to weep, saying, 'I am a sacrifice unto
thee. I am a sacrifice unto the ground thou treadest on. Seeing thy
face hath made me happy. Now I desire that thou shouldst abandon thy
wanderings, abide with us, and turn thine attention to commerce for
thy livelihood.' The Guru, who was in turn delighted to see his
mother, called on Mardana to play the rebeck while he himself sang the
following:--
Drunkards abandon not stimulants, nor fishes water:
So God is pleasing beyond all others to those who
are imbued with their Lord.[1]
I am a sacrifice, I would be cut in pieces, O Lord, for Thy name.
The Lord is a fruit-bearing tree whose name is ambrosia.
They who have partaken of it are satisfied; I am a sacrifice unto
them.
Why appearest Thou not unto me, O Lord, since Thou abidest with
all?
[1. These two lines are also translated--
If drunkards obtain not stimulants, and fishes, water, they
are pleased with nothing else,
So all who are imbued with their Lord are content with none but
Him.
]
How shall my thirst abate when there is a screen between the
Tank[1]and me?
Nanak is Thy dealer; Thou O Lord, art his capital.
Illusion leaveth my mind when I praise and pray to Thee.[2]
His mother placed before Nanak the new clothes and sweets she had
brought for him, and asked him to eat. He said he required no food.
His mother inquired where he had eaten. He again called on Mardana to
play an accompaniment to the following hymn:--
To obey God's word is all sweet flavour; to hear it is
salt flavour;
To utter it with the mouth is acid flavour, and to sing it is
spices.
The love of the one God is thirty-six dishes[3] for those on whom
He looketh with favour.
O mother, other viands afford ruinous happiness
By eating them the body is pained, and sin entereth the mind.
His mother asked him to take off the faqir's jacket he wore, and
put on the new becoming clothes, she had brought him. His reply was
the following:--
To be imbued with God is as red, truth and charity as white
clothing;
To cut away the blackness of sin is blue, to meditate on
God's feet is the real raiment;
Contentment is the waistband Thy name, O Lord, is wealth
and youth.
Mother, other dress affordeth ruinous happiness
By putting it on, the body is pained and sin entereth the mind.
By this time his father Kalu had heard of Nanak's arrival, and went
on horseback to meet him. Nanak
[1. God.
2. Wadhans.
3. Indian gourmets enumerate thirty-six palatable dishes.]
bowed to him, and fell at his feet. Meantime Kalu continued to weep
for joy. He asked his son to mount the horse on which he had come, and
go home with him. Nanak replied that he had no need of a horse, and
then sang the following:--
To know Thy way, O God, is as horses with saddles made
of gold.
To pursue virtue is as quivers, arrows, bows, spears, and
sword-belts.
To be honourably distinguished is as bands and lances Thy favour, O
God, is as caste for me.
Father, other conveyance affordeth ruinous happiness
By mounting it the body is pained, and sin entereth the mind.
The father again pressed the son to return with him, if only for
once. He said he had built a new house which he should like to show
him after his long absence. Nanak ought also to visit his wife, and
then, if he felt so disposed, he might continue his wanderings. Nanak
replied:--
The pleasure of the Name is as mansions and palaces; Thy
favouring glance, O Lord, is as family for me.
To please Thee is mine empire; to say more were altogether
useless.
Nanak, true is the King; He decideth without taking others'
counsel.
Father, other intercourse affordeth ruinous happiness
By indulging in it the body is pained, and sin entereth the mind.'
Kalu again said: 'My son, tell me at what thou art offended. If
thou desire it, I will find thee another wife.' The Guru replied as
follows:--
He who made the world watcheth over it, and appointeth His
creatures to their various duties.
Thy gifts, O Lord, are as light to the mind, and as the
moon and lamps to the body.
[1. Sri Rāg.]
Thy gifts are as the moon and lamps to the body, by which the
pain of darkness is dispelled.
The bridal procession of attributes which accompany the Bridegroom
who hath chosen His bride, appeareth beautiful.
The marriage hath been performed with splendour to the
accompaniment of the five musical instruments.[1]
I am a sacrifice to my unchanging companions and friends.
I have exchanged hearts with those to whom my body is attached.
Why should I forget those friends with whom I have exchanged
hearts?
Let those whose sight giveth pleasure be clasped to the heart.
All merits and not one demerit is theirs for ever and ever.
If one have a casket of virtues, let him extract odour from it.
If our friends possess virtues, let us go and become partners with
them.
Let us form a partnership with virtue and abandon vice.
Let us wear silk, go in state, and take possession of our
arena.[2]
Wherever we go, let us sit down, speak civilly, and skim and drink
nectar.
If one have a casket of virtues, let him extract odour therefrom.
It is God Himself who acteth; to whom should we complain? No one
else acteth.
Go and complain to Him if He forget.
If He forget, go and complain to Him; but why should the Creator
Himself forget?
He heareth, seeth, giveth His gifts without asking or praying for.
The Giver, the Arranger of the world giveth His gifts, Nanak, and
true is He.
[1. The voice, stringed instruments, wind instruments, leather
instruments, as drums, and metallic instruments as cymbals, bells,
&c. Pānch sabd may also mean the five species of breath
enumerated by Jogis.
2. That is, the company of saints.]
When He Himself acteth, to whom should we complain? No one else
acteth.[1]
Nanak continued to address Kalu: 'Father dear, it is God who
arrangeth marriages. He maketh no mistake, and those whom He hath once
joined He joineth for ever.' By these words the Guru perhaps meant to
establish monogamy[2]. The Guru's mother then interposed, and asked
her son to stand up and go with them, and cease his nonsense. He would
obtain wealth by attending to his worldly duties. The Guru replied
with the following hymn:--
In the end of the night call upon the name of the Lord,
And tents, umbrellas, pavilions, and carriages shall appear, ready
for your celestial journey.
They are ever obtained by those who meditate on Thy name, O
Lord.
Father, I am without good works and false; I have not meditated on
Thy name.
My mind is blind, led astray by superstition.
The pleasures I have had have blossomed into pain by primal
destiny, O mother.
The pleasure was little; the pain great; in much pain have I
passed my life.
What separation is there from those who have separated from God?
and what meeting is there with those who have met Him?
Praise that Lord who made and beholdeth this play.
By good destiny men meet God and enjoy pleasures even
in this life.
By evil destiny they who meet separate, O Nanak, but even so they
meet again by God's favour.[3]
[1. Sūhi Chhant.
2. Bhāi Gur Dās, so understood the Guru's words when he wrote-Be
chaste with one wife (War, vi, 8). In the Prem Sumārag, a work
containing the supplementary teaching of Guru Gobind Singh, is found
the injunction: 'Be satisfied with one wife. That befits a good man.'
3. Māru.]
Kalu, finding his arguments vain, appealed to his son on the score
of his health and safety, and pointed out how regardless of them he
had been. The following was the Guru's reply:--
I have no anxiety regarding death, and I have no desire for
life.
Thou, O God, art the Cherisher of all living things; our
breathings[1] are taken into account.
Thou dwellest in the holy; as it pleaseth Thee, so Thou decidest.
O my soul, by uttering God's name the heart is satisfied.
Under the Guru's instruction divine knowledge is obtained, and the
burning of the heart extinguished.[2]
The Guru again addressed his parents: 'Father dear, mother dear, I
have returned home. I have been until now a hermit. Obey God's order
and let me again depart.' His mother replied: 'My son, how shall I
console myself, seeing that thou hast only now returned after an
absence of twelve years?' Then the Guru urged, 'Mother, agree to what
I say; consolation shall come to thee.' She then became silent,
thinking it was useless to make further remonstrance.
CHAPTER IX
The Guru and Mardana again set out on their travels. It is said
that they went to the west and crossed the rivers Ravi and Chanab,
and, after a long circuitous route through a desert country, made
their way again to Pak Pattan to pay another visit to Shaikh Brahm.
They sat down to rest about four miles from the city. Shaikh Kamal, a
pious and God-fearing disciple of Shaikh Brahm, who had gone
[1. Sās girās, expiration and inspiration.
2. Sri Rāg.]
into the forest for firewood, observed the Guru and his attendant.
The latter was playing his rebeck, and singing the following:--
Thou art the tablet, O Lord, Thou art the pen, and Thou
art also the writing.
Speak of the one God; O Nanak, why should there be a
second?[1]
Shaikh Kamal went and, after obeisance, sat down near them, and
asked to have the couplet repeated. This was done, and he learned it
by heart. He then took up the firewood he had collected and went home.
He told his master of his adventure, and repeated the couplet for him.
Shaikh Brahm was highly pleased that the Guru had again visited his
country, and he promptly proceeded to welcome him. After mutual
salutations, the Guru thanked God for having again granted him a sight
of Shaikh Brahm. After some friendly conversation, the Shaikh asked
the Guru to explain the couplet. 'Nanak, thou sayest, "There is
only one God; why should there be a second?" I say:--
'There is one Lord and two ways;
Which shall I adopt, and which reject?
The Guru replied:--
There is but one Lord and one way;
Adopt one and reject the other.
Why should we worship a second who is born and dieth?
Remember the one God, Nanak, who is contained in sea and land.
The Muhammadan priest then said in turn:--
Tear thy coat into tatters and wear a blanket instead;
Adopt a dress by which thou mayest obtain the Lord.[2]
The Guru traversed this instruction: 'It is not
[1. Malār ki Wār.
2. Farīd's Sloks.]
necessary for me to tear my coat or adopt a religious garb. Men who
reside at home and work in their ordinary costume shall find the Lord
if they fix their hearts on Him;'[1]
A young wife sitteth at home, her Beloved is abroad; she
continually thinketh of Him and pineth away.
She shall have no delay in meeting Him if she have good
intentions.[2]
Shaikh Brahm replied to the latter couplet:--
When she was little, she enjoyed not her Spouse; when she grew
up she died.
Lying in the grave she calleth out, 'I have not met Thee, O
Lord.'[3]
Guru Nanak then gave utterance to the following, to the effect that
salvation depends upon virtue and not on a pleasing exterior or the
possession of accomplishments:--
A woman may be stupid, untidy, black, and impure-minded;
Yet, if she possess merits, she meeteth her Beloved; otherwise,
Nanak, the woman is to blame.
The Shaikh then put the following questions
What is that word, what that virtue, what that priceless spell;
What dress shall I wear by which I may captivate the, Spouse?[4]
[1. This reply of the Guru was subsequently versified by Guru Amar
Dās:--
Why tear thy coat, Nānak, and why wear a blanket?
Seated at home thou shalt find the Lord if thine intentions be good.
2. Wadhans ki Wār.
3. Farīd's Sloks.
4. Farīd's Sloks.]
The Guru replied:--
Humility is the word, forbearance the virtue, and civility the
priceless spell.
Make these three[1] thy dress, O sister, and the Spouse shall come
into thy power.[2]
The Spouse shall be hers who serveth Him.
Forsaking all His other companions He will go to her.
The Shaikh then said he wanted a knife--'Give me such a knife as
will make those who are killed with it acceptable to God. With the
ordinary knife in use the lower animals are killed, and if a man's
throat be cut with it he becomes carrion.' The Guru replied: 'Dear
Shaikh, here it is:--
Truth is the knife, truth is pure steel;
Its fashion is altogether incomparable.
Put it on the hone of the Word,
And fit it into the scabbard. of merit.
If any one be bled with that, O Shaikh,
The blood of avarice will be seen to issue forth.
If man be slaughtered with it, he shall go to meet God,
O Nanak, and be absorbed in the sight of Him.'[3]
On hearing this the Shaikh raised his head in amazement and said,
'Well done. Thou hast seen God, and art dear to Him. God hath been
very kind to me in that I have met thee. It would be rude to ask any
further questions of those who are so beloved by Him.' The Guru then
volunteered the following:--
There is friendship between beauty and love, alliance between
hunger and dainty viands;
Companionship between greed and wealth, between a sleepy man and a bed
and coverlet.
[1. Tewar, three pieces forming an Indian woman's dress.
2. Farīd's Sloks.
3. Rāmkali ki Wār.]
The anger which barketh is despised; it is vain to worry with
worldly occupations.
To be silent, O Nanak, is good; without the Name the mouth is
defiled.[1]
The Shaikh asked the Guru to let him hear a strain in praise of the
one God. 'My idea is', said the Shaikh, 'that adoration cannot be
performed without two beings, that is, God and the Prophet; Let me see
whom thou makest man's intercessor.' The Guru called upon Mardana to
play the rebeck and recite the first slok and pauri[2] of the Asa ki
War.
I am a sacrifice, Nanak, to my Guru a hundred times a day,
Who without any delay made demigods out of men.
Nanak, they who, very clever in their own estimation, think not of
the Guru,
Shall be left like spurious sesames in a reaped field-
They shall be left in the field, saith Nanak, without an owner.
The wretches may even bear fruit and flower, but these shall be as
ashes within their bodies.
God Himself created the world and Himself gave names to
things.
He made Maya by His power; seated He beheld His work with
delight.
O Creator, Thou art the Giver; being pleased Thou bestowest and
practisest kindness.
Thou knowest all things; Thou givest and takest life with a
word.[3]
Seated Thou beholdest Thy work with delight.[4]
[1. Malār ki Wār.
2 A shlok in Sanskrit is a distich or couplet, but in modern
Indian poetry it may extend to the length of an English sonnet. The
word pauri is literally a ladder. In the Granth Sahib it means
a stanza of five lines, and always follows a slok.
3. Also translated--Thou givest and takest life from the body.
4. Āsa ki Wār.]
Shaikh Brahm asked the Guru for further instruction. The Guru then
spoke on the subject of humility, and said that as water, which
resteth lowly on the earth, riseth under pressure into the air in
sparkling fountains, so they who preserve a humble mind mount to God's
highest pinnacle.
The Shaikh then rose to take his leave, and said, 'O Nanak, thou
hast found God. There is no difference between Him and thee. Kindly
grant that I too may be on good terms with Him.' The Guru replied, 'Shaikh
Brahm, God will cause thy cargo also to arrive safe.' By this the Guru
meant that God would accept the Shaikh's devotion. The Shaikh
requested the Guru to give him a certain promise of this, and the Guru
complied. They then shook hands and parted.
The Guru next proceeded to Dipalpur. During his journey a Sanyasi
asked him to define the word udas. The Guru replied: 'To make
use of all things in this world and not deem them one's own, but only
God's property, and ever to possess a desire to meet Him is udas.'
The Guru then visited Kanganpur, Kasur, and Patti in the Lahore
District. He thence proceeded to Windpur, not far from the present
town of Cholha, in the sub-collectorate of Tarn Taran in the Amritsar
District. He met some Khatris who dwelt there; but when they saw him
dressed as a faqir and heard his minstrel Mardana sing, they were
displeased at what they considered the masquerade he had adopted, and
said to him, 'What dress is this which thou hast assumed? Having
become a faqir, thou hast disgraced thy tribe, and led the world
astray. Quit this place.' The Guru represented that he would only
remain for the night, and would depart next morning. He added that he
was not leading people the wrong way, but guiding them to salvation.
They replied that they would not allow him to remain for a moment in
their village. He must depart at once, or they would forcibly expel him. The Guru,
complying with this insulting order, said that the Guru's place should
ever be permanent.
The Guru thence proceeded to a village on the site of the present
Goindwal, where he desired to stay, but no one except a poor leper
would receive him or allow him to remain there. The leper took him to
his hut, and entertained him for the night. The leper thanked God that
he had at last seen a human face, for even the lower animals had fled
from him. When he began further to bemoan his fate, the Guru uttered
the following:--
My mind is ever and ever troubled.
In many troubles my body pineth away and ever groweth
worse.
The body which forgetteth God's word,
Screameth like a real leper.
To make many complaints is to talk folly Without our complaining
everything is known to God,
Who made our ears, our eyes, and our noses;
Who gave us tongues wherewith to speak
Who preserved us in the fire of the womb;
And through whom the breath moveth and speaketh everywhere.
Worldly love, affection, and dainties
Are all blackness and stains.
If man depart with the brand of sin on his face,
He will not be allowed to sit in God's court.
If he meet Thy favour, O God, he repeateth Thy name.
By attaching himself to it he is saved; he hath no other resource.
Even if he be drowning in sin, God will still take care of
him.
Nanak, the True One is beneficent to all.[1]
The Guru further warmed towards the leper and blessed, him. The
leper was cured of his malady, fell at the Guru's feet, and began to
utter the Name.
[1. Dhanāsari.]
The Guru then travelled through Sultanpur--his old head quarters
when he was a Government official--Vairowal, and Jalalabad, until he
arrived at a place called Kari Pathandi in the Amritsar District. In
Kari Pathandi he made many Pathan converts. They used to serenade him
with instrumental music, interspersed with cries of 'Hail to King
Nanak!' The Guru there composed the following:--
He who made the world watcheth over it; what shall we say, O
brother?
He Himself who hath laid out its garden knoweth and acteth.
Sing the praises of the Beloved; sing His praises by which
happiness is ever obtained.
She who enjoyeth not her Spouse with love shall afterwards repent.
She shall wring her hands, and beat her head as the night passeth
away.
She shall not be able to repent when the whole night is at an end;
But she may again enjoy her Husband when it cometh to her
turn.'
The wife whom the Spouse hath chosen is better than[1].
I have not her merits; whom shall I blame?
I will go and ask the female companions who have enjoyed their
Spouse;
I will touch their feet, implore them, and induce them to show me
the way.
Nanak, she who obeyeth her Spouse's order, applieth fear as her
sandal,
And performeth the incantation of merits, shall find her Beloved.
She who meeteth Him with her heart shall continue to meet Him;
that is called a real meeting.
However much one may desire it, a meeting is not effected by
words.
[1. That is, in a future birth.]
Metal blendeth with metal and love hasteneth to love.
Know the Guru's favour, and thou shalt find the Fearless One.
A garden of betel may be in the house, but the donkey knoweth not
its merits.
When one is a judge of perfume, then may one appreciate flowers.
He who drinketh nectar,[1] Nanak, putteth an end to his doubts and
transmigration;
He easily blendeth with God, and obtaineth the undying dignity.[2]
The Guru continued his wanderings and visited Batala in the
Gurdaspur District. Thence he proceeded a second time to Saiyidpur,
where he again visited Lalo. Lalo complained to him of the oppression
of the Pathans. The Guru replied that their dominion should be brief,
as Babar was on his way to the conquest of India. The Guru then
addressed the following threnody to his host:--
As the word of the Lord cometh to me, so I make known, O Lalo--
Bringing a bridal procession of sin, Babar hath hasted from
Kabul and demandeth wealth as his bride, O Lalo.
Modesty and religion have vanished; falsehood marcheth in the van,
O Lalo.
The occupation of the Qazis and the Brahmans is gone the devil
readeth the marriage service,[3] O Lalo.
Musalman women read the Quran, and in suffering call upon God, O
Lalo.
Hindu women whether of high or low caste, meet the same fate as
they, O Lalo.
They sing the paean of murder, O Nanak, and smear themselves with
the saffron of blood.
Nanak singeth the praises of the Lord in the city of corpses, and
uttereth this commonplace--
[1. He who performs heartfelt devotion.
2. Tilang, Ashtapadi.
3. This refers to the licentiousness of Bābar's army.]
He who made men assigned them different positions; He sitteth
apart alone and regardeth them.
True is the Lord, true His decision, true the justice He meteth
out as an example.
Bodies shall be cut like shreds of cloth; Hindustan will remember
what I say.
They shall come in '78, depart in '97, and then shall rise another
disciple of a hero.[1]
Nanak uttereth the word of the True One, and will proclaim the
truth at the True One's appointed time.[2]
Lalo asked the Guru what he meant by saying that God had assigned
men different positions. The Guru replied as follows:--
God can cause lions, hawks, kestrels, and falcons to eat grass;
And the animals which eat grass He can cause to eat meat--such a
custom can He establish.
He can cause hills to appear in rivers, and unfathomable rivers in
sandy deserts.
He can appoint a worm to sovereignty, and reduce an army to ashes.
What wonder would it be if God caused to live without
breath all the animals which live by breathing?
Nanak, as it pleaseth the True One, so He giveth us sustenance.[3]
A Brahman came to the Guru, offered him a basket of fruit, and
said, 'My friend, thou art uttering hymns of wrath.' The Guru replied,
'Remain not here; there is a pool three miles distant; go thither with
thy family. All who remain here will be put
[1. That is, the Mughals shall come in Sambat 1578, and depart in
Sambat 1597 (A.D. 1540). The Sambat year is fifty-seven years in
advance of annus Domini. The departing monarch was Humāyūn. The
disciple of a hero is understood to be Sher Shāh Sūri, who
dispossessed him. This line appears to be an answer to a question put
to the Guru by Lālo.
2. Tilang.
3 Mājh ki Wār.]
to death.' The Brahman acted on his advice. After some days Babar
assaulted and destroyed the city. He also devastated the neighbouring
villages. There was a general massacre of the people, and Pathan as
well as Hindu habitations were plundered and razed to the ground.
The lives of the Guru and Mardana were spared, probably because
they were strangers, but they were imprisoned and placed under the
superintendence of Mir Khan, an officer of Babar's army. Mir Khan, on
seeing them, ordered, 'Take away these slaves to work.' The Guru was
condemned to carry loads on his head, and Mardana to do the work of a
groom. The Guru upon this uttered the following:--
I am a purchased slave, my name is Lucky.
I have sold myself in the shop for God's word; where He placed me,
there am I placed.
What cleverness hath Thy slave?
He cannot obey the Lord's order,
My mother was a slave, my father a slave, I was born a
slave.
My mother danced, my father sang, I perform Thy service, O
King.[1]
If Thou drink I will fetch Thee water, O Lord; if Thou eat I will
grind Thee corn.
I win fan Thee, I will shampoo Thy limbs, and continue to repeat
Thy name.
Saith Nanak, ungrateful is Thy slave; if Thou pardon him,
it will be to Thy glory.
In the beginning, in every age, Lord of mercy, Bestower, without
Thee salvation is not obtained.[2]
When the Guru had finished this hymn, Mardana saw some women
weeping and shrieking as they passed along, and asked his master what
had happened to them. The Guru told Mardana to play the
[1. That is, I am a hereditary servant of God.
2 Māru.]
rebeck. Mardana replied that he could not do so, as he was holding
a horse. The Guru bade him utter 'Wah Guru' and let go the horse.
Mardana obeyed and played the Rag Asa, to which the Guru sang the
following hymn:--
They who wore beautiful tresses and the partings of whose hair
were dyed with vermilion,
Have their locks now shorn with the scissors, and dust is thrown
upon their heads.
They dwelt in their private chambers; now they cannot find a seat
in public--
Hail, Father! hail!
O Primal Being, Thy limit is not known; Thou makest and beholdest
the different phases of existence--
When they were married, they appeared beautiful near their
spouses;
They came in their sedans adorned with ivory;
Water was waved round their heads,[1] and glittering fans over
them.
They had hundreds of thousands waiting on them sitting.
and hundreds of thousands waiting on them standing.
Eating coco-nuts and dates they sported on their couches;
But now chains are on their necks, and broken are their
strings of pearls.
The wealth and beauty which afforded them pleasure have now become
their bane.
The order was given to the soldiers to take and dishonour them.
If it please God, He giveth greatness; and if it please Him, He
giveth punishment.
If they had thought of Him before, why should they have received
punishment?
But they had lost all thought of God in joys, in spectacles, and
in pleasures.
When Babar's rule was proclaimed no Pathan prince ate his food.
[1. The bridegroom's mother or elder sister waves water around the
head of a bride and then drinks it, so as to take all her ills on
herself.]
Some lost their five times of Prayer, others their hours of
worship.
How shall Hindu women now bathe and apply frontal marks without their
sacred squares?
They who never thought of Ram[1] are not now allowed even to mention
Khuda.[1]
One may return to her home; another may meet and in quire after the
safety of a relation;
But others are destined to sit and weep in pain.
What pleaseth God, O Nanak, shall happen; what is man?[3]
After this, Mir Khan, the governor of the jail, arrived. He saw
that the Guru's bundle was raised a cubit over his head without any
apparent support, and that the horse entrusted to Mardana followed him
while he played sacred music on his rebeck. The governor communicated
this information to Babar. The Emperor replied that, if he had known
the city contained such holy men, he would not have destroyed it. At
the governor's suggestion he went to the prison, which was two miles
distant. There were Pathan and Hindu women huddled promiscuously
together, grinding corn. The Guru had also been supplied with a
hand-mill for the same purpose. It is said that the mill revolved of
its own accord while he put in the corn. The Emperor addressed the
Guru, but he was in a trance, thinking of the slaughter of his
unoffending countrymen. On awaking he uttered the following hymn,
which, however, is not found in the Granth Sahib:--
[1. The Hindu name of God.
[2. The Muhammadan name of God, which Hindus shrink from
pronouncing.
3. Compare--
God of our fathers! what is man
That thou towards him with hand so various,
Or might I say contrarious,
Temper'st thy providence through his short course,
Not evenly, as thou rulest
The angelic orders, and inferior creatures mute,
Irrational and brute?
MILTON, Samson Agonistes.]
No one can kill him, O Kind One, whom Thou preservest.
How can Thy praises be numbered? Thou savest countless beings.
Preserve me, O Beloved, preserve me! I am Thy slave.
My true Lord pervadeth sea and land, the nether and the upper
regions.
Thou didst preserve Jaidev and Nama, Thy beloved saints--
Thou didst save those on whom Thou didst bestow Thy name-
Thou didst preserve Sain, Kabir, and Trilochan who loved Thy name.
Thou didst preserve Ravdas, the tanner, who is numbered a among
Thy saints.[1]
Nanak, who is without honour or family, uttereth supplication.
Extricate him, O Lord, from the ocean of the world, and make him
Thine own.
It is said that the Emperor, on hearing this, fell at Nanak's feet,
and declared that God appeared on his face. Upon this all the
courtiers saluted Nanak. The Emperor asked him to accept a present
from him. The Guru replied that he wanted nothing for himself, but he
requested that the captives of Saiyidpur might be released, Upon this
the Emperor ordered that they should be set free and their property
restored to them. The captives, however, refused to depart without the
Guru. He was then allowed to go with them, and they went to their
homes in the city. They found that all the people who had remained in
Saiyidpur had been put to death. Mardana told his master that it had
all happened as God had willed it. Upon this the Guru. to the
accompaniment of Mardana's rebeck, sang the following lamentation:--
[1. An account of the saints mentioned in this hymn, with their
compositions contained in the Granth Sāhib, will be given in the
final volume of this work.]
Where are those sports, those stables, and those horses?
Where those bugles and clarions?
Where are those who buckled on their swords and were mighty in
battle? where those scarlet uniforms?
Where those mirrors and fair faces? we see them no longer here.
This world is Thine, O Lord of the earth.
In one ghari Thou establishest and disestablishest; Thou
distributest wealth as Thou pleasest.
Where are those houses, those mansions, and those palaces where
those beautiful seraglios?
Where are those easy couches and those women a sight of whom
banished sleep?
Where is that betel, those betel-sellers, and those fair ones?
They have vanished.
For wealth many are ruined; this wealth hath disgraced many.
It is not amassed without sin, and it departeth not with the dead.
Him whom the Creator destroyeth He first depriveth of
virtue.
Millions of priests tried by their miraculous power to
restrain the emperor when they heard of his approach.
He burned houses, mansions, and palaces; he cut princes to pieces,
and had them rolled in the dust.
No Mughal hath become blind; no priest hath wrought a
miracle.
There was a contest between the Mughals and Pathans the sword was
wielded in the battle.
One side aimed and discharged their guns, the other also handled
their weapons:
They whose letter[1] hath been torn in God's court must die, my
brethren.
There were the wives of Hindus, of Turks, of Bhattis, and
of Rajputs.
[1. In India when announcing the death of' a relation it is usual
for the writer to tear the top of the letter. The reference here is to
that custom.]
The robes of some were torn from head to foot; the dwellings of
others were their places of cremation.
How did they whose husbands came not home pass the night?
The Creator acteth and causeth others to act; to whom shall man
complain?
Misery and happiness are according to Thy pleasure; to whom shall
we go to cry?
The Commander is pleased issuing His orders; Nanak, man obtaineth
what is allotted him.[1]
A propos of the change of circumstances in India the Guru uttered
the following:--
God hath given fixed time for all events, and fully
established the nine regions, the seven seas, the fourteen
worlds,[2] the three qualities, and the four ages.
He put four lamps[3] one by one into the hands of the four ages.
O kind God such is Thy power.
The dwellers at every hearth are Thy slaves, and religion is their
ruler.
The earth is Thy cooking-pot, Thou gavest once for all destiny is
Thy storekeeper.
Instigated by their hearts[4] men lose patience and beg again and
again to their ruin.
Covetousness is a black dungeon, demerits the fetters on the feet.
Wealth ever beateth the soul with its mallet, while sin
sitteth as judge.
Man shall be either good or bad, O Lord, as Thou lookest on him.
[1. Āsa.
2. The Hindus and the Muhammadans agree in believing that there are
fourteen worlds, seven above and seven, including the earth itself.
below. According to the Hindus these worlds emerged from the mundane
egg when divided into two equal parts.
3. The Veds.
4. Nārad the Muni is here understood by the gyanis to mean the
human heart. Some further account of Narad will be given.]
The Primal Being is now called Allah; the turn of the
Shaikhs hath come.
There is a tax on the shrines of the gods; such is the practice
established.
There are ablution-pots, calls to prayer, five daily prayers,
prayer-carpets, and God appeareth dressed in blue.[1]
In every house all say 'Mian';[2] your language hath been changed.
Since Thou, who art Lord of the earth hast appointed Babar a
Mir,[3] what power have we?
In the four directions men make Thee obeisance, and Thy praises
are uttered in every house.
The profit which is obtained from pilgrimages, repeating the
Simritis,[4] and bestowing alms all day long,
Is, O Nanak, obtained in one ghari by remembering the Name which
conferreth greatness.[5]
The Hindus and the Musalmans who returned to Saiyidpur began to
dispose of their dead, and there was weeping and mourning in every
house. People said, 'Such and such was the deceased.' Upon this
the Guru fell into a trance, and uttered the following hymn:--
As herdsmen stay for a short time in the
pasture-ground,[6] so do men stay in this world.
Men by the exercise of falsehood build houses for themselves.
Awake, ye sleepers; lo! the soul the dealer to remain here
for ever, then build houses.
The body shall fall and the soul depart, if any one desire
to know the truth.
[1. The Muhammadans frequently wear blue clothes, a custom which
has descended from the ancient Egyptians.
2. Miān, a title of respect addressed to Muhammadans. In
the hill districts, of India it is given to the sons of Rājput
princes.
3. Mīr, a lord or master.
4. Simritis, the traditional ceremonial and legal institutes
of the Hindus. The principal Simritis are twenty-seven in number.
5. Basant Ashtapadi.
6. This refers to the nomadic life which prevailed around the Guru's
natal village.]
Why criest thou Alas! alas!'[1] God is and shall be.
Ye weep for others, but who will weep for you?
Ye worry with worldly occupations, my brethren, and practise
falsehood.
The dead hear not at all; ye only cry to be heard of others.
He who laid them to sleep, Nanak, will awake them.
If man know his own home in God, then shall he not sleep.
If any one know of any one at his departure taking any thing
with him,
Then let him with open eyes amass wealth-know and consider this.
Do thy dealing; gain thine object; be not sorry here after.
Thou shalt be known as a true dealer if thou take profit with
thee.
Sow the seed of truth in the soil of honesty; in that way practise
tillage.
Forsake vice, practise virtue, so shalt thou obtain the Real Thing.
If it be God's favour, man shall meet the true Guru, understand his
instruction,
Repeat the Name, hear the Name, and deal in the Name.
As is the profit so the loss; that is the way of the world.
What pleaseth Him, O Nanak, is my glory.[2]
One day Mardana took it into his head to ask the Guru to explain
the cause of the Saiyidpur massacre. and said, 'Sir, some Pathans have
done wrong; but why have so many been killed on their account?' The
Guru pointed out a tree, and told Mardana to go and sleep under it.
When he awoke, the Guru would give him an answer. Mardana accordingly
went and lay down to sleep under the tree. A drop of honey fell on his
naked breast. As he slept, ants came to drink it, and the sleeper half
unconsciously crushed them to death with his hand. The Guru asked him
on awaking what he had done. He replied
[1. Ohi, ohi! There is a pun on the word ohi. It means, Alas! and
He (God) is.
2. Āsa Ashtapadi.]
that one insect had bitten him, and so he had killed them all. The
Guru replied, 'It is in that very way the people of Saiyidpur were
killed.' Upon this Mardana fell at his feet, and the remnant of the
inhabitants of Saiyidpur became his disciples.
After this the Guru returned to the Emperor's camp with the object
of obtaining another interview with him. He visited the prison and
sang hymns for the prisoners whose treatment he deplored. Under the
influence of such feelings he composed the following:--
Babar ruled over Khurasan and hath terrified Hindustan.
The Creator taketh no blame to Himself; it was Death disguised as
a Mughal who made war on us.
When there was such slaughter and lamentation, didst not Thou, O
God, feel pain?
Creator, Thou belongest to all.
If a tyrant slay a tyrant, one is not angry
But if a ravening lion fall on a herd, its master[1] should
show his manliness.
The dogs of Lodi[2] have spoiled the priceless inheritance;
when they are dead no one will regard them.
O God, Thou Thyself joinest and Thou Thyself separatest--lo! this
is Thy greatness.
If any one give himself a great name and enjoy himself to his
heart's content,
In God's view he is as a worm which nibbleth corn
But he who while alive is dead, may gain something, O
Nanak, by repeating the Name.[3]
When Babar had heard this hymn, he ordered the Guru to be sent for.
When the Guru appeared, the Emperor asked him to sing the hymn again,
and
[1. The master of Hindustān at the time was Sultān Ibrāhim Lodi.
He only met Bābar's force at Pānīpat, where he was defeated.
2 The Pathān dynasty of the Lodis who ruled in India prior to the
advent of the Mughal Babar.
3. Āsa.]
the Guru did so. Upon this, it is said, Babar's brain opened for
the reception of spiritual truths. He praised the Guru, and opening
his bhang-pouch, offered him some. The Guru replied that he had
already taken bhang whose intoxication would never subside. Babar
asked what bhang that was. The Guru replied with the following hymn:--
O God, fear of Thee is my bhang, my heart its pouch
I am an intoxicated hermit.
My bands are the cup; it is for a sight of Thee, O God, I
hunger,
And ever beg at Thy door-
For a sight of Thee I crave.
I beg at Thy door; grant me Thine alms.
Saffron, flowers, musk, gold, and sandal are all applied to the
body;
So the bright perfume of the saints rendereth all souls
fragrant.
No one calleth clarified butter or silk impure;[1]
Such is a saint in regard to caste.
May Nanak obtain alms at the doors
Of those who are imbued with Thy name and continue to love
Thee![2]
The Emperor was so pleased with the Guru that he asked him to
accompany him. The Guru would at first only promise to remain one day
with him, but, on being pressed to remain three days, at last
consented. The Guru was always distressed as he looked towards the
prisoners. For the third time he sang the preceding hymn, and then
fell into a trance and became unconscious. The Emperor stood over him,
and asked the bystanders what had happened. They replied that the
faqir, on beholding God's wrath, was in suffering, and had fallen into
a trance. Babar became alarmed for the Guru's safety, and asked the
people to pray to God for his recovery.
[1. That is, no one despises them.
2. Tilang.]
Upon this the Guru stood up, and there then shone such light as if
a thousand suns had arisen. Babar saluted, and asked the Guru to be
gracious unto him. The Guru replied, 'If thou, O Emperor, desire
kindness, set all thy captives free.' He agreed, on one condition-that
the Guru should promise that his empire should continue from
generation to generation. The Guru replied, 'Thine empire shall remain
for a time.' The Emperor on this ordered that all his prisoners should
be clothed with robes of honour, a matter which gave great pleasure
and satisfaction to the Guru. The Emperor asked the Guru for
instruction suitable to his position, The Guru said, 'Deliver just
judgements, reverence holy men, forswear wine and gambling. The
monarch who indulgeth in these vices shall, if he survive, bewail his
misdeeds. Be merciful to the vanquished, and worship God in spirit and
in truth.'
At the final parting, the Emperor pressed the Guru to embrace
Islam, which recognized only one God, as the Guru himself had been
preaching, so he would not have far to go on his spiritual journey and
his progress to salvation. Moreover, on embracing Islam he would have
the advantage of the mediation of God's holy and last prophet
Muhammad. The Guru replied:--
There are hundreds of thousands of Muhammads, but only one God.
The Unseen is true and without anxiety.
Many Muhammads stand in His court.
So numberless they cannot be reckoned.
Prophets have been sent and come into the world.
Whenever He pleaseth He hath them arrested and brought before Him.
The slave Nanak hath ascertained
That God alone is pure and all else impure.
The Emperor, instead of being incensed at this outspoken language,
invited the Guru to ask him
a favour. The Guru replied to the accompaniment of Mardana's rebeck:--
It is the one God Who hath commissioned me.
Every one partaketh of His Gifts.
He who looketh for human support
Loseth both this world and, the next.
There is but one Giver, the whole world are beggars.
They who forsake Him and attach themselves to others lose all
their honour.
Kings and Emperors are all made by Him.
There is none equal to Him.
Saith Nanak, Hear, Emperor Babar,
He who beggeth of thee is a fool.
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CHAPTER X
The Guru then departed for Pasrur, and thence to Sialkot, the
fortress of the Sial tribe, now a cantonment in the northern part of
the Panjab. He rested under a wild caper tree, which still exists
outside the city. Having taken refreshment, he sent Mardana to the
market-place for a paisa, or a farthing's worth of truth and a paisa
worth of falsehood. Nobody understood what the messenger meant till
Mardana reached Mula, who was a Karar, or petty shopkeeper. The latter
said that death was true and life false. Mardana returned with this
message to the Guru. Upon this a great friendship sprang up between
the Guru and Mula, and Mula afterwards accompanied him to Kabul. On a
subsequent occasion when Guru Nanak and Mardana visited Sialkot,
Mardana went to Mula. His wife, thinking her husband would again leave
her, concealed him, and told Mardana to say he was not at home. In his
concealment, he was bitten by a snake and died. On this Guru Nanak
composed the following --
Friendship with Karars is false, and false is its foundation.
Mula saw not whence death would come to him.[1]
[1. Additional Sloks of Guru Nanak.]
When his work was accomplished in Sialkot, the Guru proceeded to
the south of the Panjab as far as Mithankot (in the present district
of Dera Ghazi Khan), where Mian Mitha, a famous Muhammadan priest,
resided. The Guru took up his quarters in a garden near the town. When
Mian Mitha heard of the Guru's arrival he said, 'Nanak is a good faqir;
but, if I meet him, I will squeeze the juice out of him as if he were
a lemon.' Mardana, when reporting his speech to the Guru, said, 'Mian
Mitha is thine automaton, and will play as thou causest him to play.'
Mian Mitha continued his boasting: 'I will go to see Nanak, and, if I
meet him, I will take the cream off him as I would skim milk.' Mian
Mitha met the Guru and, after saluting him in the Muhammadan fashion,
sat down. He challenged the Guru by the following slok:--
The first name is that of God, the second that of the Prophet.
O Nanak, if thou repeat the Creed,[1] thou shalt find acceptance
in God's court.
The Guru replied:--
The first name is that of God; how many prophets are at His
gate!
O Shaikh, form good intentions, and thou shalt find acceptance in
God's court.
The Guru continued: 'Mian Mitha, at God's gate there is no room for
a prophet. He who dwelleth there is God alone.' Mian Mitha then put
the Guru two questions: 'How can a lamp burn without oil? and, How
shall man obtain a seat in God's court? The Guru replied as follows:--
Act according to the Quran and thy sacred books.
Put the wick of fear into thy body
Burn in it the knowledge of truth;
[1. That is, if thou become a Muhammadan.]
Thus shall thy lamp burn without oil.
Make such a light, and thou shalt find the Lord.
When God's words leave an impression on man
And service is performed, happiness is obtained.
All worlds come and go:
While abiding in this world perform worship;
Thus shalt thou obtain a seat in God's court,
And, saith Nanak, triumphantly swing thine arm.'
Mian Mitha then put to the Guru the question contained in the first
line of the following hymn. He also inquired the condition of the
souls of the wicked after death. The Guru replied as follows:--
'My brother, salam alaikum! for God's sake tell the truth; how
shall man obtain distinction in God's court?'
As man soweth so shall he reap; he shall eat what he obtaineth
from the Commander.
Nanak, without the true Name man shall be bound and endure
suffering.
Praise be to the Creator; when man goeth down to the wretched dark
grave, God's power shall be manifested.
The angels, the heralds of the Almighty, shall come with His
orders.
They shall hold quivers, maces, battle-axes, two-edged swords,
bows,
Lances, and shields made of fire; and put chains on men's necks.
By God's order they shall bind and lead away the back biter as
well as the man without a priest.
Nanak, the true Name, the source of consolation in this last age,
shall procure man's acceptance in God's court.
Ye fear lions, jackals, and snakes; but they shall make their
dwellings in your graves.
Oxen shall root up your graves, and even your enemies' hatred of
you shall cool.
[1. Sri Rāg.]
Brethren, friends, and lovers read the fatiha,[1] and say
prayers for the departed.
Nanak, such things are false, and God alone is true.
The sinners who have committed transgressions are bound and led
away.
Their luggage of sins is so heavy that they cannot lift it.
The steep road ahead is dark, while the executioner walketh behind
them.
In front is a sea of fire; how shall they cross it?
Ravens stand on men's skulls, and peck at them fast as a shower of
sparks.
Nanak, where shall man escape when the punishment is by God's
order?
The eyes of the sinful shall be torn out; they shall be come
blind, and terrible darkness prevail.
Their ears shall be pressed as if they were the sockets of
oil-presses,[2] and storms of filth shall assail their
noses.
Their tongues shall be cut out for breaking their promises
and forgetting the True One.
They shall cry aloud when their skulls are burning in the fire.
No one can save the ignorant man who is covetous and hath no
priest;
But they whose demerits are pardoned through their merits shall
be, O Nanak, of the elect.
As sesame is heated and pressed, or cotton carded by means
of a thong, so shall sinners be punished.
Like paper they shall be beaten with mallets, and put into
presses;
They shall be heated like iron; they shall burn and cry aloud;
The wretched beings' heads shall be taken up with tongs and placed
on anvils,
[1. The introductory prayer of the Quran. Its secondary meaning is
prayers offered up for a deceased person.
2. The Indian oil-press is a primitive machine. A beam is made to
revolve in a socket in which the seeds to be pressed are placed. The
meaning here is, that the cars shall be tortured as if the beams of
oil-presses revolved in them as sockets.]
On which they shall be beaten with hammers in time according to
the smith's[1] lead.
Nanak, without the true Name they shall have no rest either in
this world or the next.
Iron spikes shall be driven into their feet, and the sun shall
burn their heads.
They who are captivated with the strange woman's flesh, shall lose
their manhood and their honour;
They shall be bound to a heated pillar, and no one will go
near them;
They shall be unloosed and again tied to it; they shall repent and
implore pity--
Everybody, Nanak, is an enemy of the sinner--
They shall be put into a furnace and bodkins of fire thrust into
their eyes;
They shall be burnt by sand under which fire hath been kindled;
They shall be roasted in a caldron like rice, and shall
then crackle and make a report.
God Himself pardoneth, O Nanak; whom else shall we address?
As the juice of sugar-cane is expressed by putting great weight on
it,
So man is weighed down by eating, drinking, dressing, and
pleasures which degrade his mind.
An account shall be demanded from the soul which hath dealt in
such things.
Feet and legs perform the duties the soul ordereth them.
The tongue which tasted sinful savours shall stand up in court and
cry out against the soul;
The ears shall also depose that it is the soul which is false and
deceitful.
The nose and eyes shall also plead not guilty, and it is the poor soul
which shall suffer.
The soul under arrest in Death's court pleadeth, 'It is the
senses which have led the whole world astray:
'The senses united have thrown man into misery as the smith putteth
iron on the anvil.'
[1. Dharmrāj, the Pluto of Greek mythology.]
Nanak, he who meeteth not the true Guru and obtaineth
not divine knowledge, shall find no rest in this world or
the next.
The soul shall be filed seventy times like an arrow;
It shall be melted like gold in a mould; O soul, thou shalt suffer
for what thou hast done.
The soul shall have to bear a prodigious saddle and be
driven like a steed.
Nanak, it shall be bound by Death, and have to suffer
transmigration again and again.
How many enemies shall it have on sea and land! the forests and
glades shall cause it to suffer.
Every house shall bear it enmity; Nanak, the real thing is to
meditate on the Eternal.
Death with the three bloodshot and terrible eyes shall lie in wait
for the soul.
The whole world is Death's provender; merciless is the god of
death.
He seizeth men, Nanak, and hurrieth them away in obedience to the
Commander.
My body is before Thee; Thou art Master; Thou mayest preserve or
destroy it.
There shall be no mother, father, kinsman, wife, or brother,
Son, or wealth to assist us; how shall we have consolation?
There shall be no quiver, or bow, or shield, or sword to
protect us,
But a seething caldron day and night; consider this under the
Guru's instruction.
Make honesty thy steed, truth thy saddle, continence thine
equestrian armour;
The five virtues[1] thine arrows, and truth thy sword and shield.
Nanak, pious men who have truth in their hearts, shall obtain
honour in God's court.
[1. Contentment, compassion, piety, patience, morality. The list of
the five virtues is somewhat arbitrary. Truth is generally included in
them, but here the Guru makes it a separate virtue.]
Brahma who came into the world repeating the Veds cannot
describe God.
What is poor Krishan who by God's order descended upon earth?
Shiv and countless gods and goddesses standing at Thy gate praise
Thee.
He who turneth from God shall pine away and die; the True
One is ever the Pardoner.[1]
Mian Mitha then spoke: 'What is that one Name which thou praisest
so much?' The Guru replied, 'Hath any one ever known the worth of that
Name?' Mian Mitha asked him to be good enough to explain it to him.
The Guru then took his arm, led him aside, and said to him, 'Shaikh,
hearest thou the Name of the one God?' While they were speaking, the
name of the Prophet vanished amid the sounds of divine ecstasy, and
when they looked again there appeared instead of it only a heap of
ashes. Then came a voice from heaven which only repeated 'Allah',
God's Arabic name. Upon this Shaikh Mitha got up and kissed the Guru's
feet. The Guru then fell into a trance, and in that state gave
utterance to the following:--
NASIHAT NAMA[2]
The present are favoured; the absent are not.
Faith is a friend, want of faith an infidel;
Pride is ruin, wrath is unlawful;
Concupiscence is Satan, conceit is infidelity;
The slanderer's face is black.
The man without faith is unclean; he who is tender-hearted is
pure.
Knowledge is gentleness. The non-avaricious are holy the
avaricious are impatient.
The honest man hath a bright, the ungrateful man a yellow face.
[1. Banno's Granth Sahib. It must be noted that this hymn is not
generally accepted by the Sikhs.
2. Instruction. This too is not found in the Granth Sahib.]
Truth is heaven, falsehood is hell.
Mildness is victuals.
Force is oppression, justice is pure.
God's praises are ablutions, the call to prayer is noise.
Theft is greed, adultery uncleanness.
Patience is humility, impatience deceit.
The right way is that of spiritual advisers; the wrong way
is for those who have none.
Compassion is wealth, want of compassion useless.
The sword is for warriors, justice for monarchs.
He who knoweth and causeth others to know these things,
Is, O Nanak, called a wise man.
Upon this the Guru and Mian Mitha separated.
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CHAPTER XI
The Guru proceeded to the river Ravi and thence to Lahore. The
Lahore territory was then farmed from the Emperor by a millionaire
Khatri, whose name was Duni Chand. He was performing the ceremony of
shradh[1] for his father, when he heard of the devout Nanak's arrival.
He took the Guru to his house, and treated him with great affection.
When everything was ready for the anniversary feast, Duni Chand began
to feed the Brahmans. The Guru, on being summoned, asked what the
matter was. Duni Chand replied that it was his father's shradh, and
that he had fed one hundred Brahmans in his name. The Guru replied,
'It is now two days since thy father hath eaten anything, and yet thou
sayest thou hast fed one hundred Brahmans for him.' Duni Chand asked
where his father was. The Guru replied that he had become incarnate in
a wolf, which was now in a clump of trees six miles distant. The
reason
[1. Shrādhs are oblations of cakes and libations of water
made to the spirits of deceased ancestors: Vide Monier
Williams's Indian Wisdom, passim.]
his father's soul had entered a wolf was, that while he was in
human birth he had coveted meat which a Sikh was cooking, and had died
in that desire.
The Guru, on seeing several flags over Duni Chand's door, asked
what they were. It was explained that each flag denoted a lakh of
rupees which Duni Chand had acquired. On this the Guru gave him a
needle, and told him to keep it until he asked for it in the next
world. Duni Chand took the needle to his wife, and told her to put it
by for the purpose indicated. She believed him crazed, and asked how a
needle could go to the next world. She accordingly charged him to
return it to the Guru. Duni Chand took the needle with his wife's
message to the Guru, who said, 'If such a small and light thing as a
needle cannot go to the next world, how can thy wealth reach there?'
Upon this Duni Chand fell at his feet, and prayed him to tell him by
what means his wealth should reach the next world. The Guru replied,
'Give some of thy wealth in God's name, feed the poor, and thy wealth
shall accompany thee.' Upon this Duni Chand distributed seven lakhs of
treasure, for he understood that disobedience to the Guru's order
would militate against his salvation. He then became a disciple of the
Guru, and began to repeat the Name. Guru Nanak uttered the following
on the occasion:--
False are kings, false their subjects, false the whole world;
False are mansions, false palaces, false those who dwell therein;
False is gold, false silver, false he who weareth them
False the body, false raiment, false peerless beauty;
False husbands, false wives; they pine away and become dust.[1]
Man who is false loveth what is false, and forgetteth the Creator.
[1. Instead of chhār, dust, the Granth Sāhib has khwār,
despised.]
With whom contract friendship? The whole world passeth away.
False is sweetness, false honey, in falsehood shiploads are
drowned--
Nanak humbly asserteth--Except Thee, O God, everything is
thoroughly false.[1]
The Guru went in a north-east direction, and took up his post on
the bank of the Ravi. His arrival there caused great excitement, and
every one went to see him. He was universally held to be a man of God.
All who visited him went away pleased. Every verse that he composed
was at once published abroad. He used to compose verses like the
following, which faqirs sang to the accompaniment of reeds:--
Falsehood is at an end; Nanak, truth at last prevaileth.[2]
The was only the one Name mentioned in the Guru's dwelling, and he
became the object of great popular admiration.
A millionaire official who dwelt in a neighbouring village began to
depreciate the Guru. He said, 'Who is this person whose name is
repeated by every one, as if he were a god, though he is only a mortal
like ourselves? The Hindus are being perverted, and even the Musalmans
are losing their faith. Come, let us imprison him.' When the speaker
mounted on horseback, the animal shied and threw him. Next day he
again mounted, but, as he proceeded on his way, became blind and had
to alight. Those who his calamity were afraid to make any remark save
that Nanak was a great saint. They, however, suggested to the
millionaire that he should do homage to the Guru. Upon this he began
to praise the Guru; and those who were with him bowed towards the
Guru. The millionaire again
[1. Āsa ki Wār.
2. Rāmkali ki Wār I.]
mounted his horse, intending this time to go and supplicate the
Guru, but immediately fell down. His companions addressed him, 'Thou
hast made a mistake in going on horseback. Go on foot, that thou
mayest be pardoned.' He took this advice. On arriving at a spot whence
the Guru's residence could be seen, he recovered his sight, and began
to make salutations in the Guru's direction. On arriving in his
presence he fell at his feet. The Guru was pleased and made him his
guest for three days. The millionaire, in honour of the Guru, founded
a village, which he called Kartarpur, on the margin of the Ravi, and
built a Sikh temple therein, both of which he dedicated to the Guru.
One day a fanatical Brahman came to the Guru and begged for alms.
The Guru, who was at his break fast, invited the Brahman to join him.
The Brahman replied that he would not eat food in that way. He would
only eat what he had cooked himself. He would first dig up the earth
to a depth of a cubit so that all impurity of the surface might be
removed, and he would also make a cooking square into which none but
himself might enter. He would then dig a span deeper, and make a
fireplace on which he would put firewood which he had washed, so that
no insects might be burned in it. The Guru had not attended to these
formalities, and the Brahman spurned food otherwise cooked. The Guru
told him he would give him uncooked viands which he might cook
himself. He then went outside and began to dig up the earth, but
wherever he dug he only turned up bones, which he deemed a still
greater abomination than the Guru's food. He continued digging all
day, but with the same result. At last, overcome by hunger, he went
and threw himself at Nanak's feet, and asked for the cooked food he
had previously rejected. The Guru was pleased to gratify him, and then
composed the following:--
Cooking places of gold, vessels of gold,
Lines of silver far extended,
Ganges water, firewood of the karanta[1] tree,
Eating rice boiled in milk
O my soul, these things are of no account
Until thou art saturated with the true Name.
Hadst thou the eighteen Purans with thee,
Couldst thou recite the four Veds,
Didst thou bathe on holy days and give alms according to men's
castes,
Didst thou fast and perform religious ceremonies day and night;
Wert thou a qazi, a mulla, or a shaikh,
A Jogi, a jangam,[2] didst thou wear an ochre-coloured dress,
Or didst thou perform the duties of a householder--
Without knowing God, Death would bind and take all men away.
The duties of all creatures are recorded on their heads
They shall be judged according to their acts.
Foolish and ignorant-men issue orders--
Nanak, the True One hath storehouses of praises.[3]
The Guru initiated the practice of singing hymns in the end of the
night. A boy seven years of age used to come to listen and stand
behind him. When the singing was over, he used quietly to ,depart. One
day the Guru ordered his servants to detain the boy in order to
discover the object of his continual attendance. He was accordingly
brought before the Guru, who asked him, 'O boy, why comest thou so
early in the morning to listen to hymns? This is the time of life for
thee to eat, play, and sleep.' The boy replied, 'Sir, one day my
mother bade me light the fire. When I put on the wood, I observed that
the little sticks burned first and afterwards the big ones. From that
me I have been afraid of early death. It is very
[1. The Carissa Carandas.
2. A class of faqirs with matted hair and thin chains to their
feet. They generally go about ringing bells.
3. Basant.]
doubtful whether we shall live to be old, and so I attend thy
religious gatherings.' The Guru was much pleased on hearing this
wisdom from the child's lips, and said he spoke like an old man (budha).
On that occasion the Guru composed the following:--
In the briny unfathomable ocean the fish did not recognize the
net.[1]
Why did the very clever and beautiful fish have so much
confidence?
It was caught through its own doing; death cannot be averted,
O my brethren; know that in like manner death hangeth over your
heads.
Man is like the fish upon which the net falleth unawares.
The whole world is bound by death; without the Guru death cannot
be destroyed.
They who are imbued with the True One, and have abandoned
worthless mammon, are saved.
I am a sacrifice unto those who are found true at the gate
of the True One.
Death is like the hawk among the birds, or the huntsman
with the noose in his hands.
They whom the Guru preserved have been saved all others have been
entrapped by the bait.
They who possess not God's name shall be rejected no one will
assist them.
God is the truest of the true, and His place is the truest
of the true.
They who obey the True One meditate on Him in their hearts.
Even the perverse who obtain divine knowledge under the Guru's
instruction are pure.
Make supplication to the true Guru to unite thee with the Friend.
When man meeteth the Friend he obtaineth happiness, and the
myrmidons of death poison themselves.
[1. The worldly man does not remember death.]
I abide in the Name, and the Name abideth in my heart.
Without the Guru all is darkness; without the Word nothing
can be known.
By the Guru's instruction light shineth, and man continueth to
love the True One.
Death entereth not where the soul's light is blended with God's.
Thou, O God, art the Friend; Thou art wise; it is Thou who
unitest men with Thee.
Under the Guru's instruction, O man, praise Him who hath, no end
or limit.
Death entereth not where there is the incomparable Word of the
Guru.
By God's order all sentient beings were produced; by God's
order they perform their functions.
By God's order they are in the power of death; by God's order they
are absorbed in the True One.
Nanak, what pleaseth God shall happen; there is nothing whatever
in the power of His creatures.[1]
The boy to whom the above hymn was addressed was subsequently known
as Bhai Budha on account of the complimentary expression of the Guru.
He was held in such high estimation that he was commissioned to confer
the tilaks or patches of Guruship on the first five successors of Guru
Nanak.
Kalu with all his people proceeded to where his son the Guru had
fixed his habitation. Sikh societies then began to be formed. The Guru
took off his extraordinary costume and dressed in a more conventional
manner. With a cloth around his waist, a sheet over his shoulder, and
a turban on his head, he looked the impersonation of holiness. The
string of his fame rose to heaven, it was said, like that of a kite.
Every one addressed him, 'Hail, Nanak! a great saint hath been born in
the world.'
[1. Sri Rāg, Ashtapadi.]
At Kartarpur, a watch before day, the Japji and the Asa ki War were
repeated. Then followed reading and expounding of the Guru's hymns,
until a watch and a quarter after sunrise. This was succeeded by
singing and the reading of the Arati (Gagan mai thal). After this,
breakfast was served. In the third watch there was again singing,
after which in the evening the Sodar was read. Then the Sikhs all
dined together. The repast ended with further singing. After a watch
of night had elapsed the Sohila was read, and every one then retired.
The Guru when not engaged in prayer occupied himself during the day
in Kartarpur in giving instruction to all who sought it. He thus
delivered himself to Malo and Bhago on the subject of Hindu penances:
'To burn in fire, to abide long in water, to fast, to endure heat and
cold, to hold up one's arm permanently, to do penance with body
reversed to stand for a long time on one leg, to live on forest tubers
and roots, to abide on the margins of rivers, to wander over the world
as a pilgrim, to fast at full moon--all such penances are works of
darkness.'
The Guru thus expressed himself on the subject of the devotional
exercises of the Sikhs: 'To recall the wandering mind from the
distraction of the senses, and then employ it in pious discourses and
in devoutly singing and listening to songs of praise of the
Almighty--know that these are meritorious acts which may be easily
performed. They involve but little labour and bring great reward. The
Hindu penances on the contrary involve great trouble while only small
recompense is obtained therefrom.'
The Guru replied to a man called Kalu who had asked him for a
definition of a holy man: 'Recognize him as holy in whom are to be
found friend ship, sympathy, pleasure at the welfare of others, and
dislike of evil company. In the first place, the intentions of holy
men are pure. Secondly, they are pleased on hearing the praises of others. Thirdly, holy men serve
the virtuous. Fourthly, they honour those who can impart to them
learning and good counsel. Fifthly, as there is a periodical craving
for food or intoxicants, so they feel a craving for the Guru's word
and for divine knowledge. Sixthly, they love their wives, and renounce
other women. Seventhly, they avoid subjects from which quarrels may
arise. Eighthly, they serve those who are superior to themselves in
intelligence or devotion. Ninthly, even if strong, they are not
arrogant, and trample not on others. Tenthly, they abandon the society
of the evil, and only associate with the holy.'
Two Sikhs, called Bhagta and Ohri, asked Guru Nanak how rest was to
be obtained, and transmigration avoided. The Guru replied as follows:
'You shall find rest by avoiding manmukh karm (perverse acts).'
Being asked to define manmukh karm more particularly, the Guru
replied: 'It is to be heartily envious of every one, to desire that
worldly wealth and all happiness should forsake others and come to
oneself, to suffer great pain as one beholdeth the houses and property
of others, to believe all men one's enemies, and do good to no one.
Expel all this evil from your hearts. In the second place, the
perverse man is proud and relentless to every one. When he seeth such
and such a person inferior to himself, he never adviseth him; nay, he
laugheth at him, and treateth him with contempt, saying, "His is
not equal to my lofty intellect." In the third place, the
perverse man is addicted to slander; but do you renounce it and never
utter it. If any one praise another who is superior to him, he cannot
endure it, nay he becometh wroth, saying, "O! I am well
acquainted with him." In this way he uttereth slander. How can he
who is proud of his efforts and envious of others ever possess
excellence? In the fourth place, if the perverse man receive advice,
he will not act on it through obstinacy; nay, he will perversely do the very reverse. These vices--envy, pride, slander,
and obstinacy--belong to the perverse. Relinquish them, acting as
trees do when they drop their leaves in autumn.'
The Guru was asked why the words Sat Nam--the True Name--were
always written as an introduction to his hymns. He replied, 'The Name
is the God of all gods. Some propitiate Durga,[1] some Shiv, some
Ganesh,[2] and some other gods; but the Guru's Sikhs worship the True
Name and thus remove all obstacles to salvation. Accordingly, the
prefatory words, the True Name, are written in all compositions.'
It was here the Guru composed his poem on the Twelve Months of the
year. The description is of course suited to the climate of the Panjab,
his native country. We here give a translation in extenso[3]:--
Hear Thou, O God--according to men's acts in previous
states of existence
The weal or woe which Thou givest to each individual is just.
O God, the Creation is Thine; What is my condition?
I cannot live for a moment without Thee.
I am miserable without my Beloved; I have no friend yet from the
Guru's instruction I drink nectar.
The Formless One continueth His creation;[4] to obey God
is the best of human acts.
[1. Durga is the energy or consort of Shiv.
2. Ganesh is an elephant-headed god of the Hindus, who in one of
his attributes presides over literature, and is specially invoked in
the prefaces to literary works.
3 The Indian seasons and months are--1, Spring, which includes the
months Chet and Baisākh; 2, the hot weather, Jeth and Hār; 3, the
rainy weather, Sāwan and Bhādon; 4, the temperate weather, Assu and
Kartik; 5, the cold weather, Maghar and Poh; 6, Autumn, Māgh and Phāgan.
These seasons are in Sanskrit and Hindi called respectively--Basant,
Grīkham, Pāwas, Sard, Him, and Sisar. The latter season, when the
leaves fall, is contemporaneous with the European early spring. The
Indian lunar year begins with Chet, which is movable, and the Indian
solar year with Baisākh about the 12th of April.
4. In Indian sacred writings several creations and destructions of
the world are alluded to.]
Nanak, the woman is waiting for Thee; hear Thou, O Omnipresent
Spirit.
The chatrik[1] crieth 'Prio!' and the kokil[2] also singeth
its lays.
The woman who is embraced by key Spouse enjoyeth every happiness.
She whom God in His pleasure hath embraced is a happy woman.
God established the nine mansions of the body; the tenth
which is superior to them all, is His home.
Everything is Thine; Thou art my Beloved; I delight in Thee night
and day.
Nanak, the chatrik crieth 'Prio, prio!' and sweet is the kokil's
song.
O God, filled with delight, my Beloved, hear Thou me.
Thou art contained in my soul and body; I forget Thee not for an
instant.
Why should I forget Thee for an instant? I am a sacrifice unto
Thee; I live by singing Thy praises.
I have no one; whose am I? I cannot abide without God.
I have sought the shelter of His feet, and dwell there; and my
body hath become pure.
Nanak, he on whom God looketh with favour obtaineth peace in his
home, and his mind is consoled with the Guru's teaching.
It raineth a torrent of nectar, whose drops are delightful,
When the friend, the kindly Guru meeteth one, and love is
established with God.
God entereth the temple of the body when it pleaseth Him, and the
woman rise and repeateth His praises.
[1. Its cry is 'prio', a word which also means beloved. Hence it is
said the bird calls to God and lives in His worship.
2. The black Indian cuckoo. Its name is derived from its cry, which
increases in volume of sound as it progresses. It is larger than the
chatrik.]
In every house the spouse enjoyeth his happy wife; why hath my
Spouse forgotten me?
Lowering clouds have overspread the heavens; it raineth
pleasantly and love comforteth my soul and body.
Saith Nanak, Thou who rainest ambrosial speech, graciously
come to mine abode.
In Chet agreeable is the spring; the bumble-bee is pleasing.
In the Bar the forests are flowering; may my Beloved return to me!
When her beloved returneth not home, how can a wife obtain
comfort? Her body wasteth away with the pain of separation.
The kokil singeth sweetly on the mango-tree; why should I endure
pain of body?
The bumble-bee is flitting on the flowering branches; how shall I
survive? I am dying, O mother.
Nanak, in Chet comfort is easily obtained if woman obtain God in
her home as her Spouse.
The month of Baisakh is pleasant; the trees are in blossom;
The woman is waiting for God at her gate, saying, 'Come, take
compassion on me.
'Come home, my Beloved, make me cross the difficult ocean; without
Thee I am worthless.
'Who can appraise Thy worth, my Darling? If it please Thee, I
shall look at Thee and show Thee to others.
'I know that Thou art not distant; I acknowledge that Thou art in
my heart, and I recognize Thy mansion.'
Nanak, in Baisakh God is found by him who meditateth on the Word
and whose mind is thus happy.
The month of Jeth is pleasant; why should the Beloved be
forgotten?
The land is burning like a furnace; woman is making supplication--
Woman is making supplication and praising His qualities
'I shall be pleasing to the Lord if I utter His praises.
'The Bairagi[1] liveth in the true palace; if He allow me to go to
Him, I will go.
'Without God I am without honour and strength; how shall I obtain
comfort in His palace?'
Nanak, in Jeth if a woman know God and embrace virtue, she shall
by His favour become like unto Him.
The month of Har is sultry;[2] the sun is burning in the sky;
The earth is suffering; it is parched and heated like fire
The heat is drying up moisture; men die in anguish, yet the sun
wearieth not of his toil.
When his chariot turneth towards the south,[3] woman
looketh for the shade; the grasshoppers chirp in the forest.
She who hath departed with her sins shall suffer in the next
world, while she who remembereth the True One shall obtain
comfort.
Nanak, with God, to whom I gave my heart, are death and life.
In Sawan be happy, O my soul; it is the season of clouds and
rain.
'I love my Spouse with my soul and body, but the Dear One hath
gone abroad;
'My Spouse cometh not home; I am dying with the pang of separation;
the flash of the lightning terrifieth me.
'I am alone on my couch and greatly grieved; O mother, my pain is
as bad as death.
'Say how can sleep and appetite come to me without God? Raiment
affordeth my body no comfort.'
[1. God, in the sense that He loves not the sinner, The word Bairāgi
ordinarily means a man without love for the world. The Bairāgis now
form a special sect who worship Vishnu and wear sacrificial threads.
They are distinguished from the Sanyāsis who worship Shiv and
dispense with sacrificial threads.
2. We are obliged here to take a liberty with the word bhala,
which
means good.
3. After the summer solstice.]
Nanak, she is the happy wife who is embraced by her beloved
Spouse.
In the month of Bhadon woman in the bloom of youth is led
astray by doubt, but afterwards repenteth.
The lakes and the meadows are filled with water; it is the rainy
season--the time for pleasure.
It raineth during the dark night; how can the young wife have
comfort without her mate? Frogs and peacocks are croaking.
'Prio, prio' crieth the chatrik; serpents go abroad biting;
Mosquitoes sting; lakes are filled to the brim; how shall man
obtain comfort without God?
Nanak, I will ask my Guru and go where the Lord is.
In Assu come, O Beloved; the wife is pining and dying for Thee.
Man can meet the Lord when He granteth him an interview; but love
of mammon ruineth him.
When woman is spoiled by falsehood, her husband putteth her away;
then bloom the kukah and the kahi reeds.[1]
The heat is over, the cool season is approaching; on seeing this
my mind is uneasy.[2]
On all sides the trees are green and verdant; that which slowly
ripeneth is sweet.
Nanak, the true Guru hath become my mediator; may I meet my
Beloved in Assu!
In Kartik what pleaseth God is recorded in man's destiny.
The lamp which is lit by divine knowledge easily burneth.
Love is the oil of the lamp; the woman and her Beloved have
met;[3] she is overwhelmed with delight.
She whom sin killeth shall not be acceptable at her death, while
she whom virtue killeth shall really die.[4]
God hath given His name and service to those who dwell in their
own homes; ever their prayer is--
[1. Kukāh is supposed to be the Saccharum munja, and
kāhi the Saccharum spontaneum.
2. That is, so much time has passed away, that I fear I shall never
meet my Beloved.
3. Guided by the lamp's light.
4. Shall not suffer transmigration.]
Meet us, O God, and open the doors of our understanding;
otherwise one hour shall be as six months.'
The month of Maghar is pleasant for those who are blended with
God's person by singing His praises.
The virtuous woman through her virtues enjoyeth her spouse;
my Spouse is ever pleasing to me.
While the whole world is movable, He is immovable, clever, wise,
the Arranger.
They who possess the merits of divine knowledge and meditation
shall be blended with God. They are pleasing to God, and God is
pleasing to them.
The songs, music, and poems of bards have I heard; but it is at
the name of God sorrow fleeth away.
Nanak, that wife is dear to her spouse who in his presence doeth
him hearty service.
In Poh it freezeth; the moisture of the forest and of the grass
drieth up.
Why comest Thou not? Thou dwellest in my body, in my soul, and in
my mouth.[1]
The Life of the world pervadeth my soul and body; I enjoy pleasure
through the instruction of the Guru.
The light of God is contained in the hearts of animals born from
eggs, wombs, perspiration, and earth.
Lord of compassion, beneficent One, grant me a sight of Thee, and
give me understanding that I may obtain salvation.
I Nanak, the Enjoyer enjoyeth her with pleasure who beareth Him
love and affection.
In Magh woman becometh pure when she knoweth the place of
Pilgrimage[2] within her.
I have easily met the Friend, and, by adopting His attributes,
have become blended with Him.
Hear me, O beloved and beautiful God, I made Thine attributes mine
ornaments; if it please Thee, I shall bathe in Thy tank.
[1. That is, I ever think of Thee and repeat Thy name, but am
unworthy to receive Thee.
2 God.]
The Ganges, the Jamna, the meeting of the three rivers at
Tribeni Priyag,[l] the seven oceans,
Alms, charity, and worship are all contained in God's name. I
recognize Him as the One God in every age.
Nanak, in the month of Magh, if I repeat God's name with great
delight, I bathe at the sixty-eight places of pilgrimage.[2]
In Phagan the hearts of those to whom God's love is pleasing
are happy.
Night and day are pleasant to him who effaceth himself.
When it pleased God, I effaced worldly love from my heart; O Lord,
mercifully come to my home.
Though I deck myself in various garbs, yet without the Beloved I
shall not obtain a place in heaven.
I decorated myself with necklaces, strings of pearls, perfumes,[3]
silks, and satins, when my Beloved desired me.
Nanak, my Guru hath blended me with God, and I have obtained Him
as my Spouse.
The twelve months, the seasons, the lunar days, and the week days,
The gharis, the mahurats,[4] the moments, are all pleasant when
the True One cometh and meeteth me of His own accord.
[1. A famous place of Hindu pilgrimage, near Allāhābād. The
third river is the Saraswati, which is supposed to meet the Ganges and
Jamna underground. The Saraswati, though no longer seen, was at one
time an actual river. From a legend in the Mahābhārat it would
appear that it took its rise with other great rivers in the Himalayas,
that it thence flowed through Rājpūtāna, where it occasionally
disappeared in the sands of that country, and that it finally
debouched north of Dwāraka into the Arabian Sea.
2. Sixty-eight is the number of sacred places of pilgrimage in the
estimation of the Hindus.
3. Ras really means relishes.
4. The following is the Hindi time-table:
60 visiās = 1 chasia
60 chasiās = 1 pal
60 pals = 1 ghari
2 gharis = 1 muhūrat
4 muhūrats = 1 pahar
8 pahars = 1 day and night.
]
When the dear Lord is obtained, everything is arranged the
Creator knoweth everything.
I am dear to Him who decorated me; I have met Him and am happy.
The couch of my home is beautiful when my Beloved enjoyeth me; the
holy have good fortune written on their foreheads.
Nanak, the Beloved enjoyeth me day and night; having obtained God
as my Spouse, I am a permanent bride.
At that time there was a man in very straitened domestic
circumstances who had a daughter to marry. He appealed to Guru Nanak
to assist in procuring her a wedding outfit. The Guru told him to give
him a list of the things he required, and he would send for them. The
man did so. The Guru called a servant of his, named Bhagirath, and
ordered him to go to Lahore and fetch what was required. He warned him
at the same time not to spend a night in that city.[1] Bhagirath, on
arriving in Lahore went to a shopkeeper, and asked him to supply the
articles at once. The shopkeeper bade him remain for a day and
everything should be ready. Bhagirath said it was impossible. The
shopkeeper told him that everything should be ready on that day, but
the bride's bracelets could not be made and coloured before nightfall.
Bhagirath explained the order that had been given him. The shopkeeper
inquired what sort of master he had who had issued such an order.
Bhagirath replied that his master was the Guru. The shopkeeper
inquired who the gurus of this generation were. Bhagirath could only
reply that his master was a great Being. The shopkeeper rejoined,
'Wretch, where canst thou find a great being this age?' After further
colloquy and praise of the Guru by Bhagirath, the shop decided that he
would go with him to his
[1. Which he characterized as a city of poison and wrath--Lahaur
shahr zahir qahir. By this the Guru meant the intemperance and
licentiousness of that city.]
master. He had a set of coloured bracelets in his private house,
which he would take and give the Guru. 'If he be a great being,'
continued the shop keeper, 'he shall be my Guru as well as thine, and
he shall have the bracelets for nothing; but, if he be not a great
being, I will exact the full price from him.' When the shopkeeper saw
the Guru and heard his gentle remonstrance with Bhagirath for his
delay, he became convinced that he was a great being and searcher of
hearts, and he accordingly fell at his feet and was made happy. He
remained three years with the Guru, during which time he committed to
memory many of his hymns.
When the shopkeeper returned to Lahore, he sent for merchants and
bankers and sold them every thing he had in his shop. He then sailed
to Ceylon to extend his commerce. There he took up his residence and
began to trade. At the same time he led a religious life, and did not
forget the Guru's hymns. He used to sing them late into the night, and
again rise before day for his devotions and. ablutions. On the subject
of bathing the Guru had taught him that whoever bathed a watch before
day in cold water and repeated God's name with love and devotion,
should receive nectar at God's door, and be blended with Him who is
unborn and self-existent.
After bathing, the shopkeeper used to repeat the Japji and read the
Guru's hymns. He was wont to take breakfast at daybreak, and then go
to discharge his worldly duties. Though the people of Ceylon were said
to corrupt strangers who went among them, they had no influence over
the shopkeeper, who continued to adhere rigidly to the teachings of
the Guru. The king of the country, whose name according to the Sikh
annals was Raja Shivnabh, hearing that the shopkeeper would not
conform to the religious customs of his country, summoned him to his
presence. The shopkeeper presented the Raja with a coconut in token of
his loyalty. In reply to the Raja's questions, he said that he had already obtained what others sought
to obtain by fasting, religious ceremonies, and austerities; so why
should he perform them? The Raja asked him what it was he had
obtained. The shopkeeper replied that he had beheld a great being and
thus secured salvation. The Raja inquired if he had really obtained
spiritual comfort by seeing the great being. The shopkeeper replied,
'Sire' when one hath met God, what further comfort is necessary?' The
king asked, 'In this Kal age who is there, a sight of whom can confer
salvation?' The shopkeeper replied, 'Such a person is Guru Nanak; the
mere repetition of his name can confer salvation.' He then translated
for him one of the Guru's hymns. The Raja on hearing it was satisfied,
and joy thrilled through his frame. He then requested the shopkeeper
to take him to where Nanak lived, so that he too might behold him. The
shopkeeper replied, 'Sire, meditate on him in thy heart, and thou
shalt meet him here.'
The shopkeeper loaded his ship with the products of Ceylon, and
returned to India. Raja Shivnabh remained at home, thinking of the
Guru and yearning to behold him.
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CHAPTER XII
Meanwhile the Guru made a journey to the south of India. He wore
wooden sandals, took a stick in his hand, twisted a rope round his
head as a turban, and on his forehead put a patch and a streak. On
that occasion he was accompanied by Saido and Gheho of the Jat tribe.
He proceeded to the Dravidian country now named Madras.
His companions, seeing his morning ablutions, thought that he
worshipped the river god, Khwaja Khizir,[1] and derived his power from
him. They
[1. Le mot de Khedher, signifiant en Arabe verd et verdoyant, on
{footnote p. 148} pretend que ce nom fut donné ą ce prophčte ą
cause qu'il jouit d'une vie florissante et immortelle depuis qu'il eut
bū de l'eau de la Fontaine. Plusieurs le confondent avec le prophčte
Élie, que nous disons faire sa demeure dans le Paradis terrestre et
jouir de l'immortalité. Parce que l'arbre de vie étoit dans ce
Paradis, et qu'il y avoit aussi une Fontaine, les Musalmans donnent ą
cette Fontaine le nom de Fontaine de Vie, et croyent que c'est de la
boisson de son eau, aussi bien que du fruit de l'arbre de vie, qu'Élie
entretient son immortalité. (D'Herbelot.)]
determined to worship the same god, and advance themselves if
possible to a higher spiritual eminence than the Guru had attained.
While travelling one night for the purpose of their worship they met a
man carrying a fish in his hand. After mutual interrogations he said
that he was the river god taking an offering to the Guru, and that it
was from the Guru he had obtained his power, and not the Guru from
him. He added: 'I am water, he is air, a superior element; I am often
contained in him.' Saido and Gheho then went and prostrated them
selves before the Guru. He asked them why they had come to him at that
hour. They used formerly only to come after sunrise. They then
confessed to him the whole story of their attempted worship of Khwaja
Khizir, and begged his forgiveness. The Guru composed the following on
that occasion:--
He who batheth in the immortal water of divine knowledge taketh
with him the sixty-eight places of pilgrimage.
The Guru's instruction is jewels and gems; by serving him his
disciples find them.
There is no place of pilgrimage equal to the Guru
The tank of consolation is contained in that Guru.
The Guru is a river whence pure water is ever obtained,
and by which the filth of evil inclinations is washed away.
He who findeth the True Guru hath obtained perfect
bathing, which maketh him a god out of a beast or a ghost.
He who is imbued with the true Name obtaineth it; that Guru is
called sandal.
Fix thine attention on His feet by whose odour vegetables
are perfumed.
Through the Guru man obtaineth real life, and through the Guru
man departeth to God's home.
Nanak, through the Guru man is absorbed in the True One; through
the Guru man obtaineth the special dignity of deliverance.[1]
On the same occasion the Guru composed the following:--
They who forget the Name go astray in worldly love and
superstition;
They let go the stem and cling to the branches; what shall they
obtain? Ashes.
How can man be saved without the Name? If any one know, let him
tell it.
If man be holy he shall be saved; the perverse shall lose their
honour.
Perfect is the wisdom of those who serve the one God.
Servants of God, take shelter in Him who was in the beginning, in
every age, and who is the Bright One.
My Lord is one; there is none other, my brethren.
By the favour of the True One happiness is obtained.
Without the Guru no one hath obtained God, however much the
matter be debated.
He Himself showeth the way and fixeth true devotion in the
heart.
Even though thou advise the perverse man, he will still go to the
wilderness;
But without God's name he shall not be saved; he shall die and go
to hell.
He who repeateth not God's name shall wander in birth and death.
God's worth cannot be known without serving the true Guru.
Whatever service God causeth men to do, that will be done.
It is God Himself who acteth; whom besides shall I mention? God
beholdeth His own greatness.
He whom God inspireth serveth the Guru.
[1. Prabhāti.]
Nanak, they who give their lives shall be saved, and shall
obtain honour in God's court.[1]
The Guru arrived at a Saravagi or Jain temple, which was much
frequented. Narbhi, the Jain priest, went with his disciple to visit
him. The Jains attach an exaggerated value to life in every form. The
Jain priest heard that the Guru had not the same tender scruples on
the subject, and began to catechize him. 'Eatest thou old or new corn?
(that is, dost thou eat corn with worms in it or not?) 'Drinkest thou
cold water; shakest thou the trees of the forest to eat their fruit?
Who is thy guru, and what power hath he to pardon thee since thou
violatest all rules and destroyest life?' The Guru in reply uttered
the following pauri:--
When the True Guru is merciful, faith is perfected.
When the True Guru is merciful, man shall never grieve.
When the True Guru is merciful, man shall know no sorrow.
When the True Guru is merciful, man shall enjoy divine pleasure.
When the True Guru is merciful, what fear hath man of Death?
When the True Guru is merciful he ever bestoweth happiness.
When the True Guru is merciful, man obtaineth the nine
treasures.[2]
When the Guru is merciful, man is absorbed in the True One.[3]
After this the Guru launched out into a satire on the Jains:--
They have their hair plucked out, they drink dirty water, they
beg and eat others' leavings;
[1. Āsa Ashtapadi.
2. Nau nidhi. This expression is used in the sacred writings
of the Sikhs to denote unlimited wealth and prosperity. In the sacred
books of the Hindus the expression has a more definite numerical
signification.
3. Mājh ki Wār.]
They spread out their ordure, they inhale its smell, they are
shy to look at water;
They have their heads plucked like sheep; the pluckers' hands are
smeared with ashes--
They spoil the occupations of their parents; their families weep
and wail for them.
They give not their deceased relations lamps or perform their last
rites, or place anywhere barley rolls and leaves for them.[1]
The sixty-eight places of pilgrimage grant them no access; the
Brahmans will not eat their food.
They are ever filthy day and night; they have no sacrificial marks
on their foreheads.
They ever sit close as if they were at a wake, and they enter no
assembly.
They hold cups in their hands; they have brooms[2] by their sides;
they walk in single file.
They are not Jogis, or Jangams, or Qazis, or Mullas.
God hath ruined them; they go about despised; their words are like
curses.
God killeth and restoreth animals to life; none else may preserve
them.
The Jains make not gifts or perform ablutions; dust lighteth on
their plucked heads.
From water gems arose when Meru was made the churning staff.[3]
The gods appointed the sixty-eight places of pilgrimages, and holy
days were fixed accordingly by their orders.
[1. The Jains conform in many ways to Hindu customs. The Guru here
censures them for not being altogether consistent.
2. To brush away insects and thus avoid treading on them.
3. According to the Hindus, Vishnu in his Kurmavātar assumed the
shape of a tortoise which supported the mountain Mandara--in the Sikh
writings called Meru--the Olympus of the Hindus, with which the gods
churned the ocean. From the ocean were produced the fourteen gems or
jewels here referred to. They are Lakhsmi, wife of Vishnu, the moon, a
white horse with seven heads, a holy physician, a prodigious elephant,
the tree of plenty, the all-yielding cow, &c.]
After ablution the Muhammadans pray; after ablution the Hindus
worship; the wise ever bathe.
The dead and the living are purified when water is poured on their
heads.
Nanak, they who pluck their heads are devils: these things[1]
please them not.
When it raineth there is happiness; animals then perform their
functions.
When it raineth, there is corn, sugar-cane, and cotton, the
clothing of all.
When it raineth, kine ever graze, and women churn their milk.
By the use of the clarified butter thus obtained burnt offerings
and sacred feasts are celebrated, and worship is ever adorned.
All the Sikhs are rivers; the Guru is the ocean, by bathing
in which greatness is obtained.
If the Pluckedheads bathe not, then a hundred handfuls
of dust be on their skulls.[2]
The Jain priest asked the Guru why he travelled in the rainy
season, when insects are abroad and there is danger of killing them
under foot. The Guru replied as follows:--
Nanak, if it rain in Sawan, four species of animals have
pleasure-
Serpents, deer, fish, and sensualists who have women in their
homes.
Nanak, if it rain in Sawan, there are four species of animals
which feel discomfort--
Cows' calves, the poor, travellers, and servants.
The Jain priest went and fell at his feet and be came a convert to
his faith. On that occasion the Guru completed his hymns in the Majh
ki War, and Saido and Gheho wrote them down from his dictation. It is
said that the Guru then went to an island in the ocean, governed by an
inhuman tyrant. The name of the island has not been preserved. Besides
[1. That is, water and bathing.
2. Mājh ki Wār.]
Saido and Gheho a third Jat called Siho accompanied him thither. On
seeing them the tyrant resolved to put them to death for trespassing
on his domain. He seized the Guru as the first victim of his rage. The
Guru fell into a trance and sang the following:--
He to whom the Lord is compassionate and merciful, will do the
Master's work.
That worshipper whom God causeth to abide by His order, will
worship Him.
By obeying His order man is acceptable, and shall then reach his
Master's court.
He shall act as pleaseth his Master, and obtain the fruit his
heart desireth;
And he shall be clothed with a robe of honour in God's
court.[1]
It is said that on hearing this hymn the tyrant desisted from his
intention, and prostrated him self before the Guru. Saido gave him
water to drink in which the Guru had washed his feet, and thus made
him a Sikh, and ensured him deliverance.
The Guru on that occasion met a successor of Pir Makhdum
Baha-ul-Din Qureshi, who had an extravagant idea of his own spiritual
and temporal importance. On being assured of the man's hypocrisy, the
Guru uttered the following:--
The heart which relinquisheth God's praises and magnification
and attacheth itself to a skeleton,[2]
Receiveth a hundred reproaches by day and a thousand by night.[3]
The Pir then fell at his feet, invited the Guru to abide with him
and desist from his wanderings, upon which the Guru uttered the
following reflection and instruction:--
[1. Āsa ki Wār.
2. That is, to the filth of the world.
3. Sūhi ki Wār.]
Rest, sit at home, there is trouble in ever travelling.
A place of rest is recognized when men dwell there permanently.
What manner of resting-place is the world?
Tie up the practice of sincerity as thy travelling expenses, and
remain attached to the Name.
Jogis sit in devotional postures, mullas dwell at places of rest;
Pandits read books; sidhs sit in the palaces of the gods;
Demigods, sidhs, heavenly musicians, munis, saints, shaikhs, pirs,
and commanders
Have gone, stage by stage, and others too are departing.
Emperors, kings, princes, nobles have marched away.
Man must depart in a ghari or two; O my heart, understand that
thou too must go.
This is told in hymns, yet few are they who understand it.
Nanak humbly asserteth, God is contained in sea and land, in the
upper and lower regions;
He is unseen, inscrutable, omnipotent, the kind Creator.
The Merciful alone is permanent; the whole world beside is
transitory.
Call Him permanent on whose head no destiny is recorded.
The heavens and the earth shall pass away; He the one God alone is
permanent.
By day the sun travelleth, by night the moon; hundreds of
thousands of stars pass away.
The one God alone is our resting-place, Nanak saith verily.[1]
Upon this the Pir was convinced that the Guru was an exalted
spiritual leader.
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CHAPTER XIII
The Guru then turned his thoughts towards Ceylon, and succeeded in
reaching that country, where he took his seat in Raja Shivnabh's
garden.
[1. Sri Rag, Ashtapadi.]
At that time it was barren, but it is said to have become
green on the Guru's arrival. The gardener requested the king to go and
see the faqir who had caused the withered garden to bloom anew. The
king sent beautiful damsels to dance before the Guru and tempt him
with their charms. The Guru, wrapped up in his own thoughts, neither
spoke to them nor noticed them. The king came and inquired his name,
caste, and whether he was a Jogi. The Guru replied as follows:--
The Jogi who is associated with the Name and is pure, hath not
a particle of uncleanness.
He who keepeth with him the name of the Beloved, which is ever
true, hath escaped birth and death.
The king asked if he were a Brahman. The Guru replied:--
He is a Brahman who hath divine knowledge for his ablutions,
and God's praises for the leaves' of his worship.
There is but One Name, One God, One Light in the three worlds.
The king asked if he were a shopkeeper. The Guru replied:--
Make thy heart the scale, thy tongue the beam, and weigh the
inestimable Name.
There is but one shop, one Merchant above all; the dealers are
many.
The king again inquired if he were a Hindu or a Muhammadan. The
Guru continued his enigmatical replies:--
The True Guru hath solved the problem of the two ways.
It is he who fixeth attention on the One God, and whose mind
wavereth not, who can understand it.
[1. Brāhmans use sweet basil and bel (Aegle Marmelos)
leaves in their worship, the former in the worship of Vishnu and the
latter in the worship of Shiv.]
He who abideth in the Word and ever worshippeth day and night,
hath ended his doubts.
The king then asked if he were Gorakhnath. The Guru showed no
inclination to directly gratify his curiosity.
Above us is the sky, Gorakh is above the sky; His inaccessible
form dwelleth there;
By the favour of the Guru, whether I am abroad or at home is the
same to me; Nanak hath become such an anchoret.[1]
When the Guru had ended, the king invited him to go to his palace
and see his queen. He gave him an opportunity of expounding his
doctrines to her.
It was during Guru Nanak's visit to Ceylon that he composed the
Pransangali, which contained an account of the silent palace of God,
the manner of meditating on Him, the private utterances of the Guru,
and the nature of the soul and body. The following are its opening
verses:--
The supreme state is altogether a void,[2] all people say;
In the supreme state there is no rejoicing or mourning;
In the supreme state there are felt no hopes or desires;
In the supreme state are seen no castes or caste-marks;
In the supreme state are no sermons or singing of hymns;
In the supreme state abideth heavenly meditation;
In the supreme state are those who know themselves.[3]
Nanak, my mind is satisfied with the supreme state.
Saido and Gheho subsequently wrote out the Pransangali from memory.
[1. Māru.
2. The Greek {Greek koi^lon}, the Latin caelum, heaven.
3. The meaning of this expression is totally different from that of
{Greek gnw^ši seauton}. To know oneself, in the Sikh sacred writings,
means to know God who is within one.]
On his return to India the Guru, having heard of the fair of
Shivrat[1], went to Achal Batala[2] to preach his doctrines. The whole
country crowded to see and hear him, and showered offerings on him.
The Jogis on witnessing his success became very Jealous and determined
to humble him. Bhangarnath, their superior, asked him why he mixed
acid with his milk, that is, why he a holy man led a family life.
'When the milk becometh sour,' said Bhangarnath, 'no butter is
produced by churning. Why hast thou doffed thy hermit's dress, and
donned ordinary clothes?'
The Guru replied: 'O Bhangarnath, thy mother was an unskilful
woman. She knew not how to wash the churn, and so spoilt the butter in
producing thee. Thou hast become an anchoret after abandoning thy
family life, and yet thou goest to beg to the houses of family men.
When thou doest nothing here, what canst thou obtain hereafter?'
Bhangarnath made no reply to the Guru's question but broached
another subject: 'O Nanak, thou hast exhibited miracles to the world;
why art thou slow to exhibit them to us also?' The Guru replied: 'I
have nothing worth showing you. Man hath absolutely no shelter except
in the companionship of the hymns of the Guru. Were man to move the
earth, that would not induce God to grant him undeserved favours. Hear
the Word; I speak verily, I have no miracle except the True Name:--
[1. A festival in honour, of the god Shiv held on the 14th day of
the dark half of Phāgan (February-March). It was usual for Jogis to
congregate on the occasion of this festival. In the Aīn-i-Akbari it
is stated that the Emperor Akbar used then to hold meetings of all the
Jogis of the Empire and eat and drink with them. Under the influence
of such carousals they used to promise him that he should live three
or four times as long as ordinary mortals.
2. Achal, about three miles from Batāla, contains the shrine of Sāmkārtik,
son of Shiv. For a full account of Batāla see the Khulāsat-ul-Tawārikh,
whose author was born there.]
Were I to put on a dress of fire, construct a house of snow and
eat iron;
Were I to turn all my troubles into water, drink it, and drive the
earth as a steed;
Were I able to put the firmament into one scale and weigh it with
a tank;[1]
Were I to become so large that I could be nowhere contained; and
were I to lead every one by the nose;[2]
Had I such power in myself that I could perform such things or
cause others to perform them, it would be all in vain.
As great as the Lord is, so great are His gifts; He bestoweth
according to His pleasure.
Nanak, he on whom God looketh with favour obtaineth the glory of
the True Name.'[3]
In Batala the Guru vanquished in argument all priests who attended
the fair, and obliged the followers of the six schools of philosophy
to bow before him. The Jogis finally complimented him on his success
and said: 'Hail, O Nanak, great are thy deeds! Thou hast arisen a
great being, and lit a light in this last age of the world.' It was
the time the Jogis took their daily wine, and the goblet was
accordingly passed around. On its reaching the Guru he asked what it
was. They said it was the Sidhs' cup. He inquired what it contained.
They said molasses and the flower of the dhava[4] plant, of which
Indian spirits are made. The Guru then uttered the following hymn:--
Make divine knowledge thy molasses, meditation thy dhava
flowers, good actions thy fermenting bark[5] to put into them.
Make the love of God thy furnace, devotion the sealing of the
still; in this way shall nectar be distilled.
[1. In Hindi apothecaries' weight a tank is equal to four māshas,
a
māsha is eight rattis, and a ratti is the weight of
eight grains of rice.
2. As a camel is led.
3. Mājh ki Wār.
4. The Bassia latifolia.
5 This is generally the bark of the kīkar, or Acacia
Arabica.]
Father, by quaffing the divine juice the mind becometh
intoxicated and easily absorbed in God's love.
I have arranged to fix my attention on God day and night, and
heard the unbeaten sound.
God is true, His cup is pure; He giveth it to drink to him on whom
He casteth a favouring glance.
Why should he who dealeth in nectar feel love for paltry wine?
The Guru's word is a nectar-speech; by drinking it man becometh
acceptable.
When man performeth service at God's gate[1] to obtain a sight of
Him, what careth he for salvation or paradise?
He who is dyed with God's praises never loveth the world, and
loseth not his life in the game.
Saith Nanak, hear, Jogi Bharthari, I am intoxicated with the
nectareous stream.[2]
The Jogis inquired if he lived by begging. The Guru replied, 'Why
should he who is absorbed in the Formless go to beg alms?' They then
asked if he were art Udasi or hermit. The Guru replied:--
He who taketh the sword of knowledge and wrestleth with his
heart;
Who knoweth the secrets of the ten organs of action and
perception[3] and of the five evil passions;
Who can knot divine knowledge to his mind;
Who maketh pilgrimage on each of the three hundred and sixty days
of the year;
Who washeth the filth of pride from his heart--
Nanak saith, he is a hermit.
[1. Sikhs and Moslems use the expression I Gate of God' for God's
throne or God's court., The latent allusion is to a king who removes
himself from his subjects' gaze. It is at his gate those who appeal to
him for justice waft, and it is at his (rate when he goes forth his
subjects can obtain a sight of him.
2. Āsa.
3 The organs of action are the mouth, the hands, the feet, and the
generative and excretory organs. The organs of perception are the five
senses.]
The Jogis then asked the Guru if he were an Audhut. The Guru told
them what an Audhut ought to be:--
He is a servant of the Guru who restraineth his sexual organs,
Whose heart is free from worldly desires, whose words are
true,
And who receiveth as his alms the glance with which the Merciful
One beholdeth him.
Know him to be meek whose heart is meek,
And whose instruction is the profitable Word.
Nanak saith, he is an Audhut
Whose mind is not fickle, who goeth not to spectacles,
Or to gamble or play chaupar,
Who attacheth not his mind to things bad or good,
Who weareth on his body whatever is given by the Guru,
Who, when he goeth to another's house, talketh not scandal,
Who observeth the restraint put on him by the true Guru,
And who receiveth the Guru's instructions--O holy man,
Nanak saith, such a man is an Audhut.
The Jogis then desired to know if he were a Jogi, and the Guru
replied:--
To remain seated without support,
To collect and restrain the five evil passions,
To sleep little and take scant food,
To keep guard over the saintly body,
To be constant in devotion, penance, self-restraint, and
remembrance of God--
Nanak saith, these are the marks of a Jogi.
When he speaketh, he uttereth divine wisdom
He day and night waketh in the contemplation of God
He attacheth a string to the vacant sphere,[1]
And by the Guru's favour never dieth.
All the gods do obeisance to him
[1. That is, he fixes his attention on God.]
Who in this way performeth the Guru's service,
And who alloweth not his tongue to taste dainties-
Nanak saith, these are the marks of a Jogi.
He who effaceth wrath, avarice, and greed;
Who quencheth the fire of the five evil passions within his heart;
Who day and night flieth the kite
By which divine knowledge is produced and evil inclinations
depart;
Who cherisheth holiness, restraineth his evil passions
And repeateth no spell but the Guru's--
The habits of that good man are the best--
Nanak saith, these are the marks of a Jogi.
He who maketh his body the vessel, remembrance of God his milk,
Who putteth pure truth into it as his acid,
Who by contrivance and effort easily curdleth the milk--
Without contrivance it would be spoiled--
Who useth divine knowledge as his churning staff and the Name as
its string;
Who in this way repeateth only the Name,
And who by rolling and rolling extracteth the butter--
Nanak saith, these are the marks of a Jogi.
The Jogis wondered if he were a Bairagi. The Guru defined the word
for them:--
He is a Bairagi who is sold to God,
Who in the presence of God subdueth mammon,
Who performeth the work of God and mammon,[1]
Who beareth an unbearable and intangible thing,
Who hath abandoned wrath, avarice, and pride--
Nanak saith, such a man is a Bairagi.
He who abideth lonely in the house of enjoyment,
And dwelleth in the house of worship--
[1. That is, who performs his worldly avocations and thinks of God
at the same time.]
Where the cat fleeth at the sound of a mouse[1]--
Nanak saith, is a Bairagi.
He is a Bairagi who embraceth contentment,
Who reverseth his breath and is absorbed in God,
Who subjecteth to himself the five senses--
Such a Bairagi shall rise higher than Shiv.
He who renounceth evil ways and fixeth his attention on the one
God,
Nanak saith, is a Bairagi.
Upon this the followers of Gorakhnath pressed the Guru to adopt the
style of a Jogi. The Guru asked them to describe a Jogi. They
replied:--
A Jogi weareth earrings, a patched coat, carrieth a wallet, a
staff,
And a deer's horn which soundeth through the world.
The Jogis were proceeding to give a further description of their
sect when the Guru interrupted and offered spiritual substitutes for
all the externals of a Jogi:--
Put the Guru's word into thy heart for the rings in thine ears;
wear the patched coat of forbearance;
Whatever God doeth consider as good; in this way shalt thou easily
obtain the treasure of jog.
O father, in this way the soul which hath been a pilgrim in every
age, uniteth with the Supreme Essence.
He who obtaineth the ambrosial name of the Pure One, and maketh
reflection his Jogi's cup,
Divine knowledge his staff, and the Omnipresent the ashes he
smeareth on his body, shall enjoy the great elixir of divine
knowledge.
Make God's praise thy prayer, the Guru's instruction thy sect of
Atits,[2]
The renunciation of desires and quarrels thy sitting in
contemplation in God's citadel[3]--
[1. Where hypocrisy flees before humility.
2. By Atīts here is meant a sect of Jogis who consider themselves
liberated from worldly restraints.
3 The brain.]
From the sound of thy horn a melody shall thus be produced
which day and night shall fill thee with music.
In everything is Thy light contained, O God, and many and various
are its colours.
Saith Nanak, hear, Jogi Bharthari, the Primal God is the sole
object of my love.[1]
During his residence in Batala the Guru composed the Sidh Gosht, a
treatise from which the Jogis are said to have derived spiritual
consolation.
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CHAPTER XIV
The Guru continued his journey to the north He wore leather on his
feet and on his head, twisted a rope round his body, and on his
forehead stamped a saffron tilak. He was accompanied by Hassu, a
smith, and Sihan, a calico-printer. The party went as far as Srinagar
in Kashmir, where they stayed some time and made many converts.
Brahm Das was then the most eminent of the Kashmiri pandits. On
hearing of the Guru's arrival, he went to pay him a formal visit. The
better to impress the Guru with his piety and learning, he wore an
idol suspended from his neck, and took with him two loads of Sanskrit
books. On seeing the Guru's dress he said, 'Is that the sort of faqir
thou art? Why wearest thou leather, which is unclean? Why twistest
thou a rope round thy body? Why hast thou abandoned the observances of
thy religion? And why eatest thou flesh and fish?' The Guru, not
paying much attention to these impertinent questions, thus unburdened
him self of the thoughts which filled his mind:--
There is but one road,. one door; the Guru is the ladder to
reach one's home.
Beautiful is God; Nanak, all happiness is in His name.
[1. Āsa.]
PAURI
God Himself created and recognized His creation.
He separated the earth from the sky and spread a canopy over it.
He fixed the heavens without pillars by the utterance of it word.
Having created the sun and moon, He infused His light into them.
He made the wonderful play of night and day.
Pilgrimage, religion, meditation, and bathing on holy days-
None of these is equal to Thee, O God; how can I describe Thee?
Thou sittest on a true throne; all else are subject to birth and
death.
After a pause the Guru again burst forth in God's praises:--
Thou, O God, who didst diffuse truth, art the truest of the
true.
Thou sittest in an attitude of contemplation concealed in the
lotus of the heart.
Brahma called himself great, but he found not Thy limit.
Thou hast no father or mother; who begot Thee?
Thou art devoid of all form, outline, or caste.
Thou feelest not hunger or thirst; Thou art satisfied and
satiated.
The great God is contained in Himself, and hath diffused His word.
They who are satisfied with the True One are absorbed in Him.[1]
Brahm Das then recognizing the Guru's piety and genius fell at his
feet, and asked him what existed before creation? The Guru in reply
uttered the following hymn known as Solaha[2] in Rag Maru:--
[1. Malār ki Wār.
2. A hymn containing sixteen stanzas.]
In the beginning[1] there was indescribable darkness;
Then was not earth or heaven, naught but God's unequalled
order.
Then was not day, or night, or moon, or sun; God was meditating on
the void.
Then were not the mines of production, or voices, or wind,
or water;
Neither creation nor destruction, nor coming nor going,
Then were not continents, or hells, or seven seas, or rivers, or
flowing streams;
Nor was there paradise, or a tortoise,[2] or nether regions
Or the hell or heaven of the Muhammadans, or the destroyer
Death;
Or the hell or heaven of the Hindus, or birth, or death nor
did any one come or go.
Then was no Brahma, Vishnu, or Shiv:
No one existed but the One God.
Then was no female, or male, or caste, or birth nor did any one
feel pain or pleasure.
There was no Jati, Sati,[3] or dweller in the forest
There was no Sidh, or Striver, or dweller at ease:
No Jogi, or Jangam, or religious garb; nor did any one call
himself a Nath;[4]
No devotion, penance, austerity, fasting, or worship
Nor did any one speak or tell of duality.[5]
God Himself having created was pleased, and valued what He had
done.
There was no purification, or self-restraint, or necklace of sweet
basil;
There was no milkmaid, or Krishan, or cow. or herdsman;
[1. Arbad is here understood to be for arambh. Arbud
in Sanskrit means a number of one hundred millions, so arbad narbad
may also mean--for countless years.
2. Which some Hindus believe supports the earth.
3. Sati means a faithful wife, especially one who cremates herself
with her deceased husband.
4. A superior of Jogis.
5. Dwait, duality. in the Sikh writings means the worship of
other than God.]
No incantations or spells, no hypocrisy, nor did any one play
on the flute.[1]
There were no acts attaching to the soul, or religion, or
the gadfly of mammon.
No one saw caste or birth with his eyes.
There was not the net of pride, nor was death written on
man's brow, nor did man meditate on aught created.[2]
There was no slander, no seed, no soul, no life.
There was no Gorakh or Machhindar.[3]
Nor was there divine knowledge, or meditation, or nobility; nor
did any one have conceit of himself.
There was no caste or religious garb, no Brahman or Khatri;
No demigod, no temple, no cow, no gayatri,[4]
No hom, no sacred feasts, no places of pilgrimage to bathe in, nor
did any one perform worship.
There was no Mulla or any Qazi;
No Shaikh, no Disciple, no Haji;[5]
No subject or king; nor was pride in the world, nor did any one
give himself a great name.
here was no love, no service, no Shiv, or energy of his;[6]
No friend, no helper, no seed, no blood.[7]
God Himself was the merchant, Himself the dealer--such was the
will of the True One--
[1. One of Krishan's youthful accomplishments.
2. Literally--nor did any one meditate on any one else. That is, no
one then worshipped the gods or idols of the Hindus.
3. Machhindar is described in a verse attributed to Gorakhnāth as
his father.
4. The gāyatri is the spell of the Hindus. It is now
recited as follows: Oam, bhūr, bhuvas, svar, tat savitur varenyam,
bhargo devasya, dhīmahi dhīyo yo nah prachodyāt 'Oam,
earth and air and sky, let us meditate on that excellent sun the
bright god, which stimulateth our intellects.' The late Professor Max
Müller gave the following translation--'We meditate on the adorable
light of the divine Savitri, that he may rouse our thoughts.'
5. This word is applied to Muhammadans who have made the pilgrimage
to Makka.
6 Shiv's energy or consort was variously named Pārbati, Durga
&c.
7. 'No seed, no blood': this refers to the male and female
functions of generation.]
Then were no Veds or Muhammadan books,[1] no Simritis,
no Shastars;
No reading of the Purans, no sunrise, no sunset.
The Imperceptible God was Himself the speaker and preacher;
Himself unseen He saw everything.
When He pleased He created the world;
Without supports He sustained the sky.
He created Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiv, and extended the love of
mammon.
He communicated the Guru's words to some few persons.
He issued His order and watched over all.
He began with the continents, the universe, and the
nether regions, and brought forth what had been hidden.
His limit no one knoweth.
From the True Guru I have learned,
Nanak, that they who are imbued with the truth are wonderful, and
delight in singing God's praises.
Upon this Brahm Das again fell at the Guru's feet, cast away the
idol from his neck, and, becoming a worshipper of God, performed
service for the Guru. His evil desires, however, departed not.
Whatever service he performed was brief and perfunctory, for he
thought to himself that he had performed similar service before; but
whatever he did was of no avail on account of his pride.
At one of their meetings the Guru told him to take a guru. He
inquired, 'What guru shall I take?' The Guru bade him go to a certain
house in the wilderness where he should find four faqirs, and they
would inform him. The pandit went to them, and they, after some delay,
pointed out a temple in which they said he should find his guru. The
pandit proceeded thither, but instead of receiving a courteous
reception, was shoe-beaten in a piteous manner by a woman in red who
guarded the temple. Crying bitterly he returned to the four men who
had dispatched
[1. They are described as the Psalms of David, the Old Testament,
the New Testament, and the Quran.]
him on the unpleasant errand. They inquired if he had found a guru,
and in reply he told them his painful story. They explained to him
that the woman was Maya, or worldly love; and that she for whom he had
so longed was his guru. The pandit returned to the Guru, and fell at
his feet. He then cast away his two loads of books, began to repeat
God's name, and became so humble as to be, as it were, the dust of the
earth. The pandit inquired who were happy in this world. The Guru
replied with the following sloks, which Hassu and Sihan committed to
writing:--
Indar wept after his thousandfold punishment;[1]
Paras Ram wept on his return home;[2]
King Ajai[3] wept after eating what he had obtained as
alms-
Such is the punishment meted out in God's court -
Ram wept when he was expelled from his kingdom,
And separated from Sita and Lachhman.[4]
Rawan, who took away Sita with beat of drum,
Wept when he had lost Lanka;[5]
The Pandavs[6] though their master[7] had been with them,
Became slaves and wept;
[1. Indar was the god of the firmament. His punishment was for his
effort to seduce Ahalya, the wife of the sage Gautama.
2 Paras Rām. Rām with the axe was the sixth avatar of Vishnu and
preceded the Rām of Indian popular worship. He is said to have
cleared the earth twenty-one times of the Kshatriyas. He then gave it
to the sage Kashyapa and retired to the Mahendra mountains. The text
alludes to his subsequent homeward return.
3 Aj was grandfather of Rām Chandar. One day when hunting he
dipped a cloth in the blood of a deer which he had shot; and in order
to test his wife's affection sent it to her with a dying message that
he had been killed in the hunting-field. She, believing the messenger,
at once cremated herself with the cloth she had received. King Aj on
returning home found out what had occurred, and was so overcome with
grief and sorrow, that he abandoned his throne and retired from the
world to do penance for his crime.
4. Lachhman was Rām's brother.
5. Lanka. This was the ancient name of Ceylon, where Rawan ruled.
6 The opponents of the Kauravs in the great war which forms the
subject of the Mahābhārat.
7 Krishan.]
Janameja[1] wept when he went astray;--
For one offence he was deemed a sinner--
Shaikhs, Disciples and Pirs[2] weep
For fear of suffering at the last moment;
Kings wept when their ears were torn,[3]
And they went to beg alms from door to door;
The miser wept at his departure from the wealth he had amassed;
The pandit wept when he had lost his learning;
The young girl who hath no husband weepeth
Nanak, the whole world is in misery.
He who revereth the Name is victorious
No other act is of any avail.[4]
The Guru, leaving Srinagar, penetrated the Himalaya mountains, and
scaled numerous lofty peaks
[1. Janameja, king of Hastinapura, who listened to the long
Sanskrit epic Mahābhārat in expiation of the sin of killing
Brahmans.
2. Pīrs are Muhammadan saints.
3. The reference is to Gopi Chand and Bharthari. Bharthari was king
of Ujjain. In his state there lived a Brahman who by his austerities
had obtained the fruit of immortality. Not deeming it useful to
himself he presented it as a fitting offering to his monarch. He being
in love with his queen presented it to her. She being in love with the
head police officer of the state presented it to him. He being in love
with a favourite courtesan presented it to her. She being in love with
the king presented it to him. On being informed of the strange
vicissitudes of the fruit of immortality, and pondering on the
instability love and friendship, Bharthari abdicated and became a
religious mendicant.
Gopi Chand was king of Bengal, whose capital, according to legend,
was then Doulagarh. His mother Menāwati was Rāja Bharthari's sister.
One day as Gopi Chand was bathing, his mother, seated in an upper
chamber, admired his beauty, but at the same time felt that he was not
so handsome as his father, her late husband. Death had taken him, it
would also take Gopi Chand. Gopi Chand as he bathed felt moisture
falling on him, and was told in reply to his inquiries that it was his
mother's tears. tried to console her and said that death was the way
of the world, and one must not endeavour to resist Nature's primordial
law. On reflection she decided that Gopi Chand should become a faqīr
under the spiritual guidance of Jalandharnāth. Gopi Chand abdicated,
proceeded to him, and after many troubles received, it is said,
instruction how to overcome death.
4. Rāmkali ki Wār.]
until he arrived at Mount Sumer. He there met many renowned Sidhs.
When the Guru had made his obeisance and sat down, they inquired
whence he had come and in what state he had left Hindustan. He
replied:--
The Kal age is a knife, kings are butchers; justice hath taken
wings and fled.
In this completely dark night of falsehood the moon of truth is
never seen to rise.
I have become perplexed in my search:
In the darkness I find no way.
Devoted to pride, I weep in sorrow:
Saith Nanak, how shall deliverance be obtained?[1]
On this the Sidhs requested the Guru to join them in praising God.
Having done so he put his subsequent conversation with them into the
following form:--
The Sidhs holding an assembly sat in religious attitude--hail
to the assembly of the saints!
I offer my prayer to Him who is the true and Infinite One.
I will cut off my head and lay it before Him; I will place before
Him my soul and body.
Nanak, by meeting a holy man the True One is found, and honour is
easily obtained.
Is the True and Pure One obtained by wandering?
There is no salvation without the True Word
The Sidhs asked:--
'Who art thou? What is thy name? What is thy sect and what
thine object?
'Speak the truth; this is what we urge; we are a sacrifice to
saintly men.
'Where is thy seat; where dwellest thou, O youth?
Whence hast thou come, and whither goest thou?
'Hear, O Nanak,' said the Sidhs, 'What are thy tenets?
[1. Mājh ki Wār.]
Nanak--'I dwell in God who hath His seat in every heart; I
act according to the will of the True Guru.
'I came in the course of nature, and according to God's order
shall I depart. Nanak is ever subject to His will.
'To be fixed in God is my prayerful attitude; such know ledge have
I obtained from the Guru.
'If one understand the Guru's instruction and know him self, then
he being true shall be absorbed in the True One.'
A Sidh called Charpat asked .--
'The world is an ocean, and is said to be difficult to cross
how shall man traverse it? '
Saith Charpat, 'O Audhut Nanak, give a true reply.'
Nanak--'Thou sayest so; thou thyself understandest What
answer can I give thee?
'I speak truly; thou hast reached the distant shore how can I
argue with thee?
'As a lotus in the water remaineth dry, as also a water-fowl in
the stream,
'So by meditating on the Word and repeating God's name,' 'shalt
thou be unaffected by the world.'
Nanak is a slave to those who remain apart from the world,
in whose hearts the one God abideth, who live without desires in
the midst of desires,
And who see and show to others the inaccessible and
incomprehensible God.[1]
The Sidhs then, said 'All hail!' The Guru replied, 'All hail to the
Primal Being!' Several Sikhs suppose that Guru Nanak com posed the
Sidh Gosht on that occasion when he found leisure and retirement for
composition.
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CHAPTER XV
After his sojourn with the Sidhs the Guru returned to the plains of
the Panjab and travelled in a north westerly direction until he
reached Hasan Abdal,
[1. Sidh Gosht.]
then a great centre of Muhammadan religious enthusiasm.
There abode on a small hillock a bigoted and selfish priest known
as Bawa Wali of Kandhar. The Guru and his minstrel needed water for
their evening repast, and it could only be obtained from the Wali.
Mardana told him that he and Guru Nanak had arrived, and he advised
him to see the Guru, who was a great saint of God. Bawa Wali, who
claimed exclusive holiness for himself, became offended on hearing the
Guru's praises, and refused the required water. He said if Mardana's
master were such a holy man. he ought to provide water for himself.
When this reply was communicated to the Guru, he sent Mardana back to
the Wali with the message that he himself was a very poor creature of
God, and laid no claims to the character of a saint. The Wali paid no
heed to this protestation, but persisted in his refusal to afford
water to the Guru and his minstrel. The Guru was then compelled to
bore a hole near where he had taken shelter, and a stream of water
immediately issued forth. Upon this, the Wali's well dried up, there
being only a limited supply of water in the locality. The Wali's rage
naturally increased, and it is said that he hurled the hillock upon
Guru Nanak's unoffending head. The Guru, on seeing the descending
volume of earth, raised his right arm to protect himself. It is
related that upon this the fall of the hillock was arrested. The
impression of the palm of the Guru's hand was left on the descending
mass, which is now known as 'Panja Sahib' and held in reverence by the
Sikhs.
After a brief residence in Hasan Abdal the Guru proceeded to
Gorakh-Hatari, a quarter of the city of Peshawar on the frontier of
the Panjab where there is an ancient temple of Gorakhnath. The Jogis
having heard of his fame were anxious to discover how he had acquired
such moral and spiritual influence, and, when the Guru was seated, put him the
questions contained in the first four verses of the following hymn.
The Guru's replies follow:--
What callest thou that gate at which thou sittest? Who can see
the gate within it?
Let some one come and describe to me that gate to attain which the
Udasi wandereth.
How shall we cross the ocean
How shall we be dead when alive?
Sorrow is the gate, wrath the porter, hope and anxiety its
folding-doors.
Mammon is a moat, domestic life its water; man abideth by taking
his seat on truth.
How many names hast Thou, O God! Their limit cannot be
known; there is none equal to Thee.
Man ought not to call himself exalted, but dwell in his own
thoughts; what God deemeth proper, He doeth.
As long as there is desire, so long is there anxiety; how can one who
feeleth it speak of the one God?
When man in the midst of desires remaineth free from desires,
then, O Nanak, he meeteth the one God.
In this way shall he cross the ocean,
And thus be dead while alive.[1]
On uttering this hymn the Guru was pressed to adopt the style and
religion of a Jogi. The principles of the Jogis' sect were explained
to him. The Guru replied:--
The Word is my meditation, divine instruction the music of my
horn for men to hear;
Honour is my begging-wallet, and uttering the Name my alms.
Father, Gorakh awaketh.
Gorakh is He who lifted the earth and fashioned it without delay;
[1. Rāmkali.]
Who enclosed water, breath, and life in the body, and made
the great lights of the moon and sun;
Who gave us the earth as our abode, but whose many favours
we have forgotten.
Sidhs, Strivers, Jogis, Jangams, and Pirs are many.
If I obtain the Name from them, I will sing their praises,
and serve them heartily--
Paper and salt melt not in clarified butter; the lotus remaineth unaffected
by water--
What can Death say to them, O Nanak, who meet such saints?[1]
After his successful discussion with the Jogis the Guru decided to
visit Makka, the pole star of Muhammadan devotion. He disguised
himself in the blue dress of a Muhammadan pilgrim, took a faqir's
staff in his hand and a collection of his hymns under his arm. He also
carried with him in the style of a Musalman devotee a cup for his
ablutions and a carpet whereon to pray. And when an opportunity
offered, he shouted the Muhammadan call to prayer like any orthodox
follower of the Arabian prophet. As usual in his peregrinations, he
was accompanied by his faithful minstrel and rebeck player Mardana. It
is recorded that whenever he met children on his journey he joined in
their sports. He accidentally found a Muhammadan faqir also bent on
the Makkan pilgrimage, and passed a night with him in pleasant
spiritual converse. The pilgrim offered him his bhang-pouch, and asked
whether he was a Hindu or a Musalman. The Guru replied with the hymn
he had previously addressed to the Emperor Babar when he inquired what
intoxication that was whose effects should never depart.
As they proceeded on the road to Makka, it is said, a cloud they
saw over their heads accompanied them. The pilgrim became alarmed at
the unusual occurrence,
[1. Rāmkali.]
and said to the Guru 'No Hindu hath ever yet gone to Makka. Travel
not with me; either go before or after.' The Guru told the pilgrim to
precede him. When the pilgrim turned round to see where his companion
was, it is said he could see neither him nor the cloud. The pilgrim
then began to wring his hands, and said, 'It was God who was with me,
but I could not endure the sight of Him. He worked illusion on me.'
When the Guru arrived, weary and footsore, in Makka, he went and
sat in the great mosque where pilgrims were engaged in their
devotions. His disregard of Moslem customs soon involved him in
difficulties. When he lay down to sleep at night he turned his feet
towards the Kaaba. An Arab priest kicked him and said, 'Who is this
sleeping infidel? Why hast thou, O sinner, turned thy feet towards
God?' The Guru replied, 'Turn my feet in a direction in which God is
not.'[1] Upon this the priest seized the Guru's feet and dragged them
in the opposite direction, whereupon, it is said, the temple turned
round, and followed the revolution of his body. Some understand this
in a spiritual sense, and say it means that Guru Nanak made all Makka
turn to his teaching. Those who witnessed this miracle were astonished
and saluted the Guru as a supernatural being.
The Qazis and the Mullas crowded round the Guru, and interrogated
him on the subject of his religion. They admitted that he had
accomplished a great feat, but the source of his power was not
apparent. They opened his book, and seeing that it was on religious
subjects, inquired which was
[1. Curious it is to find the same expression in an Italian
operatic writer of the eighteenth century.
E se, dov' ei dimora,
Non intendesti ancora,
Confondimi, se puoi;
Dimmi dov' ei non č.
(Metastasio.)
]
superior, the Hindu or the Muhammadan religion. The Guru replied,
'Without good acts the professors of both religions shall suffer.
Neither the Hindus nor the Muhammadans shall obtain entrance into
God's court. All their devotions shall vanish like the fleeting dye of
safflower. Both sects are jealous of each other. The Hindus insist on
saying Ram and the Moslems Rahim, but they know not the one God. Satan
hath led them both along his own flowery way.' On that occasion the
Guru uttered the following hymn in the Tilang measure:--
Thy fasting and worship shall be acceptable
When thou, O man, keepest watch over the ten apertures of thy
body, hatest the world,
Chastenest thy mind, restrainest thy sight, and fleest worldly
desires and wranglings.
Every day of the month offer thy love to the Lord thus shalt thou
be recognized as pure and gentle.
Keep the fast of meditation, and let the renunciation of pleasure
be thy dance;
Keep watch over thy heart, so shalt thou be a really learned man;
Abandon delights, ease, evil speaking, mental anxiety, and
vexation;
Treasure kindness in thy heart, and renounce the devices of
infidelity;
Extinguish the fire of lust in thy heart, and thus become cool.
Saith Nanak, thus practise fasting, and thy faith shall be
perfect.'[1]
When the Guru had finished, the Qazi said, 'Well done! I have
to-day for the first time seen a real saint of God.' The Qazi then
went and told the high priest that the darwesh Nanak had arrived. The
high priest went to see him, shook hands with him,
[1. This hymn is not found in the Granth Sāhib.]
and sat down beside him. He thanked God that Nanak had come.
The high priest asked Nanak if the Hindus who read the Veds, and
the Musalmans who read the Quran, should or should not find God. The
Guru courageously replied with the following outspoken hymn of Kabir:--
O brethren, the Veds and the Quran are false, and free not the
mind from anxiety.
If for a moment thou restrain thy mind, God will appear before
thee.
O man, search thy heart daily, that thou mayest not again fall
into despair.
This world is a magic show which hath no reality.
Men are pleased when they read falsehood, and quarrel over what
they do not understand.
The truth is, the Creator is contained in the creation; He is not
of a blue colour in the guise of Vishnu.
Thou shouldst have bathed in the river which floweth in heaven.[1]
Take heed; ever fix thine eyes on Him who is every where
present.[2]
God is the purest of the pure; shall I doubt whether there is
another equal to Him?[3]
Kabir, he to whom the Merciful hath shown mercy, knoweth Him.
The high priest then asked how God might be obtained by men. The
Guru replied that it was by humility and prayer. He added the
following hymn in the Persian language:--
I make one supplication before Thee; lend Thine ear, O Creator.
[1. In the brain instead of the Ganges and other sacred streams of
the Hindus.
2. Also translated--Embrace perpetual poverty, fix thy mental eyes
on God, and thou shalt behold Him everywhere present.
3. Also translated--If there be another like Him, then entertain
doubt.]
O God, Thou art great and merciful; Thou art the faultless
Cherisher.
The world is a perishable abode; O my heart, know this as the
truth.
Azrail[1] seizeth me by the hair of my head; yet thou knowest it
not, O my heart.
There shall be no wife, no son, no father, no brother, no one to
take my hand.
There shall be no one to hinder my falling at last when my fate[2]
cometh.
I have passed my nights and days in vanity, and my thoughts have
been evil.
I have never done a good act-this is my condition;
I am unfortunate, I am also miserly and negligent; I see not, and
I fear not.
Nanak saith, I am Thy slave, and the dust of the feet of Thy
servants.[3]
The high priest then asked the Guru to tell him the composition of
matter, the nature of the God he adored, how He was to be found, and
in what consisted the essence of his religion. The Guru replied again
in the Persian language:--
Know that according to the Musalmans everything is
produced from air, fire, water, and earth;
But the pure God created the world out of five elements.[4]
However high man may leap, he shall fall on the earth again.
Even though a bird fly, it cannot compete in endurance with
the torrent and the wind which move by God's will.
How great shall I call God? to whom shall I go to in quire
regarding Him?
[1. Azrāil is frequently mentioned in the. Sikh sacred writings.
In the Muhammadan dispensation be is. the minister of Death who
separates men's souls from their bodies by violently tearing them
asunder. The Qurān, Sūras 32 and 79.
2. Takbīr is understood to be for the Arabic taqdīr,
destiny.
3. Tilang.
4. Akāsh, or ether, being the fifth.]
He is the greatest of the great, and great is His world men
depart in their pride.[1]
I have consulted the four Veds, but these writings find not God's
limits.
I have consulted the four books of the Muhammadans, but God
s worth is not described in them.
I have consulted the nine regions of the earth; one improveth upon
what the other saith.
Having turned my heart into a boat, I have searched in every sea;
I have dwelt by rivers and streams, and bathed at the sixty-eight
places of pilgrimage;
I have lived among the forests and glades of the three worlds and
eaten bitter and sweet;
I have seen the seven nether regions and heavens upon heavens.
And I, Nanak, say man shall be true to his faith if he fear
God and do good works.[1]
In due time the Guru proceeded to Madina, where he vanquished the
Muhammadan priests in argument. Thence he journeyed to Baghdad, and
took up his position outside the city. He shouted the call to prayer,
on which the whole population became wrapt in silent astonishment.[2]
The high priest of Baghdad, on meeting face to face the enthusiastic
stranger, inquired who he was and to what sect he belonged. The Guru
replied, 'I have appeared in this age to indicate the way unto men. I
reject all sects, and only know one God, whom I recognize in the
earth, the heavens, and in all directions.'
Upon this the Guru began to repeat the Japji. As the high priest
listened to its doctrines he said, 'This is a very impious faqir. He
is working
[1. Banno's Granth Sāhib.
2 It is certain that the Guru omitted the words Muhammad ar rasūl
Allah of the creed, and substituted Arabic words of a similar
sound to express his own ideas. Hence the astonishment of the people.]
miracles here, and informing us, contrary to the authority of our
holy Quran, that there are hundreds of thousands of nether and upper
regions, and that at last men grow weary of searching for them.' The
high priest then called upon the Guru to give a manifestation of his
power. Upon this, it is said, the Guru laid his hand on the high
priest's son and showed him the upper and lower regions described in
the Japji.[1]
The Guru having accomplished his mission in the West resolved to
return to his own country. When he arrived in Multan, the local high
priest presented him with a cup of milk filled to the brim. By this he
meant it to be understood that the city was full of holiness already,
and that there was no room for another religious teacher. The Guru, in
no wise disconcerted, took the milk and laid on it an Indian jasmin
flower. The cup did not overflow. This typified that there was still
room for the Guru in the midst of the Multanis, as there is still room
for the ever flowing Ganges in the ocean.
The Guru, after a brief sojourn in Multan, set out for Kartarpur.
His reputation daily increased in the world, and men meditated on his
name. He insisted that praying for anything except God's name merely
conferred on man a crown of sorrow By this time the Guru had founded a
pure religion and made his coin current in the world.
In due time the Guru and his minstrel arrived at Kartarpur on the
right bank of the river Ravi, opposite the present town of Dehra Baba
Nanak. There he doffed his pilgrim's dress, and donned worldly
garments in order to show that he did not desire men to devote
themselves exclusively to an ascetic life. At the same time he sat on
his religious stool, and began to preach to the people.
During Guru Nanak's stay at Kartarpur he continued
[1. Japji, Pauri xxiii.]
to compose hymns which diffused spiritual light and dispelled
mental darkness. He ever con versed on religious subjects, and divine
measures were ever sung in his presence. The Sodar and the Sohila were
chanted in the evening and the Japji repeated at the ambrosial hour of
morning.[1]
At Kartarpur, Mardana, the Guru's faithful minstrel, advanced in
years and wearied with his long wanderings and physical privations,
fell ill. He felt that he had no hope of longer life, and resigned
himself to man's inevitable fate. He had originally been a Muhammadan,
but, being now a Sikh, the question arose as to how his body should be
disposed of after death. The Guru said, 'A Brahman's body is thrown
into water, a Khatri's is burnt in the fire, a Vaisya's is thrown to
the winds, and a Sudra's is buried in the earth. Thy body shall be
disposed of as thou pleasest.' Mardana replied, 'Through thine
instruction the pride of my body hath totally departed. With the four
castes the disposal of the body is a matter of pride. I deem my soul
merely as a spectator of my body, and am not concerned with the
latter. Wherefore dispose of it as thou pleasest.' Then the Guru said,
'Shall I make thee a tomb and render thee famous in the world.'
Mardana replied, 'When my soul hath been separated from its bodily
tomb, why shut it up in a stone tomb?' The Guru answered, 'Since thou
knowest God and art therefore a Brahman, we shall dispose of thy body
by throwing It into the river Ravi and letting it go with the stream.
Sit down therefore on its margin in prayerful posture, fix-thine
attention on God, repeat His name at every inspiration and expiration,
and thy soul shall be absorbed in the light of God.' Mardana
accordingly sat down by the river, and his soul separated from its
earthly enclosure the following morning at a watch
[1. A translation of these divine services will be found in this
volume.]
before day. The Guru then, by the aid of his Sikhs, consigned
Mardana's body to the river Ravi,[1] caused the Sohila to be read for
his eternal repose, and concluded the obsequies by distributing karah
parshad[2] (sacred food). The Guru counselled Mardana's son
Shahzada and his relations not to weep. There ought to be no
lamentation for a man who was returning to his heavenly home, and
therefore no mourning for Mardana.[3] The Guru bade Shahzada remain
with him in the same capacity as his father, and he would be held in
equal honour. Accordingly Shahzada, the Guru's faithful friend and
minstrel, accompanied him to the time of his death.
In the Granth Sahib are found three sloks of the Guru, dedicated to
Mardana, against the use of wine. The following, which may
conveniently be given here, will suffice as a specimen:--
The barmaid is misery, wine is lust; man is the drinker.
The cup filled with worldly love is wrath, and it is served by
pride.
The company is false and covetous, and is ruined by excess of
drink.
Instead of such wine make good conduct thy yeast, truth thy
molasses, God's name thy wine;
Make merits thy cakes, good conduct thy clarified butter, and
modesty thy meat to eat.
Such things, O Nanak, are obtained by the Guru's favour by
partaking of them sins depart.[4]
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CHAPTER XVI
There lived in a town called Khadur a Sikh named Jodha who used to
repeat God's name while
[1. It is stated in several Sikh works that Mardana's body was
cremated.
2 The recipe for the preparation of karāh parshād, or Sikh
sacred food, will be given in the life of Guru Gobind Singh, vol. v.
3. Gyān Ralanāwali.
4. Bihāgre ki Wār.]
the rest of the inhabitants worshipped Durga. Their priest was a
man called Lahina. One day when Jodha was repeating Guru Nanak's Japji,
Lahina heard him and inquired whose composition it was. Jodha duly
informed him, and they became intimate. On being introduced to the
Guru, Lahina told his name, upon which the Guru said, 'Thy lahina
is here, where else can it be found?' In the Panjabi language the word
lahina means to take or receive, and, the Guru meant, 'What thou
desirest to receive--salvation-is here, and nowhere else.' After some
spiritual instruction from the lips of the Guru, Lahina threw away the
tinkling bells he wore on his hands and feet to dance before the
goddess, and began to repeat God's name. He made it a practice
afterwards to perform menial service for the Guru.[1]
It is said that Lahina in a vision saw a female in a red dress
shampooing the Guru. Lahina asked her who she was. She replied that
she was Durga, and that she came once a week to do service for the
Guru. On this Lahina became convinced of the divine mission of Guru
Nanak.
A Jogi went to visit the Guru and congratulate him on the large
number of converts he had made. The Guru replied that he had few real
Sikhs, as the Jogi himself would see. The Guru and the Jogi determined
to proceed into the forest and there make trial of the Sikh converts
who accompanied them in numbers. For this purpose the Guru assumed a
terrible guise. He put on dirty, tattered clothes, took a knife in his
hand, and proceeded with some hunting dogs into the forest, ostensibly
in quest of game. On this several of his Sikhs fled. It was on that
occasion the Guru composed the following:--
[1. A fuller account of Jodha's influence on Lahina will be given
in the Life of Guru Angad, Vol. II.]
I have a dog[1] and two bitches[2] with me;
Every morning they bark at the wind.[3]
Falsehood is my hunting-knife and carrion its handle.
O Creator, I remain in the guise of a huntsman;
I do not follow my Master's counsel or do His work.
I appear deformed and terrible.
Thy Name alone saveth the world;
It is my support; to obtain it is my desire.
I utter calumny day and night;
I am base and worthless; I covet my neighbour's house.
Lust and anger, which are pariahs, dwell in my heart.
O Creator, I remain in the guise of a huntsman
In saint's dress I meditate to entrap others.
I am a cheat in a country of cheats.[4]
I deem myself very clever, and bear a great load of
sin.
O Creator, I remain in the guise of a huntsman.
Ungrateful that I was, I did not appreciate what Thou didst for
me.
How can I, who am wicked and dishonest, show my face?
Humble Nanak expresseth his thoughts-
O Creator, I remain in the guise of a huntsman.[5]
As the party proceeded they found the road covered with copper
coins. Some Sikhs took them up and departed. Further on were found
silver coins. Several Sikhs took up the silver coins and returned
home. As the Guru's party proceeded further, they saw gold coins on
the road. Several of the remaining Sikhs took up the gold coins and
quickly vanished. Only the Jogi, two Sikhs, and the Guru's attendant
Lahina now remained.
On proceeding further they found a funeral pyre. Near the corpse
were four lighted lamps. A sheet was stretched over it as it lay on
the ground and emitted an offensive smell. The Guru said, 'Let
[1. Avarice.
2 Desire and covetousness.
3 The line means that desire and covetousness call in vain to the
saint.
4. Also translated--I am a cheat and cheat the country.
5. Sri Rāg.]
whoever wisheth to accompany me eat of this.' The Sikhs quailed at
the dreadful proposal, but Lahina remained staunch in his faith in the
Guru. Without more ado he clasped his hands and asked the Guru if he
should begin to eat the head or the feet of the corpse. The Guru told
him to begin at the waist. Lahina lifted the winding-sheet in order to
begin to eat, when lo! it is said, a dish of sacred food appeared
instead of the corpse! Lahina offered the sacred food to the Guru
first, and said he would partake of his leavings. The Guru replied,
'Thou hast obtained this sacred food because thou didst desire to
share it with others. The wealth given by God which man useth himself
or burieth in the earth, is like carrion; but the wealth which man
shareth with others is as sacred food. Thou hast obtained, my secret;
thou art in mine image. I will tell thee the real thing, the spell
which is the essence of religion, and by which thou shalt have
happiness here and hereafter. The following, which is the preamble of
the Japji, is the spell meant by the Guru:--
There is but one God whose name is True, the Creator,
devoid of fear and enmity, immortal, unborn, self-existent, great,
and bountiful. Repeat His name.
The True One was in the beginning; The True One was in the primal
age;
The True One is, was, O Nanak; the True One also shall be.
The Guru instructed Lahina to utter the spell with a pure heart. It
would fulfil all his desires, bestow happiness in this world and
salvation in the next; and by the continual practice of it the light
of God should dawn in his heart. Upon this the Jogi said, 'O Nanak, he
shall be thy Guru who is produced from thy body--ang.' Upon this the
Guru. embraced Lahina, addressed him. as Angad, and Promised that he
should be his successor. The Jogi and the Guru then went to their
respective homes.
The Sikhs who had deserted the Guru, afterwards bitterly regretted
their conduct. They who had found the copper money said, that if they
had gone further they would have found the silver money; and they who
had found the silver money said that if they had gone further, they
would have found the gold money. Upon this the Guru composed the
following:--
The words man speaketh shall be taken into account the food he
eateth shall be taken into account;
Man's movements shall be taken into account; what he heareth and
seeth shall be taken into account;
Every breath he draweth shall be taken into account why should I
go and ask the learned?
O father, attachment to Maya is deceitful.
He who being spiritually blind forgetteth God's name, shall
gain neither this world nor the next.
Life and death are for everything that is born; death devoureth
everything here.
Where the Judge sitteth and decideth, thither no one shall
accompany thee.
All who weep for thee tie up, as it were, a bundle of
refuse.[1]
Everybody saith that God is great nobody detracteth from Him;
But no one hath found His price He becometh not great by what man
saith.
O True Lord, Thou art one Lord; how many other worlds in which
creatures dwell!
Nanak is with those who are low-born among the lowly;
Nay, who are lowest of the low; how can he rival the great?
Where Thou, O Lord, watchest over the lowly, Thy look of favour
shall be their reward.[2]
The successor of Pir Baha-ul-Din, the Musalman prelate of Multan,
went accompanied by several of his followers to visit Guru Nanak. On
meeting him he said, 'I have loaded the load; do something
[1. That is, they weep in vain.
2. Sri Rag.]
for me'--that is, pray that I may have a successful journey to the
next world.
The Guru replied:--
He who filleth the sack shall load it on himself;[1] the
will of God is over all;
Nanak, they who have acted honestly shall depart with bright
faces.
The Guru, seeing the Pir prepared for death, said he would soon
follow him himself. The Guru upon this composed the following hymn:--
Wealth, youth, and flowers are guests[2] only for four days;[3]
They wither and fade like the leaves of the water lily.
Enjoy God's love, O dear one, in the freshness of youth.
Few are thy days; thou art wearied and the vesture of thy body
hath grown old.
My merry friends have gone to sleep in the grave.
I too shall depart in sorrow, and weep with a feeble voice.
O fair one,[4] why not attentively listen to this message?
Thou must go to thy father-in-law's; thou mayest not dwell for
ever in thy father's house.
Nanak, know that she who sleepeth[5] in her father's house, is
robbed at an untimely season.
She hath lost her bundle of merits and departed with a load of
demerits.[6]
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CHAPTER XVII
The Guru, knowing that his end was approaching, appointed Angad his
successor. The Guru's sons had not obeyed him. Their minds were
insincere, and they had rebelled and deserted him. Wherefore he
subsequently placed the umbrella
[1. Man shall take with him the result of his acts.
2. Nāthiare is connected with the Panjābi nathna,
to run away.
3. Four days is a common Oriental expression for a short period.
4 The soul is here meant.
5. Who awakes not in God's service.
6. Sri Rāg.]
of spiritual sovereignty over Angad's head, and bowed to him in
token of his succession to the Guruship. Then it became known to his
people that Guru Nanak was about to die. Whole troops of Sikhs,
Hindus, and Musalmans went to bid him farewell. Angad stood up before
him in an attitude of supplication. When Guru Nanak had invited him to
speak, he said, 'O king, be pleased to attach again to thy skirt those
who have seceded from thee.' By this Angad meant the Sikhs whose faith
had been tried and found wanting. Guru Nanak replied, 'I have forgiven
them all for thy sake.' Upon this Angad fell at his feet.
Guru Nanak went and sat under a withered acacia tree, when lo! it
became green, and produced leaves and blossoms. Angad again fell at
his feet in adoration. Guru Nanak's family, relations, and disciples
began to weep. On that occasion he composed the following:--
Hail to the Creator, the True King, who allotted to the world
its various duties!
When the measure[1] is full, the duration of life is at an
end; the soul is led away;
When the destined hour arriveth, the soul is led away and all
one's relations weep.
The body and soul are separated, O my mother, when one's days are
at an end.
Thou hast obtained what was allotted thee, and reaped the fruit of
thy former acts.
Hail to the Creator, the True King, who allotted to the world its various
duties!
Remember the Lord, O my brethren; all must depart.
The affairs of this world are transitory, only for four days; we
must assuredly proceed onwards:
We must assuredly proceed onwards like a guest; why should we be
proud?
[1. Pāi.
2. This is an Indian corn measure].
Repeat the name of Him by whose worship thou shalt obtain
happiness in His court.
In the next world thou canst in no wise enforce thine authority;
every one shall fare according to his acts.
Remember the Lord, my brethren, every one must depart.
That which pleaseth the Omnipotent shall come to pass this world
is an illusion.
The true Creator pervadeth sea and land, the nether regions, and
the firmament.
The true Creator is invisible, unequalled; His limit cannot be
found.
Profitable is their advent into this world who have meditated with
their whole hearts upon Him.
The Adorner by His order demolisheth and again constructeth.
That which pleaseth the Omnipotent shall come to pass this world
is an illusion.
Saith Nanak, O Father, they shall be considered to have
wept who weep through love.
If men weep for the sake of worldly things, all their weeping, O
Father, shall be in vain:
All their weeping shall be in vain; the world is not mindful of
God, and weepeth for mammon.
They know not good from evil, and thus lose their human lives.
All who come into this world must depart; false are you who
practise pride.
Saith Nanak, men shall be considered to have wept, O
Father, if they weep through love.[1]
this the assembled crowd began to sing songs of mourning, and the
Guru fell into a trance. When he awoke therefrom, his sons, on seeing
a stranger appointed to succeed their father, inquired what provision
had been made for themselves. Guru Nanak replied, 'O my sons, God
giveth to His creatures; you shall obtain food and clothing in abundance, and if you repeat God's name you shall be saved at
last.'
[1. Wadhans, Alāhaniān.]
The Musalmans who had received God's name from the Guru, said they
would bury him after his death. His Hindu followers on the contrary
said they would cremate him. When the Guru was invited to decide the
discussion he said, 'Let the Hindus place flowers on my right, and the
Musalmans on my left. They whose flowers are found fresh in the
morning, may have the disposal of my body.'
Guru Nanak then ordered the crowd to sing the Sohila:--
In the house in which God's praise is sung and He is meditated
on,
Sing the Sohila and remember the Creator.
Sing the Sohila of my fearless Lord; I am a sacrifice to that song
of joy by which everlasting comfort is obtained.
Ever and ever living things are watched over; the Giver regardeth their
wants.
When even Thy gifts cannot be appraised, who can appraise the
Giver?
The year and the auspicious time for marriage[1] are
recorded; O relations, meet and pour oil on me the
bride.[2]
O my friends, pray for me that I may meet my Lord.
This message is ever sent to every house; such invitations are
ever issued.
Remember the Caller; Nanak, the day is approaching.[3]
The concluding slok of the Japji was then sung. The Guru drew a
sheet over 'him, uttered 'Wahguru', made obeisance to God, and blended
his light with Guru Angad's. The Guru remained the same. There was
only a change of body produced by a supreme miracle.
[1. Death is here considered a marriage as among the ancient
Greeks.
2. Before marriage the bride's relations anoint her with oil.
3. Rāg Gauri Dīpaki. Guru Nānak caused this hymn to be repeated
for him in token of rejoicing when he was dying. It is still read as a
Funeral service.]
When the sheet was removed next morning, there was nothing found
beneath it. The flowers on both sides ere in bloom. The Hindus and the
Musalmans removed their respective flowers. All the Sikhs reverently
saluted the spot on which the Guru had lain. He breathed his last on
the tenth day of the light half of the month of Assu, Sambat 1595
(A.D. 1538) at Kartarpur in the Panjab.
The Sikhs erected a shrine and the Muhammadans a tomb in his honour
on the margin of the Ravi. Both have since been washed away by the
river, perhaps providentially, so as to avoid idolatrous worship of
the Guru's last resting-place.
Bhai Gur Das, a brief account of whom we have given in the
Introduction, draws a gloomy picture of the wickedness of the world at
the rise of the Sikh religion:--Men's ideas. and aspirations were low.
Mammon fascinated the world and led every one astray. Good acts no
longer commended themselves to men. They burned with pride, and
respected not one another. The high and the low forgot their mutual
duties. Monarchs were unjust, and their nobles were butchers who held
knives to men's throats.
Everybody thought he possessed knowledge, but none knew in what
knowledge or ignorance consisted. Men did what pleased themselves.
Alchemy and thaumaturgy were professed, incantations and spells
practised, and men indulged in strife, wrath, and mutual jealousies.
In the general disorder every one adopted a religion of his own. Out
of one God they made many, and carved gods attractive and unattractive
from wood and stone. Some worshipped the sun or moon, others.
propitiated the earth, sky, wood, water, or fire, and others again the
god of 'death, while the devotion of many was addressed to cemeteries
and cremation grounds. Thus did mankind go astray in vain religions
and vain worship.
Men despised one another and hence caste received religious sanction. The Brahmans set the Veds, the Purans, and the
Shastars at variance. The professors of the six schools of Hindu
philosophy quarrelled with one another, and while so employed indulged
to their hearts' content in hypocrisy and superstition.
Not only were the Hindus divided into four castes, but the
Muhammadans were divided into four sects,[1] and while the Hindus
worshipped the Ganges and Banaras, the Muhammadans addressed their
devotions to Makka and the Kaaba. The devil fascinated the members of
both religions; they forgot their holy books; they went astray on
every road; and truth was the one thing they failed to discover.
There was no guru or religious guide, and without one the people
were pushing one another to their destruction. Sin prevailed
throughout creation. Pure religion was weeping day and night, and
finally began to disappear from men's gaze beneath the earth. She was
weighed down by human transgressions. In lowly attitude she appealed
to God for a guide. God observing men's anguish and hearing their
piteous cries, conferred supernatural attributes on Guru Nanak. He
bestowed on him the supreme wealth of the Name and humility, and sent
him into the world to relieve its sufferings. When Guru Nanak
contemplated the world, he everywhere saw spiritual darkness, and
heard the cry of pain. He endured the greatest privations and
travelled to different countries in order to regenerate the human
race.
He pointed out to men the straight way--that there was but one God,
the primal and omnipresent. He restored the three legs which religion
had lost, and reduced to one the four castes of the Hindus. He placed
the king and the beggar on a spiritual equality, and taught them to
respect each other.
[1. Hanifi, Shāfai, Māliki, and Hanbali.]
He preached to all a religion of the heart as
distinguished from a religion of external forms and unavailing ritual.
He found that the acts and austerities practised by professedly
religious men of his age and country were without divine love or
devotion, and consequently contained no merit before God. He satisfied
himself that Brahma, the reputed author of the Veds, did not include
love in them, nor was it mentioned in the Simritis. He declared that
God who has no form or outline was not found by wearing religious
garbs, but by humility, and that if men rejected caste and worshipped
God in spirit they should be accepted in His court.
The Guru examined all religious sects, contemplated the gods,
goddesses, and spirits of earth and heaven, and found them all
immersed and perishing in spiritual pride. He scrutinized Hindus,
Moslems, priests, and prophets, and found not one godly person among
them. They were all groping in the blind pit of superstition.
Religious men who ought to be guiding their flocks, had retreated
to the solitude of mountains. There was no one left to instruct and
save the world. Though hermits rubbed ashes night and day on their
bodies, they possessed no knowledge, and the world was rushing to its
ruin for want of a divine guide. Rulers were everywhere oppressive.
The fence began to eat the field instead of protecting it. Guardians
proved faithless to their trusts and consumed the wealth of their
wards. Some disciples played while their spiritual guides danced.
Other disciples sat at home while, contrary to all custom, their
spiritual guides waited on them. judges took bribes and perpetrated
injustice. Women only paid regard to their husbands for the wealth
they possessed, and sin was diffused throughout the world. When Guru
Nanak appeared, the fog of spiritual ignorance dispersed, and light
shone in the world, as when the sun rises the stars disappear and dark ness fades away,
or as when the lion roars in the forest the timid deer incontinently
disappear. Wherever the Guru planted his foot, there was established a
seat of worship. Every house of his followers became a temple in which
the Lord's praises were ever sung and the Lord's name continually
repeated. The Guru established a separate religion, and laid out an
easy and simple way of obtaining salvation by the repetition of God's
name. The Guru extricated men from the terrible ocean of the world,
and included them in the boon of salvation. He cut off the fear of
transmigration, and healed the malady of superstition and the pain of
separation from God. Until the Guru's advent death's mace ever
impended over men's heads, and the apostate and the evil spent their
lives in vain. When men grasped the feet of the divine Guru, he gave
them the true Word and effected their deliverance. He inculcated love
and devotion, the repetition of God's name, and the lesson that as men
sow so shall they reap.
The four castes of the Hindus he reduced to one. Whether a Sikh had
a caste or not, he was distinguished in the society of the holy. The
six schools of philosophy are like the six seasons of the year, but
the sect of the Guru is the sun which shines over them all. Guru Nanak
having abolished all sects shed great splendour on his own. Setting
aside the Veds and the books of Islam, he taught his sect to repeat
the name of the infinite God who surpasses all conception. By falling
at one another's feet and by practising humility are the Guru's Sikhs
recognized. They live as hermits among their families, they efface
their individuality, they pronounce the ineffable name of God, and
they transgress not the will of the Creator by uttering blessings or
curses upon their fellow-creatures. Thus were men saved in every
direction and Guru Nanak became the true support of the nine regions
of the earth.
Suggested Reading
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