[p. 46]
God rewards the upright and holy who toil in obscurity :—
The gift, the perverse suppose, is preferable to the Giver ;
What shall I say of their intelligence, understanding, and Glewerness ? [^1]
He who toileth in obscurity 1s known in all directions ;
He who acteth honestly is called honest, and he who committeth sin is known as a sinner.
O Creator, Thou Thyself performest the whole play ; why mention any one else ?
O Source of Light, as long as Thy light is in the body Thou speakest init. If any one have done aught without Thee, show him to me that I may recognize him.
Nanak, God, who alone is skilful and wise, is made manifest by the Guru’s instruction.
Spiritual exaltation :—
To see without eyes, to hear without cars,
To walk without feet, to work without hands,
To speak without a tongue—that is to be dead while alive.
Nanak, he who accepteth the will of God shall be united with Him.
Addiction to pleasures is incompatible with true devotion :—
We see, and hear, and know that God cannot be found in worldly pleasures ;
How can man without feet, arms, and eyes[1] run to embrace Him 7
[p. 47] Make feet out of fear, hands out of love, and eyes out of understanding.
Nanak saith, in this way, O wise women, shall you meet the Bridegroom.
Who are perfect bankers :—
They are perfect bankers who have found the Perfect One ;
They are ever[2] unconcerned and abide in the love of the One God.
Few can obtain a sight of the Unfathomable Being.
Nanak, if the perfect Guru, whose acts are perfect and whose words are perfect,
Make any one perfect, he wil/ not decrease in weight.
Man’s proper employment and the bliss attending morning devotion :—
Let man during the eight watches subdue eight things— the five deadly sins and the three qualities—and his body the ninth.
The nine treasures are in the One God’s name for which they who are profoundly religious search.
Nanak, the favourites of destiny have praised Him through their gurus and priests.
In the morning during the fourth watch they who remember God feel delight ;
They love the streams wherein they bathe, and the True Name is in their hearts and on their lips ;
There nectar is distributed, and the fortunate obtain favour.[3]
The body obtaineth the character of gold and assumeth a beautiful colour ;
If the Assayer approve of it, He will not again put it in te fire.
During the remaining seven watches of the day it is good to speak truth and sit with learned men ;
There bad and good acts are considered, and the capital of falsehood decreaseth ;
[p. 48] There the counterfeit are rejected and the genuine congratulated.
Nanak, it is idle to tell the Master of one’s misery or happiness.
The virtuous hunger for God :—
The mouths of the virtuous who love the One God weary not of speaking,
Nor their ears of hearing, nor their eyes of beholding Him.
Hunger forsaketh not those who hunger for God; it departeth not by mere words.[4]
Nanak, the hungry man shall be satisfied when, by uttering God’s praises, he becometh absorbed in Him.
Man ought not to undertake what is beyond his ability :—
If he who only knoweth the charm for a scorpion’s sting touch a serpent,
He apphieth a brand to his body with his own hand ;
It is the Master’s decree from the beginning that he be very severely buffeted.
The perverse who contend with the pious shall perish ; this 1s God’s justice.
God is the Lord of both ; He sifteth them carefully.
Nanak, know that everything is according to God’s will.
Know thyself and strive not to perform impossibilities :—
Nanak, deem him who can assay himself a true assayer,
He who understandeth both disease and medicine is a knowing physician.
Let man transact no idle business on the road [5] but consider himself a guest ;
[p. 49]
Let him know his own real character, confess it, and divest himself of his shortcomings ;
Let him not walk in covetousness, but abide in truth ; he shall then become the best, and be acceptable.
If an arrow be shot at the sky, how can it reach it ?
The sky is inaccessible above us; know that the arrow will recoil on the archer.
Man ought to meditate on his Creator :—
Until man knoweth God his human birth is unprofitable.
A few pass over the world’s ocean by the Guru’s favour.
God is the Cause of causes, omnipotent: saith Nanak, meditate upon Him.
The creation is in the power of the Creator who holdeth the contrivance by which it ts sustained.
Nothing can affect him whom God favours :—
What effect can frost have on fire, the night on the sun ?
What effect can darkness have on the moon? What effect hath caste on air or water ?
What can affect the earth in which everything hath its birth ? |
Nanak, man is accounted honourable if God preserve his honour.
Man reaps the fruit of his acts :—
The nose-string is in the hand of the Master; man is driven by his acts.
It is true, Nanak—where God giveth there man eateth.
Man ought to think of his future :—
Why do those who know they must depart make display ?
They think not of their departure, but continue to arrange their worldly affairs.
Man amasseth wealth for a night ; in the morning he must depart.
[p. 50] Nanak, wealth shall not go with him, and then will he regret.
There is no merit in divine service performed under pressure :—
In the fine the prisoner payeth there is no merit, and no favour conferred on others ;
Nanak, the act which is voluntarily performed is the best.
God is won by love, not by force :—
Obstinacy, however much one strive, winneth not God to man’s side ;
Nanak, he who truly loveth God and pondereth on the Word, winneth Him to his side.
The contrast between those who fear and those who fear not God :—
They who fear God, have no other fear, while they who fear Him not, shall have much[6] fear ; Nanak, they shall both be confronted at God’s court.
Nature’s great law**, Pares cum paribus facillime congregantur ;—
Things which walk associate with those which walk, things which fly with those which fly,
The living associate with the living, the dead with the dead ;
Praise Him, Nanak, who hath established this law.
The happiness which pervades young religious hearts in the vernal season :—
Nanak, they in whose house their spouse abideth, enjoy perpetual spring,
While they whose spouse is in a distant land burn night and day.
First meditate on God on the arrival of spring,
Nanak, and praise Him who is the support of all.
[p. 51]
In what a real meeting consists :—
It is not by merely meeting that a meeting is effected, that is, if there is to be a real meeting.
They who meet with their hearts are properly said to have met.
When man has only one Friend, why should he forget Him ?—
Different people have different friends; I, unhonoured, have only Thee, O God.
Why do I not die of weeping when I bear Thee not in mind ?
Think of God under all circumstances :—
In weal repeat God’s name ; in woe also remember Him ;
Nanak saith, in this way, O wise women, shall you meet the Bridegroom.
The supreme reward of spiritual obedience :—
Devotion, penance, everything is obtained by obeying God; all other occupations are vain ;
Nanak, obey him who hath himself obeyed God ;[7] he is known by the favour of the Guru.
The perverse cannot understand divine instruction :—
Nanak, if a blind man go to assay jewels,
He will not know their value, but will return having made an exhibition of himself.
If a jeweller go and open a purse of jewels,
He thereby bringeth the jewels and a purchaser together.[8]
They who possess merits, Nanak, may deal in such jewels ;
But they who know not their value go about like blind men in the world.
[p. 52]
The following was addressed to the Tapa :—
He who followeth the road when shown by a blind man is blind himself ;
Why should he, Nanak, who hath good eyes stray into the wilderness ?
It isnot theywho have no eyes in their faces who are blind;
They are blind, Nanak, who stray from the Lord.
The sinner may find favour by repentance :—
The Lord can make him whom He hath blinded see clearly ;
God treateth man as He knoweth him, no matter what one may Say.[9]
Where the real thing, God, is not seen, know that pride prevaileth :
Nanak, how shall a purchaser purchase anything if he recognize it not ?
It is the perverse who are really blind :—
Why call him blind who is blind by the will of God ?
Nanak, it is he who will not understand God’s will who should be called blind.
God provides for all :—
Nanak, be not anxious for thy maintenance, anxiety is for Him
Who created animals in the water and also giveth them sustenance.
There no shop is open and no one trafficketh ;
There is no commerce and no traffic whatever.
Animals are the food of animals, such food God giveth them ;
He taketh care even of the animals He created in the ocean.
Nanak, feel not anxious—anxiety is for God.
Only the Guru can cause divine knowledge to enter the heart :—
[p. 53]
The Guru hath the key of the lock, the heart is the storeroom, the body is its roof ;
Nanak, without the Guru the doors of the heart cannot be opened, since nobody else hath the key.
Men, though naturally equal, are appointed to different duties in life :—
Thou Thyself, O God, didst create, saith Nanak, Thou Thyself didst put creatures in their different places ;
Whom shall I call inferior since all have the same Master ?
There is one Master of all; He appointeth men to their various duties, and watcheth over them—
Some to small, some to great duties; none departeth empty.
Men come naked, they depart naked, yet during their lives they make a display ;
Nanak, it is not known what duty God will order for them in the next world.
Souls proceed from God and bring their destinies :—
Traders come from the Merchant; He sendeth their destinies with them ;
Orders are recorded therein to take care of the real thing.[10]
Of those who have made purchases and packed up their merchandise,
Some have gone away with a profit [11] while others have lost their capital.
No one wanteth small profits ; who shall be congratulated?
Nanak, God looketh with favour on those who have kept their stock-in-trade intact.
The nectar of the Name :—
They who possess the greatness of Thy name, O God, are happy at heart. Nanak, there is only one nectar ;[12] there is none other ;
[p. 54]
Nanak, that nectar is in the heart, but it is only obtained by the favour of the Guru ;
They who were so destined from the beginning quaff it with delight.
Magnify and praise the Creator only :—
Why praise the creation ? Rather praise the Creator ;
Nanak, there is no bestower but the One God.
Praise the Creator who made the world ;
Praise that Bestower who supporteth every one.
Nanak, God, whose storehouses are full, is alone everlasting—
Magnify and praise the Lord who hath no end or limits.
The most exalted are subject to God’s order :—
How shall I speak to Him who of Himself knoweth what is to be known ?
That Lord is the greatest whose orders cannot be set aside—
Orders by which kings, princes, and commanders must abide—
What pleaseth Him, Nanak, is good.
They who must abide by His order have no power of their own ;
When He ordereth, men must take the road.
Men must act according to God’s recorded order ;
Nanak, men come when they are sent by God, and depart when they are called by Him.
Divine knowledge is the key which unlocks God’s treasure house :—
They to whom the praises of God have been vouchsafed are the real treasures ;
They to whom the key is given obtain the treasure.
The treasurers from whom good acts proceed are acceptable ;
God looketh with favour, Nanak, on those who bear the standard of His name.
[p. 55]
The inferiority of the Veds to the Guru’s teaching —
The readers of the Veds have brought tales and legends of the gods, and defined sins and virtues.
For what men give they receive, and for what they receive they give,[12:1] and they are accordingly born again either in hell or heaven.
The world wandereth in doubt as to what are high and low castes and species ;
But the ambrosial word of the Guru speaketh of the Real Thing, and bringeth divine knowledge and meditation ;
The pious utter it, the pious know it; they who possess divine knowledge meditate on it, and act according to it.
God created the world by His fiat, and restraineth it thereby ; He beholdeth everything subject to it.
Nanak, if man’s pride depart ere he die, he shall be deemed of account.
Man’s future is determined by his acts :—
As a man’s acts so is he: this is a necessary consequence ;
He who hath the marks of piety cannot lose them ; he must retain such appearance.
He who acteth according to the will of God receiveth his reward ; Nanak, he is worthy of homage.[13]
The rainy season, during which the natives of India usually take rest, is accounted a time of pleasure :—
Sawan [13:1] hath come, my companions, think of the Bridegroom ;
Nanak, the bad wife who loveth another shall pine away and die.
[p. 56]
Sawan hath come, my companions, the clouds are about to. Laine:
Nanak, the good wife who loveth her husband sleepeth in peace.
The topsy-turvyism of Guru Angad’s epoch :—
The beggar is styled a king, the blockhead a pandit,
The blind a connoisseur—that is how people speak.
The wicked man is styled a Chaudhri, and the liar is deemed perfect.
Nanak, that is the way of this iron age ; how to distinguish men is known under the Guru’s instruction.
Despise earthly glory :—
Nanak, burn in the fire the praises of the world ;
These accursed things have caused the Name to be forgotten ; not one of them shall go with thee.
No other composition of Guru Angad is found in the Granth Sahib. There are several verses in the sacred volume in his praise, composed by bards called Kalsahar, Kal, and Tal.
Prior to Guru Angad’s time the compositions of the saints and reformers were for the most part written in Sanskrit letters. He, deeming that the compositions of Guru Nanak were worthy of a special written character of their own, adopted and modified a Panjabi alphabet, called Gurumukhi, to give expression to what fell from the Guru’s lips. This was furthermore a gain on the score of simplicity, for it contains but thirty-five letters, while the Sanskrit alphabet has fifty-two.
The Gurumukhi character was well calculated to make its readers part with Hindu compositions written in Sanskrit. The Gurumukhi S is the Sanskrit M, the Gurumukhi M is the Sanskrit Bh, the Gurumukhi W is the Sanskrit D, the Gurumukhi Dh, is the Sanskrit P, and the Gurumukhi B is nearly the Sanskrit Gh. When, therefore, one has become [p. 57] accustomed to the use of the Gurumukhi letters, a special and separate effort is required to read Sanskrit, however much one may have been previously acquainted with it. The result has been that in most cases Gurumukhi scholars have parted company with Sanskrit and the multitudinous Brahmanical works in that recondite language.
Guru Angad, elated with the adoption of a new character for the hymns of his predecessor, dedicated to God on the occasion the following hymn which we have found in an ancient manuscript [14]at Khadur :—
O Thou who art perfect, light of the soul, the Supreme God, my beloved, my soul and body.
Bewitcher, Thou hast bewitched my heart; I have obtained understanding by pondering on Thy Word.
I am the handmaiden of my Lord.
On clasping the feet of God, the life of the world, I have destroyed and parted with pride.
I was perverse and low, but my evil understanding which hath caused me pain of mind and body hath left me.
Since I began to love the joyous God, my mind hath been consoled by repeating His name.
Having forgotten pride, I have abandoned the world, and true wisdom hath entered my heart.
Since I have become reconciled with Him who is without enmity or stain, I have lost all regard for men’s opinion.
O my Beloved, Support of my soul, there has been none like Thee in the past, and there shall be none like Thee in the 1uture.
Nanak, she who is dyed with Thy name is a happy wile ; Thy name is my refuge.
[1^]: This is, of course, said ironically.
As long as a man is steeped in worldly pleasures he has no feet, arms, or eyes for God’s service. ↩︎
Athi. Literally—during the eight watches of the day. ↩︎
Also translated—favours are distributed according to man’s acts. ↩︎
The preceding three verses are also translated —
The mouth is never satisfied with uttering wordly things, or the ears with hearing them,
Or the eyes with beholding them; each of the senses delighteth to gratify itself.
The hunger of the hungry departeth not by mere talk. ↩︎
That is, let men have no entanglements in this world. ↩︎
Much in the original. ↩︎
Or—obey Him who is worthy to be obeyed. ↩︎
He brings a purchaser for the jewels, that is, he causes the purchaser to purchase God’s name. ↩︎
Literally—Even though one speak a hundred times. ↩︎
Wast. Also translated—to take care of what they have received. ↩︎
Divine knowledge. ↩︎
The MS. was then in possession of a Sikh lady named Sukh Dei. ↩︎