Hymns of Guru Nanak 4
p 291
He to whom He giveth knowledge knoweth everything.
Man merely worrieth himself when he preacheth for the sake of mammon.
The Commander, who created all things,
Himself possesseth all knowledge.
He Himself, Nanak, spoke the Word--
Doubt shall depart from him to whom He gave it.
The Guru's reward for singing God's praises:--
Me, a minstrel out of work, God applieth to His work;
He ordered me in the beginning to sing His praises night and day.
The Master summoned the minstrel to His true court,
And put on him a robe of true praise and eulogy:
He then obtained the ambrosial food of the true Name.
They who have eaten under the Guru's instruction are satisfied, and have obtained comfort.
The minstrel uttereth praise and singeth the Word.
Nanak, he who uttereth true praise obtaineth the Perfect One.
RAG GAURI
The advantages resulting from the fear of God:--
The fear of God is very great and very heavy.
Man's wisdom is of little account, and so is his chatter.
Walk with the load of fear on thy head;
Meditate on the Guru who is kind and merciful.
No one shall be saved without the fear of God -
His fear hath adorned man's love.
The fire of the fear of transmigration is burned away by the fear of God.
By fear the Word is fashioned and decorated.
What is fashioned without fear is altogether worthless:
Useless is the mould and useless the stroke thereon.
In the minds of many there is a desire to fashion the Word without fear;
But even though they perform a thousand artifices they shall not succeed.
Nanak, the speech of the perverse is nonsense;
What they write is worthless absurdity.
{p. 291}
The following was addressed by the Guru to one who had remonstrated with him for having left his relations to lead a wandering life:--
Make wisdom thy mother, contentment thy father,
Truth thy brother--this is best.
People talk, but talking is of no avail.
The measure of Thy might, O God, cannot be obtained.
Modesty and attention are my two parents-in-law
Good works I have accepted as my spouse;
Union with saints hath been my auspicious time for marriage, and separation from the world my wedding.
Saith Nanak, from such a union hath sprung truth as my offspring.
The composition of man's body and the inutility of pilgrimages; the body dies, but not the soul:--
The body is a mixture of wind, water, and fire;
Within it is the changeful play of the intellect.
The body hath nine gates and a tenth door;
O wise man, understand and reflect on this.
God speaketh, preacheth, and listeneth;
He who reflecteth on himself is a wise man.
The body is earth, the wind speaketh therein.
Consider, O wise man, what it is that dieth
It is the quarrelsome and proud understanding.
The conscious soul dieth not.
The precious jewel, for which men go on pilgrimages,
Dwelleth within the heart.
Pandits read and argue,
But know not that which is within themselves.
When my spiritual ignorance dieth, I die not myself.
He who is everywhere contained dieth not.
Saith Nanak, when the Guru showed me God,
No one seemed to me to die or to be born.
One Sant Das propounded six questions to Guru Nanak:--
Is it known whence man hath come,
Whence he hath sprung, in what he shall be absorbed,
{p. 292}
How he is bound, how he obtaineth emancipation,
And how he shall be easily absorbed in the Imperishable?
The Guru replied:--
The Name is nectar in the heart as well as in the mouth:
Through it man is freed from worldly desires.
Man cometh in the course of nature and goeth in the course of nature.
Man is born according to the desires of his heart, and he is absorbed in the same way.
The pious man is emancipated and falleth into no entanglements:
He is delivered by meditation on the Word and by God's name.
Many birds roost by night on a tree--
Some happy, others unhappy--they whose minds have worldly love perish.
When night hath passed away, they gaze upon the sky:[1]
They fly in every direction according to the destiny recorded for them.
They who are associated with the Name deem the world like a meeting-place of cowherds:
The poisonous vessels of lust and wrath have burst for them.
To those without the capital of the Name houses and shops are empty;
But by meeting the Guru the adamant doors of their understanding are opened.
A holy man is met by primal destiny.
God's perfect people are rendered happy by truth
They barter their souls and bodies for divine knowledge and God's love.
Nanak toucheth their feet.
The following is a conversation between soul and body:--
The Soul: 'O body, thou thinkest thyself immortal, and that thou shalt be always happy--know that this world is a play,
[1. When life ceases, their souls take flight.]
{p. 293}
Thou practisest avarice, covetousness, and excessive falsehood, and bearest many burdens.
I have seen thee, O body, trodden as ashes on the ground.'
The Body: 'Hearken, hearken to mine instruction.
If thou have done good works, they shall abide with thee; O my soul, thou shalt not again find such opportunity.'
The Soul: 'I address thee, O my body, hearken to my 'instruction.
Thou slanderest[1] and bearest false witness against others.'
The Body: 'Thou covetest another's vine,[2] O Soul; thou committest theft and evil deeds.'
The Soul: 'When the soul departeth, thou shalt remain behind like an abandoned woman.
Thou, O body, shalt remain but as a dream-what good deeds hast thou done? '
The Body: 'Whatever I took by stealth was pleasing to thee.
Thou hast no honour in this world, and thou shalt be rejected in the next; thou hast lost thy human dwelling in vain.'
I am very unhappy, O father, saith Nanak, no one careth for me.
Arabian and Turkish steeds, gold, silver, and loads of raiment
No one taketh with him; they leave him in this world, O fool.
Sugar, fruit, all have I tasted; it is only Thine ambrosial Name which is sweet.
Man diggeth deep foundations and constructeth edifices on them, but they shall become at last heaps of dust.
He hoardeth, and hoardeth, and giveth to no one; the fool thinketh that all is his own.
Rawan nominally possessed a golden Lanka and a golden palace, but they were no one's property.
Hear, O foolish and ignorant soul:
What pleaseth God shall be done.
My Lord is a great Merchant, we are His retail-dealers.
[1. Ninda chinda is an alliteration.
2. This is understood to be meant for neighbour's wife.]
{p. 294}
Our souls and bodies are all His capital; He it is who killeth and re-animateth.
The Guru reflects on the power of the deadly sins which lead men to destruction:--
The others[1] are five, I am but one; how shall I protect my house?
They ever assail and plunder me; to whom shall I complain?
Utter God's holy name, O my soul;
Before thee is Death's army fierce and numerous.
God erected a palace,[2] put doors to it, and the woman[3] sitteth within.
Deeming the world sweet, she ever sporteth, but these five men rob her.
When Death destroyeth the palace, her chamber is sacked, and she being alone is captured.
She is beaten by Death's mace, and his chains are riveted on her neck; the five men have taken flight.
The housewife wanteth gold and silver; friends want banquets.
Nanak, they who commit sin for these things shall go bound to Death's city.
Kinganath Jogi pressed Guru Nanak to become his disciple; the Guru replied that he had already learned the science of Jog. He composed the following hymn on the occasion:--
Make restraint of thine inmost heart thine earrings, thy body the patched coat;
Reduce thy five senses to subjection, O Jogi, and make a pure heart thy staff -
In this way shalt thou obtain the way of jog.
Make the fact that there is but one Word and none other thy devotion to tubers and roots.
If God could be obtained by merely shaving the head, we should make a god of the Ganges.[4]
[1. The deadly sins which rob the body.
2. The body.
3. The soul.
4 Where pilgrims shave their heads.]
{p. 295}
It is the one Lord who saveth the three worlds; thou thinkest not of Him, O fool.
If thou apply thy mind to words through hypocrisy, thy doubts shall never leave thee.
If thou turn thy thoughts to the feet of the one God, why pursue avarice and greed?
If thou repeat the Name of the Bright One, thy soul shall be absorbed in Him.
O Jogi, why utterest thou so much deceit?
Thy body is mad,[1] thy mind is silly, thou passest thy life talking of thy property.
Nanak representeth, it is after the naked body is burnt the soul regretteth lost opportunities.
Man's precious life should not be wasted, but should be devoted to God's service and not to the acquisition of wealth:--
Man loseth his nights in sleeping and his days in eating His human life, valuable as a diamond, he parteth with for a kauri.
Thou knowest not God's name; O fool, thou shalt here after regret.
Thou buriest endless wealth in the earth, yet thy desire for it departeth not.[2]
They who departed desiring endless wealth lost the Endless One.
If all were to obtain according to their desires, they would be happy.
Whatever all may desire, a man's fate is decided by his acts.
Nanak, He who fashioned creation taketh care of it.
It is not known on whom God's order will confer greatness.
The fervour of the Guru's devotion:--
Were I to become a fawn, live in the forest, and gather and eat tubers and roots,
I should ever and ever be a sacrifice to my Lord, who is obtained through the favour of the Guru.
I am a retail-dealer of Thine, O God;
[1. Because smeared with ashes.
2. Also translated--Thou desirest not the Endless One.]
{p. 296}
Thy Name is my stock-in-trade and my merchandise.
Were I to become a koil and live in a mango-tree, I should still tranquilly meditate on the Word.
Through my love my Lord, whose form appeareth unequalled, would naturally meet me.
Were I to become a fish and dwell in the water, I should still remember Him who watcheth over all animals.
My Spouse dwelleth on this side and on that; I shall stretch forth mine arm to touch Him.
Were I to become a serpent and dwell in the ground, I should still abide in the Word and my fears would depart.
Nanak, they are ever the happy married wives whom God hath absorbed in His light.
GAURI ASHTAPADI
Without a religious guide man would run riot in evil and haste to perdition:--
The heart is all elephant, the body a forest,
The Guru the goad; when the mark of the true Word is made on the elephant,
He shall obtain honour in the King's court.
God cannot be known by cleverness.
Without chastening the mind how can God be appraised;
In the house is nectar which the thieves are taking away:[1]
No one tried to restrain them.
If any one guard the nectar, God Himself will confer greatness on him.
Worldly wealth, comforts, and pleasures would never satisfy the Guru without devotion to God.
I may apply distilled aloe wood and sandal to my body,
I may wear silks and satins,
But without God's name how shall I obtain happiness?
What shall I wear? in what dress shall I show myself?
How shall I obtain happiness without the Lord of the world?
I may have rings in mine ears and a necklace of pearls on my neck,
[1. The name of God is in the heart.
2. The evil passions plunder it.]
{p. 297}
A red coverlet, flowers, and red powder;[1]
But where should I search for happiness except with the Lord of the world?
A beautiful woman with expressive eyes
May make the sixteen decorations and render herself very lovely,
Yet without worshipping the Lord of the world she would ever be despised.
One may have in his house or palace a comfortable couch;
A flower-girl may scatter flowers on it day and night,
Yet without God's name its owner would be unhappy.
Excellent horses, elephants, lances, musical instruments,
Armies, mace-bearers, and attendants are worthless
And vain shows without the Lord of the world.
I may be called a Sidh, and I may summon wealth and supernatural power to me;
I may make for my head a crown, a regal hat, and an umbrella,
Yet how should I obtain real happiness without the Lord of the world?
I may be styled a lord, an emperor, or a king,
I may say 'Now then'[2] to inferiors; all this would be false display.
Without the Guru's instruction my business could not be adjusted.
Egotism and selfishness are forgotten under the Guru's instruction.
Through the Guru's instruction it is known that God is in the heart.
Nanak supplicateth, I seek Thy shelter, O God.
The Guru describes the condition of the holy and the means of salvation:--
He who serveth the one God knoweth not others
He layeth aside the bitter things deceit and evil.
By love and truth shalt thou meet the Truest of the True.
[1. For frontal marks and the parting of the hair.
2 Abe tabe in Panjabi is a much more contemptuous expression than 'now then'.]
{p. 298}
If there be any such saint of God,
His filth shall be washed away, and he shall meet God by singing His praises.
Reversed are the lotuses of all men's hearts
The fire of evil inclinations burneth away the world,
While those who meditate on the word of the Guru are saved.
The bumble-bee, the moth, the elephant, the fish,
And the deer[1] suffer the consequences of their acts and die.
Absorbed in worldly desires man knoweth not the Real Thing;
He thinketh of lust and love for woman,
Which with wrath ruin all sinners.
He who forgetteth the Name, loseth his honour and his senses.
The perverse being who alloweth his mind to covet another's house,
Hath a halter round his neck, and is entangled in difficulties;
While the pious shall be delivered by singing God's praises.
As a widow, who giveth her body to a stranger,
And through lust or money falleth into another's power,
Is never satisfied without a lover;
So man readeth books and reciteth the Simritis;
He also readeth, heareth, and expoundeth the Veds and the Purans;
But without being dyed with God's essence his mind is very unstable.
As the chatrik loveth and thirsteth for the rain-drops,
As the fish is delighted with the water,
So Nanak is satisfied quaffing God's essence.
There was a hill king called Amar Singh who
[1. The animals mentioned suffer for the gratification of their senses. The bee scents the lotus and is entangled; the moth looks on the lamp and is burnt; the elephant, to gratify his lust, rushes into a trap: the fish is hungry and takes the bait; and the deer is lured to his death by the hunter's bell.]
{p. 299}
was dethroned by his brother. On being expelled he went to Guru Nanak for advice. The following was given him:--
They who wear religious garbs are full of pride and know not God.
Few are they whose minds are reconciled to devotion under the Guru's instruction.
The True One is not obtained by the practice of egotism.
When pride departeth, the supreme dignity is obtained.
Kings under the influence of pride make many expeditions:
They are ruined by pride and remain subject to transmigration.
He who meditateth on the Guru's word shall lose his pride;
He shall dismiss his wandering thoughts, and destroy his deadly sins.
He in whose heart is the truth shall easily arrive at God's court,
And, knowing God, shall obtain the supreme state.
The Guru dispelleth the doubts of those whose works are true;
And they shall obtain a fixed seat in the court of the Fearless.
What do they retain who die talking of their possessions
He who meeteth a perfect Guru putteth an end to his contentions.--
What there is, is nothing in reality--
The pious who are saturated with divine knowledge sing God's praises.
The fetters of pride cause man to wander in transmigration.
Nanak, it is the saint of God who obtaineth happiness.
Death impends over all, but cannot harm the holy:--
Even Brahma was subject to death[1] from the beginning.
[1. Literally--Brahma entered the house of death.]
{p. 300}
