Hymns of Guru Nanak 10
The five oxen[1] draw the carriage of the body:
The whole goeth well by the contrivance of God.
When the axle breaketh, the carriage turneth over
Its timber is scattered and it is burnt in the fire.
Meditate, O Jogi, on the Guru's instruction.
Consider weal and woe, union and separation of friends as the same.
Let the Name and meditation on the Guru's instruction be thy dainties.[2]
The wall of thy body shall remain permanent[3] by repeating God's name.
By the practice of sahaj jog thou shalt be freed from entanglements,
And shalt repress lust and wrath under the Guru's admonition.
Make the protection of God and the Guru earrings for thy heart.
Nanak, it is by devotion to God man shall be saved.
ASHTAPADI
God is in man's heart and ought not to be sought for elsewhere:--
O Nanak, may I obtain the greatness of the Name! there is no religious work superior to it.
If man go elsewhere to ask for what he hath at home, he shall be received with reproaches.
It is said that Guru Nanak on his excursion to the Himalayas met a Jogi called Chetnath, who reproached him with not being a Jogi, a Sanyasi, or a saint, but only a pretended guru. The following was Guru Nanak's reply:--
O Jogi, thou buildest a hut and preachest to the world
If, abandoning thy devotional attitudes, thou beg from door to door, how shalt thou obtain the True One?
[1. The five organs of action.
2. Sweets are given to Jogis at the time of their reception into a monastery.
3. There is a belief that the Jogis live for hundreds of years as the result of their austerities.]
{p. 351}
Thou lovest mammon and woman,
And art neither an anchoret nor a worldly man.
O Jogi, keep thy seat,[1] and the pain of thy worldly love shall depart.
Thou art not ashamed to beg from door to door
Thou singest songs, but knowest not thyself.
How shall the great fire which burneth thee be extinguished?
If the love of God attach to thy heart under the Guru's instruction,
Thou shalt easily enjoy the alms of contemplation.
Thou hypocritically appliest ashes to thy body,
And shalt be punished for thy worldliness by Death's mace.
The impure vessel[2] of thy heart cannot hold the alms of love.
Thou art bound by bonds and shalt suffer transmigration.
Thou dost not restrain thy seed, and yet thou callest thyself continent.
While saying 'Mother', thou beggest and fallest in love with woman.
Thou art without compassion and God's light shineth not in thee.
Thou art immersed in every species of entanglement.
With a patched coat and a bag thou assumest many guises.
Like a conjurer thou performest many tricks to deceive men.
The fire of anxiety burneth thy heart--
How shalt thou be saved without good works?
Thou makest rings of crystal for thine ears.
Without the highest divine knowledge there is no emancipation.
Thou art beguiled by the pleasures of the tongue and sensual organs.
Thou hast become a beast, and the mark of it shall not be erased.
[1. That is, go not a-begging.
2. Khapar. A wooden vessel shaped like a skull. It is carried by Jogis for the alms they receive.]
{p. 352}
There are three classes of people and three classes of Jog.[1]
He who meditateth on the Word shall need no mourning.
He who meditateth on the way of Jog is a Jogi
By the true Word he shall become bright.
The Guru in an address to a pandit rejects astrology:--
Thou calculatest auspicious moments, but reflectest not
That God is beyond auspicious moments.
He who meeteth the Guru knoweth them.
When there is the Guru's instruction man recognizeth God's will.
Speak not falsehood; O Pandit, tell the truth,
If pride depart by means of the Word, God's abode shall be attained.
The astrologer after calculating draweth out a horoscope
He readeth it to himself and others, but knoweth not the reality.
Deem the Guru's word the highest of all
Utter no other discourse; it were all in vain.
Thou bathest, and washest, and worshippest stones,
But without being imbued with God thou art the filthiest of the filthy.
Abandon pride, and thou shalt meet God the real. wealth.
Repeat God's name, and thou shalt succeed in obtaining emancipation.
Thou readest not thine epic poems nor reflectest on the Veds:
Drowned thyself, how canst thou save thine ancestors?
Few understand that God is in every heart.
When man meeteth the true Guru, he obtaineth understanding.
By making calculations such as thine doubt and sorrow enter the mind
But, when the Guru's protection is sought, happiness resulteth.
Having sinned we come to him for protection.
[1. People and Jog are subdivided according to the three qualities.]
{p. 353}
According to man's acts in a former state the Guru causeth him to meet God.
God cannot be obtained unless man enter the Guru's protection;
Otherwise he is led astray in superstition and suffereth transmigration.
He who hath not God in his heart and whose conduct is not according to the Word,
Shall be bound at Death's gate and punished for his sins.
Men call themselves Teachers, Pandits, and Missars;[1]
But they who are tinctured with mammon shall not reach God's mansion.
He who by the Guru's favour hath the support of the Name,
Is unequalled amongst millions.
One man appeareth evil and another good; but they are both contained in the True One:
The learned man understandeth this by the aid of the true Guru.
A few holy men who know the one God,
Have ended their transmigration, and become absorbed in Him.
They in whose hearts is the one God,
Possess all excellences and meditate on the truth.
They who act as pleaseth the Guru
Are true, O Nanak, and shall be absorbed in the True One.
The following was addressed to a rich sinner who visited the Guru:--
O silly man, as thou camest so shalt thou depart; as thou wert born so shalt thou die;
As thy enjoyment so shall be thy suffering; through forgetfulness of the Name thou shalt fall into the terrible ocean.
Thou art proud on beholding thy beauty and wealth.
Thou hast extended thy love to gold and woman; why hast thou forgotten the Name and gone astray?
[1. A title applied to Brahmans by Hindus.]
{p. 354}
Not having practised continence, truth, self-restraint, or virtue, thou shalt suffer in the skeleton of a ghost.
Alms-gifts, ablutions, and austerities are of no avail without association with the saints, thou hast been born in vain.
Through the covetousness that attacheth to thee thou hast forgotten the Name; thy life hath been wasted in transmigration.
Death will hasten to seize thee by the hair and punish thee; and, when he eateth thee, thou shalt have no consciousness for repentance.
Day and night thou revilest others and art jealous of them; the Name is not in thy heart, and thou hast not universal benevolence.
Without the Guru's instruction thou shalt not obtain salvation or honour; without God's name thou shalt go to hell.
Thou practisest disguise for a brief period like a conjurer, while thou art steeped in worldly love and sin.
Seeing the extension of thy wealth here and there, thou hast become intoxicated with worldly love.
Thou committest sin on a large scale, and without remembering the Word hast fallen into error.
Thou hast suffered great pain from the disease of pride; but it shall depart when thou receivest the Guru's instruction.
The infidel seeing happiness and wealth coming to him becometh proud in his heart.
He who owneth this body and wealth will take them back; he who feeleth anxiety regarding them shall have sorrow.
At the last moment nothing shall depart with thee whatever is seen is the result of God's kindness.
God is the primal and infinite Being; by treasuring His name in the heart man shall be saved.
Thou weepest for the dead; who heareth thy weeping
He whom thou weepest for might have fallen to the dragon in the sea of terror.
The infidel beholding his family, wealth, houses, and mansions falleth into needless entanglements.
{p. 355}
Man cometh when God sendeth him, and he goeth away when God calleth him.
God continueth to do what is proper; the Pardoner pardoneth.
O brethren, search for the society of those who have tasted. God's elixir.
When man taketh the Guru's protection, then wealth, supernatural power, wisdom, divine knowledge, and the boon of emancipation are obtained.
The pious consider woe and weal as the same, and are free from joy or sorrow.
Nanak, he who chasteneth himself under the Guru's instruction obtaineth God, and God absorbeth him in Himself.
DAKHANI OAMKAR[1]
Men who are generally impure cannot obtain emancipation until their hearts are thoroughly purified:--
As borax melteth gold,
So lust and wrath melt the body.
The gold is drawn over the touchstone, and must, until thoroughly pure, endure the fire.
When it assumeth a high colour[2] the Assayer is satisfied.
The world is a beast, and pride. is its butcher.[3]
As thou actest with thine own hand, so shall be thy recompense.
He who made the world knoweth its worth.
What else is to be said? Talking availeth not.
RAMKALI K1 WAR I
The following is a satire on the professedly religious men of the time:--
They who call themselves virtuous, commit sin and pretend that they are doing good.
[1. This is a composition of Guru Nanak. made in the south of India in praise of God.
2. The body must be purified as gold is by melting. God the Assayer is satisfied with it when it assumes a bright colour.
3. Pride is killing the world.]
{p. 356}
Gurus go, to private houses to impart instruction.
A woman loveth man for the money he earneth for her;
Otherwise he may come or go as he pleaseth.
Nobody obeyeth the Shastars or the Veds
Everybody worshippeth himself.
The Qazi sitteth to administer. justice
He turneth over his beads and invoketh God,
But he taketh bribes and doeth injustice.
If any one call him to account, he will read and cite texts.
The Muhammadan creed filleth the ears and hearts of the Hindus.
They carry tales to the judge and plunder the populace
They make squares for cooking so as to appear pure.
See what the Hindus are like.
Jogis with long hair and ashes on their bodies keep wives.
Children scream before and behind them.
They miss the right road and obtain not union with God.
Why do they put ashes on their heads?
Nanak, this is the state of this degenerate age,
That men only speak of themselves and think themselves the best.
The following is also a satire on Brahmans, Muhammadan priests, and Jogis.--
A Brahman goeth to the house of a Hindu,
Readeth texts, and putteth the sacrificial thread on a boy's neck.
If the boy commit sin after putting on the thread,
He shall not be accepted for all his ablutions and washings.
The Musalman may praise himself,
But without a guru or a priest he shall not be accepted.
Even when the road is pointed out, few travel by it.
Without good works heaven is not obtained.
Men seek the way in a Jogi's monastery;
And on that account put rings in their ears and become his disciples.
With earrings on they wander about the world,
While the Creator they pretend to search for is everywhere.
{p. 357}
All souls are travellers:
When the death-warrant cometh for them there must be no delay.
He who knoweth God in this world, shall recognize Him in the next.
All others, whether Hindus or Musalmans, are chatterers.
All men's accounts shall be taken in God's court
And no one shall be saved without good works.
He who repeateth the name of the Truest of the true,
Shall not, O Nanak, be examinèd hereafter.
Only the good shall be saved when the final reckoning is called for:--
Nanak saith, O man, hear true instruction--
God seated in judgement will produce His book and call on thee for thine account.
The stiff-necked who owe anything shall be summoned;
And the angel Azrail placed over them.
They shall see no way of escape; they shall be entangled in the narrow streets.
Falsehood is at an end, O Nanak, and truth shall at last prevail.
The following was addressed to a proud Muhammadan governor:--
At thy waist is a handsome sword, thou art mounted on a handsome steed:
Be not proud, saith Nanak, lest thou fall on thy head.
Only good men can remain in the society of the saints:--
Between the lake and the swan there is affinity from the beginning; so it pleased the Lord.
In the lake there are diamonds and pearls which form the swan's food.
Cranes and ravens, however cunning they may be, cannot remain in lake Mansarowar.[1]
They cannot subsist there; their food is different.
[1. It is said that Lake Mânsarowar in the Himâlayas contains pearls, which are food for swans, but not for cranes and ravens.]
{p.358}
By the practice of truth, truth is obtained; O false ones, false is your pride.
Nanak, they for whom it was so ordered from the beginning meet the True Guru.
My Lord is effulgent, if any one reflect on it.
Nanak, serve Him who giveth ever and ever;
Nanak serve Him by whose service sorrow departeth,
Sins are erased, merits take their place, and peace abideth in the heart.
RAG MARU ASHTAPADI
A hypocritical Sanyasi called Brahmpuri was mentioned to the Guru as a very worthy man. The Guru, knowing his real condition, composed the following:--
The perverse having through avarice abandoned their own homes, ruin themselves by casting covetous eyes on the houses of others.
They have ruined their state as householders; they have not met the True Guru, and through their stupidity are involved in a whirlpool.
Of wandering in foreign countries and reading texts they grow weary, and their covetousness increaseth.
Of weak intellect, they know not the Word; they fill their bellies like cattle.
O Sir, the way of the Sanyasi should be this
He should under the Guru's instruction only think of the one God, love His name, and be satisfied with it.
But the hypocrite mixeth ochre, dyeth his dress with it, and weareth the garb of a beggar;
He teareth his clothes to make a patched coat, and putteth money into his wallet;
Blind that he is and bereft of shame, he beggeth from house to house and preacheth to the world;
Led astray by superstition he knoweth not the Word and loseth the game.
The fire which is within him is not extinguished without the Guru, yet he heateth himself with external fires[1] also.
[1. The penance of five fires is frequently spoken of and resorted to {footnote p. 359} by Hindu devotees during the sultriest time of an Indian summer. They light fires around them in the four directions; the sun over them is the fifth.]
{p. 359}
There is no worship without serving the Guru; how can man of himself recognize God?
He who slandereth others shall abide in hell, and be separated from the Supreme Spirit.
He who wandereth to the sixty-eight places of pilgrimage is ruined thereby; how can he wash away the filth of his sins?
He sifteth dust, applieth it to his body, and looketh for the way of mammon.
He knoweth not the one God who is with him whether he be at home or abroad; if any one tell him the truth, he groweth angry.
While reading texts his mouth uttereth falsehoods; that is all the wisdom a man without a guru possesseth.
How can man obtain happiness without repeating the Name? How shall he be honoured without the Name?
Some shave their heads, some twist long hair round them or wear a top-knot; others through pride remain silent;
But without the love of divine knowledge their minds waver and hasten in every direction.
Maddened by worldly love they reject nectar and drink deadly poison.
They obey not God's order; their evil deeds shall not be effaced, and they shall enter the bodies of beasts.
The Kapari with a bowl in his hand and excessive greed in his heart
Abandoneth his own wife, and filled with lust coveteth his neighbour's.
While preaching he knoweth not God's word, and, attacheth himself to a prostitute.
With poison in his heart he pretendeth that he hath no doubts, but Death will disgrace him.
He who serveth the True Guru and removeth pride from his heart, is a true Sanyasi;
He desireth not clothes or food, but taketh what is freely offered him;
{p. 360}
