Hymns of Guru Nanak 5
He found not the end of Vishnu's lotus in the nether regions;[1]
He accepted not God's order, and was led astray in error.
Whatever is created Death destroyeth.
God hath preserved us by our meditating on the word of the Guru.
Maya deludeth all the gods and goddesses.
Death looseth not his hold on him who serveth not the Guru.
God is imperishable, invisible, and inscrutable.
Emperors, rulers, and kings shall not abide.
Having forgotten the Name they shall undergo death's torture.
The Name is my support; I shall abide as Thou keepest me, O Lord.
Chiefs and kings have no abiding-place.
Bankers die after accumulating wealth and money.
O God, grant me Thine ambrosial name as my wealth.
Subjects, lords, headmen, sovereigns--
None is found permanent in this world.
Irresistible death striketh false mortals on the head.
One alone, the Truest of the true, is immovable.
All those whom He created He will again destroy.[2]
Man obtaineth honour when he knoweth God under the Guru's instruction.
Qazis, shaikhs, and faqirs in religious garbs
Call themselves great, but through pride their bodies are in pain.
Death will not release them without receiving the true Guru's consolation.
[1. According to many Hindus Vishnu was the creator of the world. From Vishnu's navel there grew a lotus from which the god Brahma was produced. Brahma on attaining . intelligence began to consider the source of his birth. It could not be from such an insignificant thing as a lotus. He rejected the idea and kicked the lotus at the same time, whereupon he descended into it and remained long wandering in its stem until he repented of his error. He then rose to the top where he sat enthroned as before.
2 Literally--draw within Himself. Creation is God's extension; destruction, His contraction.]
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The net of Death is over man's tongue and eyes;
It is over his ears when he listeneth to unchaste language.
He is robbed day and night without the Word.
Death cannot espy him in whose heart
God's true -name dwelleth, and who singeth God's praises--
Nanak, the pious shall be absorbed in the Word.
A prayer to God for protection:--
As a herdsman guardeth and keepeth watch over his cattle,
So God day and night cherisheth and guardeth man and keepeth him in happiness.
O Thou compassionate to the poor, I seek Thy protection; look on me with favour.
Preserve me in this world and the next.
Wherever I look there art Thou contained; guard me, O Guardian.
Thou art the Giver, Thou art the Enjoyer, Thou art the support of the soul.
Man must supplement his prayers by good acts:--
Without meditating on divine knowledge man ascendeth or descendeth according to his acts.
Without praising the Lord of the world the darkness of ignorance shall not be dispelled.
We see that the world is perishing through covetousness and pride.
By serving the Guru, God and the true gate of salvation are attained.
What hath man brought into the world? What shall he take away when he is entangled in Death's noose?
Like a well-bucket firmly attached to a rope, he is now in heaven, now in hell.
A spiritual guide is necessary for salvation:--
His account is settled who through the Guru's favour knoweth God.
God, called the Pure One, who is in every heart, is my Lord.
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Man shall not be emancipated without the Guru's instruction; see and ponder upon this.
Even though man performed hundreds of thousands of ceremonies, all would still be darkness without the Guru.
What shall we say to those who are blind and devoid of wisdom?
Without the Guru the way cannot be seen; how shall we reach the goal?
Man calleth the counterfeit genuine; but he knoweth not what the genuine is.
A blind man he calleth an assayer; wonderful is this age.
Man saith, the sleeper is awake, and he who is awake sleepeth;
He saith, they who are alive are dead, and he weepeth not for those who are really dead;
He saith, that he who is coming bath gone, and that he who bath gone is coming;
He calleth another's property his own, and with his own he is not satisfied;
He calleth what is sweet bitter, and what is bitter sweet
He slandereth those who love God--such is what I have seen in this age.
Man serveth a handmaiden,[1] but the Master he seeth not.
He churneth tank water, and no butter is produced.
He who can explain this is the Guru for me.
Nanak, he who knoweth himself is unequalled and unrivalled.
GAURI CHHANT
The longing of the pious for God is compared to the longing of the young bride for her spouse:--
Painful is the night for the young bride; without her Beloved she sleepeth not.
She pineth away through grief at His absence:
The woman pineth away through grief at His absence, saying 'How shall I look upon Him?'
[1. Mammon.]
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Ornaments, dainty food, sensuous enjoyments are all vain and of no account for her.
Intoxicated with the wine of youth and melting with pride milk cometh not to her breast.
Nanak, she meeteth her Spouse when He causeth her to meet Him; without Him no sleep cometh to her.
The bride is unhonoured without her beloved Lord.
How shall she be happy without embracing Him?
Without a spouse there is no domestic happiness; ask thy friends and companions.
Without the Name there is no love or affection; but, with the True One, woman abideth in happiness.
They in whose hearts there is truth and contentment, meet the Friend; under the Guru's instruction the Bridegroom is recognized.
Nanak, the woman who abandoneth not the Name shall be easily absorbed in God through it.
Come, friends and companions, let us enjoy our Beloved.
I will ask my Guru and write His words of. love.
The Guru hath communicated to me the true Word; the perverse shall regret they have not received it.
When I recognized the True One, my roaming mind became fixed.
The wisdom of the True One is ever new, so is the love of His Word.
Nanak, true peace of mind is obtained from His look of favour; meet Him, my friends and companions.
My desires have been fulfilled; the Friend hath come home to me.
A song of rejoicing was sung at the union of Husband and wife.
His praises and a song of joy were sung; the bride is happy in His love and her heart is in raptures.
Her friends are also happy, her enemies unhappy; true profit is obtained by repeating the name of the True One.
With clasped hands the woman prayeth that she may night and day be steeped in God's love.
Nanak, the Beloved and His spouse unite in dalliance; my desires have been fulfilled.
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RAG ASA
The Creator bestows good gifts:--
If a beggar at God's gate cry aloud, God heareth him in His palace.
God may give him consolation or repulse him; He alone bestoweth greatness.
God knoweth man's virtues and inquireth not his caste; in the next world there is no caste.
God acteth Himself and causeth to act.
Thou, O Creator, payest heed to man's complaints.
Since it is Thou alone who actest,
Why should we be dependent on any but Thee?
What is the world to us?
Thou Thyself didst create; Thou Thyself dost bestow;
Thou forbiddest evil inclinations.
If Thou by the Guru's favour dwell in the heart,
Suffering and the darkness of ignorance shall depart therefrom.
Thou givest truth to those whom Thou lovest
Thou givest truth to none besides.
If Thou give truth to any one, saith Nanak, there shall be no inquiry made of him hereafter.
The following was addressed to a votary of Krishan, who was. worshipping his god with music and dancing:--
Make understanding thy fife, the love of God thy drum
By these joy and earnest desire are ever produced in the heart.
This is devotion; this is austerity-
In this wise dance beating time with thy feet.
Deem knowing how to praise God as beating time:
Other dances are sensuous pleasures.
Play truth and contentment as thy pair of cymbals
Make the perpetual vision of God the bells for thy feet
Make love for none but God thy measures and songs
In this wise, dance beating time with thy feet.
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Ever make the fear of God in thy heart and sour,
Whether sitting or standing, thy gyrations.
Make the knowledge that thy body is ashes thy recumbent posture [1]--
In this wise dance beating time with thy feet.
Thine audience shall be the disciples who love instruction,
Who hear the true Name from the Guru's lips,
And repeat it again and again-
Nanak, in this wise dance beating time with thy feet.
The following was intended to show God's superiority to His creatures Ram and Krishan, who are now adored as gods by the Hindus:--
God having created the atmosphere supported the whole earth and set bounds to water and fire.
The fatuous Rawan[2] had his ten heads cut off; what greatness was obtained by slaying him?
What praise of Thine, O God, shall be uttered?
Thou pervadest everything; Thou lovest all Thy creatures.
Having created living beings, Thou holdest their ways in Thy hand. What greatness was obtained by putting a nose-ring on the black serpent of the Jamna?[3]
Whose husband art Thou? Who is Thy wife? Thou pervadest all things.
Brahma, the granter of favours, with his progeny went to ascertain God's greatness,
But could not find His limits; what greatness wits obtained by slaying Kans?[4]
When the sea of milk was churned and its gems brought
[1. A part of an Oriental dance.
2. Râwan, king of Ceylon, abducted Sita, Râm's wife, and was killed by him.
3. This was one of the feats of Krishan, who, in some ways, resembles the Hercules of Greece.
4. Kans, king of Mathura, is called Krishan's maternal uncle. It was foretold that the offspring of Krishan's mother, Devaki, should kill Kans, so he employed all his efforts to destroy her children. Krishan however, was not destroyed, but succeeded in fulfilling the terms of the prophecy.]
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forth, the demigods and demons each claimed the merit thereof.
What greatness was obtained by the distribution of the gems to each? Saith Nanak, if men try to conceal Thy greatness, O God, how can it be concealed?
The Guru in his anxiety to meet God compares himself to a bride who rejoices in her approaching marriage:--
When the Bridegroom kindly came to my house,
My female companions met me and arranged for the marriage.
My heart was glad as I gazed upon the play; the Bridegroom came to wed me.
Sing, sing, O ladies, the bridal song with wisdom and reflection.
The Life of the world hath come to my house as my Bridegroom.
My marriage having been brought about through my Guru, when I met him I recognized my Spouse
Whose Word filleth the three worlds; when my pride departed my heart was glad.
God arrangeth His own affairs; they are not arranged by others:
They consist in bestowing truth, contentment, mercy, and faith-a few pious persons know this.
Saith Nanak, God alone is the Spouse of all,
She on whom He looketh with favour is the happy wife.
In the opinion of the Guru human life is worthless without holiness:--
A cow without milk, a bird without wings, and tillage without water are of no avail.
What is an emperor to whom no obeisance is made? Dark is the chamber in which Thy name, O God, is not.
Why shouldest Thou forget me when I am in great affliction?
When affliction befalleth me, forget me not.
Man's eye grow blind, his tongue loseth its taste, his ears hear not;
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He can only move by being supported--these are the fruits of non-service.
Make the Word the garden tree, plant it in good soil,[1] and irrigate with love.
The one Name is the fruit of all such trees; how shall men obtain it without good works?
All creatures are Thine, O Lord; none obtaineth his reward without devotion to Thee.
Woe and weal are distributed according to Thy will without Thy name real life remaineth not.
How may man live except by dying by the Guru's teaching? If one live otherwise, he shall not know the way.
Saith Nanak, Thou, O Lord, restorest life; Thou preservest man as Thou pleasest.
The following was addressed by way of admonition to a Brahman:--
Making my body the loin-cloth, my heart the Brahman,
Divine knowledge my sacrificial thread, meditation my grass[2] and leaves,
I shall beg for God's name and praises instead of the alms of the Brahmans;
And by the favour of the Guru be absorbed in God.
O Brahman, so meditate on God
That His name may become thy purification, His name thy learning, and His name thy wisdom and good acts.
The sacrificial thread is only on thy body its long as thou hast life.
Make the remembrance of the Name thy loin-cloth and frontal mark,
And it shall abide with thee in this world and the next.
Search for nothing but the trite Name;
Make God's love thy worship, the burning of the love of wealth thine incense.
Look only on the one God, search for none other.
[1. The heart.
2. The kusha (Poa cynosureides), used by the Brahmans in worship.]
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He who repeateth God's name with his mouth and pondereth on it,
Beholdeth Him at the tenth door of the firmament.[1]
His doubt and fear who liveth upon the love of God flee away.
If the sentry be on the alert, thieves will not break in.
Deem the knowledge of the one God thy frontal mark,
And the consciousness that God is within thee thy discrimination.[2]
God cannot be overcome by other ceremonial acts.
He who merely readeth religious books hath not found His worth.
His secret is not known from the eighteen Purans or the four Veds.
Nanak, the true Guru hath shown me God.
The following was addressed to a pandit who inquired how salvation could be obtained:--
The body like a frail earthen vessel is miserable; in birth and death it suffereth further pain.
How shall the dangerous ocean of this world be crossed? It cannot without the divine Guru.
There is none but Thee O my Beloved; there is none but Thee, O God.
In all colours and forms art Thou; Thou pardonest him on whom Thou lookest with favour.
My mother-in-law[3] is perverse; she will neither let me dwell at home, nor meet my Beloved.
Since I have worshipped- the feet of my companions and friends,[4] my Beloved through the kindness of the Guru hath looked on me with favour.
Reflecting on myself and chastening my heart I see that there is no friend like Thee.
As Thou keepest me so I live; I endure woe and weal as Thou bestowest them.
[1. In the brain in a state of ecstasy.
2. In the matter of eating, drinking, wearing, living, and worshipping.
3. Mammon.
4 The saints.]
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I have dispelled hopes and desires, and I no more long for mammon.
The holy man who hath found shelter in the society of the saints, obtaineth the fourth state.[1]
He in whose heart the invisible and inscrutable God dwelleth, possesseth all divine knowledge, meditation, devotion, and penance.
Nanak, he whose heart is dyed with God's name shall readily obtain devotion under the Guru's instruction.
The following is supposed to have been composed by the Guru on the death of his father:--
Abandon love of family and love of everything.
Abandon worldly love; it is all sinful.
Abandon worldly love and superstition, O my friends.
Repeat the true Name with your tongues and your hearts.
His children weep not and his mother afflicteth not herself for him[2]
Who possesseth the nine treasures of the true Name.
The world is ruined by such love as the worldly feel;
Only some rare pious man may be saved.
Through such love as that one is born again
He who feeleth such love goeth to the city of Death.
Practise acceptance of the Guru's. instruction as thy devotion and penance.
He who breaketh not with worldly love shall not be accepted.
If God look on man with favour such love shall depart,
O Nanak, and he shall be absorbed in God.
When Guru Nanak went to Gorakhmata-the present Nanakmata--he found religious men of
[1. Ancient Indian writers enumerate four states of life--jâgrat, waking; swapan, dreaming; sukhupati, deep sleep--{Greek e?peid'an tis kaðeu'dwn mhd? o?'nar mhde`n o!ra^j}(Plato, Apology); and turiya, mental absorption in God, in which state man is said to have obtained salvation during life. He then forgets the troubles of the world and is immersed in happiness.
2 The gyânis also translate--His heart crieth not or longeth for mammon.]
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