For whomsoever he is merciful. 2
God’s mercy and man’s supplication:—
By Thy mercy, O God, the way is found ;
By Thy mercy the Name is meditated on ;
By Thy mercy man is released from his fetters ;
By Thy mercy pride is dispelled.
If Thou appoint me to Thy service I will perform it.
I can do nothing of myself, 0 God.
If it please Thee, I sing Thy word ;
If it please Thee, I call Thee the True One ;
If it please Thee, the true Guru is kind.
All happiness, O God, is obtained from Thy mercy.
Pure is the act which pleaseth Thee ;
True is the faith which pleaseth Thee.
The treasury of all excellences is with Thee.
Thou art the Lord, Thy servant maketh Thee this supplication—
‘ May my soul and body become pure through the love of God !
May I obtain all happiness in the Society of the saints ! May my soul be dyed with Thy name ! ’
This Nanak deemeth supreme happiness.
Of all relishes none so sweet as God’s name :—
0 my tongue , thy thirst departeth not for an instant, However many sweets thou tasteth.
If thou now taste the sweetness of God,
Thou shalt be astonished on tasting it.
My beloved tongue, drink the nectar of God's name : Steeped in this relish thou shalt be satiated.
O my tongue, sing thou God’s praises ;
Every moment meditate on God.
The association of the saints is obtained by good fortune :
Go to none but them, ^and hear no words but theirs. 1 During the eight watches, O my tongue, adore The supreme God, the unfathomable Lord,
And thou shalt be ever happy in this world and the next. By singing His praises, 0 my tongue, thou shalt be beyond all price.
Plants and trees may burst into flower and fruit and sweet may be their flavour,
But God’s name once tasted thou shalt never forsake.
No other relish 2 can equal it.
Saith Nanak, the Guru hath become my succourer.
God who resides in the heart is the great merchant with whom the saints deal:—
The heart is a building, the body is a fence constructed round it ;
Within it are countless things ;
Within it, we hear, dwelleth the Merchant.
Who are the dealers who enjoy credit with Him ?
Few there are who deal in the precious Name,
Who eat its nectar as food,
And devote their soul and body to God’s service.
What is the way by which God will be pleased ?
Who is the man who will introduce me to that traffic ?
I will touch his feet and renounce all ideas of mine and thine.
How shall I reach the Merchant’s palace ?
How shall I be invited to enter it ?
Thou art the great Merchant who hast millions of dealers. Who is that benefactor who will associate me with them ? Searching and searching I have found my home.
The true one hath shown me the priceless jewel.
Saith Nanak, by faith in the Guru
He will mercifully blend us with the Merchant.
Only go to that association of the saints in which nothing is heard but God’s name;
It is obtained by good fortune.
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 139
The saints’ occupation, attributes, and praises:—
Night and day the pious abide in the love of the one God .
They believe God ever with them ;
They make the repetition of God’s name their occupation ;
They are satisfied and comforted by His sight.
On entering the asylum of the perfect Guru
They become enamoured of God, and their minds and bodies grow happy.
God’s lotus feet are the support of their souls.
They behold Him alone and carry out His orders ;
They deal in only one thing, they occupy themselves with only one thing ;
They think of nothing but the Formless One ;
They are free from both joy and sorrow ;
They are ever separated from the world, and devoted to religion ;
They are seen among the crowd, but are not of it ;
They fix their attention on the supreme God.
How can I describe the glory of the saints ?
Their wisdom is unfathomable, and cannot be sounded.
O supreme God, have mercy on me,
And bestow on Nanak the dust of Thy saints’ feet.
The general prevalence of mammon :—
Maya is contained in the rejoicing and mourning diffused throughout the world ;
She is contained in heaven, hell, and the incarnations ;
She is contained in the rich, the poor, and those who are conspicuous for their splendour ;
She is contained in covetousness which is the root of trouble ;
She is contained in the world in various forms.
O God, the saints live by Thy protection, and are not subject to Maya.
Maya is contained in him who is intoxicated with intellectual pride ;
She is contained in him who is attached to children and wife;
She is contained in elephants, horses, and other animals ;
She is contained in him who is intoxicated with the wine of beauty and youth ;
She is contained in kings, in the poor, and in those addicted to pleasures;
She is contained in the songs and musical instruments heard at assemblies ;
She is contained in couches, in palaces, and their ornaments ;
She is contained in the evil passions which render man blind ;
She is contained in him who performeth religious ceremonies prompted by pride ;
She is contained in the family man ; she is contained in the anchoret;
She is contained in human occupations and conduct; she is contained in caste ;
She is contained in everything except in those who arc imbued with God’s love.
God hath cut oh the entanglements of the saints ;
How can she be contained in them ?
Saith Nanak, Maya approacheth not those
Who have obtained the dust of the saints’ feet.
While the senses are asleep, the deadly sins rob the body:—
The eyes sleep 1 while coveting others’ property ;
The ears sleep on hearing tales of slander ;
The tongue sleepeth in the desire for the relish of sweet things ;
The mind sleepeth admiring mammon.
In this world few are watchful;
They who are receive their boon whole.
All the senses are intoxicated with their own pleasures,
And take no thought of the body they inhabit;
Wherefore the five plunderers and highway robbers
Tall upon its unguarded citadel to plunder it.
\a\her nor mother can protect man from them ;
Neither friend nor brother can protect man from them ;
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 141
They are not restrained by bribes or diplomacy ;
They are only controlled by the society of the saints. Have mercy on me, O God;
Grant me the dust of the saints’ feet for all my treasure. He who meeting the true Guru is awake in the love of God,
O Nanak, hath the capital stock of his human life intact He to whom God is merciful is awake ; _
His capital stock, wealth, and property remain whole.
God’s praises and glory and the advantages of remembering Him:—
There is none besides Him
In whose power are lords and emperors ;
In whose power is the whole world ;
Who hath created everything.
Address thy supplication to the true Guru,
That he may arrange all thine affairs.
His court is the most exalted of all;
His name is the prop of all the saints.
The Lord whose glory shineth in every heart,
Is contained in everything, and filleth creation.
By remembering Him the abode of sorrow is demolished ; By remembering Him Death molesteth us not;
By remembering Him what is withered becometh green ; By remembering Him the sinking stone floateth ;
Victory be ever to the society of the saints !
God’s name is the support of the lives of His servants. Saith Nanak, hear, O God, my supplication—
By the favour of the saints, grant me to dwell in Thy name.
The advantages of repeating and writing God’s name:—
Ever repeat God’s praises with thy tongue,
And thou shalt obtain happiness , 0 my brother and friend. Write with pen, paper, and ink The ambrosial word of God’s name.
Thy hand shall then become pure,
And the entanglements of Maya shall be destroyed.
By thus acting all thy sins shall depart.
By remembering God Death shall not punish thee ;
The myrmidons of Dharmraj shall not look at thee ; And even though engaged with the world it shall not fascinate thee.
Thou shalt be saved thyself, and shalt save the world By repeating the name of the one God.
When God’s name hath entered thy heart,
Make use of it thyself and advise others to do so.
He on whose forehead the wealth of the Name Hath been written , shall repeat it.
Sing God’s praises throughout the day :
Saith Nanak, I am a sacrifice unto Him.
. Men act perversely :—
What belongeth to another we deem our own ;
Our hearts are attached to what ought to be abandoned. Say how shall the Lord of the earth be found.
We love what is forbidden ;
What is false we deem true.
The heart is in no wise attached to what is true.
We go crookedly by the left way ;
Leaving the straight way we wend backwards.
God is the Lord of the two worlds—
Nanak, he who meeteth Him shall be saved.
The Guru in his humility feels himself unequal to worthily adoring God :—
What form of Thine shall I adore ?
By what science of J og shall I discipline my body ? What art is that by which I can sing Thy praises ?
What speech is that, O supreme God, by which I may please Thee ?
What worship of Thine shall I perform ?
What way is that by which I may cross the terrible ocean ? What is that penance by which I may become penitent ? What is that Name by which the filth of pride may be washed away ?
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 143
Skill, worship, divine knowledge, meditation, and the fruit of all his toil
Are obtained by him, O Nanak, whom the compassionate true Guru kindly meeteth.
It is such a man who possesseth excellence ; it is he who knoweth God ;
And the Giver of comfort granteth his prayers.
The Guru exhorts his soul to practise devotion :—
0 my soul, desire Him In whom there is no deficiency :
O my soul, make that beloved God thy friend,
And ever remember Him who is the support of life.
O my soul, serve Him
Who is the primal Being and infinite God.
O my soul, place thy hope in Him Who is the trusted of every age.
Nanak, on meeting the Guru, singeth the praises of God, Whose love ever conferreth happiness.
Who are the really great :—
They who appear to be very great in this world Suffer from the malady of anxiety.
Who is great by reason of the greatness of his wealth ? He is great who devoteth his love to God.
Landowners ever strive for land ;
Their covetousness is never extinguished ; but they must leave their lands and depart.
Saith Nanak, the real thing I consider is,
That without repeating God’s name there is no deliverance.
A man without piety is less useful than a beast:—
Man eateth many species of food like a beast;
He is bound like a thief by the rope of worldly love ;
His mortal body without the company of the saints Is tortured in the womb by transmigration.
, He weareth beautiful clothes of various sorts Like a scarecrow in the fields to frighten quintals away.
The bodies of all creatures are of use,
But man’s is useless unless he utter the Name.
Saith Nanak, he to whom God is merciful Uttereth God’s name in the company of the saints.
The Guru’s mission is accomplished :—
The word of the Guru hath dispelled all trouble and affliction ;
Transmigration is at an end, and all happiness attained. By meditating on the Fearless God, fear is extinct.
I have sung the praises of God in the company of His saints.
I have put his lotus feet within my heart.
The Guru hath taken me across the sea of fire:
The perfect Guru extricated me when I. was drowning: The Guru united me with God, though separated from Him in various births.
. Saith Nanak, I am a sacrifice to that Guru By meeting whom my salvation hath been accomplished.
The following is repeated by Sikhs over a sick person:—
Things which were withered God in a moment maketh green.
His ambrosial glance irrigateth and reviveth them.
The perfect God removeth all affliction.
When He bestoweth His service on His servant,
Anxiety is removed and the heart’s desires fulfilled.
When the true Guru, who is an embodiment of good qualities, showeth mercy,
Sorrow fleeth away, and happiness taketh its place—
In this there is no delay—when God giveth the order.
. Our desires are fulfilled when the true Guru is found ; Nanak, they who'find Him bear good fruit.
They who seek God aright have no fear:—
The whole world is sunk in fear ;
But he .who hath the Name for his support hath no fear. He, 0 Lord, who taketh Thy protection feareth not: