What pleaseth Thee must be done.
They who mourn and rejoice suffer transmigration,
While they who are pleasing to the Lord obtain comfort. Maya pervadeth this fiery ocean of the world :
They who have found the true Guru have recovered.
O God, the Preserver, preserve me !
Saith Nanak, what a poor creature am I !
Worthless is the body without the Name :—
Mouths without the Name are empty Like husks devoid of grain.
O mortal, ever repeat God’s name :
Without it woe to the body, which shall then become Death’s 1 prey ;
Without it the countenance loseth its lustre. 2 Without her spouse where is the wife ? 3 When through devotion to the pleasures of the world man forgetteth the Name,
His desires are never fulfilled.
Saith Nanak, O God, mercifully grant me the favour Of repeating Thy name day and night.
Man's sins cannot be concealed from God :—
Man doeth evil but pretendeth to do good :
For this he shall be bound like a thief in God’s court.
He who uttereth the Name is a saint of God—
Who is equally contained in sea, land, the nether regions, and the firmament—
He who uttereth words of nectar while in his heart is poison,
Shall be bound and punished in Death’s city.
The sins which man committeth behind many screens Shall in a moment be laid bare to th6 world.
Nanak, God will be merciful to him
SIKH. Ill
In whose heart is the truth, and who is dyed with the love of the Name.
Man ought to show his gratitude to God by remembering Him :—
Why should we show neglect to Him, O mother,
Who hath bestowed on us raiment and food ?
He who forgetteth the Lord and attacheth himself to others,
Exchangeth a gem for a kauri.
Man may forsake God, fascinated by other deities ;
But who hath honour by saluting a slave instead of his master ?
Man taketh food and drink tasting like nectar ;
But the dog knoweth not Him who gave them.
Saith Nanak, we are ungrateful;
Pardon us, O God, Thou Searcher of hearts.
The advantage of meditation on God:—
Meditation in my heart on God’s feet Is for me equal to bathing and ablutions at all places of pilgrimage.
Remember God every day, 0 my brethren,
And the impurity of millions of births shall be washed away.
Piety is for man's advantage :—
Men have made God their friend for their own advantage ; He fulfilleth all their desires and granteth them the dignity of salvation.
Let all so make God their friend That none may depart in vain.
God removeth the sorrows, pains, and maladies of those Who for their own objects hold Him in their hearts.
All their desires are fulfilled,
Who practise repetition of God’s name with their tongues. Nanak is many times a sacrifice unto them—
Profitable is a sight of my God.
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 147
The advantage of listening to divine instruction:—
Hear the story of God in the company of the saints,
And millions of obstacles to deliverance shall be removed in a moment.
By drinking the nectareous juice of God’s excellences and praises
And adoring His feet, hunger and thirst shall depart.
He in whose heart God dwelleth,
Possesseth the complete treasure of happiness, comfort, and peace.
Medicines, charms, and spells are all in vain :
Clasp the Creator to thy heart.
Abandon all doubts, repeat the name of the Supreme Being ;
And such religion, saith Nanak, shall be unshaken.
God is omnipotent to save :—
The deadly sins like robbers were with me all day long, But God mercifully dispersed them.
Let every one repeat with love the name of God Who is full of all resources. 1 God in a moment causeth man to cross over The very seething ocean of the world.
Man’s many shackles can only be burst By remembering the Name ; thus he obtaineth the reward of salvation.
Man can accomplish nothing by tricks or devices of speech. Saith Nanak, show mercy to me, O God, that I may sing Thy praises.
Meditation on God and obedience to His word are potent for salvation :—
The mortal, whether learned or unlearned,
Who meditateth on God, attaineth the supreme state.
In the company of the saints remember God.
Without the Name false is wealth and property.
He who obeyeth the voice of God Is handsome, clever, and wise.
L 2
Profitable is his advent into the world Who recognizeth his Lord in every heart Saith Nanak, he who is very fortunate Applieth his mind to God’s feet.
Incongruities:—
Infidels consort not with God’s servants ;
The former are sinful; the latter love God.
The association would be as unmeet as if one who cannot ride were put astride a thoroughbred 1 mare;
As if an impotent man were to caress a woman;
As if a spancel were put on an ox to milk him ;
As if a man were to mount a cow and chase a lion;
As if one were to worship a sheep instead of the cow Kamdhen, which granteth all desires ;
As if one were to pursue trade without capital.
Nanak, repeat God’s name in thy heart;
Remember a friend like the Lord God.
The saints' love of God illustrated by familiar examples:—
As a wife is delighted on beholding her spouse,
As God’s servant liveth by remembering His name,
As a mother reviveth on beholding her son,
So God’s servant loveth God who is the warp and woof. As an avaricious man rejoiceth on acquiring wealth,
So God’s servant’s heart is attached to His lotus feet. They who bear such love to God
Enjoy the greatest good fortune : He blendeth them with Himself.
May I not forget Thee even for a moment, Thou beneficent One !
Nanak’s God is the support of the soul.
The following was addressed to a hypocritical Brahman;—
Thou openest thy waistcloth, and spreadest some of it beneath thee;
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN
Thou loadest thy belly like a donkey ;
But without good works, deliverance is not obtained— The boon of deliverance is granted to meditation on the Name.
Thou performest worship and ablutions, and appliest sacrificial marks to thy forehead ;
Thou pullest out a knife to threaten suicide if alms be not given thee ;
Thou recitest the Veds with tuneful voice.
Slirinkest thou not from killing creatures; 1 O mortal ? Saith Nanak, he to whom God showeth mercy Is pure in heart and meditateth upon Him.
The condition of those who are imbued with God's love :—
They who are imbued with God’s love burn not in the flames ; 2
They who are imbued with God’s love are not deceived by Maya ;
They who are imbued with God’s love are not drowned in the water ;
They who are imbued with God’s love bear good fruit : By God’s name all their fear is dispelled ;
They meet the society of the saints , and sing God’s praises. He who is imbued with God’s love is freed from all anxieties ;
He who receiveth the Guru’s spell becometh attached to God ;
He who is imbued with God’s love hath no fear of Death ; He who is imbued with God’s love hath his desires fulfilled ;
He who is imbued with God’s love suffereth not misery ; He who is imbued with God’s love is watchful night and
day ; .
He who is imbued with God’s love abideth in the abode
of happiness;
i5o
He who is imbued with God’s love is preserved from doubts and fears ;
He who is imbued with God’s love obtaineth the highest wisdom ;
He who is imbued with God’s love is pure.
Saith Nanak, 1 am a sacrifice to those
Who forget not my God.
God helps and cherishes His servants:—
He Himself is His servant’s helper.
Like a father and mother He ever cherisheth him.
Every one is saved by entering God’s sanctuary.
It is He who acteth and causeth to act; He is omnipresent and true.
. The Creator now dwelleth in my heart.
Fear is extinct and my soul hath obtained all happiness.
God mercifully preserveth His servants,
And their sins of many births fall off.
The glory of God cannot be described :
The slave Nanak is ever in His sanctuary.
Helpless man utters his wail to the Almighty:—
0 strong-armed puissant God, ocean of happiness, I am falling into the pit ; take Thou my hand.
Mine ears hear not; mine eyes see not; afflicted and crippled I cry at Thy gate.
Patron of the poor and patronless, full of mercy, friend, father, mother.
Thou who causest Thy saints to cross over the ocean of fear—Nanak holdeth Thy lotus feet within his heart.
Without the Guru man has not wherewithal to
recommend him to God •—
^ NNhai wine shaft. I meet the Lord oi the sowV 0 my
mother ?
I possess no beauty, no understanding, no strength; I
am a stranger come from afar.
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 151
I have not wealth or the glory of youth ; friendless that I am, unite me, O God, with Thee.
Searching and searching I have renounced the world ; I wander thirsting for a sight of Thee.
Compassionate to the poor, O merciful God, Nanak prayeth—quench my thirst with the society of the saints.
Instruction and supplication :—
Depart, bird of the soul, and make remembrance of God thy pinions ;
Meet the saint, embrace his society, put God’s perfect jewel into thy heart.
Superstition is a pit, the thirst for pleasure its mire ; very entangling is the noose of worldly love.
He who cutteth it is God, the world’s Guru ; dwell at His lotus feet.
O God, beloved Master, Lord of the poor, mercifully hear my supplication.
O Nanak’s Lord, take my hand ; the soul and body are all Thy capital.
Though God is in every heart, some men are good and others evil; the reason is known only to God :—
O immortal King,
We dwell fearlessly with Thee ; whence cometh this fear ?
In one person Thou appearest proud, in another lowly;
In one person Thou art haughty, in another humble ;
In one person Thou art a pandit and preacher, in another Thou art stupid ;
In one person Thou graspest at everything, in another Thou acceptest nothing.
What can man the poor wooden puppet do ? He who setteth the puppet in motion knoweth its condition;
It playeth the part for which the Player dressed it .
He hath made various chambers of many descriptions within it, and He Himself guardeth it.
The soul must remain in whatever body it is placed; what can the wretched thing do ?
He who made something, namely , all the contrivance of the body , knoweth its construction.
Nanak, the infinite God knoweth the value of His own work.
Amid the pleasures of sin man thinks not of death:—
Abandon, abandon, the pleasures of sin :
O fool and madman, thou art entangled with them, and shalt be punished like cattle which fall upon crops.
What thou considerest thine advantage shall not go with thee an inch. 1
Naked didst thou come, naked shalt thou go : thou shalt become a morsel for Death, and return to a body again and again.
Beholding the short-lived sports of the world, thou art absorbed in them, and laughest while they last.
The string of life weareth away day and night ; thou hast not done aught for thy soul.
Amid vain works old age hath come upon thee ; thy speech faileth and thy body wasteth away.
Since that fascinating woman bewitched thee, thy love for her hath in no wise diminished.
When the Guru showed me that such was the world, I abandoned pride and entered Thy sanctuary, O God.
The saints showed me the way to God ; the slave Nanak hath adopted God’s service and praises.
Thanksgiving:—
Whom have I but Thee,
My Beloved ? Thou art the support of the soul.
Only Thou knowest the state of my heart ; Thou art my friend and companion.
I have obtained all happiness from Thee ; Thou art intangible and unequalled.
I cannot describe Thy play, O ocean of merits, Bestower of happiness.
The unapproachable, invisible, and imperishable God is
known by means ot the perieet Gmn.
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 153
Since I have destroyed pride, God hath banished my doubts and fears, and made me completely happy.
By showing me the company of the saints Thou hast put an end to my anxiety regarding transmigration.
I wash their feet ; I serve the Guru and offer myself a sacrifice a hundred thousand times to him
By whose favour the slave Nanak hath crossed the terrible water and met the Beloved.
The bliss of the holy :—
I am a sacrifice to them
Whose sole support is the Name.
How shall their greatness be estimated who are imbued with the love of the supreme Being ?
Happiness, peace, and joy are with them ; there are no others generous as they.
They who thirst for a sight of God, have come to save the world.
They who have sought their protection have been saved, and all their desires fulfilled in the company of the saints.
If I fall at their feet I shall survive; I am happy in the company of the saints.
O God, be merciful to me that my heart may become the dust of the saints’ feet.
Empire, youth, and life—whatever is seen in this world decreaseth.
Nanak hath earned the treasure of the Name which is ever new and pure.
A Jogi came to the Guru and asked him if he had learned the science of Jog. The following was the Guru's reply:—
The way of Jog I have heard from my Guru ;
The true Guru hath communicated to me the Word.
Every moment I bow before Him who is contained in the nine regions of the earth and in this body.
I have made the Guru’s instruction mine earrings, and have set up the one God in my heart.
The five pupils collectively I have placed under the control of One. 1
When the organs of perception and action were obedient, then I became a pure Jogi.
I burnt superstition and applied its ashes to my body ; the sight of the one God I made my sect.
I have resignedly and gladly accepted that as the portion which God destined for me.
Where there was no fear, there I assumed my devotional attitude, and the ecstatic sound was my Jogi’s horn.
I have made meditation on God my staff, and love of the Name my rule of life.
The fetters of mammon shall be struck off that fortunate person who meeteth such a Jogi.
Nanak serveth and worshippeth such a person and licketh his feet.
A prayer to the Lord of life:—
O Lord of my life, show me compassion and mercy; I helpless have entered Thy sanctuary.
Give me Thy hand, and extricate me from the blind well; 2 I have no device or spell to assist myself.
Causer of causes, everything art Thou ; Thou art omnipotent ; there is none beside Thee.
Only Thou Thyself knowest Thine own state and condition ; they who are so destined 3 become Thy worshippers.
Thou, O God, lovest Thy worshippers : Thou art contained in them as the warp and woof.
They long for Thy very beloved name and a sight of Thee, as the chakor longeth for the moon.
There is no difference between God and His saints ; but out of hundreds of thousands and millions there is only one real servant of God.
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 155
He in whose heart God is manifested repeateth His praises night and day.
O God, Thou art omnipotent, infinite, the Most High, the Giver of comfort and the Prop of life.
O God, mercifully grant Nanak the companionship of the saints.
Relations and worldly wealth avail not without devotion to God:—
There is no happiness without devotion to God;
Win for thyself the priceless jewel, of human life by repeating His name even for one moment in the company of saints.
Several people have left
Sons, wealth, wives, and pleasures after enjoying them.
Fools have departed naked leaving behind them
Excellent horses and elephants, and even the pomp of empire.
The bodies which were perfumed with distilled aloe wood and sandal,
Have been blended with the dust.
Infatuated by worldly love they deemed God distant,
But, saith Nanak, He is ever present.
Contempt for the body :—
0 body, great thy pride from such an origin.
Transitory art thou, however much thou grasp at worldly things.
Thou lovest those things which learned saints have forbidden thee.
As a gambler who while losing remaineth attached to play, so thy senses conquer and hold thee in bondage.
Thou art not imbued with love for the lotus feet of Him who destroyeth and createth all things.
The Treasure of mercy gave me, Nanak, the company of the saints by which I am saved.
Man, groping in the darkness of worldly love, desires the light of divine knowledge to dawn for him:—
Is there any one who will dispel man’s pride,
And turn his heart away from sweet mammon ?
Man hath become spiritually ignorant; he desireth what existeth not.
His night is dark and gloomy; how can morning dawn for him ?
I have grown weary wandering and searching in every way;
But at last God hath been merciful, and I have obtained the treasure of the company of the saints,
Man should think of his soul, not of his short-lived body:—
O my soul, seek God’s protection, and thou shalt be happy.
The days in which the Giver of life and happiness is forgotten, pass away in vain.
Thou hast come as the guest of one night, yet thou ex- tendest the hope of living for many ages.
Houses, palaces, wealth, everything that is seen is like the shadow of a tree.
This body of mine, my entire wealth, gardens, and property shall all pass away.
Thou hast forgotten God, the Giver; in one moment these things shall become another’s.
Thou bathest and puttest on clean clothes, and per- fumest thyself with distilled aloe wood and sandal.
Thou thinkest not of the Fearless, the Formless One; thou art as an elephant which throweth dust on itself after being bathed.
When God is merciful, He will cause thee to meet the true Guru ; all happiness abideth in God’s name.
Nanak, by singing God’s praises the Guru shall unlock thy fetters, and thou shalt be freed.
The following was written by the Guru on hearing that a raja was preparing an expedition to seize another raja’s territory —
The thirst of only a few is slaked.
Man amasseth thousands and millions, but restraineth not his mind;
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 157
He is burning for more and more.
Though possessing beautiful women of many races, he committeth adultery in other men’s houses.
He distinguisheth not between bad and good.
Under the many bonds of mammon he wandereth and singeth not the praises of the Treasury of excellences;
His mind is absorbed in worldly affairs.
He to whom God is merciful is dead while alive, and in the company of the saints crosseth over the ocean of the world:
Nanak, that man shall be acceptable in God’s court.
To man God should be the dearest of all:—
God is the darling object of all men.
Some love contemplation, some „ pleasure, some divine knowledge, some meditation,
And some a hermit’s life.
Some love lip-worship, some austerities, some adoration, burnt offerings, and daily ceremonies ;
And some a wandering existence.
Some love the shore, some the sea, some the study of the Veds,
But to Nanak only God’s service is dear.
God to the Guru is everything that is precious:—
The celebration of Thy praises is my treasure.
Thou art my delight, Thou art my glory, Thou art my beauty, Thou art my love ;
Thou, O God, art my Hope and my Shelter;
Thou art my pride, Thou art my wealth, Thou art mine honour, Thou art my life,
The Guru hath united me with Thee from whom I had parted.
Thou art my home, Thou art my forest, Thou art my village, Thou art my desert;
Saith Nanak, Thou art to me the nearest and dearest of all.
The Guru gives the opinion of holy men as to the means of salvation:—
They who dwell under the sovereign Lord’s protection Shall be saved:
All others fall to the ground from the lofty heights of mammon.