Slok XXIX
Prostrations and obeisance many times to Thee, 0 God, who possessest all contrivances and art omnipotent!
Reach me Thy hand, 0 God, saith Nanak, and save me from wavering. 1
Pauri XXIX
D. O my soul, this is not thy dwelling ; know that Place 2 where thy dwelling is ;
Learn from the Guru’s instruction the way to that dwelling.
Man undergoeth toil to erect a dwelling here
Which will not go an inch with him.
He on whom the omnipotent God looketh with favour,
Knoweth the way to that dwelling.
That dwelling is permanent and true, and is obtained in the company of the saints ;
Nanak, they who find it waver not.
Slok XXX
When Dharmraj beginneth to smite, none can restrain him :
Nanak, they who repeat God's name in association with the saints shall be saved.
Pauri XXX
D H. Why goest thou about searching ? search in thine own heart.
God dwelleth with thee ; why wanderest thou from forest to forest ?
Throw down thy heap of terrible pride in the company of the saints ;
So shalt thou find rest, abide in peace, and be blest with the sight of God :
He in whom that heap is, shall be bom and die, and suffer the pain of the womb ;
He who is steeped in worldly love and entangled with egotism shall come and go.
I have now gradually fallen under the protection of the saints ;
God hath cut the meshes of sorrow, Nanak, and united me with Himself.
Slok XXXI
Where the saints ever repeat God’s name and praises—
Dharmraj saith , ‘ Approach not there, O my ministers : if you do , neither you nor I shall escape.’
Pauri XXXI
N. He who conquereth his own heart is victorious in the battle ;
He who dieth fighting with his pride and worldly love is blest ; 1
He who effaceth his pride 2 shall under the perfect Guru’s instruction be dead while alive ; 3
He shall conquer his heart, meet God, and obtain a robe of honour for his bravery ;
He shall consider nothing his own ; the one God shall be his prop and support ;
He shall continue night and day to remember the supreme and infinite God.;
He shall so act as to make his heart the dust of all men’s feet ;
He shall understand God’s order, be ever happy, Nanak, and obtain what was destined for him.
Slok XXXII
I will devote my body, soul, and wealth to him who causeth me to meet God ;
Nanak, my doubts and fears shall then be dispelled, and Death shall no longer look for me.
* This is explained to mean that he will be very humble.
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN
Pauri XXXII
T. Love Him who is the treasury of excellences, the sovereign God ;
Thou shalt then obtain the fruit thy heart desireth, and thy yearning shall depart.
He in whose heart the Name dwelleth, shall have no fear on the road to death ;
His understanding shall become enlightened ; he shall obtain salvation and a place in God’s court.
Nor wealth, nor mansion, nor youth, nor empire shall depart with thee.
In the company of the saints continue to remember God's name ; it is this that shall avail thee.
There shall be no more burning when God Himself re- moveth thy fever ;
Nanak, God Himself protecteth us ; He is our mother and father.
Slok XXXIII
The perverse have grown weary of their various toils, yet they are not satisfied and their thirst is not allayed ;
They shall die in the midst of their hoarding, Nanak, and their wealth shall not depart with them.
Pauri XXXIII
T H. None is permanent ; why stretchest thou thy feet forward ? 1
In thine efforts after wealth alone thou committest great fraud and deceit;
Thou toilest to fill thy purse, 0 fool, and then fullest down weary :
At the last moment that shall not avail thy soul.
Thou shalt obtain permanence 2 by worshipping God and accepting the saints’ instruction.
i86
Ever love the one God—that is the true love.
He is the cause of causes ; all contrivances are in His hand alone.
We remain at the posts to which Thou, 0 God, hast appointed us; saith Nanak, the creature is helpless.
Slok XXXIV
His slaves have seen the one God who giveth everything ; They continue to remember Him at every breath ; Nanak, a sight of Him is their support.
Pauri XXXIV
D. The Giver is one ; He giveth to all;
In His giving there is no stint; innumerable are His full storehouses.
• The Giver liveth for ever.
O my foolish mind, why forgettest thou Him ?
No man is at fault, my friend ;
It is God who forged the fetters of Maya’s illusion.
The holy men whose pain He Himself removeth Shall, O Nanak, be satisfied. 1
Slok XXXV
O my soul, grasp the prop of the one God, lay aside thy hopes in others;
Ponder on the Name, and thine affairs shall succeed. Pauri XXXV
DH. If thou abide with the saints the wanderings of thy heart shall then cease ;
If God Himself bestow mercy from the beginning, the mind shall become enlightened,
They have the true capital and are the true traders, Whose stock-in-trade is the Name and who deal in God. Patience, glory, and honour are tor him Who attentively heareth God’s name.
The holy man in whose heart God is contained Shall, O Nanak, obtain greatness.
HYMNS OF GURU ARjAN 187
Slok XXXVI
Nanak, the perfect Guru hath taught that for him who, in the company of the saints,
Repeateth the Name with his tortgue and with love in his heart, there is no hell.
PaUri XXXVI
N. They in whose souls and bodies the Name abideth Shall not fall into hell.
They who under the Guru’s instruction repeat the Name, which is a treasure,
Shall not perish by the poison of mammon.
No refusal awaiteth him
To whom the Guru hath given the spell of the Name. God’s name which is full of nectar is the treasury of wealth :
Nanak, unbeaten musical instruments sound for him who repeateth it.
Slok XXXVII
When I abandoned deceit, worldly love, and sin, the great Supreme Being preserved mine honour :
Nanak, adore Him who hath no end or limit. 1
Pauri XXXVII
P. The sovereign God is beyond estimate; His limit cannot be ascertained ;
He is the purifier of sinners, and inaccessible.
Millions of sinners who meet the saints And repeat the ambrosial Name become pure.
He whom Thou Thyself preservest, 0 Lord of the earth, Loseth all deception, fraud, and worldly love.
God is emperor; He alone is entitled to the umbrella over His head :
Nanak, there is no other sovereign.
Slok XXXVM
By restraining the mind Death's nooses are cut, transmigration is at an end, and victory obtained.
i88
Nanak, permanence is obtained from the Guru and transmigration effaced for ever and ever.
Pauri XXXVIII
P H. 0 soul, thou hast returned after long wanderings ; In this Kal age thou hast obtained a human body so difficult to obtain;
Thou shalt not again have the present opportunity. Repeat God’s name, then Death's noose shall be cut away, And there shall be no transmigration for thee.
Utter the name of the one God ; that is the real utterance. Have mercy, O God the Creator,
And unite poor Nanak with Thyself.
Slok XXXIX
Hear Thou my supplication, Supreme Being, compassionate to the poor and Lord of the earth—
Nanak, the dust of the saints’ feet is to me comfort, wealth, great enjoyment, and pleasure.
Pauri XXXIX
B. It is he who knoweth God who is a Brahman ;
He is a Vaishnav who is pious, and accepteth the pure religion.
He is a hero who effaceth his wickedness :
Nothing evil may approach him.
Man is bound by the fetters of his own pride,
And yet, blind that he is, he imputeth blame to others. Discussion and subterfuges are all of no avail.
Slok XL
Heartily worship God who is the destroyer of fear and the remover of sin and sorrow ;
He in whose heart He dwelleth through the companionship of the saints shall never again, O Nanak, wander in transmigration.
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN
Pauri XL
B H. Dispel thine errors ;
This world is all a dream.
In error are demigods, goddesses, and gods ;
In error are Sidhs, Strivers, and so is Brahma ;
In mazes of error man is ruined.
This world is difficult to cross and very dangerous.
The pious who have effaced error, fear, and worldly love, Shall, Nanak, obtain supreme happiness.
Slok XLI
Through wealth the mind wavereth in many ways and becometh entangled ;
He whom Thou, O God, preservest from asking for it, saith Nanak, loveth the Name.
Pauri XLI
M. He who asketh is silly ;
The Bestower who is wise continueth to bestow :
What God giveth He giveth once for all.
O foolish man, why callest thou aloud ?
When thou prayest, thou prayest for worldly things, From which happiness resulteth to no one.
If thou pray for anything, then pray for the one God, By whom, saith Nanak, thou shalt be saved.
Slok XLII
Their wisdom is perfect and they are distinguished in whose hearts is the perfect Guru’s instruction ;
Nanak, they who know their God are fortunate.
Pauri XLII M. He who knoweth God's secret Is satisfied on meeting the company of the saints ;
He deemeth woe and weal as the same ;
He is exempted from entering hell or heaven :
The man who knoweth God’s secret dwelleth in the world, and yet is apart from it;
igo THE SIKH RELIGION
He is, as it were, the eminent being who filleth every heart . 1
He who is not entangled by mammon,
Nanak, hath found happiness in God’s love.
Slok XLIII
O my friends, allies, and adherents, hear me—there is no emancipation without God :
Nanak, he who falleth at the Guru’s feet hath all his fetters cut away.
Pauri XLIII
Y. Though man make efforts of many kinds,
How far can he succeed without the one Name ?
The efforts by which emancipation is obtained,
Are made in the company of the saints.
The salvation which every one holdeth to,
Cannot be obtained without the repetition of God’s name :
God is capable of giving salvation.
O Master, preserve us men without merits.
Nanak, that man’s intellect becometh enlightened,
Whom God Himself instructeth in thought, word, and deed.
Slok XLIV
Think of thyself; be angry with no one ;
Abide humble in the world, Nanak, and through God’s favour thou shalt be saved.
Pauri XLIV
R. Become the dust of every one’s feet;
Abandon pride, and the sins to thy debit shall be blotted out.
Thou shalt be victorious in the struggle, O brother, and acceptable in God's court,
If under the Guru’s instruction thou fix thine attention on God’s name,
Thy sins shall gradually be blotted out
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 191
By the perfect Guru’s peerless word.
Nanak, they on whom God and the Guru have conferred favours,
Are dyed with the love of God's name and intoxicated with its savour.
Slok XLV
The diseases of covetousness, falsehood, and the other deadly sins infest this body ;
But the pious who drink the medicine of God’s nectar, O Nanak, shall be healed.
Pauri XLV
L. He, 0 God, to whom Thou administerest medicine,
Is at once cured of his sorrows and pains.
That medicine is the Name ; whosoever heartily loveth it Shall not even dream of disease.
The medicine of God’s name is in every heart, my brethren. Except the perfect Guru no one knoweth how to prepare it. He whose way of life the perfect Guru hath appointed,
Slok XLVI
God is everywhere, there is no place without Him ;
He is with thee, Nanak, whether thou art at home or abroad ; what concealest thou from Him ?
Pauri XLVI
W. Bear not enmity to any one—
God is contained in every heart;
He is contained in sea and land ;
By the favour of the Guru some rare person singeth His ipraises .
Enmity and jealousy shall depart from the heart of him Who under the Guru’s instruction heareth God’s praises. Nanak, he who under the Guru’s instruction repeateth God’s name,
Shall be released from all caste and caste marks.
Slok XLVII
The stupid and ignorant infidel passeth his life in egoism ; In agony he dieth as one thirsty, 0 Nanak, and thus obtaineth his deserts.
Pauri XLVII
R. He who by association with the saints worshippeth the Name,
Which is the essence of religious acts, shall not engage in strife.
He in whose heart the Beautiful One dwelleth,
Shall have his strife erased and ended.
It is the ignorant perverse man, in whose heart
The sin of pride dwelleth, who harboureth strife.
Nanak, when the holy man instructeth,
•All strife ceaseth in a moment.
Slok XLVIII
O my soul, grasp the protection of the holy man; lay aside thy phrases and devices :
The Guru’s instruction, Nanak, dwelleth in the heart of him on whose forehead good fortune was written.
Pauri XLVIII
S H. Weary of repeating the Shastars, the Simritis, and the Veds,
We have now, 0 God, entered Thine asylum.
In my researches I have come to this conclusion,
That without worshipping God there is no deliverance.
We constantly make mistakes ;
Thou art omnipotent, infinite, 1 and illimitable.
O Compassionate One, protect us who have fallen under Thy protection!
Saith Nanak, O God, we are Thy children.
Slok XLIX
When pride is erased, happiness resulteth, the mind and body are healed,
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 193
Nanak, and He who is worthy of praise becometh manifest.
Pauri XLIX
K H. Thoroughly praise God
Who in an instant can fill to the brim what is empty. When a mortal is thoroughly humble,
He night and day repeateth the name of the eternal God. The Lord giveth happiness to those who please Him.
The infinite supreme Being is so potent,
That He can in a moment pardon numberless sins : Nanak, the Lord is merciful.
Slok L
Verily I say unto thee, hear me, O my soul, fall under the sovereign God’s protection ;
Cast aside all thy phrases and devices, Nanak, and God will unite thee with Himself.
Pauri L
S. O silly man, lay aside devices :
The Lord is not pleased with tricks and orders. 1 Even though thou practise a thousand forms of cleverness, Not one shall avail thee. 2 Day and night repeat His name ,
O my soul, which will go with thee.
He whom God Himself applieth to the saint’s service, Nanak, shall never feel unhappy.
Slok LI
Happiness resulteth from uttering God’s name and keeping it in mind.
Nanak, God provideth all things, and is everywhere equally contained.
O
SIKH. Ill
Pauri LI
Lo ! God filleth the hearts of all—
Men are continually born, but the Guru’s wisdom de- stroyeth their pain. 1
He is happy who hath escaped from pride ; where there is no pride there is God.
By the power of the company of the saints the pain of birth and death is removed.
God becometh merciful to those who, by association with the saints,
Lovingly fix the name of the compassionate One in their hearts.
Nanak, everything hath proceeded from God ;
Without Him no one hath accomplished anything.
Slok LII
Looking to his account man shall never be released 2 since he erreth every moment.
Saith Nanak, O Thou Pardoner, pardon us and save us.
Pauri LI I
Man is disloyal and a sinner; he is a stranger to God and of little wisdom ;
He knoweth not the Essence of all things, who gave him soul, body, and happiness.
For the sake of worldly gain he goeth searching in every direction ;
God, the Giver, the Bestower, he treasureth not in his heart for an instant.
Greed, falsehood, sin, worldly love, these things he harbour eth in his heart.
He passeth his life with great adulterers, thieves, and slanderers.
If pleasing to Thee, 0 God, pardon the counterfeit along with the genuine.
God filleth the hearts of all, and will ever and ever do so;
He is the destroyer of sorrow and greatly wise.
a Man’s account with God is always on the debit side.
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 195
Saith Nanak, O supreme God, if it please Thee, stones shall float on water.
Slok LIII
Eating, drinking, playing, and laughing have we wandered in many births ;
O God, rescue us from the terrible ocean, prayeth Nanak ; we rely on Thee.
Pauri LIII
Having both enjoyed and suffered the pain of many births, we have returned as human beings.
Troubles are removed by meeting the holy man, and being absorbed in the true Guru’s instruction.
Man adopting contentment amasseth truth, and liveth upon the ambrosia of the Name.
Genuine is the mercy of God ; I have found my haven in joy and happiness.
My cargo hath safely arrived; I have had great profit, and I return home with honour.
Genuine is the consolation the Guru gave me; I have met God on my return.
God Himself acted and acteth ; He was in the beginning and shall be in the end.
Nanak, praise Him who is contained in every heart.
Slok LIV
O Ocean of mercy, compassionate God, we have entered Thine asylum.
Nanak is happy in giving the one word 1 God a place in his heart. 2
Pauri LIV
God holdeth the three worlds by letters ;
Through letters the Veds are studied ;
O 2
Through letters the Shastars, the Simritis, and the Purans;
Through letters hymns, discourses, and sermons ;
Through letters is the way of escape from fear and error ;
Through letters religious and worldly acts are performed and pure faith obtained.
The whole visible world is contained in letters;
But, Nanak, the Supreme Being is beyond letters.
Slok LV
0 inaccessible One, Thy hand lioldeth the pen which writeth man's destiny on his forehead.
Thou of incomparable form art contained in all things ;
Man’s tongue cannot describe Thy praises ;
Nanak on beholding Thee is fascinated, and devoted unto Thee.
Pauri LV
O eternal, supreme God, indestructible, Destroyer of sin,
O All-pervading, contained in everything, Destroyer of grief, Lord of excellences,
Formless one, 0 man’s companion, O Thou without the three human attributes, Prop of all,
Supporter of the earth, O Ocean of excellences who hast ever discrimination,
O Thou, constant Companion of the saints, Support of the supportless,
I am Thy slave, I am without merits, no merit is mine.
Saith Nanak, grant me the gift of Thy name that I may string it and keep it in my heart.
Slok
The divine Guru is my mother, the divine Guru is my lather, the divine Guru is my Lord and supreme God ;
The divine Guru is my companion and dispeller of spiritual ignorance, the divine Guru is my relation and my brother ;
The divine Guru is the giver and the teacher of God’s name, the divine Guru hath the spell that cannot be counteracted ;
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 197
The divine Guru is peace, truth, and the image of wisdom; the divine Guru is a philosopher’s stone by whose touch man is saved;
The divine Guru is a place of pilgrimage, his divine knowledge a lake of nectar, by bathing in which the Illimitable is obtained ;
The divine Guru is the creator, the remover of all sin, the divine Guru is the purifier of the impure ;
The divine Guru is from the beginning, from the beginning of time and in every age ; the divine Guru is the spell of God’s name, by whose utterance man is saved.
O God, mercifully bring me—foolish and sinner that I am—into the company of the Guru, so that by clinging to him I may be saved.
Nanak boweth to the divine Guru, the true Guru, the supreme Brahm, the supreme God.
SUKHMANI 1 Slok I
I bow to the primal Guru ;
I bow to the Guru of the primal age ;
I bow to the true Guru ;
I bow to the holy divine Guru. 2
Ashtapadi I
Remember, remember God ; by remembering Him you shall obtain happiness,
And erase from your hearts trouble and affliction.
* These first four lines are supposed to refer to the four Gurus respectively who preceded Guru Arjan.
Remember the praises of the one all-supporting God. Numberless persons utter God’s various names. 1 Investigating the Veds, the Purans, and the Simritis, Men have made out the one word which is God’s name. His praises cannot be recounted,