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He who can pass his life killing and destroying them, is perfect in this age.
They form a great tribe who cannot be controlled and who will not flee ; they are a mighty and obstinate army ;
But, saith Nanak, he who is under the protection of the society of the saints crusheth them.
Sweet is the society of the saints:—
My beloved, the society of the saints is a stream of nectar ;
The Guru diverteth it not from my heart even for a moment.
On beholding and touching it great pleasure and delight are obtained :
It is dyed with the Creator’s dye.
Death never approacheth him who meeting the Guru uttereth the Name even for a moment :
God, O Nanak, embraceth and claspeth him to His heart.
The occupation of the saints:—
Good is the society of the saints :
Every watch, every hour, every moment they sing God’s praises and speak of Him ;
Walking, sitting, or sleeping they sing His praises ; their souls and bodies are absorbed in His feet.
I am small, Thou, O God, are great; Nanak knoweth Thy sanctuary.
Meditate on God who has done and will do so much for man:—
The soul, mind, body, life—all pleasures and enjoyments are given by God ;
He is the Relation of the poor and the Bestower of life ;
* He is potent to save those who seek His protection.
O my soul, meditate on God’s name.
In this world and the next the one God who accompanieth thee is the Helper ; fix thy love on Him alone.
Men ponder on the Veds and Shastars to secure deliverance;
But superior to all religious ceremonies and observances is the utterance of the Name.
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 311
Lust, wrath, and pride depart on meeting the true divine Guru.
They in whose hearts he fixeth God’s name and worship best perform His service.
O Compassionate One, I seek the protection of Thy feet; Thou art the honour of the unhonoured.
Thou, O God, art the Support of my soul and life ; Thou art Nanak’s strength.
The advantage of the saints' society and God's love:—
Without the society of the saints man ever wavering suffereth great misery : #
By love of the one Supreme God the profit of God’s essence is earned.
Men grasp the unreal:—
O madmen, ye have fallen asleep.
Ye are intoxicated with worldly love, families, and sensual enjoyments, and embrace fleeting pleasures.
Desires which are false, joy and delight which are a dream the perverse deem real.
They discover not at all the secrets of the wealth of the ambrosial Name which is with them.
Nanak, they whom God mercifully keepeth in the company of the saints, obtain His protection.
The Guru grasps the real:—
The love of that Dear One for me !
Not gold, or gems, or pearls, 1 or rubies ; no, no, no !
Not empire, not fortune, not authority, not enjoyments— none of these do I desire.
In worshipping the feet of the saints and taking their protection I find supreme happiness.
All Nanak’s heart-burning was dispelled
When he obtained the love of the Beloved.
The Guru makes God manifest:—
In this world and the next, in every heart art Thou, O Bewitcher.
Cause of causes, Supporter of the earth, Thou alone art beautiful.
Nanak devoteth himself to meeting and beholding the saints ; he sleepeth in complete happiness.
The Guru prays God to crown his devotion:—
Bringing service to a successful issue,
O God, I have gladly come to Thee.
He who putteth God’s feet into his heart and obtaineth the boon of the Name is successful.
This is his happiness here and hereafter ; preserve him by association with saints.
Nanak, meditate on the Name, sing God’s praises, and thou shalt be easily absorbed in Him.
The longing of the holy for God:—
O God, Thy feet are beautiful ;
God’s saints find them in their hearts.
They who dispel their pride and practise worship, sing God’s praises with the greatest zest:
They long for the one God ; they thirst to behold Him ; none else pleaseth them.
The condition of the holy is contrasted with that of the listless and the proud :—
He who forgetteth God is already dead;
He who meditateth on the Name shall obtain all the advantages thereof, and be happy ;
He who practiseth pride, though he be called a king, shall be caught like a parrot, insnared in a trap.
Saith Nanak, he who meeteth the Guru shall become immovable. 1
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 313
The Guru describes the condition of the worldly:—
He who sleepeth in the intoxication of sin and worldly love hath no understanding.
It is only when Death lifteth him up by the hair that he shall come to his senses.
They who are attached to the poison of avarice and the other deadly sins acquire wealth by oppressing others.
They are intoxicated with pride in what is destroyed in a moment, and, demons that they are, know not God.
The Veds, the Shastars, and holy men cry out, but the deaf hear not.
They utterly lose their game, and the fools regret what is lost.
All the tax they pay shall be by way of punishment, and it shall not be credited in God’s court.
O men, the work by which God would cast a veil over your sins you have not performed.
Since the Guru hath shown me that the world is such as it is, I have sung the praises of God alone.
Having renounced all pride in his strength and skill, Nanak hath entered Thine asylum.
What the holy gain by devotion:—
By dealing in the name of God
The saints and holy men are propitiated, the Beloved is obtained, His praises are sung, and the music of the five instruments is played.
When I obtained God’s favour I obtained a sight of Him, and am now imbued with His love.
By serving the saints I conceived love and affection for my darling Master.
. When the Guru fixed divine knowledge in my heart, I rejoiced that I should not be born again.
I have obtained tranquillity and the treasure of God within me,
And renounced all the wiles of the lust of my heart.
For a long time my soul hath been very thirsty :
Embrace poor Nanak who hath entered Thine asylum.
The Guru in his humility and sense of dependence on God prays to Him:—
Would that some one would destroy the strong fortress of sin,
Save me from desires, avarice, deception, worldly love, and error;
And that the diseases of lust, wrath, avarice, and pride would leave me!
May I in the company of the saints love God’s name, sing His praises,
Meditate on Him day and night,
And capture and raze the rampart of error !
Nanak, the Name is my treasure.
• The Guru instructs a disciple:—
Abandon lust, wrath, and covetousness,
And remember God’s name in thy heart.
The worship of God is a profitable work.
Forsake the sins of pride, worldly love, and falsehood, and ever utter- God’s name.
0 man, attach thyself to the feet of the saints.
Awake and remember the feet of the Lord God
Who is compassionate to the poor, the Purifier of sinners, and the Supreme Being.
Serve God, O Nanak, and thy lot shall be perfect.
The play of the world:—
God hath exhibited this play consisting of rejoicing and mourning, joy, and sorrow.
One moment man feareth, again he feareth not, and other times he pursueth his fancies ;
One moment he enjoyeth pleasures, and again he aban- doneth them;
One moment he practiseth Jog, penance, and worship of many kinds, and again he wandereth in error ;
And sometimes, 0 Nanak, God of His mercy applieth man to His love by association with saints.
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN
The Guru continues his instruction :—
Take the protection of the one God,
Utter the hymns of the Guru,
Obey the order of the True One,
Receive the treasure of the Name in thy heart,
And thou, O man, shalt enter into happiness.
He who in life is dead Shall cross the terrible ocean.
Call him the fearless
Who is the dust of all men’s feet.
O man, the instruction of the saints Removeth all anxieties.
Sorrow can never approach him Whose happiness is in the Name.
All men obey him
Who listeneth to God’s praises.
Nanak, profitable is his advent into the world,
And he is pleasing to the Lord, O my soul.
The Guru prays to the Lord of the unowned:
God is for him
Who hath nobody besides.
He who knoweth the state of his heart Knoweth everything.
Save me who have fallen—
This, O my soul, is Nanak’s prayer.
The Guru’s message to his soul:—
O my soul, who hast come from afar,
Hear my message.
Everybody hath abandoned the things To which thou art attached.
They were as a dream for those Who repeated God’s name.
They who leave God and attach themselves to others Hasten to transmigration.
It is only they who repeat God’s name Who shall continue to live.
He to whom God is merciful,
O Nanak, becometh His worshipper.
Asa Ashtapadi
Man must make his choice between God and mammon:—
When I please the five virtues, I displease the five sins.
When I put the former into my heart, I dispossess the latter.
In this way the city of my body is peopled, O my brethren.
Trouble departed from me when I grasped the divine knowledge of the Guru.
The Guru hath made a fence 1 round the true religion :
Meditation on the divine knowledge of the Guru is a Strong thorny gate.
O my brethren and friends, sow the field of the Name,
And make the perpetual service of the Guru your traffic.
Make all your shops out of peace and rest and happiness.
The wholesale dealer, 2 the retail dealers, 3 form a company in the one God’s name.
Where the true Guru hath set God’s seal
Neither infidel-tax, nor fine, nor poll-tax is levied.
Load and dispatch your cargo of the Name,
So shall you, under the Guru’s instruction, return home with a profit.
The wholesale dealer is the true Guru ; the retail dealers are his disciples;
The stock-in-trade is the Name ; the remembrance of the True One is the account kept.
O Nanak, everlasting is God’s city ;
He who serveth the perfect Guru shall abide in it.
Asa Birhara
Worship God alone and you shall be happy:—
Remember the supreme God, 0 my dear friend, and sacrifice thyself for a sight of Him.
The disciples.
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 317
O my dear friend, why abandon Him, whose memory causeth sorrow to be forgotten ?
I would sell this body to the saint, O my dear friend, if he caused me to meet the Beloved. •
The pleasures and attractions of sin are insipid; I have abandoned them, 0 mother.
Lust, wrath, and covetousness forsook me, O my dear friend, when I fell at the true Guru’s feet.
They who are imbued with God go not elsewhere, 1 my dear friend;
They who have tasted God’s essence, O my dear friend, are satisfied and contented.
They who seize the skirt of the saint, O Nanak, shall cross over the terrible ocean.
Asa Chhant
Jubilation on spiritual victory:—
Joy 1 great joy ! I have seen God.
I have tasted, I have tasted His sweet essence.
His sweet essence hath rained on my heart: through the kindness of the true Guru I have obtained composure.
Since the five enemies fled, my home hath become habitable, and I sing a song of rejoicing.
The holy saint being my intercessor, I am comforted and satisfied with the ambrosial Word.
Saith Nanak, when I saw God with mine eyes my heart was gratified with Him.
Highly adorned are my beautiful gates :
My continual guests are the beloved saints.
When I did homage to them and served them,. they adjusted mine affairs.
God Himself is the Groomsman, He Himself is the Bridesman, He Himself is the priest, He Himself is the God of marriage. 2
He Himself adjusteth His own affairs; He Himself sustained the world.
* The Brahmans when celebrating marriages worship different gods and planets. ■
Saith Nanak, when the Bridegroom sitteth at home with me adorned are my beautiful gates ;
The nine treasures in abundance then enter my house.
And I obtain everything, everything by meditating on the Name.
By meditation on the Name with composure and devotion God is ever my Helper.
My cares are at an end, my transmigration hath ceased, and my mind no longer feeleth anxiety.
When I call out God’s name, spontaneous music playeth, and there is a scene of wondrous splendour.
Saith Nanak, when the Beloved is with me, I obtain the nine treasures.
All my brethren and friends became overjoyed
When I on meeting the Guru conquered in the very toilsome struggle of the arena ;
When on meeting the Guru I repeated God’s name, I conquered and the walls of the fortress of error were demolished.
I obtained the wealth of many treasures, and God stood by to assist me.
He whom God hath made His own possesseth divine knowledge, and is conspicuous among men.
Saith Nanak, the brethren and friends of him on whose side standeth God rejoice.
How man should love God
When water and milk are placed over a fire, the water alloweth not the milk to burn; O men, in that way love God. 1
As the bumble-bee becometh entangled and intoxicated by the odour of the lotus, and leaveth it not even for a moment,
So relax not a whit thy love for God ; dedicate to Him all thine ornaments and enjoyments.
Man in the company of the saints hath no fear of what is called the way of death where wailings are heard.
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 319
Sing and meditate on God’s praises, and all thy sins and sorrows shall depart.
Saith Nanak, chant the song of God, O man, love Him and bear Him such affection in thy heart.
As a fish beareth water ; it hath not a moment’s happiness out of it; such love bear God, O man.
The chatrik thirsty for raindrops ohirrupeth every moment ‘ Rain, beautiful cloud ! ’
So love God, give Him thy soul and fix all thine attention on Him.
Be not proud, seek God’s protection, sacrifice thyself for a sight of Him.
The woman who hath true love for the Guru and with whom he is well pleased, shall meet her parted Spouse..
Saith Nanak, chant the song of the eternal God ; love Him,
O my soul, and bear Him such affection
As the love of the sheldrake for the sun ; she feeleth much anxiety as to when she shall behold the day.
As the kokil in love with the mango sweetly singeth, so love God, O man :
Love God, be not proud, all are but guests of a single night.
Now why art thou, who earnest and shalt depart naked, attached to and enamoured of the world ?
By entering the asylum of the feet of the pious, the worldly love thou feelest now shall depart, and stability be thine,
Saith Nanak, sing the chant of the Merciful Being, O man, and love God as the sheldrake watcheth for the day.
As the deer at night hearing the sound of the bell giveth its life ; so, 0 man, bear love to God.
As a wife in love with her husband waiteth on her beloved; so give thy heart to thy Darling : i
So give thy heart to thy Darling, enjoy Him, and thou shalt obtain all happiness and bliss.
My friend, my Beloved, we have met after a very: long time, and I have clothed myself in red. 1
When the Guru became the mediator, I saw God with mine eyes ; none appeareth to me like my Beloved.
Saith Nanak, chant the song of the compassionate and fascinating One; O man, grasp God’s feet and such love bear thou Him.
The great God to whom all creation is subject cannot be obtained by idle pilgrimages and ablutions :—
Of roaming and searching from forest to forest and of many ablutions 1 I have become very weary.
Nanak, when I met the holy man, I found God in my heart,
Whom countless munis and penitents seek for,
Whom millions of Brahmas worship, and whose name is uttered by men of divine knowledge ;
To meet whom, the Bright One, men perform devotion, penance, mortification, religious ceremonies, worship, many purifications and adorations,
Wander over the earth, and bathe at places of pilgrimage.
O God, men, forests, glades, beasts, and birds all worship Thee.
The merciful beloved God is found, 0 Nanak, and salvation obtained by meeting the society of the saints.
Millions of incarnations of Vishnu and of Shiv with the matted hair
Desire Thee, O merciful One ; for Thee their souls and bodies feel endless longing.
The Lord is infinite and unapproachable, He is the all- pervading God and Master.
Demigods, Sidhs, the crowd of celestial singers meditate on Thee ; the Yakshas and Kinars utter Thy praises.
Millions of Indars and various gods repeat Thy name, O Lord, and hail Thee.
Thou art the Patron of the patronless, saith Nanak; Thou art the compassionate ; associate me with the saints that I may be saved.
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 321
Millions of Devis and Lakshmis serve Thee in divers ways.
Invisible and visible beings, wind, water, day and night adore Thee.
The stars, the moon, and the sun meditate on Thee ; the earth and the heavens sing Thy praises.
All the sources of production and all articulate creatures ever meditate on Thee.
The Simritis, the Purans, the four Veds, and the six Shastars repeat Thy name.
Nanak, through the society of the saints meet the Purifier of sinners, to whom the saints are dear.
As much as God communicated to me, so much doth my tongue utter.
They who serve Thee unknown to me are without number.
Thou art the all-pervading, indefinable, unfathomable Lord ; Thou art within and without all things.
We are beggars all, Thou alone art the Giver ; Thou art not far away ; nay, Thou art present and manifest.
Thou art in the power of Thy saints ; how can their praises be recounted who meet Thee ?
May Nanak obtain the boon and honour to be allowed to place his head on the saints’ feet !
God confers bliss on those who love Him:—
Abiding is the marriage state of the saint; her Spouse neither dieth nor departeth.
She who hath God for her Husband shall ever enjoy Him.
The Lord is indestructible and invisible; He is ever young and stainless.
He is not distant; He is ever present ; He filleth every direction for ever and for ever.
He is the Lord of the soul from whom proceed salvation and wisdom ; I love the love of that Beloved.
Nanak expoundeth what he knoweth from the Guru’s instruction ; abiding is the married state of the saint; her Spouse neither dieth nor departeth.
She who hath God for her Spouse enjoyeth great bliss.
Happy is such a woman, she is completely honoured :
She enjoyeth honour, greatness, and happiness, she singeth God’s praises, and is ever with her great Lord.
She hath all perfections, the nine treasures ; her home is never empty, it containeth everything.
The married state of her whose speech is honeyed and who obeyeth her Beloved, shall ever be permanent.
Nanak expoundeth what he knoweth through the Guru’s instruction—she who hath God for her Spouse enjoyeth excessive bliss.
Come, my companions, to the holy man, and let us apply ourselves to his service.
Let us lay aside our pride, grind his corn, and wash his feet.
Let us efface and not parade ourselves, and our troubles shall depart.
Let us take the Guru’s protection, obey him, and be happy with whatsoever he doeth.
Let us do him the lowest service, dispel care, be wakeful and stand before him with clasped hands day and night.
Nanak expoundeth what he knoweth from the Guru’s instruction ; come, my companions, to the holy man, and let us apply ourselves to his service.
He on whose forehead such destiny hath been written applieth himself to the saints’ service.
The desires of him who hath obtained the company of the saints shall be fulfilled.
In the company of the saints are love of God and remembrance of His name.
The sins of superstition, worldly love, and duality all are abandoned by him,