In whose heart dwell peace, composure, and devotion ; he singeth God’s praises with joy and delight Nanak expoundeth what he knoweth through the Guru’s
instruction—foe on whose iorefoead such destiny hath been written, applieth himself to the saints’ service.
The Guru gives way to self-depreciation:—
I am a sinner, devoid of understanding and virtue, friendless and low, ;
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 323
Foolish, hard-hearted, of mean birth, steeped in the mire of worldly love,
Enveloped in the filth of error, and in acts of pride and arrogance—the thought of death entereth not my heart.
Through spiritual ignorance I am entangled with domestic enjoyments and worldly love.
Youth fadeth away, age increaseth, Death which hovereth over me bideth his time.
Nanak represented, my hope is in Thee, 0 God ; preserve me, lowly though I be, in the asylum of Thy saints.
I have wandered in many births and have suffered great pain in wombs.
Deeming enjoyments and gold delicious, I have become entangled with them.
Through transmigration I have been born innumerable times, and have wandered through many lands.
Now I have taken God’s protection, and obtained all comfort from His name.
O Protector, beloved Lord, by me nothing was or shall be effected.
Nanak hath obtained happiness, comfort, and joy through Thy mercy, and hath crossed over the ocean of the world.
God hath saved nominal saints : what fear have the real saints ?
In any case carefully listen to God’s praises.
By carefully listening to His word man obtaineth divine knowledge and the wealth of His name.
He becometh imbued with God’s love and singeth His praises.
Were the earth to become paper, the forests pens, and the wind a writer,
The end of the Endless One could not be described;
Nanak hath grasped the protection of His feet.
The inward satisfaction obtained by devotion:—
Day and night become pleasant by remembering God’s name.
By love to His lotus feet wickedness and sin depart;
Y 2
Pain, hunger, and poverty flee away, and man’s path appeareth clear.
When we meet the society of the saints and love the Name, the heart’s longings are satisfied.
By beholding God, man’s desires are fulfilled and his whole family saved.
Day and night, night and day, O Nanak, it is joy to remember God’s name.
The Guru prays for grace to remember God :—
To utter God’s name in the company of the spotless saints is a holy thought.
O God, saith Nanak, bestow mercy on me, that I may not forget Thy name for a moment!
The virtues of the man of pure life are conspicuous and God renders him happy. This chant is sung by Sikhs at marriages :—
The stars glitter on a clear night. 1
Holy men the beloved of my Lord are awake ;
The beloved of my Lord are ever awake, and remember His name night and day.
They meditate in their hearts on His lotus feet, and forget Him not for a moment.
They renounce the mental sins of pride and worldly love, and efface the pain of wrong-doing.
Nanak representeth, the servants of God, the dear saints are ever awake.
My couch hath splendid trappings.
In my heart joy hath sprung up since I heard that my Lord was approaching.
On meeting my Lord I have entered on happiness and am filled with the essence of joy and delight.
He embraced me ; my sorrows fled ; my soul, mind, and body all bloomed afresh.
I have obtained my heart’s desires by meditating on God ; the time of my union with Him I account aiispicidus. Nanak represented, when he met the Bearer oi prosperity, the essence oi ail pleasure was prepared for him.
* Night is here explained by human life, and the stars by virtues.
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 325
My companions meeting me asked me to describe my Spouse.
I was so filled with the sweets of love that I could not speak.
The attributes of the Creator are deep, mysterious, and boundless ; the Veds have not found His limit.
She who meditateth on the Lord with devotion and love, who ever singeth His praises,
And is pleasing to her God, is full of all virtues and divine knowledge.
Nanak representeth, she who is dyed with the colour of God’s love shall be easily absorbed in Him.
When I began to sing songs of joy to God,
My friends became glad, my troubles and mine enemies fled away,
My happiness and comfort increased, I rejoiced in God’s name, and He Himself bestowed mercy on me.
I clung to His feet, and being ever wakeful I met Him.
Happy days came, I obtained peace with all treasures and was blended with God.
Nanak representeth, the saints of God are ever steadfast in seeking His protection.
Why should man fall away from God for the sake of short-lived pleasure ?—
Rise and go, O traveller, 1 why delayest thou ?
Thine appointed time is complete ; why covetest thou what is false ?
Thou covetest what is false, and by the deceit of Maya thou committest innumerable sins.
O wretched man, Death hath sought thee ; thou shalt be overcome by him, and thy body shall be a heap of ashes.
Thou shalt depart leaving thy property and youth ; no more shalt thou have clothing and food.
Saith Nanak, thine acts shall accompany thee, their effects cannot be effaced.
Instead of pleasure there ever resulteth pain from the
commission of sin.
Lo ! as the deer is snared on a moonlight night, 1
So the sins thou hast committed shall not forsake thee ; they shall lead thee away with a halter round thy neck.
Thou art deceived by a mirage ; thou embracest an unsubstantial lover;
Thou art intoxicated with avarice, greed, and conceit; thou art brimful of pride.
Nanak, man like the deer is destroyed by his ignorance, and his transmigration ceaseth not.
The fly is caught in the sweets—how can it take flight ?
The elephant falleth into a pit—how can it escape ?
It will be difficult for her to escape who remembereth not her Spouse even for a moment.
Her sufferings and punishment cannot be reckoned ; she shall obtain the fruit of her own acts ' What she hath done in secret shall become manifest; she shall be ruined in this world and the next.
Nanak, without the true Guru the proud self-willed man is ruined.
God’s servants live by clinging to His feet.
The Lord embraceth those who seek His protection.
He giveth them strength, understanding, divine knowledge and meditation; He Himself causeth them to utter His name.
God Himself is the society of His saints : it is He who saveth the world.
The Preserver ever preserveth those whose acts are pure ;
Nanak, they shall never go to hell; God’s saints are under His protection.
Man cannot hide his sins from God:—•
What man doeth either by day or night shall be recorded on his forehead.
He from whom man seeketh to conceal his acts is with him and seeth them :
The Creator is with him and seeth them; why com- mitteth he sin ?
Do good acts, repeat the Name, and thou shalt never go
toYieh.
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 327
During the eight watches of the day repeat God’s name, and it shall accompany thee.
Ever worship in the company of the saints, O Nanak, and the sins thou hast committed shall be blotted out.
By violence and fraud thou fillest thy belly, O ignorant fool,
Although God the Giver continueth to give thee everything.
The compassionate Lord is ever the Bestower ; why forget Him ?
Join the society of the saints and boldly worship God, so shall thy whole family be saved.
The Name is the support of the sidhs, the strivers, the gods, the munis, and the saints.
Nanak representeth, ever worship God the sole Creator.
Cheat no one ; God assayeth everything.
They who practise falsehood and deception shall be born again in this world,
While those who have meditated on the one God have crossed over its ocean ;
Having abandoned lust, wrath, and blame of the blameless, they have entered the sanctuary of the Lord.
God pervadeth sea and land, the nether regions, and the firmament : He is exalted, inaccessible, and infinite.
Nanak representeth, God is the prop of His servants : His lotus feet are their support.
Lo ! the world is a phantom city; nothing is durable.
The enjoyments of the world shall not accompany thee.
God is ever with thee ; remember Him day and night.
Beside the one God there is none : burn the love of worldly things.
Deem that God in thy heart as thy friend, thy youth, thy wealth, thine all.
Nanak representeth, he who obtaineth God by great good fortune entereth on happiness and rest.
The effect of worldly Jove on man and other animals:—
The illusion of mammon is terrible, 1 the illusion of mam*
mon is terrible ; alas ! great is its intoxication, it perverteth men’s natures, and their lives, alas ! pass in vain.
In the deep and awful forest, in the deep and awful forest, alas! the thieves of the soul rob the house 1 in broad daylight, and night and day eat the plunder . 2
By night and day they eat the plunder ; life passeth away without God ; come to me, 0 God, Thou Lord of mercy.
Without the companionship of the Beloved many births and deaths have taken place, and there is no salvation.
I am without family, beauty, distinction, or divine knowledge ; who is my cherisher but Thee, O God ?
With clasped hands Nanak hath entered Thy sanctuary ; O beloved Lord, grant him salvation.
Alas ! as a fish out of water, a fish out of water dietli by separation from it, so how can I live without the Beloved ?
The deer faceth the arrow, it faceth the arrow, alas ! it sacrificeth its life while absorbed in the pleasure of listening to the hunter's hell .
Love to the Beloved hath sprung up within me : I have abandoned the world to meet Him : curses on the body which remaineth for one moment without Him !
Mine eyelids close not ; I am absorbed in the love of the Dear One ; my mind anxiously looketh for Him night and day.
They who are imbued with God’s love and intoxicated with the Name, lose all fear, doubt, and worldly love.
Bestow mercy and compassion, O Thou compassionate, all-pervading God, that Nanak may be absorbed in Thy love.
The bumble-bee is humming, the bumble-bee is humming ; alas ! intoxicated with the savour and odour of the honey of the flowers, 3 it entangleth itself in its love for the lotus.
The heart of the chatrik thirsteth, the heart of the chatrik
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 329
thirsteth ; its heart longeth for the beautiful cloud-drops ; when it drinketh all its fever departeth.
O Destroyer of fear, O Destroyer of sorrow, come to me : my soul and body feel for Thee excessive love.
Beautiful, clever, wise Lord, with what tongue shall I utter Thy praise ?
Take me by the hand, give me Thy name : he on whom Thou lookest with favour hath his sins erased.
Saith Nanak, he who beholdeth God the Purifier of sinners feeleth no pain.
I think of the Lord, I think of the Lord ; me friendless preserve in Thine asylum : I delight to meet Thee who giveth delight to my soul.
I meditate on Thy beautiful form, I meditate on Thy beautiful form ; my soul longeth for a knowledge of Thee, O God, who preserveth the honour of Thy suppliants.
God who bestoweth full honour and destroyeth sorrow hath fulfilled all my desires.
Happy was that day when God embraced me : on meeting my Spouse my couch was adorned.
God casting a glance of favour on me, all my sins have been erased.
Nanak representeth, my desires have been fulfilled. I have found the Bearer of prosperity, the Treasury of excellences.
Gujari
The necessity of the Guru:—
Men perform devotional exercises 1 and the six religious acts of the Hindus ; worldly people are steeped in such things ;
But without the Guru the filth of pride leaveth not their hearts, and they lose their game.
O my God, mercifully preserve me.
Out of millions some rare man is a servant of God ; all others are worldly.
The Shastars, the Veds, the Simritis, all have I searched ; they all utter one cry :—
‘ Without a guru none obtaineth salvation ’; observe and consider this in thy mind.
Were one to bathe at the sixty-eight places of pilgrimage and wander over the whole earth,
Were one to perform various purifications day and night, all would be darkness without the true Guru.
Running hither and thither, I traversed the whole world, but now I have arrived at God’s door.
God hath removed my sinful desires and enlightened my understanding: Nanak is saved under the Guru’s guidance.
Man through his perversity is ever doing what ■he ought not to do :—
Man proposeth to go to the west, but he is led away to the east.
God in an instant establisheth and disestablisheth ; He holdeth in His hands the result of man’s designs.
Human devices are of no avail:
What my Lord deemeth fit shall continue to be.
Men who go forth with the object of acquiring territory and amassing money, die on the way.
Their armies, officers, and servants—all shall they leave and depart to the city of Death.
Through obstinacy man asserteth himself and deemeth there is none other like himself.
The food which blameless persons have reprobated and laid aside he eateth again and again. 1
He to whom God is kindly disposed and merciful shall have his shackles cut off.
Saith Nanak, he who hath met the perfect Guru is acceptable, whether he be a family man or an anchoret.
The advantages of devotion and charity:—
They who repeat the priceless Name shall have their shackles cut off;
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 331
They shall be freed from the sins of lust, wrath, worldly love, and the disease of pride.
They who joining the company of the saints sing God’s praises,
Shall have their hearts purified by the favour of the Guru and obtain the highest of all happiness.
I have adopted this as my worship—to deem good whatever God doeth :
To consider friends and enemies as the same is an index of the way to God.
He filleth every place, wherefore I go nowhere. 1
He is in every heart, uninterruptedly in all things ; He is immersed in love and dyed with love.
When God is merciful and compassionate, man arriveth at the abode of the Fearless.
In one moment his troubles and anxieties are at an end, O Nanak, and he becometh absorbed in God.
Man ought to trust to God alone:—
Every one to whom I address myself is full of his own troubles;
But he who heartily adoreth the Supreme God shall cross over the terrible ocean.
None but the greatGod can removethisdistressandsorrow.
Whoever forsaketh God and becometh a worshipper of others, shall find his honour, dignity, and reputation decrease.
They who are acquaintances and relations for the sake of mammon are of no avail.
God’s slave, even though he be of lowly birth, is exalted ; in his company man obtaineth whatever his heart desireth.
Even though man have thousands and millions of viands obtained by sin, yet shall his hunger not be satisfied thereby.
By remembering the Name there appear endless lights by which the Unseen is manifested.
Wandering and wandering I have arrived at Thy door, O Destroyer of fear, sovereign God.
Nanak desireth the dust of the saints’ feet; in it he findeth his happiness.
All worldly possessions are temporary ; the Name alone is permanent:—
Man first dwelleth in his mother’s womb; leaving it he cometh into the world.
He then desireth splendid houses, beautiful gardens, and mansions ; but none of these shall go with him.
Vain is every desire of the covetous.
The perfect Guru hath given me God’s name; it is a thing that becometh my soul.
Man is attached to and rejoiceth in the company of dear friends, relations, sons, brethren, and wife ;
But when the last moment hath arrived, Death seizeth him while they look on.
By unworthy means man amasseth wealth, gold, silver, and copper;
But he really only gaineth his hire as a labourer; everything else passeth to others.
Horses, elephants, chariots man acquireth by violence and calleth his own ;
But when there is a long journey before him, they will not travel a step with him.
The Name is my wealth, the Name maketh me happy as a king, the Name is my family and helper.
God gave Nanak the wealth of the Name which shall never perish or transmigrate.
Men of the lowest castes have by devotion obtained celestial bliss and glory:—
Those who have lapsed God hath purified and made his own ; every one boweth before them.
No one now asketh their caste or their tribe; men beg the dust of their feet.
* Such, O God, is the effect of Thy name !
Thou art the Lord of all creation; Thou specially assistest Thy servant.
In the company of the saints, Nanak hath obtained wisdom ; singing God’s praises is his support.
In this way God’s servants Namdev, Trilochan, Kabir, and the tanner Rav Das obtained salvation.
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 333 God is unknowable:—
Shiv, Brahma, and all the munis have not been able to realize Thy state.
The story of God is recondite and deep.
God cherishes His servants, and they sing His praises:—
God’s servant hath no worldly wisdom, resource, or cleverness;
As occasion offereth, he meditateth on God.
It is God’s function to love His saints ;
He cherisheth and fondleth them as His own children.
God’s saints sing His praises as their devotion, penance, mortification, and religious ceremonies.
Nanak hath entered the asylum of the Lord; he hath obtained there the fearless boon of happiness.
The Guru enjoins worship and saintliness:—
My beloved friends, worship God day and night; make not the slightest delay.
Serve the saints with love ; put aside pride and obstinacy.
The entrancing merry God is my soul and honour ;
He dwelleth in my heart; my mind is fascinated as I behold His sports.
By remembering Him my mind is happy, and its rust is rubbed off.
The importance of meeting God 1 cannot be described ; Nanak, it is beyond everything.
Only the really holy man is free from worldly love:—
Men call themselves Munis, Jogis, and learned in the Shastars, but Maya hath them all urlder her control.
The mind is lost in astonishment at her subjection of the
tllree gods 1 and the three hundred and thirty millions of demigods.
She is potent and continueth to pervade the whole world.
Her secret is obtained by the Guru’s favour; no one besides knoweth it.
Ever conquering she hath subdued all places, and enmeshed all the world ;
Saith Nanak, she misleadeth not the holy man, but becoming his handmaiden claspeth his feet.
The Guru humbles himself before God :—
Small is the power of mother, father, brother, son, and kinsman.
Though various forms of mammon are seen, yet none shall go an inch with one.
• O God, I have none but Thee.
I am helpless, devoid of merits; possessing none I have come to Thee.
I am a sacrifice again and again to Thy feet; in this world and the next Thine is the power to save.
In the company of the saints Nanak hath obtained a sight of Thee ; to none else oweth he obligation.
God’s omnipotence:—
In a moment Thou establishest and disestablishest; Thy worth cannot be appraised.
Thou turnest a king into a beggar in a moment, and into the lowly Thou infusest splendour.
0 ye people, ever meditate on your God.
Why are ye anxious and solicitous regarding the things which perish in a moment ?
O God, Thou art my prop, my perfect True Guru ; I have fallen under Thy protection.
I, Nanak, am heedless, silly, childish ; reach me Thy hand and save me.
A supplication to God:—
It is Thou who conferrest gifts on all; do Thou abide in my heart.
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 335
He in whose heart Thy lotus feet are contained, hath not the darkness of doubt.
O my Lord, where I remember Thee, there art Thou present .
O Thou who cherishest all, have mercy on me that I may ever praise Thee ;