That I may remember Thy name at every breath and long for Thee only.
Nanak’s prop is the Creator ; he hath renounced the hopes he had in others.
No evil can befall him whom God protects :—
Nanak seeketh Thy protection, O Creator ; Thou, O God, art the support of the soul.
What can the world do to him whom Thou aidest and protectest ?
The Guru humbles himself and prays to God for mercy:—
I have never fixed my attention on God.
I have passed my life in worldly occupations and not sung the name of the Treasury of excellences.
I have by deception exerted myself in various ways to amass money kauri by kauri.
How much sorrow was debited to me when I forgot God and was eaten up by the arch fascinator mammon !
Be gracious, O Lord, and take not mine acts into account.
O God, Thou art compassionate and benign, an ocean of clemency ; Nanak hath come under Thy protection.
The advantages of meditating on God :—
By the Guru’s favour I have meditated on God, and all my doubts have vanished.
Anxiety, ignorance, and fear have left me, and my sins are at an end.
God’s name is dear to my soul.
Having met the saints, I have under their instruction
meditated on God in the most sinless way.
Devotion and the performance of various ceremonies are profitable when the Name is remembered.
When Thou didst graciously protect me, my desires were fulfilled.
May I never at any time forget God the omnipotent!
How can I describe Thy various attributes ? They are innumerable and ever ineffable.
Thou art the Remover of the sorrows of the poor, the Saviour compassionate and merciful.
The immovable dignity is obtained by remembering the Name ; Nanak hath firmly grasped Thy protection.
Ashtapadi
God’s praises, and supplications unto Him :—
O Lord, King of men, Friend of the poor, Purifier of sinners,
Dispeller of fear and terror, Abode of mercy, Treasury of excellences, profitable is Thy service.
O God Gopal, great Gobind,
I have taken the protection of Thy feet. Thou merciful God, cause me to cross the terrible ocean of the world.
Dispeller of lust and wrath, Burner of pride and worldly love, Murari, Honey of the soul,
Sustainer of the earth, set aside my transmigration and preserve mine honour, Thou Primal Joy.
Many burn in their desire for mammon ; but by the Guru’s spell divine knowledge is obtained in the heart, and they are healed .
Prick the bubble of my pride, O Thou full of mercy, and dispel my anxieties, O Thou Eternal Being.
0 man, remember the Omnipotent every moment, and calmly apply thyself to the contemplation of God.
O compassionate to the poor, ever happy, who fillest all space, I beg the dust of Thy saints’ feet.
From the evils of worldly and sensual love, and from Vne sms oWrope an& &esVte $>mem ms.
Preserve the faith and remove doubt from our hearts ; save us, 0 Formless One I
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 337
Even they who are without raiment become well attired from the treasury of God’s storehouses.
The stupid, the senseless, and the fools become virtuous and patient by God’s favouring glance.
Thou shalt obtain salvation while alive by repeating the name of the Lord of the world, remembering Him, and having faith in Him in thy heart.
The belief that God is compassionate and merciful to His creatures and pervadeth everything is the rule of the saints.
God showeth Himself to those who hear His praises and utter His name.
Saith Nanak, O God, Saviour of sinners, receive me in Thine embrace. 1
Gujari ki War II
When God is pleased, man obtains every boon :—
When Thou art pleased, O Kind and Incomprehensible One, Thou dwellest in my heart.
When Thou art pleased, O Kind One, I obtain the nine treasures in my own home.
When Thou art pleased, O Kind One, I act according to the Guru’s instruction.
When Thou art pleased, O Kind One, Nanak shall be absorbed in the True One.
Kings without piety are not held in honour:—
How many sit on thrones and have many musical instruments played for them !
But without the true Name, Nanak, nobody’s honour hath been preserved.
The demigods and priests do homage to God:—
Men standing with the Veds and the books of the Musal- mans meditate on Thee, 0 God.
They who are prostrate at Thy door cannot be counted.
Brahma and Indar on their thrones meditate on Thee.
Shiv, Vishnu, and the avatars proclaim Thy praises.
Moslem priests, Prophets, Shaikhs, and saints utter Thy name.
God the warp and woof is woven into every heart.
By falsehood man passeth away, by honesty he abideth.
Man applieth himself to those duties to which God appointed him.
They who are slow to devotion must eventually suffer:—
Man is slow to goodness, but a tiger to evil.
Nanak, to-day or to-morrow the feet of the heedless shall fall into a trap.
God loves man despite his sins:—
However evil our ways, Thy love for us, 0 God, is not ' hidden.
Saith Nanak, Thou O Lord, the true Friend, hast overlooked our sins of thought. 1
Man is saved by humbling himself before God:—
Countless sinners become pure by fixing their attention on God’s feet.
He, O Nanak, on whose forehead such destiny hath been written, obtaineth God’s name for the sixty-eight places of pilgrimage.
The following is uttered by Sikhs when they put on new clothes:—
Thou, O God, hast given me the raiment of love to preserve mine honour.
0 my Lord, Thou art wise and far-seeing ; Nanak knoweth not Thy worth.
By remembering Thee, I obtain everything, I find nothing difficult.
Nanak, he whose honour the true Lord protecteth can be dishonoured by no one.
Whatever difficulties there may be, love is not hidden.
Thou, O Lord, preservest the honour of those in whose hearts Thou, the true Friend, art.
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 339
God is the raft to ferry man over the dangerous ocean of the world :—
The river is deep; I cannot ford it; yet I must because I love Thee.
My heart is sewed to Thy feet, O God, saith Nanak ; Thou art the raft and the boat.
The saints are the Guru's friends:—
They, a sight of whom banisheth evil inclinations, are my friends.
Nanak, I have searched the world all over ; there are few such persons. *
Long for the Omnipotent:—
Nanak, long for that God who is the support of all;
By whose power the earth resteth upon water, and timber containeth fire. 1
The Guru prays to God who is potent to bestow :—
All Thou hast made is dependent on Thee alone.
What Thou madest in the beginning prevaileth in the world.
I am astounded on beholding Thy astounding might.
Thy slave hath come under Thy protection ; act and I shall be saved.
All wealth is in Thy hands to give it to whom Thou pleasest.
He to whom Thou art merciful repeateth Thy name.
Men read religious books without spiritual advantage :—
The broth is stirred with spoons, but they know not its flavour.
Nanak, those men are the best who are imbued with the relish of God’s love.
The Guru is convinced of the unity of God:—
When my Beloved was kind to me, I searching found
One Creator ; Nanak, no other can be seen.
Z 2
Sin may be avoided by remembering the Guru’s instruction:—
Take aim with the arrow of truth and bring down sin.
Remember the Guru’s instruction, Nanak, and no sorrow shall befall thee.
He who forgets God can never prosper:—
Millions of obstacles are in his way who forgetteth the Name:
He croaketh day and night, Nanak, like a raven in an empty building.
The life of an anchoret is not necessary to salvation :—
Nanak, I have met the true Guru, and my union with . God is accomplished.
Even while men laugh, and play, and dress, and eat, salvation can be obtained.
The favours conferred by the Guru:—
Hail! hail to that true Guru who hath demolished the fortress of doubt 1
Congratulations to that true Guru who hath united me with God!
The Guru hath given me as a medicine the inexhaustible treasure of the Name.
It hath cured the great and terrible disease of spiritual ignorance.
In obtaining the wealth of the Name, I have found a great treasure;
And by recognizing myself I have won this priceless human life.
The^praises of the Guru the omnipotent being cannot be expressed.
The Guru is the supreme Brahma, illimitable, invisible, and inscrutable.
Effort encouraged by the Guru:—
0 man, by striving and earning enjoy happiness.
Nanak, by meditating on God, meet Him and thine anxieties shall vanish.
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 341
God destroys slanderers and protects the holy:—
God at once destroyed the slanderers and suffered them not to live for a moment.
He caught them and yoked them to birth, for He could not endure the torments of His slaves.
He dragged down the slanderers by the hair of their heads, and sent them on the road to Death.
He threw them into hell, where they groaned in agony ;
But God, true that He was, O Nanak, embraced and protected His saints.
Devgandhari
The intoxication of devotion :—
Thy servant, O God, is intoxicated with Thine elixir.
He who obtaineth the store of the essence of love, for- saketh it not to go elsewhere.
While seated he repeateth God’s name, while sleeping he repeateth God’s name, he taketh God’s essence for his food.
Bathing in the dust of the saints’ feet is equal to ablution at the sixty-eight places of pilgrimage.
Profitable is the life of God’s servant who hath made God a father of good children.
Nanak, he who recognizeth the all-pervading God, taketh all with him and savetli them.
The following is sung at banquets and also when the Granth Sahib is brought to the temple in the early morning:—
O God, this is the desire of my heart:
That Thou, the Treasure of mercy, the Compassionate, shouldst make me the slave of Thy saints ;
That I should touch their feet in the morning and behold them night and day ;
That I. should devote my body and soul to their service and sing God’s praises with my tongue ;
That I should ever abide with the saints and remember Thee at every breath I draw.
The Name is my sole support-and wealth ; from it Nanak obtaineth delight.
The Guru’s delicious sensation on meeting God:—
O Beloved, Thy words are nectar.
O my Beloved, very beautiful, Bewitcher of the soul, Thou art in everything and yet distinct.
I long not for empire, I long not for salvation ; 1 my soul loveth Thy lotus feet.
There may have been Brahma, Shiv, Sidhs, Munis, and Indar, but I desire only a sight of Thee.
O Lord, I have come helpless to Thy door, and, weary that I am, have entered the asylum of Thy saints.
Saith Nanak, I have met God who beguileth the heart; my soul is refreshed and happy.
The unity of God :—
Know that there is only one God :
Know Him to be one through the Guru’s instruction.
Why wander? wander not, my brethren ; God is surely contained in every place.
As the fire which is in timber cannot be made available without skill,
So God’s door is not obtained without the Guru.
Abandon pride in the company of the saints ;
Thus, saith Nanak, shall the Primal Treasure be obtained.
The Guru deprecates evil communications:—
Turn away, 0 my soul, turn away,
Turn away from the apostate.
False is the love of the false ; abandon it, O my soul, and thou shalt be saved ; thou shalt not be saved in the company of the apostate.
As any one who entered a house filled with soot would become black,
So whoever associated with the apostate would become defiled ; but he who meeteth the Guru shall escape from Maya, and flee from evil association.
O merciful One, Ocean of mercy I crave this boon of Thee, not to bring me face to face with the apostate.
Make Nanak Thy slave of slaves, and his head shall roll under the saints’ feet.
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN
Bihagra Chhant
The following was composed in reply to a question how God could be worshipped
I have seen one miracle of God, O my beloved ; what He doeth is perfect justice.
God appointed the world as a beautiful arena, my beloved, where all men come and go.
He who created the earth made men’s coming and going.
God inviteth some who meet the true Guru to His palace ; others wander astray in error.
Thou alone, O God, knowest Thine own limit; Thou art contained in everything.
Verily speaketh Nanak—hear, 0 saints, God dispenseth perfect justice.
Come and meet me, O companions, my beloved ; let us worship God’s name.
Worship the perfect true Guru, my beloved ; let us smooth the way to death.
Having under the Guru’s instruction smoothed the arduous road, we shall obtain honour in God’s court.
They whom God so predestined fix their attention on Him day and night.
Pride, egotism, and worldly love depart when we associate with the holy man.
Saiththe slaveNanak,salvation is obtained by worshipping God’s name.
O saints, my beloved, let us unite and with clasped hands worship the Imperishable Being.
I have examined many forms of worship, my beloved ; but they are all vain ; let us devote our souls and bodies all to Him.
When soul, body, and wealth belong to the Lord, what offering shall we make Him ?
The compassionate God embraceth him to whom He showeth mercy.
He on whose forehead such destiny was written loveth the Guru.
The slave Nanak saith—let us by association with the saints worship God’s name.
I have returned, 0 my beloved, from searching in every direction; and have found God in my own home.
God hath made this body as a temple, O my beloved, and He is contained therein.
The Lord God is contained in everything ; He becometh manifest by the Guru’s instruction.
Darkness is dispelled, and troubles removed when the Guru hath caused the essence of God’s nectar to trickle into the mouth.
Wherever I look, there and in every place is the Lord, the Supreme Being.
Saith the slave Nanak, on meeting the true Guru, I have found God on returning home.
The exquisitely pleasurable feeling of union with God:—
O pleasant night, grow long as I love the Dear One ;
O unpleasant sleep, grow short that I may ever touch His feet.
I long for the dust of His feet, and I ever beg for His name for the love of which I have abandoned the world.
Forsaking my very evil inclinations, I have become imbued with the love of the Dear One and intoxicated without wine.
I have met the Dear One on the right way; He hath taken my arm, and I have become absorbed in His love.
Nanak imploreth Thee, 0 Lord, to extend him the favour to continue attached to Thy feet.
O my friends and companions, let us remain attached to God’s feet.
Our hearts feel great love for the Dear One ; let us pray for His service.
Let us go and meet the saints of God, meditate on Him, and we shall obtain His service.
Let us forsake the sins of pride and worldly love, and dedicate to Him our bodies, wealth, and souls.
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 345
God is the great Being, all-pervading, of perfect excellence ; on meeting Him all error and fear depart.
Nanak represented, hear my counsel; my companions, let us ever and ever repeat God’s name.
God’s spouse is a happy wife, and enjoyeth every pleasure ;
She shall not become a widow ; her Spouse is long-lived.
She is never unhappy, she meditateth on God; blest and fortunate is she.
She sleepeth in peace and rest ; her sins are blotted out, and she awaketh in the delight and love of the Name.
She remained absorbed in God’s love ; His name is her jewels ; the words of the Dear One are to her sweet and pleasing.
Nanak representeth, I have obtained my heart’s desire ; I have met God who is a long-lived Spouse.
He in whose soul and body God the Primal Joy is contained,
Hath at home songs of rejoicing and millions of pleasures.
God, my Spouse, is infinite, compassionate, the Possessor of wealth, the Saviour of sinners.
God, the Extender of mercy, is He who causeth man to cross the terrible ocean.
God embraced him who seeketh His protection ; this is the function of the Lord.
Nanak representeth, I have found God as my Spouse, and He ever indulgeth in dalliance with me.
Dark is de night and difficult the road. There is none to light man's way and guide him but God :—
Thou who art imbued with love for many worldly things shall find thy way difficult.
O sinner, there is none to help thee ;
No helper is thine ; thou shalt ever regret it.
Thou utterest not God’s praises : shall these days ever return ? 1
As leaves separated from the tree shall not grow again thereon, so shall thy relations and friends part from thee , and thou shalt proceed alone on thy way to Death.
Nanak representeth, without the name of God man ever wandereth in distress.
O man, thou practisest deception in secret, but God who knoweth everything knoweth thee.
When Dharmraj taketh thine account, thou shalt be pressed like a bundle 1 of sesame.
O mortal, thou shalt suffer the penalty of thine acts, and wander in many wombs.
Imbued with the love of the arch fascinator, thou shalt lose the jewel of thy human life.
Thou wert clever at everything else except repeating the one God’s name.
Nanak representeth—they for whom it was so destined are attracted to superstition and worldly love.
The ungrateful are separated from God and have no mediator.
The all-cruel myrmidons of Death shall seize them ;
Shall seize and lead them off, and they shall obtain their deserts on account of their love for the arch fascinator.
They never repeated God’s praises under the Guru’s instruction, so their breasts shall be applied to the hot pillar.
Man is ruined by lust, wrath, and pride ; he loseth his senses and then regretteth.
Nanak representeth—without repeating God’s name man faileth to meet Him.
There is none but Thee, 0 God, the Preserver.
It is Thy function to save sinners.
I seek Thy protection, O Saviour of sinners, Master, Ocean of mercy, compassionate :
O Creator, Cherisher of every heart, rescue me from the blind well.
Thou art my Protector, cut away my heavy fetters, and give me the Name as my sole support.
Nanak imploreth—0 God, compassionate to the poor, reach me Thy hand and save me.
The day when God blended me with Himself was fortunate:
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 347
All happiness then appeared, and misery remained far apart.
Comfort, ease, joy, and delight ever accrue from singing God’s praises.
In association with the saints worship God with love, and thou shalt not again rush through births.
God graciously embraceth man according to the result of former acts. 1
Nanak representeth—when God is met, man never again wandereth in transmigration.
Prayer and praise of God :—
Hear my supplication, 0 my Lord God,
Though I am full of millions of sins, nevertheless I am Thy slave.
O Thou Dispeller of grief, merciful, fascinating, Destroyer of trouble and anxiety,
I seek Thy protection, protect mine honour ; Thou art in all things, O spotless One,
Thou hearest and beholdest us ; Thou art with us all, O God ; Thou art the nearest of all to us.
O Lord, hear Nanak’s prayer, save the slave of Thy household.
Thou art ever omnipotent; we are poor and beggars.
O God, save us who are involved in the love of mammon.
Bound by covetousness and worldly love, we have committed various sins.
The Creator is distinct and free from entanglements ; man obtaineth the fruit of his acts.
Show us kindness, Thou purifier of sinners ; we are weary of wandering through many a womb.
Nanak representeth—I am the slave of God appho is the Support of the soul and life.
Thou art great and omnipotent ; my understanding is feeble.
Thou cherishest even the ungrateful; Thou lookest equally on all.
Unfathomable is Thy knowledge, 0 infinite Creator; I am lowly and know nothing.
Having rejected the gem of Thy name , I have amassed kauris ; I am a degraded and silly being.