It now blossometh luxuriantly.
The Kal age hath now arrived ;
Freely plant the one Name.
It is not at all the season for other planting :
Never wander astray in error.
He on whose forehead such destiny hath been written,
Shall obtain God on meeting the Guru.
O my soul, this is the season of the Name.
Nanak uttereth God’s praises—Hari! Hari! Hari! Hari!
Injunctions to the Guru’s Sikhs:—
Join and unite together, my brethren, lay aside differences, love one another.
. Associate yourselves with God’s name, O holy men ; spread your mat and sit on it.
In this way, my friends, throw your dice. 1
O holy men, repeat God’s name day and night, and at the last hour you shall not suffer.
Make the practice of religion your board, and truth your pieces.
Conquer lust, wrath, covetousness, and worldly love; such a game is pleasing to God.
Rise at dawn, perform your ablutions, then and at bedtime worship God.
My true Guru shall cause you to win the critical throw, and you shall go home with happiness and comfort.
God Himself playeth; God Himself looketh on; He Himself made what is made.
Nanak, the man who playeth under the Guru’s instruction shall win the game and go home happy.
God’s praises:—
Only Thou, 0 Lord, knowest Thy power; none beside knoweth it.
He to whom my beloved Guru showeth mercy, recognizeth Thee.
odour. Others remain like dry firewood. That is, the tender-hearted receive full benefit from the Guru’s instruction, while the hard-hearted reject it. 1 The reference is to the Indian game of chaupar.
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 427
I am a sacrifice to Thy worshippers.
Thy place, 0 God, is ever beautiful; Thy play is unequalled.
Thy service can be performed by Thyself and none other.
It is only he who pleaseth Thee, and whom Thou lovest who is Thy worshipper.
Thou art the great Giver; Thou art the great Sage: there is none equal to Thee.
Thou art omnipotent; O my Lord, how know I how to worship Thee ?
Thy palace is invisible, O my Dear One; it is difficult to obey Thy will.
Saith Nanak, I have fallen at Thy door ; protect me who am stupid and ignorant.
Sarang
The servant’s dependence on his Master:—
Every one remembereth his master.
Whoever is a servant goeth to his master
To tell him his sorrow, to tell him his joy, to tell him his state :
It is from him he getteth honour, from; him strength, from him advantage.
Some rely upon empire, youth, wealth, and possessions ; others upon fathers and mothers.
Instead of all these Nanak hath had the Guru ; and all his hopes have been fulfilled.
The Guru has found happiness in God’s asylum:—
The anxiety of my mind hath departed since I obtained a sight of Thee.
Though I spoke not, Thou hast known my state, and caused me to utter Thy name.
By uttering Thy praises my misery hath fled; I am filled with happiness and peace, and altogether delighted.
Taking mine arm, Thou hast brought me forth from the blind well and abode of mammon.
Saith Nanak, the Guru hath cut off my entanglements, and, though I was separated from God , hath brought me to Him.
Thanksgiving to God:—
From what humble beginning didst Thou make me man by Thy power !
Giver of life and soul to all creatures, Thou art unequalled; Thy merits cannot be described.
Thou art the Beloved of all, the Cherisher of all, the Support of all hearts.
No one knoweth Thy state or condition ; from Thyself alone hast Thou made the extension of the world .
Nanak prayeth—seat me on the boat of the holy man, and I shall cross over the dangerous ocean.
Kanra
Exhortation to devotion :—
Come my friends and saints,
Sing God’s praises with joy and pleasure, and your sins shall be erased and put aside.
Lay the feet of the saints on your foreheads, and there shall be light in your dark abodes.
By the favour of the saints the lotus of the heart bloometh ; repeat God’s name and behold Him near you.
Nanak is a sacrifice to the time when, by God’s mercy, he found the saint.
Prabhati Ashtapadi
A satire on certain forms of Hindu worship:—
The mind containeth great wrath and pride.
Men worship and make great display ;
They perform ablutions, and make the marks of quoits 1 on their bodies ;
Yet the filth of their hearts never departeth.
No one hath found God in that way.
Men impress Vishnu’s marks on their bodies , yet their minds are fascinated by mammon.
worshippers are frequently branded.
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 429
They commit sin and are in the power of the five evil passions.
They bathe at places of pilgrimage, and say that all their sins have vanished,
Yet they again fearlessly commit them.
The ministers of Death will bind and take them away to his city.
They put on tinkling anklets and play cymbals,
While in their hearts there is deception, and they wander like demons.
A serpent is not killed by beating his lair.
God who made men knoweth all things.
They perform fire-penance, and wear ochre-coloured garments ;
Smitten by some calamity 1 they run away from home, Leave their country and wander abroad,
Taking the five deadly sins with them.
They have their ears torn and steal morsels to live on ; They beg from house to house and fail to be satisfied ; They leave their own wives, and ogle the wives of others; They find no home and are very miserable ;
They make vows of silence, and speak not;
In their hearts are worldly desires and they wander in births ;
Abstaining from corn their bodies undergo pain.
They understand not God’s order, but are filled with pride. Without a true guru no one hath obtained the supreme state—
Inquire of all the Veds and the Simritis.
The perverse perform useless works,
Which, like a house of sand, have no stability.
They to whom the merciful God is pleasing,
Knot the Guru’s word in their garments.
Among millions only a few saints are seen :
Nanak, man is saved in their company.
He who is lucky obtaineth a sight of them ;
He is saved himself and saveth all his family.
of a fafir.
Sahaskriti 1 Sloks of Guru Arjan
ADDRESSED TO
Krishan Lal and Har Lal, two Brahmans who went
FROM BANARAS TO VISIT THE GURU.
God preserves the holy man.
A huntsman on seeing a deer may discharge hundreds of thousands of arrows and miss him ;
So he whom God preserveth, 0 Nanak, shall not have a hair of his head touched.
The life of a king, however great, hangs by a hair:—
A king may make many efforts ; strong and brave men may serve him on every side ;
He may dwell in a steep and lofty place, and never think of death;
But when the order of God cometh, O Nanak, an ant can take away his life.
Dismiss all anxiety for thy relations and love God alone:—
Be not anxious for thy mother, father, brother, or for men;
Be not anxious for wife, son, friend ; being occupied with them is to be subject to mammon.
One merciful all-pervading God is the Cherisher of all beings.
The holy man is the real hero:—
All the saints are an invincible army of heroes who have donned the armour of humility ;
The repetitions of God’s praises are their weapons, the Guru’s words their shelter and the bucklers in their hands ;
They are mounted on horses, chariots, and elephants, and know God’s way ;
They walk fearlessly among the armies of their enemies, a.w& charge them with God’s praises;
* Sahaskriti in the Granth Sahib means a mixture of Sanskrit, Prakrit, and Hindi.
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 431
They conquer the world, 0 Nanak, and take captive the five thieves.
Man is debased without the Guru’s instruction:—
The life of mortal without the Guru’s instruction is accursed and defiled.
The blockhead is not equal to a dog, a donkey, a raven, or a snake.
Death cannot affect the holy:—
Nanak, Death’s myrmidons shall not look at him who worshippeth God’s lotus feet,
Keepeth God’s name in his heart, and singeth His praises in the company of the saints.
All earthly things may be gained, but not devotion without God’s grace:—
Not difficult to obtain are wealth and beauty; not difficult to obtain is the sovereignty of demigods ;
Not difficult to obtain are pleasing viands; not difficult to obtain is elegant raiment;
Not difficult to obtain are sons, friends, brothers, and relations ; not difficult to obtain are woman’s favours ;
Not difficult to obtain is accomplishment in learning; not difficult to obtain are cleverness and dexterity;
But God’s name alone is difficult to obtain ; Nanak, it is obtained by His favour in the company of saints.
The six attributes of the saint:—
He is called a holy man and perfect saint who is filled with the following six -pairs of qualities—
Who possesseth the spell of God’s name, and meditateth on Him who filleth every place ;
Who deemeth woe and weal as the same, and whose life is pure and without enmity ;
Who is compassionate to all creatures, and who hath expelled the live deadly sins ;
Who su6si'sfefft on God’s praises, and who abideth in (he world untouched by it as the lotus in the water;
Who instructeth friend and enemy alike, who loveth God’s service;
Who heareth not slander of others, and abandoning pride becometh the dust of all men’s feet.
The deadly sins:—
O love, thou art an invincible hero in the fight; thou crushest even the very powerful.
Thou fascinatest the company of the musicians of heaven, demigods, men, beasts, and birds. 1
I bow to God the Creator ; Nanak seeketh the protection of the Lord of the world.
0 lust, thou givest an abode in hell; thou causest man to wander in many a womb ;
Thou stealest the heart, thou pervadest the three worlds, thou destroyest devotion, penance, and virtue;
Thou conferrest scant happiness, O bodiless 2 one, thou art fickle, thou fillest high and low ;
But fear of thee, saith Nanak, is dispelled by associating with the saints and taking shelter in God.
O wrath, thou root of strife, there is never mercy in thee.
Thou takest sinful mortals in thy power, and causest them to dance like monkeys.
By association with thee man is debased : the myrmidons of Death inflict various punishments on him.
Nanak prayeth, O Destroyer of the sorrows of the poor, merciful God, preserve all creatures from wrath.
O thievish covetousness, thou playest many a prank with the great.
*Epu>s avLKarf fxd \ av —
Kai <J ovt adavdrwv (fav^i/xos oiStls ov6' i/Mpiiav iir’ av6pu>iru>v.
Sophocles, Ant. 781,
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 433
Through thee the wandering mind greatly wavereth in every way and manner.
Thou hast no respect for friend, or lover, or relation, or parent.
What ought not to be done thou doest; what ought not to be eaten thou eatest; what ought not be to made, thou makest—such is thy reputation.
Take me, take me into Thy protection, O God ! this is Nanak’s prayer, O King of men.
O sinful pride, source of transmigration,
Thou abandonest friends and holdest fast unto enemies ; thou spreadest many an illusion.
Through thee the soul groweth weary of transmigration, and suffereth much pain.
Through thee man roameth astray in the terrible wilderness, and contracteth very dire and incurable maladies.
The only physician is the supreme Brahm, the supreme Being, whom Nanak worshippeth.
The following prayer is repeated by many Sikhs while performing their morning ablutions :—
O Lord of the soul, Gobind, Ocean of mercy, Guru of the world;
O Destroyer of the world’s grievances, full of compassion, dispel every sorrow.
O Thou, capable of affording shelter, merciful Lord of the poor, have mercy on us.
Nanak, when God whether called Ram, Damodar, or Madhwa is remembered, this perishable body obtaineth comfort.
God’s power:—
The power with which God supported the firmament, and enclosed fire in timber ;
The power with which He supported the moon, the sun, and the lunar mansions, and infused light and breath into the body;
The power with which He cherished the embryo in the mother’s womb and protected it from the fire of its dwelling—
SIKH. Ill F f '
With the same power, 0 Nanak, God restrained His seas and allowed not the world to be wasted by their waves.
By devotion apparent impossibilities may be accomplished. This couplet is recited by gyanis as an introduction to the reading of the Granth Sahib:—
By remembering God in the company of the saints,
O Nanak, and seeking His protection, .
Mosquitoes can pierce rocks, ants cross mire,
Cripples traverse the ocean, and blind men see even in the darkness.
God is not in the guise of the Hindu deity Vishnu:—
God hath no shell, no quoit, no mace, nor is He of sable colour ; wonderful is His form ; He is unborn.
The Veds describe Him as indescribable.
He is the Most High, the Illimitable, the Indestructible;
He dwelleth in the hearts of the saints; Nanak, they who know Him are very fortunate.
When God is merciful, miraculous events occur:—
Nanak representeth, when God is merciful
A mountain becometh a blade of grass, and what is dry becometh green ;
They who are drowning swim, they who are empty are filled,
And millions of suns shine in the darkness.
Gatha 1
Camphor, flowers, and perfumes become impure by touching man’s body.
Nanak, the ignorant are proud of the fat, blood, foul odours, and bones of which their bodies are composed.
Were man to traverse with his eye the sky, the continents, the worlds,
HYMNS OF GURU ARJAN 435
And its regions even to the smallest particle thereof, O Nanak, nothing could be obtained without the saint.
3 •
Know that death is real, and everything else that ap- peareth is unreal.
God’s praise, saith Nanak, which is obtained by association with the saints shall alone accompany us.
The mind wandereth to mammon, lovers, friends, and relations.
Nanak, the abode of happiness which consisteth in worshipping God is obtained by association with the saints.
The nim-tree by association with sandal becometh as sandal,
Nanak, while the bamboo, even though it dwelleth near, is not perfumed through its pride.
By repeating and reflecting on the discourse in which God’s name is interwoven, pride is effaced.
Nanak, by letting fly the arrow of God’s name the five enemies are destroyed.
The word of the saint is the path of peace ; it is obtained by greatly meritorious deeds.
Nanak, there is no transmigration for him who uttereth God’s praises.
When leaves wither and fall, they return not again to the tree.
Nanak, without the Name there is suffering ; man’s days and nights pass in transmigration.
The very fortunate who love the association of saints obtain God.
Nanak, he who repeateth God’s name and praises returneth not to the ocean of the world.
F f 2