The prostitute is a decorated and ornamented hell. She deceiveth by her airs and graces. As the hunter’s pipe allureth the deer, so do her songs allure men to their destruction. She dieth an evil death, and obtaineth no entrance into God’s court. As she adhereth not to one lover, so the evil person who followeth two religions is unhappy. He is like a bad rupee nailed to the counter. He is ruined himself and he ruineth others . 1
The fate of the man who tries to follow two religions :—
The evil man who followeth two religions is unhappy, and is as useless as an ostrich which cannot fly, which cannot be laden, and which strutteth ostentatiously. The elephant hath one set of teeth for display and another for eating. Goats have four teats, two on their necks and two attached to their udders. The latter contain milk, the former deceive those who expect milk from them. So turning one’s attention to two religions leadeth to disastrous failure . 1
A guest remaineth hungry among several houses. When a thing held in partnership is lost, scant are the weeping and mental anxiety. When many Dums strike a drum, the discord pleaseth no one. The crow which wandereth from forest to forest is not held in honour ; how can it be happy ? As a prostitute’s body suffereth from having many lovers, so they who worship others than the Guru are unhappy in their perversity . 2
The religious and secular observances of the Sikhs:—
The Sikhs rising at the ambrosial hour of morning 8 bathe. Collecting their thoughts and gently meditating on 1 XXXI11. 2 XXXIV.
BHAI GUR DAS’S ANALYSIS 253
the unfathomable One, they repeat the Guru’s Japji. They then go into the company of saints, and sit with them. They become absorbed in remembering and loving the Word, and sing and hear the Guru’s hymns. They pass their time in the love and service and fear of God. They serve the Guru and observe his anniversaries. They sing the Sodar in company and heartily associate with one another. Having read the Sohila and made supplication at night, they distribute sacred food. Thus do the holy Sikhs gladly taste the fruit of happiness . 1
The Sikhs eat little food and drink little water. They speak little and boast not. They sleep little and only in the night, nor are they entangled in worldly love. When they enter a beautiful house they covet it not . 2
Adultery forbidden :—
A man who hath one wife is continent and calleth another’s wife his daughter or his sister. To covet another man’s property is forbidden to a Sikh, as the swine is to the Musalman and the cow to the Hindu . 1
The. ordinary secular acts of a true Sikh are equal to all the religious ceremonies performed by members of other religious denominations :—
The polite language of a Sikh is equal to a Hindu’s devotion. A Sikh beholdeth God everywhere with his eyes, and that is equal to a Jogi’s meditation. When a Sikh listeneth attentively to, or himself singeth, the word of God, that is equal to the five ecstatic sounds in the brain of a Jogi. When a Sikh doeth anything with his hands, that is equal to the obeisance and prostration of Hindus. When he walketh to behold the Guru, that is equal to an extremely holy circumambulation. When he eateth and clotheth himself, that is equal to the performance of Hindu sacrifice and offering. When he sleepeth, that is equal to a Jogi’s suspended animation. A Sikh withdraweth not his thoughts from where he hath fixed them. When a Sikh leadeth a family life, that is equal to salvation while alive. A Sikh 1 VI. 2 XX.
THE SIKH RELIGION >
hath no fear of the waves of the world’s oeean, and avarice entereth not his heart. He hath passed beyond the region of blessings and curses and uttereth them not . 1
Who are acceptable ?—
They who have restrained the five evil passions—lust, wrath, covetousness, worldly love and pride—and they who have embraced the five virtues—truth, contentment, mercy, honesty, and an understanding of the Granth—are acceptable . 2
Vishnu’s ten avatars and the ten parbs or festivals of the Hindus are unavailing :—
Vishnu hath uselessly assumed ten avatars ; he .hath not shown unto man the one God who is invisible . 3 The ten Hindu festivals observed at places of pilgrimages are not equal to the Guru’s anniversaries . 2
The helplessness of the Hindu gods and of the expounders of the Hindu religion :—
Millions of Brahmas 4 * have received the Veds without understanding a letter of them.
Millions of Shivs who sit in religious attitude recognize neither the form, nor the outline, nor the garb of the Creator.
Millions of incarnations of Shiv in human form have not obtained even the slightest knowledge of God.
Millions of serpents which repeat ever new names of God daily , 6 have not arrived at a knowledge of Him.
They who have lived long and enjoyed all the pleasures of life, the followers of the six schools of philosophy, and of
of the moon.
Hindus.
BHAI GUR DAS*S ANALYSIS 255'
the sects of Hinduism, have not recognized the true Name. Having received gifts they all forget the Giver . 1
The Hindu god Brahma cannot be accepted as a moral guide :—
Brahma used to preach to others, but on seeing the beauty of Saraswati, fell in love with her, and forgot his four Veds . 2
Nor can man expect assistance from Ram or Krishan:—
O fools, ye have not remembered the Creator, and ye deem that things made by Him are God Himself . 8
Why the feet are selected for reverence and obeisance :—
The head is above, the feet below, yet the head falleth on the feet in the act of prostration. They support the weight of the mouth, eyes, nose, ears, and hands. Q. What have the feet done that they should be worshipped to the exclusion of other limbs ? A. They go to the Guru’s asylum and to the companionship of the saints They go to the best of their ability to do good acts. May the Guru’s Sikhs wear my skin as shoes ! Very fortunate are they to whose foreheads the dust of the holy man’s feet is applied . 4
Scarcity of those who return good for evil:—
They who return good for evil are few in the world . 4
The unity of God :—
As there is but one sun for the six seasons and the twelve months of the year, so the Guru’s Sikhs only behold the one God . 2
Guru Nanak’s Guru :—
The Supreme Being, the All-pervading God is the divine Nanak’s Guru . 6
* 256
His extent:—
Men have searched for God’s limit, but have not found it. They who went to search for His limit have not returned . 1
His court is upright and sincere :—
God’s court is independent; hypocrisy entereth not there . 2
Prayers for the extension of Sikhism :—
May there be hundreds and thousands of Sikhs in every city and hundreds of thousands in every country ! 3
May the Guru’s Sikhs become hundreds of thousands, yea, countless in the world, and may a Sikh temple decorate every place ! 4
An exhortation to the same effect:—
Having become learned in the Guru’s wisdom, enlighten the world . 5
The Sikhs externally and internally :—
The true Sikhs dress like kings and think not of mammon.*
Philanthropy:—
To do good to others is the mark of a saint.*
The advantages of conferring favours on Sikhs :—
To feed a Sikh with parched gram is superior to hundreds of thousands of horns and feasts, and to cause his feet to be washed is superior to assemblages at places of pilgrimage on the occasion of the ten Hindu festivals. To repeat to a Sikh the Guru’s hymns is equal to hundreds of thousands of Hindu devotional exercises. No doubt or regret re- maineth when man hath even a glimpse of the Guru. Such a man is unscathed in the terrible ocean, and feareth not its waves. He who embraceth the Guru’s religion hath passed beyond the bounds of joy or grief for gain or loss.*
. BHAI GUR DAS'S ANALYSIS 257 - The Apostate
The apostate who hath renounced the true Guru becometh the slave of a slave. • Without the perfect Guru he wandereth in many a birth . 1
He who renounceth the Guru, who is the ocean of happiness, wandereth forlorn in the world. He is at one time dashed down by the waves, and at another burnt in the fire of pride. He is bound and beaten at death’s gate and buffeted by Death’s myrmidons. Man like a herdsman remaineth here but for four days, yet he calleth himself Jesus or Moses. No one admitteth his own deficiency, but wearieth himself insisting that he is something great. The ocean-diver worketh and exhausteth himself often without recompense. Without the Guru there is painful strife . 1
Current usages without the Guru's instruction are of no avail:—
Men who forget the true Giver beg from beggars. Minstrels sing martial songs, and praise the strife and contests of heroes. Barbers also sing songs. They who reward them for the sake of show die an evil death. Bards compose eulogies, recite them, and retail false genealogies. It is proper for priests to ask for alms civilly. Faqirs who threaten to stab themselves if they receive not alms or who wear wings, may beg from shop to shop, but without the true Guru there is naught but weeping and lamentation . 1
Inutility of Hindu places of pilgrimage :—
They who leave the pilgrimage of the true Guru and go to bathe at the sixty-eight places of the Hindus, sit in contemplative attitude like cranes, and rend and eat the animals in the water. Elephants may be washed, but when they leave the water they bespatter themselves with dust. The gourd sinketh not in the water, nor doth its bitterness depart at a place of pilgrimage. If a stone be washed in water, its hardness is by no means softened. The superstition of the perverse man departeth not. He
S
SIKH. IV
wandereth without house or home, and, being without the true Guru, cannot be saved . 1
Ask not for a giver from whom thou shalt have to appeal to another. Employ not a worthless banker who will afterwards defraud thee. Serve not such a master as will render thee liable to Death’s punishment. Engage not a physician who cannot cure the malady of pride. It is the filth of the body and not the filth of evil inclinations which is cleansed by bathing at places of pilgrimages. Why bathe at them ? Disciples should love such a priest as will confer on them happiness and composure . 2
True devotion is difficult for the worldly :—
Every one may see jewels, but few can appraise them. Every one may listen to songs and minstrelsy, but few know how to fix their attention on the Guru’s words . 1
The holy read the Guru’s hymns with attention to their meaning . 3
Few are they in the world who beheld Guru Nanak and listened to and obeyed his instruction . 4
The perverse fail in self-reliance :—
Beasts and creatures without instinct are superior to the perverse. Man from being reasonable becometh unreasonable and looketh to another for help. A beast asketh not from a beast, nor doth a bird wait on a bird for assistance . 1
The perverse prefer the poison of sin to the nectar of virtue, impure blood to pure milk :—
Vegetables in the forest bear fruit of many savours and perfumes. The mango, the peach, the apple, the pomegranate, the jaman , 5 the khirni , 6 the mulberry, the date, the pilun, the wild caper, the ber, the walnut—with these the cicala who eateth the akk is by no means pleased. It forsaketh ambrosial fruit and attacheth itself to poison. If a leech be applied to a female breast, it will not drink
BHAI GUR DAS’S ANALYSIS 259
milk but only impure blood, so the perverse man, even if he hear the Guru’s hymns in the company of the saints, uttereth folly in his conceit. His love is deception and he obtaineth not a position in God’s court . 1
Truth :—
Devotion, penance, hom, feasts, fasting, austerities, pilgrimages, alms-gifts, the service of gods and goddesses, ceremonies, are all inferior to truth, and so are hundreds of thousands of devices. Acting truly is labelled above them all . 2
Falsehood is as the bitter poisonous akk; truth is as the sweet mango. Truth is a king who sleepeth in peace ; falsehood is a thief who wandereth without a home. The king awaketh, seizeth the thief, and punisheth him in his court . 3
Truth is beautiful like a turban on the head. Falsehood is a polluted clout. Truth is a powerful lion, falsehood a weak lamb. Deal in truth and thou shalt gain. Why deal in falsehood which causeth loss ? Truth is a current coin, falsehood is counterfeit copper. Hundreds of thousands of stars in a dark night afford light, but when one sun riseth they all disappear. In the same way falsehood disappeareth before truth. Truth and falsehood stand to one another in the relation of a stone to an earthen vessel. If a stone be thrown at an earthen vessel it is the earthen vessel which will break. If the earthen vessel be thrown at a stone it is again the earthen vessel which will break. In either case it is the earthen vessel that suffereth . 3
Falsehood is an offensive weapon, truth a defensive armour. Falsehood is an enemy who ever looketh for his opportunity of attack, truth is a real friend who assisteth, Truth is a hero, falsehood amasseth what is false. Truth is immovable and on safe ground ; falsehood standeth and trembleth on an insecure basis. Truth seizeth falsehood and knocketh it down. The whole world may see this. Falsehood which is deceitful ever aileth. Truth is ever safe
S 2
and whole. Truth ever appeareth true and falsehood false. 1
The Sikhs ought to contract alliances with one another:—
Let the Guru’s Sikhs contract alliances with the Guru’s Sikhs 2
The equality of the Sikhs and their distinctive salutation :—
When Moslems meet, their salute is ‘ Salam alaikum ! ’ A Jogi saith ‘ Adesh ! ’ and receiveth in reply ‘ Adpurukh Adesh ! ’ A Sanyasi saith ‘ 0 namo ! ’ while several sects utter ‘ Namo Narayan ! ’ Men bow to Brahmans and receive blessings. But the Sikhs of the true Guru say 4 Pairi pawana ’—I fall at your feet—which is the correct salutation. 3 Thus the rich and poor, young and old, are on an equality. The saints exhale holiness as the sandal exhaleth perfume. There is no distinction among them. 4
The universality of Guru Nanak’s religion :—
The Ganges and Banaras belong to the Hindus, Makka and the Kaaba to the Musalmans, but Baba Nanak’s praises are sung in every house to the music of cymbals, drums, and rebecks. 5
Holy men have no caste and are not liable to caste defilement:—
As ghi is never impure, so the saints have no caste. 6
Follow the example of a tree and return good for evil:—
It is the specialty of a tree that it returneth good for evil. He who loppeth its branches sitteth in its shade, and it returneth him good for evil. It giveth fruit when clods
BHAI GUR DAS’S ANALYSIS 261
are thrown at it. When carved into a boat, it saveth him who carved it. The perverse who have not the endurance and generosity of trees, obtain not fruit, while for the worshipper countless fruit* is produced. Few are the holy men who, like trees, serve God’s servants. O God, the world is his slave, who hath the qualities of a tree. 1
The custom of the world is to return good for good, but the custom of the Guru is to return good for evil. 2
Even the holiest Hindus violate their own commandments :—
The ten sects of Sanyasis and the twelve sects of Jogis go to strange houses to beg, and eat the food of alms which is forbidden them. 1
The fate of him who through pride rebels against God :—
If any one, having an overweening conceit of himself, rebel against a king, the traitor is put to death. He is not allowed a cot to bear him, a winding sheet, a funeral pyre, or a grave. If rupees be coined not at the mint, they are counterfeit, and the coiners wreck their lives. If any one write a forged order, it shall be to his loss, and he shall shed bitter tears. He shall be disgraced, ride on a donkey, and be defiled ; and he shall have to wash off the dust that falleth on him. If a jackal assume sovereignty, his voice will betray him, and his reign shall not last long. He who attacheth himself to other than God will have to abide in an evil place. 1
The love of the disciple for his Guru should be superior to everything that has been said or sung of lovers in all ages and countries :—
The lovers Laili and Majnun are known in the four quarters of the world. The excellent epic of Sorath and Bija is sung in every direction. The love of Sassi and Punnu, though they were of different castes, is everywhere spoken of. The fame of Sohni who used nightly to swim the Chinab to go to Mahinwal is well known. Ranjha and 1 XXVI. 2 XXVIII.
Hir are renowned for the love they bore each other. But superior to all is the love the disciples bear their Guru. They sing it at the ambrosial hour of morning . 1
Gur Das by familiar examples continues to describe the mutual love of the disciple and his Guru :—
Opium-eaters eschew not opium, but sit down together to eat it. Gamblers indulge in play and lose their stakes. Thieves abandon not thieving and suffer punishment when caught. Though men have sold their clothes, and remain naked to provide money for courtesans, yet are they obstinate in doing evil. Sinners commit sin and abscond to avoid punishment, but, contrary to all these, the Sikhs of the Guru, whose companionship is far from injurious, love their Guru, and he absolveth them from all their sins . 1
Gur Das in his three hundred and twenty-third Kabit has given different expression to the same idea:—
A thief abandoneth not thieving through fear of punishment. The highwayman looketh for an opportunity of highway robbery. Even when a man, who is smitten with a prostitute, contracteth disease from her, he still hesitateth not to visit her. Even when the gambler hath lost everything, he refraineth not from gambling. A drunkard abstaineth not from intoxicants, but continueth to take them however much people censure him, and however much medical treatises may tell him of their evil effects. The base renounce not the sins to which they have once become addicted. Wherefore how can the holy renounce the companionship of saints ?
The love of the Sikh for his Guru is superior to that for all his relations :—
There are three degrees of relationship—first those of father, mother, sister, brother, and their offspring and alliances; second, mother’s father, mother’s mother, mother’s sisters, mother’s brothers; third, father-in-law,
BHAI GUR DAS’S ANALYSIS 263
mother-in-law, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law, for whom gold, silver, diamonds, and corals are amassed ; but dearer than all is the love of the Guru’s Sikhs for the Guru. This is the relationship which conferreth happiness. 1
The eyes are not satisfied with beholding sights and exhibitions ; the ears are not satisfied with hearing praise or blame, mourning or rejoicing ; the tongue is not satisfied with eating what affordeth pleasure and delight; the nose is not satisfied with good or evil odour; nobody is satisfied with his span of life, and every one entertaineth false hopes; but his disciples are satisfied with the Guru ; theirs is the true love. 1
Love none but the Guru ; all other love is false. Enjoy no other relish than his, for it would be poisonous. Be not pleased with any one else’s singing, for listening to it would bring no happiness. All acts not according to the Guru’s teaching are evil, and bear evil fruit. Walk only in the way of the true Guru. In all other ways there are thieves who cheat and rob. The love of the Guru’s Sikhs for the Guru causeth their souls to blend with the True One. 1