And displayed great bravery in this Kal age.
When he put an end to his life for the sake of holy men,
He gave his head, but uttered not a groan.
He suffered martyrdom for the sake of his religion ;
He gave his head but swerved not from his determination.
God’s people would be ashamed
To perform the tricks of mountebanks and cheats . 2
Having broken his potsherd on the head of the King of Dihli he departed to paradise.
No one else coming into the world acted like Teg Bahadur.
The world was in mourning for the demise of Teg Bahadur ;
There was weeping for him in the whole world, but rejoicing in paradise . 3
The following hymn of Guru Teg Bahadur is frequently sung in assemblies of Sikhs :—
Put the support of God’s lotus feet into thy heart, and unite it with them.
The mind desireth evil, but it should be restrained by the Guru’s instruction.
Give thy head rather than forsake those whom thou hast undertaken to protect.
Guru Teg Bahadur said, give thy life, but relinquish not thy faith.
* Vac hi tar Ntitak, Chap. v.
HYMNS OF GURU TEG BAHADUR 1
Gauri
O good people, renounce your mental pride,
Day and night flee from lust, wrath, and the company of the evil.
He who recognizeth pleasure and pain, honour and dishonour as the same,
And who keepeth aloof from joy and sorrow, knoweth the Real Thing in the world.
One should renounce praise and blame and search for the dignity of Nirvan :
Nanak, this is a difficult part to play ; only a few pious men know how to do so.
O good people, God hath thus made creation—
Some perish, others think that they shall live for ever ; this is a wonderful thing and cannot be understood.
Mortal is in the power of lust, anger, and worldly love, and hath forgotten God.
The body which, like a nightly dream, is unreal man deemeth real . 2
Whatever is visible shall all vanish like the shadows of the clouds :
Nanak, they who know that the world is unreal shall abide under God’s protection.
The praise of God entereth not into the heart of man ;
Day and night he remaineth absorbed in mammon ; say how shall he sing God's praises.
In this way he bindeth himself to children, friends, mammon, and selfishness.
This world is false as a mirage, yet man on beholding it fleeth after it.
The Lord, the Cause of happiness in this world and the next, is forgotten by the fool.
Nanak, among millions few there are who find the way to worship God.
O good people, the heart cannot be restrained ;
It is fickle, greed abideth with it, therefore it cannot be kept stable;
Within it is violent rage which causeth all wisdom to be forgotten,
And which hath stolen the jewel of divine knowledge from all men : nothing can withstand it.
All the Jogis making efforts and the eulogists singing God’s praises have failed to steady their minds.
Nanak, when God is merciful, everything is successful.
0 good people, sing God’s praises :
You have obtained priceless human life ; why waste it in v^tin ?
Enter into the sanctuary of God who is the purifier of sinners and the friend of the poor.
Why forget Him, by remembering whom the elephant’s fear departed ?
Lay aside pride, worldly love, and self, and then apply your minds to God’s worship.
Nanak saith, this is the way of salvation ; become a follower of the Guru and you shall attain it.
O mother, let some one instruct this erring mind.
Man hath heard the Veds and the Purans and the ways of holy men, yet he singeth not God’s praises even for a moment;
HYMNS OF GURU TEG BAHADUR 395
Having obtained a human body so difficult to obtain, he passeth his life in vain.
Worldly love is a very toilsome forest, yet man conceiveth love for it.
He feeleth no love for God who is ever with him at home and abroad.
Nanak, consider him in whose heart God is contained as delivered.
O good people, in God’s asylum there is rest.
The advantage of the study of the Veds and the Purans is to remember God’s name.
The man who is untouched by covetousness, worldly love, selfishness, joy, and sorrow,
And who is not a slave to his passion, is the image of God ;
So is he who deemeth heaven and hell, ambrosia and poison, gold and copper, as the same ;
And so also is he who deemeth praise and blame as the same, and who is not enslaved by avarice and worldly love :
Recognize him as possessed of divine knowledge who hath not the entanglements of pain and pleasure.
Nanak, admit that such a mortal is saved.
O man, why hast thou become crazy ?
Knowest thou not that life decreaseth day and night, and that thou art degraded by avarice ?
In the body and the beautiful house and wife which thou deemest thine own,
Thou hast no share ; see and carefully reflect on this.
Thou hast lost the jewel of human life, and thou knowest not God’s way;
Thou hast not been absorbed in the feet of the Lord even for a moment, and thou hast passed thy life in vain.
Saith Nanak, that man is happy who singeth God’s name and praises ;
Mammon hath bewitched all the rest of men ; they shall not obtain the fearless dignity.
O heedless man, fear sin. 1
Enter the protection of Him who is compassionate to the poor and the destroyer of every fear.
Clasp to thy heart the name of Him whose praises the Veds and Purans sing.
Pure is the name of God in the world ; by ever remembering it all filth of sin shall be cleansed.
Thou shalt not again obtain a human body; make some efforts now for thy deliverance.
Nanak saith, by lauding Him who is full of mercy thou shalt cross the terrible ocean.
Asa
To whom shall I describe man’s troubles ?
The prey of avarice he hasteth in every direction in the hope of wealth ;
For the sake of pleasure he undergoeth much suffering, and is the slave of every individual;
Like a dog he wandereth from door to door, and heedeth not God’s worship;
He loseth his human life in vain, and is not ashamed of men’s laughter,
Nanak, why dost thou not sing God’s praises so that thine eVil inclinations may depart ?
Devgandhari
Man doeth not a particle of my bidding.
I have been instructing him, yet he abstaineth not from wickedness;
He hath gone mad by the intoxication of mammon, and repeateth not God’s praises ;
By fraud he deceiveth the world and filleth his own belly ;
Like a dog’s tail he is never straight, and lendeth not an ear to what I tell him.
HYMNS OF GURU TEG BAHADUR 397
Saith Nanak, continually repeat the name of God, so shalt thou be successful.
All thy relations are only for life ;
Thy mother, father, brothers, sons, kinsmen, and the wife of thy house,
When the soul parteth from thy body, cry out and call thee a ghost;
Nobody keepeth thee even half a ghari; they expel thee from the house.
The structure of the world is like a mirage ; understand this and ponder on it in thy heart.
Saith Nanak, ever repeat God’s name by which deliverance is obtained.
I have seen that the love of the world is false ;
Everybody, whether wife or friend, is intent on his own happiness ;
Everybody speaketh of his relations, and attacheth his heart to them with love ;
At the last moment nobody will accompany him : this is a strange custom.
Stupid man as yet understandeth nothing, though I have grown weary of continually instructing him.
Nanak, if man sing the praises of God, he shall cross over the terrible ocean.
Bihagra
Nobody knoweth God’s ways ;
Jogis, jatis, penitents, and several wise men have grown weary .thinking of Him ;
He can in a moment make a beggar a king, or a king a beggar;
What is empty He filleth, and what is full He emptieth ; this is a practice of God ;
He hath spread His own illusion, and He Himself befyold- eth it;
He assumeth many shapes and -playeth many sports, yet is distinct from everything.
Incomputable, illimitable, unseen, and spotless is He who hath unsettled all men’s minds.
Saith Nanak, O mortal, lay aside all doubt, and think upon God’s feet.
Sorath
O man, love God ;
Hear His praises with thine ears, and sing His songs with thy tongue.
Associate with holy men, remember God, and thou shalt be cleansed from sin.
Death wandereth about, O friend, like a serpent with protruding fangs,
And it will seize thee sooner or later; understand this in thy heart.
Saith Nanak, worship God; thine opportunity is passing away.
Man’s intentions are never carried out;
He neither adoreth God, nor worshippeth at places of pilgrimage, 1 so Death seizeth him by the top-lock.
Know that wives, friends, sons, carriages, property, wealth, the whole world,
And everything else is false; only adoration of God is true.
Grown weary of wandering about for many ages, man hath at last obtained a human body :
Nanak saith, O man, it is now thy turn to meet God ; why not remember Him ?
O man, what evil inclinations hast thou entertained ?
Thou hast found pleasure in other men’s wives and in calumny, and God thou hast not served ;
Thou hast not known the way of deliverance, but hast hurried to amass wealth.
HYMNS OF GURU TEG BAHADUR 399
At last nothing shall accompany thee ; in vain hast thou entangled thyself.
Thou hast not worshipped God, nor served holy men, nor hath any divine knowledge sprung up in thy heart.
God is in thy heart, yet thou searchest for Him in the wilderness;
Thou hast grown weary of wandering in many births, and hast not acquired a stable mind ;
Having now acquired a human body worship God’s feet ; Nanak giveth thee this advice.
O man, think of seeking God’s protection ;
Fix His praises in thy heart, by meditating on whom such a person as the courtesan was saved ;
By remembering Him Dhru became immovable, and obtained the fearless dignity.
Why hast thou forgotten the Lord, who is such a Remover of sorrow ?
When the elephant took the protection of the Ocean of mercy, he escaped from the crocodile.
How far shall I describe the praises of the Name ? He who repeateth it bursteth his bonds.
The sinner Ajamal, the world knoweth, was saved in a moment.
Nanak saith, think upon the Fulfiller of desires, and thou too shalt be saved.
What efforts shall mortal make
By which he may obtain God’s service and dispel the fear of death ?
Say what science shall he study, and then what acts and religious ceremonies shall he perform ?
What is that great name, by remembering which man may cross the dreaded ocean ?
In the Kal age there is one Name, that of the Ocean of mercy, by repeating which man may obtain deliverance ;
There is no other religious ceremony equal to that, as shown by sacred writings.
He who is called the Lord of the earth, remaineth ever free from joy and sorrow, uncontaminated by the world,
And unaffected by it, O Nanak, like a mirror ; He dwelleth within thee.
O mother, how shall I behold the Lord of the earth ?
In the darkness of great worldly love and spiritual ignorance my heart hath been entangled ;
I have lost the whole of my life in wandering, and not obtained a stable mind ;
I have night and day pursued sinful pleasures, and have not abandoned sinful habits.
I have never associated with saints or sung God’s praises.
Nanak, in me is no virtue ; take me, 0 God, under Thy protection.
O mother, my heart is not under my control ;
Night and day it chaseth sinful pleasures ; how shall I restrain it ?
Although I have heard the teachings of the Veds, the Purans and the Simritis, yet I have not given them a place in my heart for an instant;
I have coveted others’ goods and others’ wives, and have passed my life in vain ;
I have become mad with the intoxication of mammon, and I know not any divine knowledge ;
The Pure One dwelleth in my heart, yet I know not His secret.
Since I have entered the asylum of the Saints, 1 my evil thoughts have all dispersed.
Nanak, when I thought upon the Fulfiller of desires, Death’s noose was cut.
O man, hold this for certain in thy heart—
The whole world is like a dream, and in its destruction there shall be no delay.
HYMNS OF GURU TEG BAHADUR 401
As a wall of sand, even when elaborately built lasteth not four days,
So is the pleasure of mammon ; why art thou entangled in it, O ignorant man ?
This very day come to thy senses; no harm is yet done ; repeat God’s name.
Saith Nanak, I have proclaimed unto thee, 0 man , the special teaching of holy men.
I have seen no friend in this world ;
The whole world is attached to one for its own interest, but man will have no companion in adversity.
Wives, friends, sons, and relatives are all attached to wealth , :
When they see a man poor, they all forsake his company and flee.
What shall I say to this demented heart which is attached to them ?
I have forgotten the praises of the Lord of the poor and the Destroyer of fear ;
However much I have striven, my heart remaineth as crooked as a dog’s tail, and will not straighten.
Saith Nanak, 0 God , have regard for Thy practice of forgiveness ; I have uttered Thy name.
O man, thou hast not embraced the Guru’s instruction,
What availeth thee to shave thy head, and put on an ochre-dyed garment ?
Having abandoned truth thou hast attached thyself to falsehood, and lost thy human life in vain ;
Thou hast filled thy belly by deceit, and slept like a beast;
Thou knowest not how to worship God, and thou hast sold thyself to mammon.
O madman, thou hast remained entangled with sin, and forgotten the jewel of the Name ;
Thou hast been thoughtless, thou hast not thought of God, thou hast passed thy life in vain.
D d