They who turn away from the Guru Shall have their houses demolished in this world and the next.
They shall be laughed at here, have no dwelling hereafter,
COMPOSITIONS OF GURU GOBIND SINGH 305
And be debarred from all hope. Sorrow and hunger shall ever attach to those Who forsake the service of the Saint. Nothing that they do shall succeed in this world, And at last they shall fall into the pit of hell. They who turn and fly from the Guru's feet, Shall have their faces blackened in this world and the next.
The successors of both Baba Nanak and Babar Were created by God Himself. .
Recognize the former as a spiritual, I Iw^
And the latter as a temporal king. \ \
Babar's successors shall seize and plunder those Who deliver not the Guru's money.
They who love the Guru's feet
Shall never see misery.
Wealth and supernatural power shall enter their houses.
And sin and suffering not touch even their shadows.
What is a wretched enemy ^ to him whom the Friend preserveth ?
An enemy could not even touch his shadow ; the fool would lose his labour.
Who can meditate anything against those who enter the Saint's protection ?
God preserveth them as the tongue is preserved among the teeth ; He destroyeth their enemies and allayeth their suffering.
What can a miserable enemy do to him whom the Friend preserveth ?
He cannot even touch his shadow ; the fool shall pass away.
^ Or — What are the designs of an enemy against him ?
&IKH. V X
3o6 THE SIKH RELIGION
All-death saveth all His saints ;
He hath tortured and destroyed all sinners ;
He hath shown wonderful things to His saints,
And saved them from all misery.
Knowing me to be His slave He hath aided me ;
He hath given me His hand and saved me.
Gyan Prabodh
Neither the Veds, nor Brahma knoweth God's secret,
Neither Vyas nor his father Parasar, nor his son Shukdev, nor the sons of Brahma, nor Shiv knoweth God's hmit.
All four sons of Brahma know not God's time.
Lakhs of Lakshmis, lakhs of Vishnus, and many Krishans declare Him indescribable.
Thou art incomprehensible, O God, and fearless ; Thou art most powerful, the Creator of sea and land.
Thou art the unshaken, endless, unequalled, immeasurable Lord ; Pure One, I seek Thy protection.
Here follow in the tenth Guru's Granth transla- tions and abridgements of tales from the Purans on the twenty-four Hindu incarnations. The follow- ing is the Guru's introduction to them : —
O God, Thou art the Creator and the Destroyer ;
Thou killest and puttest the blame on the heads of others.^
Thou dwellest apart and none can find Thee ;
Wherefore Thou art called the Endless One.
They who are called the twenty-four incarnations
Have not found even a trace of Thee, O God.
On seeing Thy saints distressed Thou becomest uneasy ;
^ Compare the Panjabi proverb: — Lain aia ap; Nam dharaia tap. Death cometh to take one, But he is called by the name of fever. The meaning of the verse in the text is, that all acts ultimately proceed from God, though they appear to be done by His human instruments.
COMPOSITIONS OF GURU GOBIND SINGH 307
Wherefore Thou art styled the kinsman of the poor.
At last Thou shalt destroy the whole world ;
Wherefore the world calleth Thee Death.
Thou aidest all the saints as occasion requireth ;
Wherefore they call Thee their helper.
On beholding the poor, Thou art compassionate to them ;
So we deem Thee the Friend of the poor.
Since Thou sheddest the juice of favour on the saints,
The world calleth Thee the Ocean of favour.
Thou ever removest the troubles of the saints ;
Wherefore Thou hast obtained the name of the Remover of trouble.
Thou hast come to dispel the sorrows of the saints ;
Wherefore, O God, Thou art called the Dispeller of sorrows.
Thou remainest endless ; Thy end cannot be found ;
Wherefore Thou hast obtained the name of the Endless One.
Thou didst appoint the forms of all things in the world ;
Wherefore Thou art called the Creator.
No one hath ever seen Thee anywhere ;
Wherefore Thou art called the Unseen.
Thou wert never born in the world ; ^
Wherefore every one describeth Thee as Unborn.
Brahma and the rest all grow weary of searching for Thine origin.
Vishnu and Shiv — what are the wretched beings ?
After consideration and deliberation God made the moon and sun ;
Wherefore He is known as the Creator.
Ever without a garb He remaineth without a garb ;
Wherefore the world calleth Him the Garbless.
Invisible is His form, no one knoweth Him ;
On this account he is called the Unseen.
His form is incomparable and unequalled ;
He hath no concern with garbs or no garbs.
He bestoweth on all but beggeth from none
Wherefore He is recognized as the Provider.
^ This is an explanation of the word ajotii in the Japji, X 2
3o8 THE SIKH RELIGION
He is not concerned with celestial appearances or omens ;
This fact is known to the whole world.
He is not appeased by incantations, written or spoken, or by charms.
No one hath found Him by adopting a garb.
Men are entangled with their own affairs ;
No one knoweth the Supreme God.
Some (Hindus) go to places of cremation ; others (Musal- mans) to cemeteries ;
But God is at neither.
They who visit either are ruined by worldly love and contention.
And the Lord remaineth separate from them.
What is a Hindu or a Musalman to him
From whose heart doubt departeth ?
The Muhammadans use tasbis, ^ the Hindus malas ; ^
The former read the Quran and the latter the Purans.
Fools have died over the discussion ;
They were not imbued with God's deep love.
They who are imbued with love for the one God,
Disregard human opinion and are happy.
They who recognize the Primal Being as the one God,
Allow no other belief to enter their hearts.
They who cherish any other belief,
Shall be debarred from meeting the Friend.
He who knoweth the one Supreme Being even a little,
Knoweth the Real Thing.
All the Jogis and Sanyasis,
The multitudes of Shaven-heads and Musalmans,
Have plundered the world by their garbs.
The holy men whose support is God's name remain un- known.
The unholy practise hypocrisy for the sake of their bellies ;
Without hypocrisy they can obtain naught.
The men who meditate on the one Being
Never practise hypocrisy on any one.
Without hypocrisy they would obtain nothing,
For no one would bow before any of them. 1 Muhammadan and Hindu names of rosaries.
COMPOSITIONS OF GURU GOBIND SINGH 309
If no one had a belly,
Who would describe any one as rich or poor ?
They who have concluded that God is one
Never practise hypocrisy on any one.
They give their heads, but abandon not their determina- tion : ^
They regard their bodies as nothing.
Men who split their ears are called Jogis ;
With great deceit they betake themselves to the forest.
They who know not the virtue of the One Name,
Belong neither to the forest nor to the household.
In the beginning God was the father of the whole world ;
From Him light first proceeded.
I have not sufficient ability to tell the tale,
Or to mention the names of the different creatures He created.
Things strong and weak were produced ;
Things high and low were shown separately.
The primal light which is called the one God,
He at last infused into all His creatures.
Know that the light of the one God
Is in all the souls which are in this world.
The whole world shall be blended with God,
Who is described as Kalrup.^
Whatever is visible and perceptible by the senses
Man considereth Maya.
The one God is contained in all things,
But He established them all separately.
And He pervadeth them all unseen :
He will call them all separately to account.
They who have considered Him as One
Have obtained the real thing.^
The form of the one God is unequalled :
He is sometimes poor, sometimes a prince or a king.
He hath given to all men their several entanglements ;
He is separate from them, and none of them hath found Him.
^ As Guru Teg Bahadur did.
He created all things separately, And will destroy them all separately. God accepteth not censure from any one ; ^ It is He who casteth censure on others.
We now give the Guru's remarks on the transla- tions and abridgements of the stories of the Hindu incarnations.
Ram Avatar
Since I have embraced Thy feet I have paid regard to none besides .^
The Purans of Ram (the God of the Hindus) and the Quran of Rahim (the God of the Musalmans) express various opinions, but I accept none of them.
The Simritis, the Shastars, and the Veds all expound many different doctrines, but I accept none of them.
O holy God, by Thy favour it is not I who have been speaking ; all that hath been said hath been said by Thee.
Forsaking all other doors I have clung to Thine. It is to Thine honour to protect me whose arm Thou hast grasped ; Gobind is Thy slave .^
Krishan Avatar I do not at the outset propitiate Ganesh ; * I never meditate on Krishan or Vishnu ;
^ The Guru, with the joy of an author at the end of his toil, was pleased to note the date and place of the conclusion of his History of Ram —
On the first day of the dark half of Har, a day of pleasure to me, In the Sambat year seventeen hundred and fifty-five. At the base of the lofty Naina Devi^ on the margin of the Satluj waters,
Through God's help I finished the history of Ram — that is, the translation of the Ram Avatar into Hindi from Sanskrit.
* As is usual in Hindi literary works. The Guru no doubt meant these verses as an introduction to his Hindi translation of the Krishan Avatar, which forms the tenth chapter of the Bhagwat.
COMPOSITIONS OF GURU GOBIND SINGH 311
I have heard of them but I know them not ; It is only God's feet I love. Great-death, be Thou my protector ; All-steel, I am Thy slave. Deeming me Thine own, preserve me ; Think of mine honour, whose arm Thou hast taken. Deeming me Thine own, cherish me. Single out and destroy mine enemies. May both my kitchen and my sword prevail in the world ! ^
Preserve me and let none trample on me ;
Be Thou ever my cherisher !
Thou art the Lord, I am Thy slave.
Deeming me Thine own, be gracious unto me ;
Perform everything for me Thyself ;
Thou art the King of kings ;
It is Thou alone who cherishest the poor ;
Deeming me Thy slave, bestow Thy favour on me ;
I have arrived and am lying weary at Thy door.
Thou art my Lord, I am Thy slave.
Deeming me Thy slave, reach me Thy hand and save me ;
Destroy all mine enemies.
They who loved not God, while performing great penance, who endured self -torment, excessively heated their bodies,
Went to Banaras, and read the Veds very many times, obtained not the Real Thing.
They gave alms so that Vishnu might come into their power, but they lost all their \yealth.
They who loved God with hearty affection found Him.
What availeth it if a crane sit closing his eyes and dis- playing a religious garb to the world ?
^ The pot to feed the poor and the stranger, regardless of caste and religion, and the sword to destroy the oppressors of humanity. An inscription on a sword in the possession of the Raja of Nabha is, Badhe degh ieya iegh fe, that is, man becomes great either by entertain- ing his friends or destroying his enemies.
If man ever go about bathing in water like a fish, how shall he obtain possession of God ?
If man croak day and night like a frog and fly like a bird, how shall he obtain possession of God ?
Siam ^ and all these saints say, hath any one without love pleased God ?
Of those who through greed of wealth continued to loudly sing and recite God's praises,
And who danced but gave not their hearts thereto, hath any found the way to God's wonderful world ?
They excited laughter in the world, and knew not the essence of wisdom even in their dreams.
The poet Siam asketh if God hath been obtained by any one without love.
Several meditated in the forest, and returned home weary.
Sidhs in meditation and Munis in deep research have sought for God, but found Him not.
Siam saith, all the Veds and the Muhammadan books and the wisdom of the saints have thus decided.
Hearken, O saints, the poet speaketh, they who search with love obtain God.
I am the son of a brave man, not of a Brahman ; how can I perform austerities ?
How can I turn my attention to Thee, O Lord, and for- sake domestic affairs ?
Now be pleased to grant me the boon I crave with clasped hands,
That when the end of my life cometh, I may die fighting in a mighty battle.
Blest is his life in this world who repeateth God's name with his mouth and meditateth war in his heart.
/ 1 Some suppose that Siam is the Guru's takhallas or mm de plume. \ Others maintain that it was the real name of one of the fifty-two bards \ \ the Guru entertained.
COMPOSITIONS OF GURU GOBIND SINGH 313
The body is fleeting and shall not abide for ever ; man embarking in the ship of fame shall cross the ocean of the world.
Make this body a house of resignation ; light thine under- standing as a lamp ;
Take the broom of divine knowledge into thy hand, and sweep away the filth of timidity.
Parasnath Avatar
O thoughtless fool, why knowest thou not thy Maker ?
O man, why knowest thou not God ?
O heedless beast bound with worldly love, they on whom thou reposest confidence —
Ram, Krishan, and the Prophet — whose names thou con- tinually utterest on rising —
Where live they now in the world,i and why singest thou their praises ?
Why recognizest thou not Him who is now and ever shall be ?
Why idly worship stones ; will they yield thee any return ?
Worship Him by whose worship thy work shall be accom- plished.
And by taking whose name all thy desires shall be fulfilled.
O Jogi, Jog consisteth not in matted hair.
Why wear thyself out and kill thyself wandering ? Con- sider this in thy mind.
The man who knoweth the supreme divine knowledge shall obtain the great reward ;
He shall then restrain his mind in one place, and not run wandering from door to door.
What availeth it to leave one*s home, run away, and dwell in a forest.
When one's heart ever remaineth at home ? Such a per- son is not an Udasi.
^ That is, they were mortal like others, and what is the use of worshipping ihem ?
Boasting of thy religious fervour, thou deceivest the world by the exercise of great deception.
Thou thinkest in thy heart that thou hast abandoned worldly love, but worldly love hath not abandoned thee.
O man with the garb, religion consisteth not in wearing a garb.
It consisteth not in wearing matted hair and long nails, or in smearing ashes on the body, or dyeing thy raiment.
If man obtain Jog by dwelling in the forest, the bird ever dwelleth there.
The elephant ever throweth dust on his head ; consider this in thy heart.
Frogs and fishes ever bathe at places of pilgrimage.
The cat, the wolf, and the crane meditate ; what know they of religion ?
As thou endurest pain to deceive men, do so also for God's sake.
Thus shalt thou know great divine knowledge and quaff the supreme nectar.
The follov^ing thirty-three sav^aiyas are also read in Abchalangar and other places v^hile the Sikh baptismal water is being prepared. Several orthodox Sikhs say that these are the sawaiyas which ought always to be read at the baptism, and of this indeed there is internal evidence.
He who repeateth night and day the name of Him whose enduring light is unquenchable, who bestoweth not a thought on any but the one God ;
Who hath full love and confidence in God, who putteth not faith even by mistake in fasting, or worshipping ceme- teries, places of cremation, or Jogis' places of sepulture ;
Who only recognizeth the one God and not pilgrimages, alms, the non-destruction of life,^ Hindu penances, or austerities ;
^ As practised by the Jains.
COMPOSITIONS OF GURU GOBIND SINGH 315
And in whose heart the hght of the Perfect One shineth, he is recognized as a pure member of the Khalsa.
God is true, Eternal, true to His promise ; He is from the beginning, without beginning, unfathomable, and in- vincible.
Bounty, mercy, self-control, austerities, daily ceremonies, continence, fasting, clemency, religious observances are all contained in the name of the Immutable One.
He is from the beginning, pure, without a beginning, infinite,^ endless, without enmity, without fear.
He hath form, and is without form or outline ; He groweth not old, He is compassionate and merciful to the poor.
God is from the beginning, without enmity, without garb, great, true, refulgent, and resplendent.
He filleth the inmost hearts of all ; meditation on Him, the Real Thing, curbeth natural inclinations.
Thou wert in the beginning, before the ages, before the world ; O God, Thou art all-pervading and dwellest in every heart.
Compassionate to the poor, merciful mine of mercy, from the beginning, unborn, invincible, indestructible.
In the beginning, indestructible, imperishable, ever- lasting : — O God, the Veds and the books of the Musalmans have found not Thy secret.
Compassionate to the poor, merciful, Ocean of mercy, true, everlasting, diffused in every heart,
Sheshnag, Indar, Ganesh, and Shiv have searched the Veds, but found not Thy depth.
0 foolish man, say why hast thou forgotten God who is ever manifest ?
God is immovable, from the beginning, stainless, in- finite, true, and everlasting.
He is adored as primaeval, unconceived, unborn, free from old age, supremely pure, illimitable.
He is well known ^ as the self-existent, renowned in the whole world, One, yet in different places.
O base man, why recognize not God who is without stain ?
O Creator, thou art imperishable, from the beginning, without blemish, without limits, true, and eternal.
Thou ever providest sustenance for all animals which are in sea and land.
The Veds, the Purans, the Quran, describe Thee in various ways.
In the rest of the world there is at last naught but Thee ; O divine One, Thou art Sovereign Ruler over all.
Thou art known as from the beginning, unfathomable, imperishable, indivisible, invisible, invincible, and illimitable.
Thou art in the past, the future, the present ; Thou art adored in every place.
Demigods, demons, Sheshnag, Narad, and Saras wati recognize Thee as true and eternal.
The Purans and the Quran know not the secrets of the Compassionate to the poor, the Ocean of mercy.
O true and eternal One, perpetual is Thy dominion ; it is Thou who madest the Veds and the Quran.
Thou didst appoint demigods, demons, Sheshnag the past and the present.
From the beginning, before the ages, the stainless, the indestructible. Thy light is seen, though Thou art unseen.
^ Sidh. Some translate this word miracles.
COMPOSITIONS OF GURU GOBIND SINGH 317
O foolish man, who hath come to tell thee of the in- visible God ? ^
Demigods, demons, Sheshnag, serpents, famous Sidhs have done great penance ;
The Veds, the Purans, the Quran, all have grown weary singing Thy praises, O God, but Thou art not known unto them.
Thou knowest all hearts on earth, in heaven, in the nether regions, and in every direction.
Thy praises fill the earth ; they entering my heart told me this.
The Veds and the books of the Musalmans have not found God*s secret ; all the Sidhs have grown weary con- templating Him.
The Simritis, Shastars, Veds, and Purans all describe Him in various ways ;
But God who was in the beginning, and who had no beginning, whose story is unfathomable, cannot be known. He saved such as Dhru, Prahlad, and Ajamal.