Whether men wear religious garbs or revel in their worldly possessions, they still need the Guru's guidance.
SRI RAG
Men put on many garbs and wander abroad, but in their hearts and minds practise deception.
They shall not find God's palace, and dying their abode shall be in filth.
O man, be a hermit in thine own home.
He who hath been enlightened by the Guru's instruction practiseth truth, self-restraint, and good works.
He conquereth his heart by the Guru's instruction, and obtaineth salvation and deliverance in his own home.
Meet the society of the saints, 0 man, and meditate on God's name.
Even though thou enjoy hundreds of thousands of women, and rule the nine regions of the world,
Thou shalt not obtain happiness without the true Guru, but shalt be born again and again.
Wealth and supernatural power follow those, even though they in no wise covet them,
Who wear on their necks God's necklaces1 and attach themselves to the Guru's feet.
What pleaseth God and nothing else shall take place.
The slave Nanak liveth by repeating Thy name, O God ; grant it to him of Thy grace.
The condition of the pious as distinguished from the perverse :—
Men act as they see others act : the perverse acquire not understanding.
HYMNS OF GURU AMAR DAS 155
The service of the pious whose hearts are pure is acceptable to God.
They sing God's praises, ever read them, and by singing them become absorbed in Him.
Nanak, the words of those who fix their attention on the Name are ever true.
The saints trade in God's name :—
God is the wealth and capital of His saints ; they trade in consultation with the Guru.
They praise His name for ever and ever ; His name is their merchandise and their support.
In their hearts the perfect Guru hath established God's name as an inexhaustible storehouse.
O my brethren, admonish your hearts.
O man, why art thou indolent ? Ponder on the Name under the Guru's instruction.
To serve God is to love Him, if pious men reflect on it.
God is not served by hypocrisy : the words of the double- dealer are despised.
He in whose heart are discrimination and reflection uniteth not with him.
He is called the servant of God who claspeth Him to his heart.
The holy man who placeth before Him and entrusteth to Him his soul and body, and rooteth out pride from within him,
Is blest and acceptable, and shall never suffer defeat.1
God is obtained by His own favour ; without it He is not obtained.
Eighty-four lakhs of species thirst for God, but only he whom He blendeth with Himself shall meet Him.
Nanak, the pious man who is ever absorbed in God's name shall find Him.
The condition of the perverse is like that of an unhappy wife : —
The acts of the perverse are like the external decorations of a wife separated from her husband :
Her husband cometh not to her couch, and she is ever in disgrace.
Far from reaching her husband's chamber, she may not see even the door of his house.
The necessity of a spiritual guide :—
Though man mortified himself and performed penance with body reversed, yet pride would not forsake him.
Were he even to investigate the relation between the supreme and the individual soul, he would never obtain the Name.
The name of God abideth in the heart of him who, under the Guru's instruction, while alive is dead.
The means of obtaining deliverance :—
Whom shall I worship ? What name shall I utter ? Go ask the true Guru.
Let me obey the order of the true Guru and remove pride from within me.
That is real worship and service by which the Name dwelleth in the heart.
It is only from the Name happiness is obtained ; man is adorned by the true Word.
O my soul, be wakeful night and day, and think upon God.
Watch thy field or the kulang Death will descend upon it.
His heart's desires are fulfilled who is saturated with the Word.
He who feareth, loveth, and serveth God day and night shall behold Him ever present.
Doubts fly far away from him whose heart is ever dyed with the true Word.
He obtaineth the pure Lord who is true and an ocean of excellences.
They who are awake are saved, they who sleep are lost.1
They know not the true Word; their lives pass away like a dream.
As from an empty house a guest goeth as he came, 1 Literally — are robbed.
HYMNS OF GURU AMAR DAS 157
So the life of the perverse man passeth away in vain ; what face shall he show to God ?
Thou art Thyself, O God, all in all ; man in a state of pride cannot utter Thy praises.
Recognize the Guru's instruction, so shall the disease of pride vanish from thy heart.
I touch the feet of those who serve their own true Guru.
Nanak, I am a sacrifice to those who are found to be true in God's court.
Instruction addressed to the sensual and the false :—
Hear, hear, thou who art seized by lust, why goest thou swaggering along ?
Thou knowest not thine own Beloved ; how shalt thou show thy face to Him ?
I touch the feet of my friends who know their own Spouse.
By associating with the guild of the saints, may I become like them !
O woman, the false have been ruined by their falsehood.
God the Spouse is true and beautiful, and is found by the Guru's instruction.
The perverse know not their Spouse ; how shall they pass their nights ?
They who are filled with pride burn with desire, and suffer pain from their worldly love.
They who are dyed with the Word, and from whom all pride departeth are happy wives.
They ever enjoy their Spouse and pass their days in the highest delight.
Their Spouse hath abandoned those who are devoid of divine knowledge, and they shall not obtain the Dear One.
The spiritually blind are in darkness ; without beholding the Bridegroom their hunger shall not depart.
Come and meet me, my friends, and cause me to meet my Beloved.
She who by perfect destiny hath met the true Guru, hath found her Beloved and is absorbed in the True One.
The women on whom God looketh with favour are happy wives :
They recognize their Spouse, and offer Him their bodies and their souls.
By dispelling their pride, they find their Spouse in their own homes.
Nanak, they who practise devotion day and night are happy wives worthy of praise.
SRI RAG ASHTAPADI
The holy are compared to non-migratory, the unholy to migratory birds :—
Beautiful is the bird1 on the tree 2, which pecketh at truth by the Guru's favour.
It drinketh the essence of God's name, abideth in happi ness, and flieth not hither and thither.
It obtaineth a dwelling in its own nest, and is absorbed in God's name.
O man, do the Guru's service.
If thou walk in the way of the Guru, thou shalt be day and night absorbed in God's name.
Can the birds3 on the tree be prized which fly in every direction ?
The more they fly, the worse they suffer ; they ever burn and scream.
Without the Guru they cannot behold God's court or obtain the ambrosial fruit.
For the pious who are naturally true, God is an evergreen tree.
They reject the three branches 4 and attach themselves to the Word which is the trunk.
The name of God alone is ambrosial fruit ; He Himself giveth it to be eaten.
The perverse even while erect are withered ; they have no fruit or shadow.
The soul of the pious man. 2 The body.
HYMNS OF GURU AMAR DAS 159
Sit not near them ; they have neither house nor village.
They are ever cut down and burnt as dry wood', they have neither the Word nor God's name.
Men act according to God's order and wander according to their previous acts.
By His order they obtain a sight of Him, and whither He sendeth them thither they go.
Of His own will God dwelleth in their hearts ; and they become blended with the True One.
The ignorant wretches who recognize not God's order, wander about in error.
Their acts are the result of obstinacy, and they are con tinually disgraced.
They have no peace within them, and they love not the True One.
Beautiful are the faces of the pious who bear love and affection to the Guru.
Theirs is the real worship ; they are dyed with the truth, and found true at the court of the True One.
Fortunate is their advent into the world ; they save all their families.
The acts of all are under the eye of God ; none are beyond His supervision.
As the true God beholdeth man, so he becometh.
Nanak, the greatness of the Name is obtained by good acts.
Even the holy without the Guru fall under the influence of mammon :—
Sidhs wander abroad misled by Maya, and contemplate not God with love.
Maya entereth the three worlds, and they are greatly entangled by her.
Without the Guru deliverance cannot be obtained, nor shall doubt and worldly love depart.
Whom do men call Maya ? What doth Maya do ?
She it is who hath enchained man in misery l and caused him to do works of pride.
i6o THE SIKH RELIGION
Men even of the lowest caste obtain glory in God's court :—
Nama, a calico printer, and Kabir, a weaver, obtained salvation from the perfect guru.
Knowing God they embraced His word, and lost their consciousness of caste.
Demigods and men sing their compositions ; none may erase them, my brethren.
Prahlad, the son of a Daitya,1 read not of religious cere monies or austerities, yet he knew not worldly love ;
On meeting a true guru he became holy, and uttered God's name night and day.
He read only of the one God ; he required only the one Name, and knew none other.
All long for rest and ultimate repose in God :—
Everybody longeth for rest, but it cannot be obtained with out the Guru.
Pandits and astrologers grow weary of reading ; they who wear sectarial dresses wander in error.
If God be merciful, rest is obtained by meeting the Guru.
My brethren, rest is not obtained without the Guru.
It is from the Word rest proceedeth and the true God is obtained.
What is sung at rest is acceptable ; without rest recital is vain.
It is in rest devotion springeth up ; in rest love of God and contempt of the world are produced.
HYMNS OF GURU AMAR DAS 161
It is from rest happiness and peace are obtained ; without rest life is vain.
It is in rest God is ever and ever praised ; in rest man applieth himself to contemplation.
It is in rest God's praises are uttered, and man attentively serveth Him.
It is by the Word God dwelleth in the heart, and the tongue tasteth His nectar.
In rest death is destroyed, and man entereth the sanctuary of the True One.
In rest God's name dwelleth in the heart, and man prac- tiseth truth.
They are very fortunate who have found God and entered into a state of rest.
Rest is not found in mammon which produceth worldly love.
The perverse perform ceremonial works, but they destroy themselves and others by their pride.
Their birth and death cease not ; they come and go again and again.
Rest is not found in Maya with the three qualities ; she leadeth men astray in error.
What avail reading, studying, and talking if men wander from the First Cause ?
In the fourth state there is rest ; it is obtained by the holy.
The name of Him who is without qualities is a treasure ; in rest a knowledge of it is obtained.
The virtuous praising God say, ' True is the fame of the True One.'
God will grant rest even to those who have gone astray, if they have found the Word.
Without rest all are blind in the darkness of worldly love.
In rest a knowledge of the true eternal Word is obtained.
The perfect Guru, the Creator, hath pardoned and blended me with Himself.
In rest the Unseen, the Fearless, the Luminous, the Form less One is recognized.
There is one Benefactor of all, the Luminous One who blendeth man with His light.