Under the instruction of the perfect Guru praise God who hath no end or limit.
The Name is the wealth of those who possess divine know ledge ; in rest they trade in it.
Night and day they receive God's name as their profit from a full and exhaustless storehouse.
Nanak, there shall never be a deficiency since the Giver hath given it.
SRI RAG KI WAR
The Guru's preference for the Sri Rag, the holy measure :—
The Sri Rag is a measure among measures, if any one loving the True One sing in it.1
The understanding of him in whose heart the true God dwelleth is ever firm and unequalled.
He who pondereth on the Guru's instruction obtaineth the priceless jewel.
His tongue is true, his heart is true, and true his body.
The love of mammon deprives men of their senses :—
Until one love the Lord all other love 2 is unstable.
Maya hath infatuated man, so that he cannot see or hear.
Without beholding God love is not produced ; what shall a blind man do ?
Nanak, the True One who hath deprived man of sight can restore it.
The true Guru can only be obtained by love :—
The company of the Guru is not easily found either far or near ;
Nanak, thou shalt meet the true Guru if thy heart dwell with him.
HYMNS OF GURU AMAR DAS 163
The following is said to have been written when the Guru's brother-in-law suggested to him that in consequence of his large expenditure on guests, charity, &c., he ought to keep accounts :—
May the pen with the ink-bottle be burnt, may the paper also be burnt !
May the writer who writeth love of the world be burnt !
Nanak, man acteth according to what was destined in the beginning ; nothing else can be done.
To read about other things than God is false ; false it is to speak of worldly things or to love them.
Nanak, nothing is permanent but the Name ; man is ruined by perpetual plodding.
The evil of worldly love :—
The whole world is dead repeating ' Mine, mine ', yet worldly wealth departeth with no one.
Man suffereth for worldly love ; Death is on the watch for every one.
Nanak, the pious who remember God's name shall be saved.
The Guru deprecates obstinacy :—
They who obey not God shall copiously weep ;
Through the deceit of their hearts they shall find no sleep.
If woman walk as it pleaseth her Spouse,
She shall be honoured at home and invited to His chamber—
Nanak, such wisdom is obtained by good acts —
And she by the favour of the Guru shall be absorbed in the true One.
The Guru preaches to those who are attached to worldly love :—
O perverse man who possesseth not the Name, err not on beholding the safflower dye of this world.
Paltry is its price, and it shall last but for a few days.
The stupid, the blind, and the ignorant die in agony through attachment to mammon.
M 2
They fall like worms into ordure, and continually perish therein.
Nanak, they who are imbued with the Name are happy through the kind disposition of the Guru.
The dye of devotion fadeth not ; he who applieth it shall remain absorbed in God.
The condition of the perverse :—
The pandits induced by worldly gain read, and read, and recite the Veds.
The fool who in his love of mammon forgetteth God's name, shall be punished therefor.
He never thinketh of Him who gave him life and body, and supplieth him with his daily bread.
The noose of death shall not be cut from his neck ; he shall come and go again and again.
The perverse man is blind and seeth nothing ; he acteth as was predestined for him.
The true Guru is found by complete good fortune ; the Name of the giver of happiness shall then abide in the disciple's heart.
Nanak, they who forget not the Name by which honour is obtained at the gate of the True One,
Shall enjoy happiness, array themselves in happiness, and pass their lives in happiness.
The condition of the holy :—
By serving the true Guru happiness and the true Name of the Lord of excellences are obtained.
By the Guru's instruction man knoweth himself, and God's name is manifested to him.
He who is true acteth truly, and obtaineth greatness near the Great One :
He praiseth and supplicateth God to whom belong body and soul.
They who praise the true Word, dwell in supreme happiness.
Though man may have practised devotion, penance, and self-restraint, yet without the Name in his heart accursed is his life.
HYMNS OF GURU AMAR DAS 165
The Name is obtained by the Guru's instruction ; the perverse perish through worldly love.
Preserve me, O God, according to Thy will ; Nanak is Thy slave.
The cupidity of the Brahman :—
The Brahman when reading shouteth aloud through love of mammon.
The foolish and ignorant man recognizeth not God who is within him.
He preacheth to the world through worldly love, but he understandeth not divine knowledge.
He spendeth his life in vain, and dieth and is born again and again.
He who serveth the true Guru obtaineth the Name ; know and reflect upon this :
His clamour and complaints shall come to an end, and peace and happiness ever abide in his heart.
By reflecting on the Guru's instruction, man effaceth him self and his mind becometh pure.
Nanak, they who are imbued with the Word and bear love and affection to God shall obtain deliverance.
Spiritual pride cannot be removed without effort :-
Nanak, he is brave and a hero who chaseth the enemy of pride from within him.
The pious man who praiseth the Name reformeth his life:
He is ever saved and saveth all his families.
He who loveth the Name is honoured at the gate of the True One.
The perverse die in pride ; they die an evil death.
Everything befalleth according to God's will ; what can poor mortals do ?
Man forgetteth the Master under the influence of pride and worldly love.
Nanak, without the Name all is suffering ; happiness is forgotten.
The truly pious have no fear of death :—
He in whose heart the true Guru hath established God's name is freed from superstition.
He singeth God's name and praises, light appeareth, and the way is shown unto him.
He destroyeth his pride, fixeth his attention on the one God, and implanteth the Name in his heart.
By the Guru's instruction Death cannot look at him, for he is absorbed in the true Name.
The Creator Himself pervadeth everything : He applieth to His name those who please Him.
If the slave Nanak repeat God's name, he shall live ; with out the Name he shall immediately die.
The value of true devotion :—
Through the kind disposition of the Guru adore God who is in thy heart.
If man's spirit have faith in the universal Spirit, it shall be happy at home :
Through the kind disposition of the Guru it shall become steady and waver not.
Without the Guru peace is not obtained, and the impurity of covetousness departeth not from the heart.
If for one moment God's name dwell in the heart, it is as bathing at the sixty-eight places of Hindu pilgrimage.
Impurity attacheth not to the true ; it attacheth to those who love worldly things.
It will never depart by ablution even though one bathe at the sixty-eight places of pilgrimage.
Whatever the perverse proud man doeth, he shall only receive pain in return.
Nanak, when man is absorbed in the true Guru, his im purity shall be washed away.
The perverse prefer to tread the way of mammon :—
If the perverse be admonished, will they ever heed the admonition ?
If the perverse meet the good, these will not associate with them ; they are doomed to transmigration.
HYMNS OF GURU AMAR DAS 167
There are two ways — one the love of God, the other of mammon ; l the way man treadeth dependeth on God's will.
The believer chasteneth his heart and applieth to it the touchstone of the Word.2
It is with his heart he quarrelleth, with his heart he strug- gleth, he is engaged with his heart.
Whoever loveth the true Word shall receive what his heart desireth.
He shall ever eat the ambrosia of the Name, and act according to the Guru's instruction.
They who quarrel with others, instead of quarrelling with their own hearts, waste their lives.
The perverse are ruined by obstinacy and by the practice of falsehood and deception.
He who by the Guru's instruction subdueth his heart, shall fix his affection on God.
Nanak, the believer practiseth truth ; the perverse suffer transmigration.
Service to the Guru inculcated :—
They who serve the true Guru shall be considered of account.
Having effaced pride from their hearts they shall continue to love the True One.
The lives of those who serve not the true Guru pass in vain.
Nanak, God acteth as He pleaseth ; none may interfere
with Him.3
The fate of the spiritually blind :- The spiritually blind who are encompassed by sin, who commit sin,
And who worship mammon, shall be punished in God's
court.
Worship the divine spirit ; but without the true Guru He cannot be known.
Devotion, penance, and austerities please the true Guru, and are obtained by good acts.
Nanak, service should be performed with attention ; he who pleaseth God shall be acceptable.
Vain are the lives of the perverse :—
They who worship not the true Guru or ponder on his words,
Never obtain divine knowledge in their hearts, and are as dead in the world.
They wander in the eighty-four lakhs of existences, and are ruined by transmigration.
He whom God causeth to perform the true Guru's service shall perform it.
In the true Guru is the treasure of the Name which is obtained by good acts.
They who are imbued with the word of the true Guru, ever truly love God.
Nanak, he whom God blendeth with Himself, shall never be separated from Him ; he shall naturally be absorbed in Him.
The Guru's definition of a saint :—
He is a saint who recognizeth God, Who by the Guru's favour knoweth himself, Who restraineth his wandering mind and keepeth the one God in his heart,
Who in life is dead, and who repeateth God's name- Such a saint is the best, And, O Nanak, shall be absorbed in the True One.
The sinner who pretendeth to be a saint :—
He who hath deception in his heart and calleth himself a saint,
Shall never by reason of his hypocrisy obtain the supreme God.
He who practiseth calumny soileth his heart.
He may wash away his bodily filth, but his heart's impurity shall not depart.
HYMNS OF GURU AMAR DAS 169
He who quarrelleth with the guild of the saints,
Who is smitten with worldly love, and who remembereth not the Name,
Shall, even though he perform many religious ceremonies, be unhappy night and day.
What is destined from the beginning cannot be effaced.
Nanak, deliverance is not obtained without serving the true Guru.
Hypocrisy is as vain as the external decorations of an evil woman :—
The woman whose conduct is bad, and whose heart is counterfeit, may decorate herself, but she shall still be ugly.
She acteth not as pleaseth her Spouse, nay, the foolish woman giveth Him orders.
She who acteth as her Guru desireth shall escape all misery.
The writing which the Creator wrote in the beginning cannot be effaced.
Let woman devote her soul and body to her Spouse and love His word.
Without repeating His name no one hath obtained God ; reflect on this in thy heart.
Nanak, that woman whom the Creator enjoy eth, shall become beautiful and well-conducted.
The worldly grope in mental darkness, and are miserable without the Guru :—
Worldly love is darkness whose limits cannot be seen.
The perverse, the spiritually ignorant, and those who forget God's name perish in great misery.
After rising in the morning they perform many hollow ceremonies for the love of mammon ;
But, if they serve their true Guru, they shall cross the terrible ocean.
Nanak, the believers by clasping the true Name to their- hearts shall become absorbed in the True One.
He who turns to idolatry falls to the level of an abandoned woman :—
The perverse woman is filthy, ill-conducted, and evil ;
She leaveth her husband and her home through her love for another man :
Her passion is never extinguished ; she burneth and crieth aloud.
Nanak, without the Name she appeareth misshapen and unlovely, and her husband abandoneth her.
The happiness of the holy :—
She who is tinctured by the Word, and who beareth love and affection to the true Guru is a happy wife.
She whose love and affection are true, shall ever enjoy her Spouse.
Very lovely, beautiful, and honoured shall that woman be.
Nanak, she is called the happy wife whom the Blender hath blended with Himself.
Who shall obtain renown :—
He who acteth according to the wishes of the Guru shall acquire great renown.
The name of God, which is the greatest, shall dwell in his heart, and no one can remove it.
He to whom God showeth His kindness obtaineth the Name through his good acts.
Nanak, the creation is in the power of the Creator ; a few pious men understand this.
Nanak, Mammon who is God's servant waiteth upon those
Who worship His name and fix their attention on Him night and day.
The perfect One, the Regenerator, by His order hath made them perfect.
They who by the Guru's favour understand divine knowledge, have attained the gate of deliverance.
The obstinate recognize not God's order ; Death the executioner shall punish them.
The pious who worship God shall cross the terrible ocean of the world.
He whom the Guru himself pardoneth, shall wipe out all his demerits with merits.
HYMNS OF GURU AMAR DAS 171
The Guru's fervid prayer :—
May I meet my Beloved and hold Him to my heart !
May I ever and ever praise my God through the love and affection of the Guru !
Nanak, she is a happy wife whom God looketh on with favour and uniteth with Himself.
The effect of the effacement of spiritual pride :—
If God look on man with favour, he shall obtain Him by service to the Guru.
By pondering on God's name man becometh a demigod.
He who effaceth his pride meeteth God, and is saved by the Guru's instruction.
Nanak, they on whom God conferreth His favour become easily united with Him.
God's greatness and munificence :—
Our lives and bodies are all His ; He supporteth all.
Nanak, under the Guru's instruction serve Him who is ever and ever the Giver.
I am a sacrifice to those who ponder on the Formless One.
Their faces are ever bright ; the whole world boweth before them.
The spiritual exaltation conferred by the Guru :—
I am completely altered since I met the true Guru ; I have obtained the nine treasures to spend and eat.
The eighteen perfections follow in my train, my mind abideth in its own house and home.1
Unbeaten sounds ever play for me, and I direct my atten tion to absorption in God.
Nanak, devotion to God abideth in the hearts of those on whose foreheads such fate was written in the beginning.
The advantages of obeying the word of God :— MAJH ASHTAPADI
He who dieth by the Guru's word is really dead.2 Grief shall not annoy nor Death crush him
Who hcareth the true Word, obeyeth it, and treasureth it in his heart ; his light shall be blended with God's.
I am a sacrifice, my life is a sacrifice unto those who derive glory from God's name,
Who serve the true Guru, who apply their hearts to the True One, and who under the Guru's instruction have become absorbed in Him.
The body is frail ; it is a frail garment for the soul to wear.
If woman attach herself to the world, she shall not attain God's court.
Night and day she shall burn and wander ; day and night without her Beloved shall she suffer great agony.
Neither men's bodies nor castes shall go to the next world.
Where the account is taken, there shall man be delivered by the practice of truth.
They who serve the true Guru and are absorbed in the Name, shall be blest here and hereafter.
She who maketh fear and love her decorations,
Shall by the Guru's favour obtain God in her own home.
She shall always enjoy God, and be day and night tinctured with the fixed dye of His love.
The Beloved ever dwelleth with all,
Though only a few can behold Him by the favour of the Guru.
My Lord is the most high ; through His mercy He blendeth man with Himself.
This world is asleep in worldly love.
Men forget the Name and are ruined at last.
He who put them to sleep will awaken them, and by the Guru's instruction they shall obtain understanding.
He who drinketh the nectar of God's name shall have his doubts dispelled,
And by the Guru's favour attain the state of salvation.
He who is dyed with service shall ever be free from attach ment to the world, and, effacing himself, shall be blended with God.
Thou didst create men, O God, and appoint them to their several duties ;
HYMNS OF GURU AMAR DAS 173
And Thou givest their food to the eighty-four lakhs of animal species.
Nanak, he who is dyed with love for the True One medi- tateth on the Name, and God causeth him to act according to His will.
All good thoughts arise in the heart :—
Diamonds and rubies are produced in the heart,
But it is by the Guru's instruction man assayeth them and hath them assayed.
They who possess the truth utter the truth, and apply the touchstone of truth to their hearts.
I am a sacrifice, my life is a sacrifice unto those who implant the Word of the Guru in their hearts.
Though in impurity, they obtain the Pure One ; and their light is blended with God's light.
The perverse may perform hypocritical service, but for their salvation they must attend to the instruction of the Guru :—
The perverse and fools practise cleverness,
But for all their bathing and washing they shall not be acceptable.
As they came into the world, so shall they depart grieving for their transgressions.
The perverse are blind and see nothing.
They have come into the world with death written for them, but they think not of it.
Though the perverse perform religious ceremonies, they obtain not the Name, and without it they lose their human lives.
The essence of the Word is to act honestly.
Through the perfect Guru the gate of deliverance is obtained.
Night and day the Guru reciteth God's praises and Word ; himself dyed with the truth, he dyeth others therewith.
The advantages of association with the holy :— By serving the true Guru man obtaineth great glory,
And God the Inconceivable dwelleth in the heart.
God is a tree of goodly fruit ; the thirst of him who drinketh its nectar departeth.
I am a sacrifice, and my life is a sacrifice unto Him who causeth me to meet the society of the saints.
God himself causeth us to meet the society of the saints, in which under the Guru's instruction God's praises are sung.
Serve the true Guru whose word is pleasant,
And who hath caused God's name to dwell in the heart.
God is pure : he who removeth the filth of pride shall obtain honour in the court of the True One.
Without the Guru the Name cannot be obtained,
Though Sidhs and strivers continually cry for it.
Without serving the Guru happiness is not obtained, and it is by the greatest good fortune he is found.
The mind is a mirror ; a few holy men behold themselves therein.
Rust attacheth not to it if the filth of pride be wiped away.
The unbeaten strain resoundeth from the pure Word ; by the Guru's instruction man is absorbed in the True One.
Without the true Guru, God cannot in any way be seen.
If the Guru be gracious he showeth Him unto man.
God himself is everywhere diffused, and man by divine knowledge easily blendeth with Him.
He who is pious loveth the one God,
And by the Guru's instruction dispelleth his suspicion that there is another.
He who tradeth and trafficketh in the Name in his heart obtaineth the true treasure.
To praise God is the highest duty of the pious :
In this way they attain the gate of deliverance.
He who is dyed with God's love singeth His praises night and day, and is invited to His palace.
The true Guru, the giver, is found when God causeth us to find him.
Perfect is the fortune of him who causeth the Word to dwell in his heart.
Nanak, the glory of God's name is obtained by singing the praises of the True One.
HYMNS OF GURU AMAR DAS 175
The world compared to a garden under God's superintendence :—
This world is a garden ; my Lord is its Gardener :
He guardeth it ever, and there is no part of it exempt from His care.
The odour which He infused into it prevaileth ; what is planted is known by its odour.1
The perverse are ailing in this world.
They forget the Giver of health who is inaccessible and illimitable.
Stricken with disease they ever wander lamenting, but without the Guru they obtain not relief.
The following is a satire on actors who repre sent Krishan and his milkmaids : — •
God is bright, and bright are his saints.
Through them my heart, speech, and desires are pure.
The saints' hearts are bright ; their faces are ever beauti ful, and they ponder on the very bright Name.
I am a sacrifice, my life is a sacrifice unto those who sing God's praises,
Who speak of Him day and night, and acclaim Him and His word.
They the filth of whose pride departeth through fear of the Guru become bright,
And sing of God with natural ease.
They ever abide in bliss, they worship day and night, and hear and sing God's praises.
Fix thine unsteady mind on God's service ;
Obey the Guru's instruction, and attune thy heart to it ;
Make the dispelling of worldly love thy true and perfect tune, and set thy heart a-dancing to the Word.
Death shall lie in wait for those who through worldly love
Shout aloud and dash their bodies on the ground.
Wordly love causeth the heart to dance ; the deceit of man's heart causeth him misery.
If God by the Guru's instruction cause men to serve Him,
Their bodies and minds shall naturally be dyed with His love.
From the Word supernatural music is produced, and the service of the holy player gaineth acceptance.
The perverse beat time and play many musical instruments,
But no one listeneth or payeth attention to them.
Under the influence of Maya they make a stage and dance, but, on account of their worldly love, they find only suffering.
He in whose heart there is love, hath already obtained salvation ;
He controlleth his senses and rmdetli the way of truth and self-restraint ;
Under the Guru's instruction he ever pondereth on God— the service that pleaseth him.
It is from the Guru's instruction God's service is obtained in the four ages :
From no other source may it be obtained.
Nanak, it is by service to the Guru and obeisance at his feet God's name is obtained.
The condition of the pious and the perverse com pared :—
The saints whom the Guru's instruction and the Name adorn,
Are illustrious in God's true court.
They day and night ever abide in bliss, and praising God's excellences become absorbed in Him.
I am a sacrifice, and my life is a sacrifice unto those who hear the Name and treasure it up in their hearts.
God the true, the most high, removeth their pride and blendeth them with Himself.
God is true, and true is His name.
By the Guru's favour He blendeth a few with Himself.
They who under the Guru's instruction meet God, are not again separated from Him ; they easily blend with the True One.
Without Thee, O God, nothing can be done ;
Thou beholdest and knowest the work of Thy hands.
HYMNS OF GURU AMAR DAS 177
Thou actest and causes! to act, O Creator ; and under
the Guru's instruction Thou blendest man with Thyself. The virtuous woman who maketh the fear And love of God her decorations, obtaineth Him. She who serveth the true Guru is ever a happy wife, and
is absorbed in his true instruction.
They who forget the Word have no house or home : They wander distraught like ravens in a ruined building ; They lose both this world and the next and pass their
lives in extreme misery.
Writing, writing paper, and ink have failed them— No one hath obtained happiness from worldly love — They write falsehood, they practise falsehood, and are
ruined by their deliberate falsehood.
The pious on the contrary reflect and write what is totally
true ;
They are true men and gain the gate of deliverance.
True are their paper, pens, and ink ; writing the truth they become absorbed in the True One.
My God dwelleth in men's hearts and beholdeth their acts.
He who through the Guru's favour meeteth the Lord is of account.
Nanak, they who obtain the Name from a perfect Guru obtain greatness.
God dwells in man's heart : —
In the cavern of the heart there is an exhaustless store house :
In it dwelleth God, the unseen, the illimitable.
He is concealed, but becometh manifest to him who effaceth himself under the Guru's instruction.
I am a sacrifice, my life is a sacrifice unto those in whose heart the ambrosial Name dwelleth.
Of the ambrosial Name the taste is exceeding sweet ; in structed by the Guru they drink its nectar.
He who effaceth his pride openeth the adamant doors of his understanding,
And admitteth the priceless Name by the Guru's favour.
Without the Guru's instruction no one obtaineth the Name;
but, if the Guru be gracious, he implanteth it in man's heart.
The Guru applieth to the eyes the true salve of divine knowledge,
Which illuminateth the heart and dispelleth the darkness of ignorance.
The soul is then happy, light is blended with light, and man obtaineth honour in God's court.
He who goeth beyond his body to search for God,
Shall not find Him, but shall suffer the great misery of a forced labourer.
The perverse man is blind and seeth not, but, when he returneth home after his search, he shall find the Real Thing by the Guru's instruction.
He from whom the filth of pride departeth seeth God in his soul and body,
And by the favour of the Guru obtaineth the True One.
He who sitteth down in a good place1 and ever singeth God's praises, shall become absorbed in the true Word.
He who restraineth his wandering mind and closeth the nine gates,
Shall obtain a dwelling in the tenth, God's own home.
There the unbeaten strain resoundeth day and night, and is heard under the Guru's instruction.
Without the Word there is mental darkness,
Man obtaineth not the Real Thing, nor doth his transmigra tion cease.
The true Guru holdeth the keys ; none save him can open the door ; the true Guru is found by good fortune.
Thou art, O God, in every place at once concealed and manifest.
Man knoweth this when he obtaineth the Guru's favour.
Nanak, ever praise the Name, and by the Guru's instruc tion it shall dwell in thy heart.
Merits and demerits contribute to the attainment of a human body :—
Within the body are two brothers, demerits and merits ; 1 In the company of the sainis.
HYMNS OF GURU AMAR DAS 179
Men were created out of both.
He who under the Guru's instruction effaceth them and entereth the asylum of the one God, shall be absorbed in Him.
The pious and the perverse contrasted :—
Their birth is the most exalted and their dwelling-place the best,
Who serve the true Guru and remain hermits in their own homes.
They abide in God's love, they are ever dyed with His colour, and they satiate their souls with His nectar.
I am a sacrifice, and my life is a sacrifice unto those who read of and know God, and who set Him up in their hearts.
The pious who read and praise God's name, shall obtain glory at the court of the True One.
The Unseen and Inscrutable One is everywhere contained,
Yet He cannot be found by any worldly contrivance.
If God be gracious the true Guru is found, and he causeth man to meet the Kind One.
He who readeth only secular compositions knowetli not God:
He burneth for Maya of the three qualities ;
But her bonds are broken by the Guru's instruction ; the Guru's instruction effecteth salvation.
Man's mind is volatile and cannot be restrained :
Under the influence of worldly love it wandereth in every direction.
It is a worm bred in poison, attached to poison, and by poison shall it perish.
They who practise egotism and assert themselves,1
Are not acceptable even though they perform many devotional works.
There is none besides Thee, O God ; Thou pardonest those who are adorned with the Guru's instruction.
They who know not God, and night and day
Wander in quest of mammon, are born and again perish.
N 2
The life of the perverse man passeth away in vain ; it is when he finally departeth he repenteth.
As when a woman decorateth herself for her spouse who is abroad,
Thus vain are the acts of the blindly perverse.
They have no honour in this world, no admission to God's court in the next, and they lose their lives in vain.
The few who recognize the Word of the perfect Guru
Know the name of God.
They ever perform service, and day and night easily obtain rest.
The one God pervadeth everything :
A few pious men understand this.
Nanak, they who are dyed with the Name are illustrious, and God of His mercy blendeth them with Himself.
The following is directed against worldly-minded Brahmans : —
The perverse read and are called pandits ;
They suffer great pain from their worldly love ;
They are intoxicated by their evil passions and know nothing ; they enter wombs again and again.
I am a sacrifice, and my life is a sacrifice unto those who dispel their pride, and are blended with God.
By serving the Guru, God dwelleth in their hearts, and they easily quaff divine nectar.
Men read the Veds, but obtain not God's nectar.
Infatuated by mammon the pandits engage in disputa tions.
Devoid of knowledge they are ever in darkness ; the pious know God and sing His praises.
They who are adorned by the Word speak of the Ineffable,
And by the Guru's instruction the truth is pleasing to their hearts.
They repeat day and night the name of the Truest of the true, and dye their hearts with the truth.
The True One is ever known through the Guru's instruc tion ; by meeting the True One happiness is obtained.
The filth of falsehood and slander attacheth not
HYMNS OF GURU AMAR DAS 181
To those who by the Guru's favour continually watch.
The pure Name dwelleth within their hearts, and their light is blended with the light of God.
They who read only secular compositions 1 know not God, the Real Thing.
They are led astray from the First Cause and recognize not the Guru's word.
They feel worldly love and understand nothing, but by the Guru's instruction they shall obtain God.
They who shout out the Veds for the sake of lucre
Are perverse, and through worldly love know not God.
It is secular compositions they read ; they know not the one God, and suffer misery through their ignorance.
God blendeth with Himself those whom He loveth,
And by means of the Guru's instruction removeth their doubts and troubles.
Nanak, the Name possesseth true greatness ; by accepting it happiness is obtained.
Polytheism is a cause of evil in the world :—
Maya is the origin of the goddesses and gods
Who composed the Simritis and the Shastars.
She diffused lust and wrath in the world, wherefore man suffereth the pain of transmigration.
Why hath he who serveth not the true Guru come into the world ?
Accursed is his life ; he hath lost his human birth in vain.
The perverse remember not the Name ; without it they shall suffer great misery.
MAJH KI WAR
The effect of rendering praise and thanksgiving to God :—
In the kal age God's praise hath appeared as a light for the world ;
Through it a few believers are saved.
God bestoweth it on whom He looketh with favour :
Nanak, such a man becometh holy and receiveth the jewel. 1 Literally — who read of things possessing the three qualities.
The fear of God is the only fear that assists :— In fear man is born, in fear also he dieth, fear ever dwelleth
in his heart.
Nanak, profitable is his advent who dieth in the fear of
the Lord.
If he who liveth without the fear of God, and enjoyeth countless pleasures,
Also die without that fear, O Nanak, his face shall be blackened.
GAURI
A Sikh asked Guru Amar Das what advantage he had obtained from association with Guru Angad. The following was the reply :—
God is met by meeting the Guru ;
God then blendeth man with Himself.
My God knoweth all contrivances ;
By His order He blendeth with Himself those who recog nize His word.
Through love of the true Guru doubt and fear vanish.
He who feeleth fear shall be absorbed in the love of the True One.
On meeting the Guru, God will naturally dwell in the heart.
My God is great • His worth cannot be appraised.
Let Him who hath no end or limit, be praised under the Guru's instruction.
May my God, the Pardoner, pardon me !
On meeting the Guru all wisdom and understanding are obtained.
The heart becometh pure, and the True One dwelleth therein.
When the True One dwelleth in the heart, everything which man doeth is true.
Meditation on the Word is the best occupation.
It is through the Guru true service is performed,
And through his instruction a few know the Name.
May the giver and benefactor l live for ever,
Nanak, and may love attach to God's name !
HYMNS OF GURU AMAR DAS 183
The following was composed on the same subject :—
Through the Guru a few obtain divine knowledge :
He who knoweth God through the Guru shall be acceptable.
Through the Guru there resulteth divine knowledge and meditation on the True One ;
Through the Guru the gate of deliverance is attained.
It is only by perfect good fortune the Guru cometh in one's way.
The true become easily absorbed in the True One.
On meeting the Guru the fire of avarice is quenched.
Through the Guru peace dwelleth in the heart.
Through the Guru man becometh pure, spotless, and immaculate.
Through the Guru the Word which uniteth man with God is obtained.
Without the Guru every one wandereth in doubt.
Without the Name great misery is suffered.
He who is pious meditateth on the Name.
On beholding the True One, true honour is obtained.
Whom shall we call the giver ? The One God.
If He be gracious, the Word by which we meet Him is obtained.
May Nanak meet the beloved Guru, sing the True One's
praises,
And becoming true be absorbed in the True One !
God ought never to be forgotten :-
Why forget Him to whom belong life and soul ?
Why forget Him who is contained in everything,
And by serving whom honour is obtained at His court and
man becometh acceptable ?
I am a sacrifice to the name of God ;
When I forget Thee may I die that moment !
Thou forgettest those who forget Thee—
It is they who love mammon who forget Thee—
The perverse without divine knowledge re-enter wombs.
Those with whom the one God is heartily pleased, He
applieth to the service of the true Guru.
The one God dwelleth in the hearts of those with whom He is heartily pleased ;
And under the Guru's instruction they become absorbed in His name.
They who have stored merits meditate on divine know ledge ;
They who have stored merits efface their pride.
Nanak, I am a sacrifice unto those who are dyed with the Name.
The perverse sleep, the pious are awake in con templation of God :—
The perverse have gone to sleep through their love of worldly things ;
The pious are awake contemplating divine knowledge and God's attributes.
They who love the Name are awake.
Nobody awakened by divine knowledge sleepeth.
A few possess it by means of the perfect Guru.
The impious and the indiscriminating never possess it.
They may claim that they do, but they are burning with worldly love.
The blind unbeliever is never acceptable.
In this age salvation is obtained through God's name,
Which a few obtain by pondering on the Guru's instruction.
Such are saved themselves and save all their families.
In this kal age there is no work of devotion equal to the repetition of the Name.
The kal took birth in the house of a Sudar.1
Nanak, without the Name salvation cannot be obtained.
The advantages of service to the Guru which has been the custom from time immemorial :—
The service of the Guru hath prevailed in the four ages :
A few men practise it.
God's name is exhaustless wealth in which there is no deficiency.
It ever conferreth happiness in this world and honour in God's court.
HYMNS OF GURU AMAR DAS 185
O my soul, doubt not this :
Through the worship of the Guru thou shalt quaff nectar.
They who serve the true Guru are great men in the world :
They are saved themselves and they save all their families.
They clasp God's name to their hearts.
Dyed with the Name they cross over the terrible ocean.
They who with lowly minds ever serve the true Guru,
Expel their pride, and the lotuses of their hearts bloom.
They dwell in their own homes where the unbeaten strain resoundeth.
While hermits in their own homes they are dyed with the Name.
The words of those who serve the true Guru are true.
In every age the saints have repeated their words,
And continually uttered God's name.
Nanak, they who are dyed with the Name obtain beatitude and eternal rest.
Bliss is the portion of the virtuous :—
God ordained that woman should remain in her father's house for four days.1
She is an honoured woman who singeth God's praises under the Guru's instruction.
She who in her father's house amasseth merits shall obtain a dwelling with her father-in-law.
The pious whose hearts love God shall be easily absorbed in Him.
The Beloved abideth in this world and the next ; say how shall He be found ?
It is God the pure and invisible who blendeth man with Himself.
If God Himself grant wisdom, man shall meditate on His name.
They who are very fortunate meet the true Guru ; he putteth nectar into their mouths.
Their pride and worldly love depart ; and they are easily absorbed in bliss.
God Himself is all-pervading ; it is He Himself who attacheth man to His name.
The perverse through pride find Him not ; they are fools and devoid of divine knowledge.
They serve not the true Guru, and shall repent again and again.
They shall obtain a dwelling in the womb, and there suffer agony.
It is the will of my Creator that the perverse shall suffer transmigration.
My Lord God wrote man's full destiny on his forehead at his birth.
When man meeteth the brave Guru who hath conquered sin, he meditateth on God's name.
God is my father and mother, God is my kinsman and brother.
O God, pardon and blend the worm Nanak with Thee.
GAURI CHHANT
The following was composed in reply to Dana, who inquired how man should cross over the tem pestuous ocean of the world :—
The world is a tempestuous ocean ; how shall man traverse it ?
Make God's name the boat, and put the Word into it as the helmsman.
When thou puttest the Word into it as the helmsman, God Himself will ferry thee over, and thus shalt thou traverse the ocean, difficult though it be.
By ths Guru's instruction man obtaineth service, and is thus dead while alive.
In a moment the name of God effaceth his sins, and his body becometh pure.
By God's name, Nanak, deliverance is obtained, and dross becometh gold.
Women and men are immersed in lust, and know not to repeat God's name.
Mothers, fathers, children, and brothers are very dear, but they all drown even without water.
HYMNS OF GURU AMAR DAS 187
They drown even without water who know not the way of salvation, and who through pride wander about the world.
All who come into the world shall depart ; they who meditate on the Guru shall be saved.
The pious who utter God's name shall be saved themselves and shall save their families.
Nanak, the pious man, within whose heart the Name dwelleth, shall meet the Beloved.
There is nothing stable but God's name : this world is a play.
Fix true devotion firmly in thy heart and deal in the name of God.
Deal in God's name who is inaccessible and illimitable, and through the Guru's instruction thou shall acquire its wealth.
Thy service, meditation, and devotion shall be true if thou erase pride from thy heart.
We who are without understanding, foolish, stupid, and blind, have been put on the right way by the true Guru.
Nanak, the pious are adorned by the Word, and night and day sing God's praises.
God acteth Himself and causeth to act ; He adorneth men by His word.
He Himself is the True Guru ; He is the Word ; in every age His saints are dear to Him :
In every age His saints are dear to Him ; He Himself adorneth them ; He Himself appointeth them to His service.
He Himself is far-seeing, He Himself causeth men to serve Him.
He Himself is the Bestower of merits and the remover of demerits ; He causeth His name to dwell in men's hearts.
Nanak is ever a sacrifice unto that True One who Himself acteth and causeth to act.
GAURI KI WAR I
While praising the Gauri Rag the Guru extols the love of the True One and denounces falsehood and deception :—
The Gauri Rag is auspicious, if in it one remember God.
Walk as it pleaseth the true Guru ; make that thy decoration.
The Word of the Spouse is true ; repeat it ever and ever.
She who devoteth her life to the True One, is deeply dyed as with boiling madder.
She who loveth the True One shall be thoroughly tinctured with a deep dye.
Falsehood and deception are as things wrapped up in false gilding which remain not undetected.
False is the boasting of those who love falsehood.
Nanak, God is true and looketh with favour on man.
The Guru sheds celestial light on the darkness of the perverse :—
Pride, folly, mortal and venial sins have led the world astray.
The perverse who are in total darkness, shall see God if they meet the true Guru.
Nanak, God hath blended with Himself him whom he caused to love His word.
The difference between the worldly and the pious:—
He who possesseth worldly love is very blind and deaf :
He heareth not the Word, but maketh a great uproar and tumult.
The pious are known by loving God's word ;
They hear and believe in God's name and become absorbed in it.
What pleaseth God He doeth and causeth others to do.
Nanak, man the instrument playeth as God causeth him to play.
Except in God's mercy there is no hope for the proud unbeliever :—
The proud unbeliever shall never know the Guru's court ; he shall be a little hither or a little thither.
Though ever invited he never goeth to the Guru's court ; how should he be accepted in God's court ?
HYMNS OF GURU AMAR DAS 189
Few know the Guru's court ; they who reach it ever stand with clasped hands.
Nanak, if my God show mercy, He will restore man to Him.
The condition of those who deny their Guru :—
They who deny their Guru shall have no house or home :
They shall lose both worlds, and find no place in God's court.
The opportunity of touching the true Guru's feet cannot be again obtained.
If man be not numbered among the Guru's disciples he shall pass his life in deepest sorrow.
The true Guru is a being without enmity who attacheth man to himself.
Nanak, God will release at His court those to whom He hath disclosed Himself.
The perverse are spiritually blind, foolish, and proud.
In their hearts is wrath ; they lose their senses in play.1
They commit the sins of falsehood and unrighteousness.
What can they hear and what can they tell others ?
They are blind and deaf ; they lose their way and stray into the desert.
The blind unbeliever suffereth transmigration.
He obtaineth no place without meeting the true Guru.
Nanak, man obtaineth what is written for him from the beginning.
Even he who meets the Guru can confer salvation on others :—
He who through the Guru's instruction obtaineth divine knowledge, discrimination, and intelligence,
Shall sing God's praises and string a garland in his heart.
He shall be the purest of the pure and possess the highest intelligence.
He who meeteth such a person shall be saved by him.
He whose heart containeth the perfume of God's name, 1 They stake their precious human lives and lose them.
igo THE SIKH RELIGION
Shall utter great and exalted words to make happy those who hear them ;
And he himself shall obtain honour at God's court.
Nanak, on meeting the true Guru, the Name is obtained as wealth and property.
ASA
The Guru's is the best of all religious systems:—
Very fortunate are they who obtain God's system.1
True disregard of the world is obtained by the Guru's instruction.
Six Hindu religious systems pass current,
But the Guru's system is profound and unequalled.
By the Guru's system the way of salvation is obtained,
And the True One Himself abideth in the heart.
By the Guru's system the world is saved,
If men bestow love and affection on it.
The few who bestow love and affection on it,
Shall ever be happy.
By the Guru's system the gate of deliverance is attained.
By serving the true Guru one's family is saved.
For him who is without the Guru there is nowhere salvation ;
Deluded by sin he suffereth punishment.
By the Guru's word the body acquireth happiness and rest ;
He who receiveth his instruction shall suffer no pain,
Nor shall the god of death approach him.
Nanak, the holy man shall be absorbed in the True One.
The love of mammon leads to perdition :—
The perverse when dying die evil deaths ;
They destroy themselves by their love of mammon ;
They are undone by continually speaking of their posses sions :
Lulled to sleep as they are by superstition, they know not themselves.
He who dieth by the Word is really dead.
HYMNS OF GURU AMAR DAS 191
They, to whom the Guru hath shown that praise and blame are the same, obtain profit in this world by uttering God's name.
They who possess not the Name shall melt in wombs.
Vain are the lives of those who are greedy for mammon.
All those who are without the Name shall burn in pain.
The perfect true Guru hath given me understanding.
The man of wavering mind shall receive great punishment :
Having lost his human birth he shall find no place of rest,
But return to the filthy dwelling of the womb :
It is there the perverse man shall take up his abode.
I am ever a sacrifice to my own true Guru.
His instruction hath blended the light of my soul with the light of God.
I have obtained the pure Word while dwelling in mine own home.
Nanak, having effaced pride, is ever a hermit.
The condition of the perverse and the virtuous contrasted :—
The perverse only practise falsehood ;
They never reach the Master's palace.
Attached to the world they wander in doubt,
And entangled in selfishness suffer transmigration.
Lo the decorations of an evil wife !—
She attacheth her heart to her sons and their wives, to wealth, mammon, falsehood, worldly love, hypocrisy, and vice.
She who is pleasing to her Lord shall ever be a happy wife :
She maketh the Guru's instruction her decorations ;
Her couch is pleasant and day and night she enjoyeth her Lord ;
Meeting her Beloved she is ever happy.
She is a truly good wife who loveth the True One ;
She ever claspeth her Beloved to her breast.
She beholdeth him near, yea, ever present.
My Lord is everywhere contained.
Caste and beauty shall not go with thee to the next world :
There shalt thou fare according to thine acts.
By the Word man becometh the most exalted of the exalted,
O Nanak, and absorbed in the True One.
It was represented to the Guru that salvation might be obtained by joining in the Ras Mandal, or circular dance of Krishan. The following was the Guru's reply :—
Man may dance and play many musical instruments, But he is blind and deaf ; what availeth speaking to him ? In his heart are the fire of avarice and the wind of super stition !
Where the lamp burneth not and nothing can be seen,
The pious man's heart is lighted up by devotion.
He knoweth himself and meeteth the Lord.
For the pious the love of God is the dance,
The destruction of pride the time,
And the service of the pious the true way ;
But the service and dancing of the hypocrite bring sorrow.