Guru Ram Das continues to magnify Guru Amar Das :-
Great is Amar Das's greatness who was appointed in the presence of Guru Angad.
The world boweth to him ; all fall at his feet ; his praise filleth the worlds.
The continents and the universe bow to him ; he on whose forehead the perfect Guru put his hand became perfect.
The Guru's greatness ever increaseth ; none can equal it.
Slave Nanak, the Creator Himself appointed Guru Amar Das, and will preserve his honour.
Evil shall be the fate of the Guru's slanderer :-
He who slandereth the perfect true Guru shall find his position difficult in the world.
Death shall seize and throw him into terrible hell which is a pit of sorrow\
No one will hear his cries and lamentations ; he shall weep in pain.
He hath cast away all his chances in this world and the next ; his capital and profit, all hath he lost.
He shall become as an oilman's ox which his master yoketh when he riseth in the morning.
God ever seeth and heareth everything ; nothing is con cealed from Him.
As man sowed in a former life, so shall he reap in this.
He to whom God showeth mercy shall wash the feet of the true Guru ;
He shall be saved through the true Guru like iron attached to timber.
Slave Nanak, meditate on and repeat God's name and thou shalt be happy.
Animate and inanimate nature congratulate the Guru and his family :—
That land where my true Guru sitteth groweth green. The creatures who saw my true Guru have become happy.
HYMNS OF GURU RAM DAS 307
Hail, hail to his father ! hail, hail to his family ! hail, hail to the good mother who gave him birth !
Hail, hail to the Guru who worshippeth the Name ! he is saved himself and he saveth those who saw him.
O God, mercifully cause me to meet the true Guru ; the slave Nanak will wash his feet.
The man who is separated from God is compared to one who suffers from a malignant ulcer :-
They who have a malignant1 ulcer within them know what torture is.
They know what separation from God is ; I am ever a sacrifice unto them.
1 am a slave to the slaves of those disciples of the Guru who perform his work.
Moist with God's dye are the robes 2 of those who are imbued with God's deep dye.
Nanak, mercifully cause me to meet the Guru, and I will sell my head to him as the price of God's name.
The holy and unselfish man deserves congratula tions :—
O beloved, the holy man who meeteth the society of the saints in which God is praised,
And who preacheth instruction for the good of others, is worthy of gratulation among mortals.
The Guru excommunicates the hypocritical apos tates :—
The apostates go and bow to the Guru, but their hearts are base and filled with falsehood.
When the Guru saith to them ' Rise and work, my brethren,' they go and squeeze themselves in somewhere like cranes.
The true Guru abideth among his disciples ; he picketh out and expelleth the monkeys.
X 2
They sitting here and there conceal their faces, and being counterfeit may not associate with the holy.
There is no food for them there ; they go and eat filth like sheep.
If you desire to feed the apostate, he will spew and vomit poison on you.
O God, give me not the company of the apostate ; he is accursed of the Creator.
He who made this play beholdcth it ; the slave Nanak remembereth His name.
God protects the true Guru :—
The true Guru who claspeth God to his heart is inscrutable.
None can touch the true Guru on whose side God is.
Devotion to God is the true Guru's sword and armour by which the torturer death is destroyed.
God Himself is the protector of the true Guru, and will save all who follow him.
Him who meaneth evil to the true Guru the Creator Himself will destroy.
This is the word of the true God's court ; the slave Nanak uttereth this prophecy.
Whether asleep or awake man should remember God:-
What is sleeping ? what waking ? the holy are the acceptable.
They who never forget God are perfect and distinguished.
They obtain the true Guru from the Merciful One, and fix their thoughts on him night and day.
May I continue to meet such persons and obtain honour at God's gate !
Nanak, bright are the faces of those who ever as they awake remember God,
And who repeat His praises whether sleeping or waking.
The Guru has found God and His mediator :—
Searching for God in my soul and body I have found the God whom I desired ;
HYMNS OF GURU RAM DAS 309
And I have found the Guru the mediator who hath blended me with Him.
There is no alliance between God and mammon :—
They who love mammon have no faith in the holy man.
They come and go and wander in transmigration, and have no happiness even in their dreams.
They act falsely ; they speak falsely ; attached to false hood they become false.
Worldly love is all trouble ; through trouble man perish- eth ; through trouble he weepeth.
There is no union between worldliness and love of God, however all may desire it.
They whose treasure-houses contain meritorious acts are happy under the Guru's instruction.
ASA
The Guru's instruction is communicated from one man to another :—
The pious propagate God's vine ;
It beareth God's fruit which epicures enjoy.
Utter the name of God which containeth endless delights ;
Utter God's name and praises under the Guru's instruc tion, so shalt thou destroy the serpents which are Death's myrmidons.
God implanted His worship in the Guru ;
If the Guru be pleased, he conferreth it on his disciple, my brethren.
Religious ceremonies produce pride ; on account of them the way is not known ;
They are idle as the dust the elephant throweth on his head after bathing.
He whose fortune is very great and very exalted,
Shall, O Nanak, by uttering the true Name become true and pure.
The fourth Guru was fond of hearing the hymns of his predecessors sung. On one occasion when he
ordered a seance, the musicians were not ready. Then the following hymn was composed :—
How long will they take to search for anklets and cym bals ? when will some one play the rebeck ?
While a messenger is going and they are coming a short time must elapse ; in the meantime let me repeat God's name.
Such devotion hath been produced in my heart
That without God I cannot live for an instant ; as a fish dieth out of water.
How long will it take to find five or seven singers ? When will some one raise the voice of song ?
In tuning the instruments and selecting the music some little time must elapse ; meanwhile let my soul sing God's praises.
When will some one dance and stretch forth his feet ? when will some one wave his hands ?
In stretching out one's hands and feet some little delay must take place ; meanwhile let my heart remember God.
When will some one satisfy the people ? Yet by satis fying people no honour is obtained in heaven.
Nanak, ever meditate on God in thy heart, then shall every one congratulate thee.
The Guru ardently desires to behold God :—
0 my mother, show me my beloved God :
1 cannot remain for a moment without Him ; on beholding Him I am as pleased as a camel with creepers.
My soul through divine love hath renounced the world with the object of beholding God the Friend.
As the bumble-bee cannot abide without the lotus, so can I not abide without God.
Preserve me in Thy sanctuary, O beloved Lord of the world ; fulfil my desires, O Lord God.
Nanak's soul is glad when God showeth Himself even for a moment.
HYMNS OF GURU RAM DAS 311