I love my Dear One ; how shall I meet my beloved Friend ?
I search for that Friend who is adorned with truth.
The true Guru is my friend ; if I meet him I will sacrifice my life unto him.
The dear one will show me God the Friend, the Creator.
Nanak, I was searching for my Beloved, but the true Guru hath shown Him unto me.
The holy man is the true lover who finds the truly Beloved :—
The holy man is the true lover by whom the truly Beloved is found.
Nanak, man is then happy night and day and naturally absorbed in God.
The love and affection vouchsafed by God through the Guru are not forfeited :—
True love and affection are obtained from the perfect Guru ;
They shall never be forfeited ; Nanak singeth God's praises.
The holy man may be cheerful or serious :—
The holy man may laugh, the holy man may weep ; Whatever he doeth is in God's service.
Only those who possess discrimination and reflec tion serve the Guru :—
The service of the Guru and of Pirs l is very difficult, yet in it is the essence of happiness.
God inspireth him on whom He casteth His glance with love and affection.
The world will cross the terrible ocean if it attach itself to the true Guru's service.
He in whose heart there is discrimination and reflection, shall obtain the fruit his heart desireth.
Nanak, when man meeteth the true Guru, he findeth God the remover of all sorrow.
It is only the holy man who can regenerate and save by giving God's name :—
Even though the perverse man perform service, he at- tacheth his heart to mammon.
Sons, wives, and families increase his worldly love :
None of them will save him when his account is at last called for in God's court.
Without God's name all is misery ; worldly love causeth misery.
Nanak, when the holy man appeareth all worldly love departeth.
The condition of the perverse :—
The perverse feel love of the world, not love of the Name : They act falsehood, they amass falsehood, and they eat
falsehood. They die amassing the wealth of poisonous mammon and
at last all become dust.
This verse was obviously intended for Sikhs and Muhammadans. By Pirs here are meant living saints, and not their cemeteries, as the word frequently means in India.
HYMNS OF GURU RAM DAS 351
They perform religious ceremonies, purifications, and self-restraint, but within them is the sin of greed.
Nanak, what the perverse do is not acceptable ; they are despised in God's court.
It is good to sing God's praises, but they may also be uttered by ordinary speech :—
That is the best of all musical measures by which God abideth in the heart.
Musical measures to which the Word is sung are all true ; their worth cannot be described ;
But God is independent of musical measures and airs ; His order cannot be understood merely from them.
Nanak, he who understandeth God's order becometh free from desires, and obtaineth understanding from the true Guru.
Everything cometh from Him according to His will.
END OF VOL. II
OXFORD PRINTED AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
BY HORACE HART, M.A. PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY
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