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Full text of "Guru Nanak GS "
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GURU NANAK
Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com
NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY SERIES
GURU NANAK
Dr. GOPAL SINGH, .a., php.
NATIONAL BOOK TRUST, INDIA.
‘New Dsver
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www.archive.org/ details/namdhari
Dedicated to
the late Dr. S. RADHAKRISHNA.
Man of God
in token of my love and esteem
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www.archive.org/details/namdhari
FOREWORD TO SECOND EDITION
THIS COUNTRY has produced remarkable personalities in
every walk of life smce the earliest times. Our history 1s
crowded with names of outstanding persons who have made
notable contributions whether in art, literature, politics,
science or other fields. Some are household words. There
are many whose names are familiar but about whose life
and work little 1s known to the public. There are others about
whom people know little but who have made remarkable
achievements.
The history of a country 1s, to a great extent, the history
of its great menand women. They have moulded it and
built it up. It is essential for the ordinary citizen to know
something about these personalities in order to understand
how our country has evolved. The national Biography Series
Proposes to make available m a simple narrative form the
life of such great men.
One of the outstanding figures of middle-ages is Nanak.
He came during a period of great social, political and
spiritual crisis m the history of India. A few centuries
befpre, Muslim Rule had come to India and Babar had just
established the Moghal dynasty. The coming of a new
Yeligion and the political conquest of the country by the
‘victors, naturally, created a spiritual and social upheaval in
the country. This led to a spiritual reaction which can be
‘considered a mental conflict and effort to finda new way to
answer the challenge posed by the new spiritual thoughts that
came with the Muslims.
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FOREWORD x
Dr. Gopal Singh has himself rightly observed “though many
miracles have been attributed to Guru Nanak by the devout,
he always insisted that the only muracle he would perform
was to teach man how to overcome himself and to become
what is his destiny. The miracle for him was an awakened
soulful life and he who fulfilled himself thus, was also the man
of God.”
‘New Detar B.V. KESKAR.
March 1, 1968.
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www.archive.org/details/namdhari
I
“There is neither @ Hindu, nor a Muslim : only man.”
—Goru Nanak
Waen NANAK was born, his Muslim midwife, Daultan, who
attended upon him, revealed to the neighbourhood, it is said,
that the child laughed at his birth lke an adult. The devout
chroniclers suggest that the wise of the community heard notes
of celestial music emanating from the high heavens on the
advent of Nanak. The family astrologer, Hardyal, on seeing
the babe greeted him with joined palms, declaring that he
‘would sit under a royal canopy, and be worshipped by Hindus
and Muslims alike, that even the inanimate objects of nature
would utter his name with reverence.*
Ata very young age, Nanak was put to school first with
a Hindu teacher to teach him the alphabet of his language,
and some elementary books of knowledge, and, later, with a
Muslim teacher of Arabic and Persian. But, it appears, that
Nanak refused to stay long at school.? Instead, he would
wander into the woods nearby where dwelt holy men of great
1, Nanak was born in A. D. 1469 in Panjab to the house of Mehta
Kalu, a revenue official, and Vedi (Bedi) Khatri by 4 jlue
called Talwandi (now Nankane Sabib) in the Reload (ide
Aprilto mid-May), though his birthday for some &
_ délebrated on the fullkmcon day of Kartik (Novembes The later
cles, however, all confirm the latter date.
2, Same chronicles suggest he was at school yt seven
sya fn, ae comin pnd eel 2 om 1
For further elaboration of all such details; ple to the
‘A History bf the Sikh People.
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2 GURU NANAK
Yearning and hoary age from whom he understood the basic
‘truths of various religions. He devoted most of his spare time
to meditation upon God, the Absolute (Nirankar). This natu-
rally scared his father who wanted Nanak to grow into a
successful man of affairs.
There are many stories of his early life current in the
idiom of the devout. It is said when the Hindu teacher asked
‘tuum to learn the alphabet, he wrote an acrostic, or an alphabe-
tical poem, giving the inner meaning of each letter which he
said was a symbol to denote either the unity of God, or his
‘wondrous creation, or the need to dwell upon Him. It may be,
suggest others, that such a poem was written by Nanak at a
later stage, for the one that 1s included in the Sikh Scripture
‘is a work of great maturity, wisdom and artistic beauty. Does
maturity come with the years ?
However, it appears, that Nanak was not long at school
as his father, being doubtful of his becoming a scholar, gave
hhim some cattle to graze. Here, too, he. seems to have dis-
appointed his sire. For, one day, as he took the cattle out, he
himself sat under a banyan tree, meditating on God, while the
cattle grazed another’s farm. The aggrieved farmer reported
the matter to his father who became very angry, but the
‘village chief, Rai Bular, a Rajput Muslim, soothed his frayed
temper by. agreeing to pay off the entire loss. Such was the
devotion that young Nanak evoked from his neighbours. It is
also' recorded that one day as Nanak slept in the pasture
ground, a cobra spread its hood over his head to protect him
from the scorching sun ! To the faithfal, this was a sign of his
divinity, but to his father, of insanity, that he should be so
careless about his duties, and about life itself.
1. According to his oldest chronicle, Puratan Janam Sakhi, when
people viet to see the grazed farm, it seemed to stand intact.
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GURU NANAK 3
The day fixed by the village astrologer as auspicious for
the sacred-thread ceremony of Nanak arrived. The family
Telations from far and near gathered and, as 1s the custom,
a great feast was arranged for the day by his father. But, to
the utter shock and wonderment of all, when Nanak was asked
to wear the sacred thread, he refused. When reprimanded by
the elders, he said, “I wouldn’t wear a thread which 1s soiled,
and may be broken or burnt, and goes not with one into the
beyond.” When questioned lothingly what kind of thread he
would wish to wear, that would neither wear out nor burn
and keep one’s company both here and hereafter, he said : “If
compassion be the cotton, of contentment the thread, of conti-
nence the knot, and of Truth the twist, these would weave an
ideal Thread for the soul. This Thread will neither break nor
‘burn, be soiled nor wasted nor lost. He who wears such
a Thread on his neck 18 the one blessed of G
This audacity the father could hardly bear. He had been
put to great ricicule.and shame by his young son. So, at the
age-of fifteen or sixteen, he was marned off to Sulakhani,
daughter of Moola, a resident of Batala in the district of
Gurdaspur. This, the father thought, in the tradition of all
Indian fathers blest with unusual children, would tie him so
much down to the earth that there would be no escape for him
but to settle down as a man of the world, if not for himself
at least for the sake of his wife and children.
But, even this did not help. Though his wife soon begot
two sons, Sri Chand and Lakhmi Das, Nanak’s soul was far
from settled. His father thereupon asked him to keep a shop
1, This age differs in various chronicles. The oldest record puts it at
twelve years, others at 14, 15, 16, etc. Some say he was married not st
‘Talwandi but at Sultanpur where, according to them, his two sons were
also born and to whose memgry stand shrines at this yikoc.
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4 GURU NANAK
and gave lum some money to buy goods from a market nearby.
‘As Nanak rode to the market of Chuharkana, on the way he
met some holy men who told him that they had not eaten for
quite some days. Nanak offered them all the money he had
with him to buy food, and returned to his village empty-
handed. Fearing the wrath of his father, he stayed out near the
outskirts of the village. When his father knew Nanak had
returtied without any goods, hé came hurriedly to ask what
had become of the money he had entrusted him with. Nanak
replied serenely, “Father, you asked me to strike a profitable
bargain. What could have been of more profit to me, or to you,
both in this world and the next, than feeding the hungry and
the holy.” It is said that his father spanked him at this imper-
tinent and unusual reply.
Nanak was asked to farm but he refused. For he cultivated
a farm of another kd. When asked what his farm was hike,
he answered :
“In my body’s farm the Mind is the ploughman, Right
Conduct the cultivation, Humility the watermg of it, Seats,
Essence the seed, Contentment the harrow, and Poverty the
fence. Tended by Love, this seed will sprout, and fill the grana-
nies of those who'll act thus. O father, riches do ‘not go along
with us when we depart from here, though they've lured the
whole world. But few there are who understand this truth.”
Nanak continued : “O fathér, I’ 1 grow so much in my farm
that it will be sufficient not only for me and my family, but
thé whole world. After one has eaten out of my hands, he
would crave no more. It will settle the accounts of everyone
whether these be of this birth, or of previous ones. And the
Man for whom I till my land, whose tenant I am He protects
me from drought as from floods, and whatever I ask, and
whenever, he gives so mugh that,I entreat : Enough,, no
more.”
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GURU NANAK 5
Kalu was greatly amazed at this reply, and said, “My son,
I haven’t seen your Master as you have. In the brotherhood
word has gone round that you have turned insane and wild.
Follow, therefore, mn the footsteps of your forefathers. With-
out work, who has ever lived ? And for your father’s good
name, and your mother’s, do our bidding, so that we are not
put to shame before the whole world."’
Nanak replied: “Father, he who has seen my Master has
admired Him, got involved with Him.” In despair, Kalu
asked him to put him wise about his Master a little more
thoroughly, so that not only he but the others around him
might also understand and not talk disparagingly either of him
or his family. Without a moment's hesitation, Nanak replied :
“Everyone hears of Him as great, and calls Him so, but
he alone knows His worth who sees His presence. O father, my
Master’s worth can be measured not, for he who loves Him
merges in Him. One would compare Him if there were one
to compare with Him. So everyone who knows Him says :
O Lord, Thou art what only Thou art.””
Then came Nanak’s mother. She caressed him most tender
ly, and begged of him tearfully to follow the advice of his
father. ‘You are so much absorbed im yourself that people
think you have lost your reason. They talk ill of you as of
us, My dear little thing, I want people to talk well of you
and us.” Nanak bowed with bedewed eyes to his mother,
but said, ‘‘O mother, the call has come to me from yonder
lands to save the world which is on fire. Would you rather
that everyone of us 1s burnt to ashes or that as many of us as
may be are saved from its all-consuming flames.”
Now, everyone was convinced that Nanak was beyond re-
claiming. The elders of the family counselled that a physician
be called to examine him Kalu summoned the village physi-
cian instantly. He felt Nanak’s pulse, but the ‘patient’ smiled,
saying =
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6 GURU NANAK
“O worthy physician, feel not my pulse, for the malady 1s
not in my body, but in my soul. Take care not of me, O wise
one, but of thyself, for he who 1s not of humself would respond
not to thy cure. The malady I’m blessed with 1s, that I'm in
love, and He alone whose lover I am knows how to get me
over it.””
When the physician, wonderstruck, asked Nanak what the
malady of his soul was like, he answered in most profound
terms :
“My one malady 1s, that I live separated from myself,
And the other, that I seek to be what I ought to be ;
And the third, that I’m in the eye of the all-powerful
Angel of Death.
And the fourth that I can sit not with myself.
O man, thy malady 1s not in thy body, but in
thy soul, which if pure and whole, maketh
also the body healthful and whole.”
When asked what man’s maladies were due to, he answer-
ed: “Pleasures. The pleasures are the sickness of the soul,
and their medicament lies m the courting of pain.”
The physician bowed to him, saying, ‘‘O Master, thy cure
1s only in thyself.” But his father and mother pleaded with
him for the last time, saying, “They who have given thee birth
also have some demands on thee ; will you not submit to their
will? Have you no love left for those who have nurtured
thee ?”” Nanak replied :
“1 know not who's my father. who my mother,
and from whence I came :
And, why have fire and water blended to make of
me what Iam...
Within me there’s something thet gnaws at my heart,
as if my soul is on fire.
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GURU NANAK 7
AndI feel only if I submitted to my Lord’s Will,
there’ll be peace for me.”
(Gauri, M. 1)
The parents thought, and also the wise of the community
that Nanak should change his environment and go to Sultan-
pur (now m the District of Kapurthala) where his sister,
Nanaki, was married to Jairam, the store-keeper of the Muslim
Nawab, Daulat Khan. When Nanak’s wife heard about it,
she was much distressed and said, “You take me also along,
for if you go far out, who knows you may or may not remem-
ber me. Even here, you care not much for me, but out there
I might be totally wiped off your memory.” Nanak smiled
and said, “If I settle there, I will call thee, provided I earn a
bit as they ask me to and can keep thee well. Else you stay
here till Icome. God will protect thee. Keep thy Master in
thy mind.” Then, she brought to him his two tender sons.
‘Nanak hugged them to his bosom and blessed them Then,
bowing at the feet of his father and mother he took leave of
them The parents were happy indeed, as also was his wife at
heart, that Nanak after all had agreed to adopt the routine of
the world.
When Nanak reached Sultanpur, his brother-in-law present-
ed him to the Nawab, who was much impressed by his bearing
and innocent and serene looks. “This man,” he said, “would
keep my things in safe custody,” and he gave hum charge of
adepartment which issued rations to his servants. Nanak
acted most honestly and diligently, but also gave away most
of his share to the holy men who frequented him at his store-
house. The news spread like wildfire that Nanak was
1, It is given in the oldest chronicle that his family joined him here as
lid Mardana, his Muslim playmate, of whom we shall hear often enough
hereafter.
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8 GURU NANAK
squandering the royal stores on unauthorised persons. It was
also reported against him that he sat, composed and listless,
for hours after his work. And, even at work, when he reached
the figure ‘thirteen’ (in Hindustan: ‘Tera’, which also means
‘Thine’), while weighing up his stores, he would repeat the
word a million times, saying “Tera main Tera” (Thine, O God,
T'm Thine).
While the Nawab was still considering what to do with this
unusual man, news came to him that Nanak had disappeared.
It 1s said, when one day he went to bathe at the rivulet near-
by, called Wayyain, he did not return for three days, held in
trance. People thought Nanak was drowned, but then, he
reappeared. It 1s told in the oldest extant biography of Nanak
that in his trance, he saw the Vision of God, who blessed him,
and said, “Nanak, I’m ever with thee, and have blessed thee.
He who uttereth thy name with love, too will be blessed. Go
thou in the wide world and instruct men in my Will. I-have
blessed thee with my Name. He whom thou wilt bless, will
also be blessed by me. I’m thy Absolute God, let thy name
‘be the Guru-God.”” It 1s said that Nanak bowed at the Feet
of God and was honoured with a Robe. When he got out of
his trance and came to the town with only a lom-cloth as his
covering, he uttered: “Isee here neither a Himdu nor a
Musalman : only man
‘This unusual utterance im those dark days of sectarian strife
gave cause for much alarm and anxiety to the Qazi. Though
the Nawab said, “It appears to me that Nanak is a man of
God, so we shouldn’t disturb his way of hfe,” yet the Qazi
wasn’t that sure, and said that his preachings would lead to
much confusion m the state So, he was called to the presence
of the Nawab. Said the Qazi, “O Nanak, men say you have
gone wild and utter what no one before thee has uttered
around here ; what sayest thou to it ”’ Nanak answered in
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GURU NANAK 9
cone of his hymns to the accompaniment of music played by
his companion, Mardana, the Mushm low-caste drummer,
who had jomed him by now :
“Some say that I’m wild, others that I’m out of step:
And some say that I’m but a mere man, poor and lowly.
O men, I’m crazy after my King, my God,
And known not another than Him, any, not another !
Yea, he alone 1s ‘mad’ who 1s struck with God's fear,
and knows not another than His only Master :
And, he alone who yokes himself to His Master’s task,
and accepts His Will and plays not clever with
His love :
Yea, and loves no one other than Lord, the God,
And thinks himself bad, and everyone else holy and good.”
Then, the Qazi asked, “How dare you disparage my faith”
Nanak answered in his forthright style :
far too easy to call oneself a Muslim but far too
hard to become one |"
Asked what his understanding of a Muslim was, he replied:
“If compassion be the mosque, and faith the prayer-mat,
and honest living one’s Quran ;
And humility one’s circumcision, and continence
one’s fasting, then, verily, one may be called a Musalman.
If virtuous deeds make up one’s pilgrimage to the Kaaba,
And Truth be the guide of one’s spirit,
And one’s prayer be for the Lord’s Grace,
And the rosary be of His Will, then God will
assuredly keep one’s honour.” (Majh, M.1.)
The Qazi then asked hum to say his prayers in the mosque
with him and see for himself the difference. Nanak replied:
“There are five times in the day that you offer your prayers,
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10 GURU NANAK
sodol. My first prayer 1s of Truth, the second of honest
living, the third of the Grace of God, the fourth of a clean
mind, and the fifth of the remembrance of God.” But, Nanak
added, he would not disappoint the Qazi and would accompany
him to the mosque for saying the prayers.
When the prayers were being said at the mosque, Nanak
did not join in, stood apart and just smiled. When the prayers
were over, the Qazi, much angered, demanded an answer for
this pertinence. Nanak again smiled and said, “You say,
you were offering your prayers to your God. Nay, you weren’t
For while your body bowed and prayed, your mind was in
Kabul purchasing horses of fine breed.” The Qazi was much
put out at this rude though true reply, but kept quiet lest he
be further humihated before his people. But the Nawab was
much pleased and said, “O Nanak, what a blessing 1t would
be to have a dervish like thee as my Vizier Do pray stay with
me. I have checked up my stores: there’s nothing that’s short.
People talked against thee out of jealousy. I would not let
thee go, now that I know who youare.” But, Nanak said,
“Master, I value thy good words, but mo longer will I serve
thee. There's another call more urgent for me to answer.”
The Nawab then bowed to him, saymg, “I will not stand
between thee and thy Master. Go, and do as thy God biddeth
thee. I’ve seen in thee what I’ve read im my holy books : the
Vision of God. IfIcan be of any service to thee, do pray
ask me. I shall feel privileged and blessed.” But Nanak said
he did not need anything save the love of God. And saying
so, and taking Mardana along, he went into the wilderness to
keep company with the faqurs there.
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Ul
“O man, be not clever with thy God”
—Goru NANAK
WALKING THROUGH the wilderness, along with Mardana,
Nanak covered much territory to the south-west of Panjab.
But he stopped nowhere. Whenever a habitation stood on
the way, he passed it by. He would pick wild berries or fruit
and satisfy his hunger. But, his companion grumbled that he
was treating him to no feast as was usual for them who accom-
panied the pious. But, the Guru reprimanded him, saying that
if a person chose the way of God, he should be self-dependent
and not live on the charity of the commumty. But Mardana
was not at all convinced of the reasonableness of his Master’s
advice |
One day, Nanak allowed him to visit a habitation. There,
when it became known that a man of God had entered their
village, men and women swarmed round him asking for his
blessings. Mardana blessed the folk profusely, and they
brought him not only delicious foods of various kinds, but also
offered him robes of silk, wool and cotton, and also scents of
many varieties. Mardana was much pleased at this considera
tion, and, carrying his bundle, hastened back to the Guru’s
Tepose in the wilderness. When Nanak saw his companion
loaded with so many gifts, he smiled, and asked why he had
disobeyed his command. Mardana felt- uneasy, but said he
could not disappoint his devotees. Sohe carried the bundle
along. Nanak asked him to throw it away, which he did with
a heavy heart. Then, Mardana asked him whether what one
gave away, in charity, to the needy reached the Guru and
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12 GURU NANAK
pleased God. Nanak said, “Yes, to feed the hungry and
cover the naked brings God's mercy upon the giver, but one
‘must grve out of one’s honest earnings ; and he who receives
at must receive only 1n accordance with his need and no more.”
As they travelled along, on the way, they came across a
pious-looking thug, Sajjan (meaning gentleman) by name. He
was sitting by the road-side, rosary im hand, his catty eyes
opening only occasionally to look at the passing travellers He
had not only built a mosque, being a Muslim Sheikh, but also
a temple for the Hindus and he would not allow any traveller
of whatever community to pass by without offering his hospi-
tality. He would plead with him to stay for the night, treat
hum with utmost courtesy, and then as the night grew, rob him
of all he had and cut his throat and throw his dead body into
the well nearby. In the morning, he would come out and sit
as ifn a trance, telling the beads of a rosary, waiting patiently
for the next victim of his foul designs.
When he saw Guru Nanak, he said to his followers, “Treat
him well. This seems to bea rich person. His face sparkles
with affluence.” And so they did. But, when night came and
they asked him to retire, Nanak said he would first sing a song
in praise of God and then go to sleep. When all his men had
gathered, with Sajjan seated in front of Nanak, Mardana took
out his rebeck and applied his deft fingers to its strings to
emit pious notes im Raga Suhi. And Nanak sang :
“Bright sparkles the vessel of bronze, but rub it and its
inner soil comes off. They who call themselves our friends
aren’t so unless they stand by us in the court of God where all
our accounts are settled. What woith is a rum even if it be
plastered and decorated from without ? The cranes live by the
tiver-banks, like the devotees, but their eyes are set ever on
the victims of their never-ending hungers. The Simmal-tree is
full of leaves and fiowers and fruit, but the fruit has no flavour
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GURU NANAK 13
and the flowers have no fragrance, and the leaves give no
shade. The blind man carries the bundle on hus head and
walks up a moyntam, steep and of long distance, but how can
he scale the heights without eyes? O Nanak, of no avail 1s
our cleverness and our feigned goodness. Only His Love saves
and cuts the fetters off our feet.””
When Sajjan heard this heart-searching hymn from Nanak,
something stirred within him. His soul was awakened and,
much ashamed at his foul past, he fell at the feet of Nanak,
hugged them warmly, and wept, saying “O Master, you have
found me out. Now tell me, how am I to be redeemed? How
are my sins to be forgiven” Nanak said, “It 1s only im two
ways that God forgives the past of a man: to confess one’s
guilt and to expiate for them.” Sayan cried, “I confess to my
shame that I have robbed many people, and cut their throats
and amassed a fortune thereby, pretending all the while my
devotion to God. But, how am I now to expiate for my sins 7”*
The Guru replied: “Bring out all you have and distribute it
among the poor and the holy in the name of God.” Sayan,
1m a moment of supreme transformation, did all that he was
bidden to, and thereafter became a great devotee of God.
Nanak made him the first high priest of bis mission. Everyone
who heard of this remarked, “Nanak has indeed performed a
muracle |”
From here, Nanak and his companion went to Sayyadpur
{now called Eminabad, m the district of Gujranwala) and
stayed at the house of a low-caste carpenter, Lalo by name.
‘This soon became the talk of the town that a holy man of
Kshatriya descent was inter-dining with an untouchable. This
talk also reached the ears of Malik Bhago, a local official of
high caste. He had arranged a great feast to which he invited
holy men from far and near. Hearing that Nanak was a
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4 GURU NANAK
great devotee of God, he called him also to partake of his
food. But Nanak refused to participate, saying :
“There are the lowest of the low-born and the lower still
and the least of these. Nanak 1s only a companion of them
and has no desire to compete with the great.””
The Malk was greatly incensed at this reply and asked his
servants to force Nanak into his presence if he would not
come of his own accord. The Guru seeing the haughtiness of
hus emissaries at first refused to budge, but then thinking that
this might be a good occasion also to teach him a lesson,
agreed to go. When he reached the palatial residence of his
host and was offered food, he declined to eat. When asked
why he was insulting the Chief thus in the presence of the
whole assembly when he had felt no qualms in partaking of a
low-caste carpenter’s food, the Guru replied calmly: “Your
food reeks of blood, while that of Lalo, the carpenter, tastes
luke honey and milk.” When asked how he came to this
impertinent conclusion, the Guru rephed ; “Lalo earns with
the sweat of his brow and out of it offers whatever little he
can to the wayfarer, the poor and the holy, and so it tastes
sweet and wholesome, but you being without work, squeeze
blood out of the people through bribery, tyranny and show of
authority. Such food cannot but be stained with the blood of
the weak, the innocent and the poor.”"!
Bhago was much ashamed at this and became speechless.
‘News travelled like wildfire in the countryside that a Guru of
men had appeared who could challenge caste and authority
with a fearlessness unknown before.
1. The old chronicles mention here a miracle having been performed
by Nanak When he squeezed bread from the two houses between his
two hands, blood actually was seen, it 1s said, to ooze out of one and
milk of the other.
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GU+U NANAK 15
From thence, the Guru proceeded to Kurukshetra, a great
centre of Hindu pilgrimage, where a big fair was being held
on the occasion of the solar eclipse. But before Nanak did
$80, he proceeded to Panipat where a great Muslim Sufi, Shah
Sharaf by name, had made his abode
Shah Sharaf at first wanted to know why Nanak was wear-
ing the dress of a householder, so unusual for a faqu, and
why he had not shaven his head. Nanak answered : “It’s the
mind that one must shave, not one’s head. To be humble like
the dust 1s the true way to shave one’s mmnd.” As for his
dress, he explamed: “One must abandon pleasures and
egotism and surrender one’s head to one’s God Then, what-
ever dress one wears 1s sacred.”
Nanak continued : “One must submut to the instruction of
the Wise, and to cherish God in the heart should be the gown
and the cap of the holy. He who holds his mind and relishes
the fare of both pleasure and pam alike, and lives, composed
in utter poise, for him it matters not what dress he wears.”
When asked to what sect and caste he belonged and how
he lived, Nanak replied, “I belong to the sect of the Right
Way. My caste is that of fire and wind. I live in the manner
of the tree and the earth, for, like them, I endure being cut
or dug into. Like a river, I care not whether one throws
flowers into me or dust. Like the sandalwood, I consider that
alone to be living which 1s fragrant.””
His host then asked him what a dervish should be lke.
Nanak answered: “He who while alive 1s dead; while he wakes
1s asleep, and who knowingly gets robbed of himself. Yea, he
alone is a dervish who welcomes both joy and paim, alike, and
1, This might be the assumed name of the then occupant of the
gaddl, as was indeed the custom, for Shah Sharaf had breathed his last in
AD 1946
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16 GURU NANAK
‘sorrows not, nor 1s angered, and covets nothing and has no
pride. Who sits composed i God, hearmg nought but what
God utters and beholding Him alone in everything that 1s, and
18 not.”
Shah Sharaf was so much pleased at these replies that he
bowed at his feet and kissed his hands, saying: “O man of
God, to question thee wasa sacrilege on my part. Even to
behold thee 1s to behold the Vision of God.”
Many legends and anecdotes which are prevalent about
Nanak among devotees tend to show that he had no faith in
‘the taboos, religious ceremonies, rites and rituals followed by
‘the orthodox and conservative people of his time.
It 1s said that at Kurukshetra, a follower of his offered
thm deer-meat toeat. The Guru who had never made any
distinction between one kind of food and another and took
whatever was offered to him, did not refuse the courtesies of
his devotee, And, he asked Mardana to roast it. The local
people who normally abhorred meat eating, more so on ‘auspi-
cious’ days like those of the lunar and solar eclipses, were
much incensed at this. Whoever heard of this sacrilege, be~
came furious. Some of them ran towards him with their clubs;
others wanted to stone him to death. When Nanak saw an
‘excited mob coming upon him, he asked them : “What makes
you rush upon me hike mad ? What wrong have I done to
you?” Looking at his serene gentle face, and his soothing
voice, the mob was exercised all the more. “You cook meat
at a place of pilgrimage, and on an auspicious day, and, then,
you plead innocence as if nothing had happened 7” Nanak
replied : “Only they who have never seen flesh are exercised
at its sight, but why should man who's conceived in flesh, and
1s himself nothing but flesh and bones; who 1s fed on the
mother’s breasts; who eats with the tongue of flesh, whose
mouth is of flesh; who marries flesh, who produces fiesh, and
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GURU NANAK 17
breathes im flesh Is there a manof man who deals not m
flesh ""
His detractors persisted that even when man dealt with flesh
and was conceived in and made up of flesh, it was a sin to eat
it. The Guru replied. “Do we not all take water from which
springs all life ? It gives life to man , as to the animal and to
vegetation. Shall we then shun water because it produces
life, 1s hfe ? And, don’t the plants have life? They breathe,
they love they live, and they die. And what 1s one to say of
those who do not eat animal flesh, but devour men and suck.
their blood ?"*
Most detractors knowing this man to be lost left him in
disgust, while some others, more sensitive, were convinced
that what he was saying was after all not without reason.
Then the Guru addressed the converts thus : “O men, I do not
eat for relish of the palate, but take whatever 1s offered to me
1m good faith by one who has earned with the sweat of his
brow. It would be ungodly for meto refuse to eat what
comes to me in God's Will.””
At Hardwar, on the banks of the holy Ganga, he saw
many people throwing water towards the east. When ques-
tioned, they said they were offering water to their dead ances-
tors in the high heavens for the peace of their souls. Nanak
smiled, and without a moment's hesitation, started throwing.
water towards the west. The devout were much amused at
this unsual gesture of his, so they asked him what he was do-
ing. Nanak replied: “I come from the western part of India.
I keep a farm in my birth-place. I seek to water it from here,
for I wonder if there has been sufficient rainfall since I came!”
The pilgrims laughed at his mnocence, and said, “You certainly
are grown up and mature enough to understand-that your
water cannot reach that far to be of any use to your farm."”
Nanak replied: “You ate strange creatures. My offering
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18 GURU NANAK
cannot reach a few hundred mules away, while yours can even
get to the other world ?” The questioners became speechless,
perplexed both at his impertiment questioning of their faith
and the irrefutable logic behind it. Nanak made many con-
verts here to whom he preached : “He who keeps God in the
mind and does right, which 13 also good, his soul is ever in
peace both here and in the Hereafter. He need perform no
other ritual to please his God.””
At another place, he entered the cooking-square of a devout
Brahmin who was wild with rage and demanded his explana-
tion for defiling his kitchen. The Guru said, his kitchen-
‘square was already polluted by the angry man who harboured
80 much hatred for his fellow-man of lower castes that at their
mere presence his place was defiled. This made the
Brabmin even more angry. The Guru thereupon said, “‘ignor-
ance is the low-caste drummer-woman, cruelty the butcheress,
aslanderous heart the sweeperess, and anger that ruins the
mind is like a chandala. O Brahmin, it avails not if one
draws the lines of one’s kitchen-square, when all the four low-
castes defile one’s within.””
He, then, asked him to “make truth, self-restraint and good
deed his lines, and the utterance of God’s Name his ablutions,”
so that he become acceptable to his God.””
At Delhi, it is said, an elephant belonging to the emperor
had died then. Its keepers were very sad, fearing loss of
employment. When they heart of the Guru's arrival, they
entreated him to bring him back to life. But the Guru said,
“Life and death are im the hands of God. No man can inter-
vene in His mysterious Play. It is best to rejoice in whatever
comes from Him. So long as there’s life in man, one prays
for the best to one’s God; but once He wants to take life, man
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GURU NANAK 19
should'submit to His Will cheerfully.”*
When the Guru visited Vrindavana, another great centre of
Hindu pilgrimage, he saw some showmen enact Krishna lila
(the dramatic performance representing the life of Lord
Knshna). But the Guru was much dissatisfied at this
dramatic show staged by people who did so not as an act of
piety or dedication, but to earn their living. Said he :
“The disciples play, while the Gurus dance.
Numble the movement of their feet, their heads,
And, lo, they throw dust in their hair, like mad.
, all this 1s but to amuse the crowd '
Yea, they beat time only to satiate their hungers.
They perform for the gopis and Krishna:
And Sitas and Ramas.
But he alone serves God on whom 1s God's Grace,
And in the dewy morn rises with zeal in the mind,
And dwells on the Wisdom of the truly wise
Else, do not the oil-presses dance, and the
spinning wheels ?
And the hand-mills and the potters’ wheels ?
And the incessant whirlwinds m the deserts, and tops ?
And, the churning-sticks, and the threshers,
And the birds whose fiying knows no rest ?
Endless are those who tumble and dance,
Bound by the writ of their habits.
But such of them who dance, only recreate their
minds, and cry and wail in the end.
ee he alone, O Nanak, loveth God who feareth Him.
the Puratan I
og RE i eer) pg anc dong baat ree
8 muracles.
to
$3 0 negate aepate God, though God may, nH. W do whatever He chooses
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pate
“Truth 1s above everything .
but higher still 1s the living of Truth”
—Guru NANAK
Tue Guru now started on his journey towards the east. Says
the earliest extant biography of his, “Nanak’s dress now was a
strange motley : a mango-coloured jacket, over which he threw
a white sheet, the hat like that of a Muslim anchorite (Qalan-
der), with a necklace of bones upon his neck, and a frontal-
mark of saffron, imprinted on his forehead im the style of the
Hindu devout.” This dress was 1n part Hindu, in part Muslim.
But never had anyone donned it before.
On the way, they sawa Muslim notable, Sheikh Wajid,
alight froma palanquin The carriers of his palanquin and
other attendants soon started fanning him, two of them
kneaded his body to relieve him of fatigue. Mardana,
the Guru’s companion, was greatly agitated at this and
questioned his Master: “O beloved of God, pray tell me, 1s
there no justice in this world ? The man who has travelled in a
palanquin feels tired and his fatigue 1s being relieved by those
who carned hith on their shoulders! The Guru replied :
“‘Mardana, it 1s all the result of one’s deeds. God creates all
men equal and blesses them with human birth when one has
the opportunity to become what one may. Some avail of this
opportunity, other don’t. This is how some have joy on the
earth, while others suffer. But, do not mistake, O Mardana,
the earthly joys to be a means to spimtual satisfaction, or
even a contended life. For, in the ultimate analysis, it is
spititual fulfilment that brings real happiness and inner
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GURU NANAK 21
integration. He who’s happy now, may be unhappy tomorrow ;
but a spiritually awakened and mtegrated mind would keep
ever in joy, ever im the peace of poise.”
From here, the Guru proceeded towards Pilbhit and
arrived at Gorakhmata, a great centre of Yogis. Here, he sat
under a pipal tree which had Jong withered with age. It 1
said, this tree became green soon after, much to the wonder-
ment of the people around. The Siddhas of this place
engaged Nanak in a religious discourse asking him who he was.
and whose disciple. The Guru asked Mardana to play on the
rebeck while he himself sang the following hymn of his :
“O, God, 1s there a scale or a weighman, or a measure or
a tester of Thee 7
“Is there an evaluator to put value on Thee ? Is there a
Guru to make me wise in Thee ?
“OQ love, I know not Thy limits.
“For, Thou it 18 who pervadest the earth, the waters the
underworlds and the skies, and art contaimed in all that
10?
Asked, how then one was to know God, to see Him and to
release Him, the Guru replied :
“The mind 1s the scale, understanding the weight, and
His service the weighman. And within the heart is He
to be weighted and seen and dwelt upon.
Nay, He Himself is the balance, and the tongue, and
the weight, and the weighman. And Himself He sees
Himself, and realises too, and deals in Hunself.
But, he who's blind, and of low disposition, and a
stranger to His ways, and ever wobbles in the mind, how
can he and those who seek his company ever know the
state or extent of God?”
The Yogis said what he had said might be true, but Rea-
lisation came only through their way. They therefore, asked
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22 GURU NANAK
hum to adopt ther dress, and the yogic discipline to obtain
emancipation from the snares of life and toenter into the
super-conscious state of “Samadhi”, where there's all bliss
and joy. The Guru replied :
“Yoga consists not in a patched gown, nor in the Yogy’s
staff, norm smearmg one’s body with ashes, nor in the
ear-rings, nor a shaven head, nor in blowing of the horn.
“Yea, he alone knows the way who abides amidst the
impurities of the world and yet remains detached and
spotless.
“Yoga consists not m words :
For, he alone 1s a Yogi who looks upon all men as equal;
And dies while yet alive,
And hears the Unstruck Melody, and enters into the state
of
fearlessness, when one’s Doubt ys dispelled, and cease the
outgoings of the mind :
And Nectar rains upon one’s mind, and oozes the music
of equipoise within one,
And one comes to know oneself.”
‘The Yogis were now completely transformed and paid
homage to the Guru.
From here, Nanak and his bard, Mardana, proceeded to
Banaras, far-famed as the holiest of Himdu centres of pilgrim-
age. This birthplace of Kabir and Ravidasa, two renowned
devotees of God, and a great centre of Sanskrit learning,
housed a learned Pandit, Chatur Das by name. While going
towards the Ganga for a holy dip, he saw the Guru in his
unusual dress and said with a sneer: “What kind of a holy
man are you? - You neither wear the necklace of Tulsi, nor
have a rosary im your hand, nor possess a saligrama, the
sacred quartz stone representing the god Vishnu. How will
you be emancipated?” The Guru answered:
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GURU NANAK 23
“He who waters a barren land wastes his life. O Brahmin,
make God the object of thy worship, and right conduct
the necklace of Tulsi, and ride the boat of God’s Love
with prayer in the heart for His Mercy and you will be
ferried across.””
The Guru continued :
“He who seeks to belong to the Master of the Garden,
makes deeds his well, the necklace and the waterpots,
and yokes his mind, like an ox, to draw water from the
well, and thus irrigates his farm with the Lord’s Nectar
and fulfils himself.”
The Brahmin said: “What you say may be true, but how
is one to overcome one’s mind which 1s full of lust and
wrath ?”" The Guru replied: “Lust and wrath too can be
beaten into a ploughshare, being nothing but energy. Instead
of their riding the man, man should ride them.”
The Brahmi then asked: “Can a crane be changed ever
into a swan? How can man who is ill-destined due to his
past Karma turn the course of his life 7” The Guru replied :
“If God’s Grace be upon one, one’s past 1s totally obliterated.
And Grace comes to all who seek it in humility, through self-
surrender, and the knowledge of, and obedience to, the Will
of God.”
The Pandit said, “But how can knowledge come without
learning?” The Guru answered: “Knowing 1s not under-
standing, intellect does not always lead to wisdom, for the
body is too weak, and the heart too young to resist evil. That
is how one acquires two mothers (hope and desire), and two
fathers (attachment and envy).””
Chatur Das questioned: “‘If that be so, what is the hope
of man’s redemption?” ~The Guru replied: “Know you not
that while the vegetation 1s in bloom, it yet has fire within 1t?
‘The earth is bounded by the sea and yet js not washed away?
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24 GURU NANAK
The sun and the moon reside in the same sky. But, the one
does not imbibe the nature of the other.” Chatur Das then
asked what were the characteristics of the God-awakened
bemg. The Guru rephed: “He who knows God to be all-
pervasive, and eats up the illusion that surrounds us all. And
the hallmark of such a one 1s that he always has compassion
in hus heart.”
The Pandit then inquired if his learning and teaching would
be of any avail to him in the realisation of the Ultimate
Reality. The Guru uttered 54 stanzas on the nature of know-
ledge and of God, reiterating his belief that there was nothing
that did not come from God: the gods, angels, mind, wisdom,
the universe, man, good and evil. “Why therefore get involved
with the Other, one must write out and reflect only upon
God’s Name.” When asked how was this God to be realised,
the Guru said, “Through love. For he who loves God knows
not another: he looks upon all alike, has compassion for all
hhfe, and illusion lures him not, and he 1s content to be
himself.”
The Pandit was greatly impressed by the Guru and became
hus disciple.
The Guru, then, proceeded to Gaya, the far-famed place
where Gautama, the Buddha, had performed his penances.
This place was now taken over by the Brahmms who asked
Nanak to perform customary ceremonies for the spiritual
comfort of his dead ancestors, The Guru replied :
“God’s Name is my earthen lamp, and sorrow is the oil
that burns therein. The rore the lamp burns bright the
more my sorrows are consumed, and lo, I suffer not the
agony of Death thereafter.
“God's Name, again, is the rice-balls, the leafy bowls,
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GURU NANAK 25
and obsequies and the holy rivers and the ablutions.*
While men offer gifts to the gods, it 1s the Brahmin who
eats them. Instead, one must beg of God to grant peace
to his soul both here and in the Hereafter, for there’s
nothing like His Love.”
As they proceeded further, they passed through a town in
which celebrations were being held on a Iavish scale on the
birth of a child im the house of a rich merchant. Next morn-
ing, the child passed away and there was much wailmg and
crying. Mardana asked the Guru, “O Master, why 1s man
afflicted by joy and sorrow, almost by turns, and how 1s one
to find peace in this world where men are born only to pass
out of life ”’ The Guru replied: “It 18 only one’s lack of
understanding which makes one indulge in joys of life exces-
sively, and when these pass away man suffers. If one were
to meditate on God Who goes not, and keep himself even-
minded, both in joy and pain, taking both to be the blessings
of God, one stays in poise and does not suffer."” He, then,
‘uttered a hymn giving the four stages of man’s life: childhood,
youth, old age and death, comparing them with the four
‘divisions of night which make one forget oneself, as in sleep,
and then when one wakes up, one repents.
On the way, the Guru halted at a place where he was visited
regularly by a devotee of his. Another man wanted to follow
suit, but falling m love with a woman of ill-repute, Be forsook
the Guru’s path and indulged m reveiries. After some time,
this man on his way to the house of his paramour once found
@ pot full of gold mohurs, while the devotee of the Guru ran a
poisonous thorn in his foot. He reported this to his Master,
saying, “O Guru, he who comes thy way 1s punished while he
J, These are some of the many nites performed by the orthodox
‘Hindus to propitiate their dead ancestors.
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26 GURU NANAK
who visits the house of evil is rewarded with gold coms!
Strange are the ways of God!” The Guru remarked : ‘‘My son,
ask thy heart if it feels contentment and bliss within, by stick-
ing to the way of God, and ask also the other man if he has
the same inner peace and poise, or burns ever in the fire of
desire and Just. It 1s not one’s worldly affluence that makes
for a happy and contended life, but what gives one’s mind and
heart stability and equilibrium. Your friend will grieve the
moment his joys are snatched away, but you possess riches
that would go not, nor be burnt nor drowned, and would stay
with you. Men who go for the pleasures of the moment lose
the joy of the everlasting.””
The Guru now came to a village where men and women
served him with all their heart. The Guru blessed them thus :
“May ye all scatter !" At the next village he was very poorly
received. The Guru cursed them saying: “May ye remain
where ye are |” Mardana was greatly perplexed at this. He
asked: “O Master, strange are thy ways. They who serve
you, you want them to scatter, while the others who treat you
all, you want them to stay in their homes secure and whole ?"”
The Guru replied : “O Mardana, if those that serve others
scatter, they would, by their example, make others also like-
wise; while if those that are inhospitable to the wayfarers and
the holy, stay where they did, at least they wouldn’t corrupt
others by their bad manners.”
The Guru now reached Kamrap (in Assam). The women
of this region were famous for their femmune charm and skill
in enticmg men. Nur Shah was the queen of this haven of
beauty. Mardana, as usual, stung by hunger, asked the Guru's
Permussion to visit the town. When he reached the palatial
abode of the queen of beauty, she called him in, talang him
to be an mnocent creature on whom she would work her
charms. Mardana, seemg her dazzling figure and much pleased
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GURU NANAK 27
with her courtesan manners, was completely possessed
by her. When, for quite some time, he did not return, the
Guru went after him, and finding him a virtual prisoner in the
hands of a handsome maiden, tried to persuade her to let his
companion out. But she was adament saying his man had
chosen her out of free will and so she would not let hum go.
She even tried to entice the Guru by her charm and suave
manners. But, the Guru spurned her advances saying . “She
who sells dust cannot exchange her goods with musk. Without
worthy deeds, one finds not the True Spouse.”
Nur Shah then tried to dance her way into the approval
of Nanak. She made such graceful and tender gestures, so
mumble of feet was she and so exquisite in her make-up and
expression that 1t was impossible for the usual run of men to
resist her charm. But the Guru sat unmoved and sang.
“The desires of the heart clang like cymbals and the ankle-
bells,and the world’s drum beats with it to keep the time.
Such are the times that even the sages dance to their tune. O
God, where then are the men of continence to plant their
feet ? All joys, all blessings, are bought and sold, but how
long 1s one to enjoy and forsake his mner being and God ?
Men are without compassion and kings without justice. Their
appearance is human but their doings are of dogs. But he
alone is approved.who thinks himself to be a guest in this
garden of beauty and is not enticed away from God !””
Then Nur Shah asked her companions to corrupt Nanak
with their riches. Thereupon they brought gold, jewels, scents,
dresses and delicacies to please him and make him stay with
them as their master and slave. But, the Guru was not at all
impressed and uttered the followmg hymn :
“© ignorant woman, why are you proud of your beauty,
your riches ? Why not relish the Spouse of your heart with-
in you, yea, He who is nearer than near, but Whom you
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28 GURU NANAK
searchest without and afar. Let His fear be the collyrium for the
eyes and your decoration be of His Love. But if you love Him
not, and play clever with Him and try to please Him through
courtesan manners and have greed in your mind, then you
please Him not only. If you surrender to His Will with all
your heart, and be yoked ever to His Feet and offer your body
and mind to Him, then your Lord loves and owns you as His
very own. Says Nanak: she alone 1s beauteous and merito-
d clever and wise who merges her whole being in her
It 18 said, Nur Shah was deeply moved by the soul-stirring
message of Nanak, and stood before him with joined palms,
beseeching him to forgive her past and to accept her as his
disciple. This the Guru did, saying “If you keep God im your
mind in whatever you do, you will be blessed and emancipat-
ed.” She also released Mardana who sought Nanak’s bene-
diction so that he remained steadfast in the Guru’s Path.
From here the Guru and his assoctate proceeded towards
wilderness. A strong wind was howling in the wastes, uproot-
mg the age-old trees. Soon, there was torrential rain and
thunder and lightning. The sky became murky and dreadful
as if with the streaks of fire and blood. Mardana was struck
with terror and said, “O Guru, strange are thy ways. You've
brought me to a wilderness where, if I die, there'll be no one
even to bury me gracefully and, may be, my flesh becomes a
prey for wild ammals.”” Nanak smiled and said, “Mardana,
Ife and death are in the hands of God whose fear fills the
earth, the sky and all the elements. So, whosoever 1s attached
to His fearless and eternal Master, he comes not to grief.”
As they were discussing thus, it is said, they saw a wild
being, half-human in form, but very dreadful of features and
demeanour approach them. The Guru said, “O brother, who
are you? Why have you come to us at this unearthly hour ?”*
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GURU NANAK 29
He replied. “I am the spirit of the Kali age and have come
to entice you. All the dreadful things you have seen happen
before you this day were my doings. But, as you weren't
afraid, now I’ve come to offer you gold and jewels and palatial
mansions and houris of exquisite beauty for your pleasure, so
that you may follow my way, and so too others seemg thy
example.”
The Guru asked Mardana to play upon the rebeck and
uttered the following hymn :
“Were there a mansion of pearls inlaid with gems, and
perfumed with musk, saffron, fragrant aloes and sandal-
wood...
Were the earth to be studded with diamonds and rubies:
Were houris of exquisite beauty shining like a bead to
Please me with their delicate gestures, I’d leave not the
hand of my God, nor abandon the support of His Name!
Were I to become a Siddha, seated in a holy trance, and
work muracles,
And could become now manifest, now hidden, at will,
and people were to acclaim me for this,
I'd leave not the hand of my God, nor abandon the
support of His Name !
‘Were I to become a monarch, seated on a throne, with
large armies to obey my commands,
O Nanak, all that would be vain like wind.
For, I'd ask God still to give me His Hand.”
It is said, the demon on seeing Nanak thus spurn his offers
fell at his feet and said, “O Nanak, I may bless him who
follows thee with the world’s riches, but would disturb not the
peace of his mind.”*
The Guru now returned by the river Brabmputra and pro-
ceeded towards Puri on the Bay of Bengal where Vishnu or
Krishna is worshipped as Jagannath, or the Lord of the
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30 GURU NANAK
universe, When, in the evening, the priests started performing
the Art?, going round and round the idol of Jagannatha, with
earthen lamps placed im salvers of silver, and burnt incense to
make the atmosphere fragrant, the Guru asked : “What's this
all about ?” The priests replied: “This 1s how one pays
homage to the Lord of the universe. You should also partici~
pate in the service as do the others.” The Guru thereupon
uttered a hymn, one of the most beautiful m the whole gamut
of Indian mystic poetry :
“The sky 1s the salver, the sun and the moon are the lamps
with the spheres of stars studded in it luke jewels :
The sandalwood on the Malai mountain seatters its fra-
grance across, and the winds waft the scents of all the
flowers of the earth :
Thus 1s Thy worship performed, O Thou destroyer of fear.
The Unstruck Melody of Thy Word ringeth through all
‘Thy universe.
Thousands are Thy eyes, yet hast Thou eyes ?
‘Thousands Thy forms, yet hast Thou a form ?
Thousands Thy feet, yet hast Thou feet ?
Thousands Thy noses to smell, yet hast Thou a nose, O
wonder of wonders ?
Thou art the light that lights all hearts, and becomes
manifest through the instruction of the Guru.
O man, that alone is worship which pleases my God ! Like
the black bee, my mind craves for the honey of His Lotus
—feet,
And cries ;
“O God, bless Nanak, Thy Cuckoo, with the rainof Thy
That he merges in thy Name !””
The priests of the temple found it profitless to argue any
more with him and left him alone.
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GURU NANAK 31
At Puri, Nanak also met a Brahmin who kept his eyes and
nose closed so as to deny himself the pleasures of the senses.
It was hus claim that thus he achieved much mental concen-
tration and could divime the secrets of others. The Guru put
his claim to the test. He took away the jug of water lying in
front of him, pleaced it at his back and asked, “Could you find
out where’s your jug”? After making many guesses, the
Brahmin gave up. The Guru thereupon uttered the following
hymn for his instruction :
“Men know not the spirit of the times, nor the essence of
Yoga, nor the way of Truth.
The holy places have been corrupted and defiled; lo, the
whole world 1s drowned thus.
In the Kali age, the way to man’s Release 1s through God's
Love,
In vain do men hold their nose and close their eyes and
claim that they see the three worlds,
But they see not what’s behind them, O, what a miracle 1s
this 2”
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Iv
“Only the Saint uttereth truly,
for he uttereth what he see-eth"
—Gorv Arson
‘The Guru now returned to the Panjab. He dressed himself like
a householder and visited the shrine of Sheikh Farid-ud-Din,
Ganj-1-Shakar, a great Muslim Sufi of the 13th century, at
Pak Pattan. The custodian of the shrine, Seikh Brahm
brahim), seeing him robed Inke a householder, said :
“Bither one should covet the world, or God,
But, one must place not one’s feet in two
boats, lest one be drowned.”
‘Nanak answered :
“Why not make use of both : have one’s goods, in one, and
one’s soul in the other,
For such a one, there’s no wreck, no loss : neither one sees
the boat, nor the water !
He cherishes only the goods of God which’s True and
pervades all, all-too-spontaneously.””
Ibrahim then engaged him in a spiritual dialogue, employ-
ing various metaphors and symbols to convey his belief
about God, man and the world. He said : “The whole world
is enamoured of the ‘witch’ which 1s false from within, and as
one looks on, one’s ‘farm’ is ruined !”*
The Guru answered back m the same metaphor: “Men
‘have been in love with the ‘witch’ since the beginning of Time.
But, he who keeps a watch over his ‘farm’ will never see it
rumed,”
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GURU NANAK 33
Said Ibrahim : “My strength 1s gone, my mind is torn, my
body ceases to function. love, bring me a medicament that
may cure me of my ailment.””
Replied Nanak: “Thy physician 1s Truth, and is within
thee, not without. To utter Him or to call Him from without
is false : one must Realise Him within one’s soul.”
Sheikh Ibrahim wailed : “When there was time to con-
struct a boat, I didn’t. And, now when the river 18 in flood,
how can I carry myself across? O love, touch not the safflo~
wer, its colour will fade away. The soul 1s weak, and the
command of the Beloved hard to bear. As the cow once milked
yields not again, so also our single Iife. The call from beyond
calls, and the swan-soul 1s sad that it hath to pass and the dust
return to dust.”
‘Nanak replied m a most optumstic tone. “If one constructs
the boat of meditation and self-discipline, the crossing 18 easy
enough. Then, one meets not with an angry river, and the
path 1s all-too-smooth. He who gathers merit in his skirt, the
God of Himself owns him and forsakes him never, if he gives
‘up ego and evil.””
Sheikh Ibrahim then said: “I seem to agree with you. But,
the tree of Infe yields flower in the first part of the might, and
it fruitions inthe morn. And he alone is blessed who keeps
awake through the night.””
‘Nanak replied: ““The bounties are in the hands of God, the
Giver. Some He passes by, even though they are awake, other
He wakes up out of sleep and blesses.”
Explaining his point further, Nanak said, “If man were to
receive Bliss only asa result of his own effort, what need,
then, is there of God and His Grace ? Effort one must make,
but the fruits thereof must be surrendered to God. Only thus
———___—_— ze
‘4a. The passing show of the world.
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34 GURU NANAK
does one’s ego depart and one merits the Grace of God. Else,
the realm of the spirit also degenerates into a market place of
of give-and-take.”” And, then, he uttered the followmg hymn :
“When Thou, O God, art with me, I have everything,
For, Thou, O love, art my capital-stock.
When I abide within Thee, I’m at peace and feel blessed.
In Thy Will Thou blessest man with a throne and glory.
In Thy Will Thou makest man a beggar, sad at heart.
In Thy Will do rivers flow across the deserts.
In Thy Will doth the lotus flower in the (mind’s) sky.
In Thy Will do we cross the impassable sea
(of material existence.)
In Thy Will are we drowned im the midstream.
In Thy Will Thou seemest pure and beauteous, and one is
imbued utterly with Thy Praise.
In Thy Will Thou seemest dreadful and one exhausts one-
self coming and going
O Love, Thou art unfathomable, incomparable without an
equal,
And saying thus, I surrender myself to Thee.
O God, I ask nought from Thee, but for Thy
5 Vision I craye.""
It 1s said Sheikh Ibrahim, like his illustrious predecessor,
Baba Farid, Ganj-i-Shakar, used to fast for as many days as he
possibly could. This he didin order to obtain religious merit
and purge his mind of desire even for bread. Whenever anyone
would bring offerings to him, more often than not he would
refuse the offer saying “I’ve already eaten.” He did this once
in the presence of the Guru. The giver, much offended,
taunted him : “Do you also imitate the ways of your forbear
who even though he wore on his stomach a wooden cake in
order to give him false comfort of bread, used to pretend he
had eaten even though his mind always craved?’? Sheikh
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GURU NANAK 35
Ibrahim’s heart was much touched at this reproach and he
said to the Guru: “Pray tell me what 1s to become of me ?I
le when I actually fast and tell the people that I have indeed
takenfmy dinner, while my mind craves.”
‘The Guru replied : “It 1s a sin to deny oneself the neces-
sities of life. One must not crave for pleasures, but whatever
comes from God one must accept with good grace and thank-
fulness. Starvation nevers leads to spiritual bliss.” And he
quoted Kabir n support of his argument ; “He who forsakes
bread and pretends God’s love, has, neither the merit of a
wedded spouse nor of a chaste widow” Nanak added : “With-
out a well-nurtured body, God could not be cherished or rea-
lised.” The essentials on the path of spiritual ascent were not
fasting or self-denial, but self-surrender, contentment, compas-
stort and sweet humulity.
The Sheikh was much pleased with this discourse.
From here, the Guru and Mardana ventured through a
small desert where they could find nothing to eat. Mardana,
much distressed, asked his Master: “Pray, tell me what 1s to
become of me ? I came out with you in the hope that at least
you wouldn’t starve me to death. Now, hunger gnaws at my
heart, and there’s nothing Ican find to have my fill.” The
Guru pomted to some wild berries and asked him to satisfy
his hunger with these, but not to carry any with him. Mardana
ate lus heartful, but disregarding the instructions of the Guru,
put some in his pockets and ashe felt hungry next morning
partook of them with utter abandon. Soon after, he felt pain
imhis stomach and became miserable. Being asked, he told
‘Nanak that disregarding his advice he had brought some wild
berries with him also and eaten them while he felt hungry that
morning. The Guru smiled and said, ““Mardana, that’s how
man suffers. He not only demands what he needs now, but
also what he needs for the morrow, depending not on God but
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36 GURU NANAK
on himself. And the food he thus accumulates and deposits
gets stale, even if it is not stolen, or gives rise to jealousy and
pain inthe minds of others. And so whosoever feeds himself on
the left-overs suffers.’” Mardana was soon well, but now express-
ed a wish to go back home. “I can suffer huuger with thee no
more,” he wailed. Nanak said: “Mardana, I bless thee. You
are saved both in this world and the next. You gave me
devotion before any other and this I value more than my life.
‘You may now proceed to your home in peace.”? Mardana tou-
ched the feet of his Master, and Nanak hugged him to his
‘bosom, saying to his utter delight : “You go and I follow you,
but tell no one of my whereabouts.””
When Mardana reached Talwandi, Nanak’s mother greatly
overwhelmed with emotion asked : “Where have you left my
son ? Pray tell me, when shall I see his blessed face again ?””
Mardana kept silent, and after meeting his people soon left.
Nanak’s mother followed him, believing that his sudden
departure must be at the bidding of Nanak who might be some-
where nearabout. At only three mules from the village, Mar-
dana halted and so did Nanak’s mother who to her utter
dehght saw her son face to face after several years. Nanak,
seeing the sight of his mother, rushed to touch her feet. The
mother embraced him and tenderly caressing his forehead, sob-
bed: “Sacrifice to thee, O son, blessed is the ground thou
treadest, blessed the people thou meetest, thy mother is blessed
for having brought thee forth. Thank God, I have seen thee
again.”
‘Nanak was also much overcome with emotion. The mother
offered him some sweets, but Nanak said, ‘Mother, I’m
already satiated.” The mother mquired : “‘O son, what have
you eaten and when ?” Nanak asked Mardana to play on the
rebeck while he sang a hymn which said, “He who believes,
tastes all that’s sweet ; he who hears His Word tastes all that’s
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GURU NANAK 37
saline. He who utters Him, tastes the sour foods, and he who
sings His Praise tastes all the condiments. Yea, all the thirty-
six delicacies that the tongue relishes are his who loves God,
and whose love my God approves. All other tastes are vain,
O mother, for they bring evil to the mind and to the body
pain.”
Then, his mother said, “Son, remove the beggar’s gown
you've put on and wear the clothes I’ve brought thee.” Nanak
replied : “The joy of wearing red 18 his who’s imbued with the
colour of God, of wearing white his, who lives in Trath and
gives away whatever he has. The joy of wearing blue 1s his
who rids interior of the dark spots, and of the cosy footwear
his who stands ever in the Presence of God.”
Soon, his father got scent of Nanak’s coming and he
rushed to the spot on horseback. Seeing Nanak robed like a
faqir, he said, “Son, take my horse and ride back to thy home.
I’m much distressed at thy sight, the son of a proud house-
holder wandering like a beggar.” Nanak fell at the feet of
his father and said, ““O father, the horses are no use to me He
who knows His Way, goes notanother He whose glory
shines in the Presence of God by His Grace feels himself to
be the king of the world.” Kalu, then, asked him to visit
at least his people back home and comfort his bones for some-
time im the family house. Nanak replied, “’The pleasure of
of uttering His Name is my home, my family is my God’s
Grace. And only that I obey which my Master ordains.””
Kalu was much distressed to hear these words and said,
“Only af I know what has disppointed you in life, I would set
things right. If you want to marry another woman, I'd get
you one, if another house, I’d provide you with it” Nanak
replied : “God alone I have married. He it is who orders me
about, as the whole world he yokes, each to his own task. And
whosoever else errs, my God errs not.” Nanak then asked
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38 GURU NANAK
his parents’ permission to depart : “I had promised to come
and see you. That promise I have kept. Now, I beg of you
to grant me leave that Ido what God bids me do.” Finding
any further argument fruitless, his parents departed, sad at
heart.
Once again, the Guru went to see Sheikh Ibrabim at Pak
Pattan. Outside the town, the Guru sat along with Mardana,
singing a hymn which said: ‘Thou art the tablet, O God,
Thou the pen, Thou also the writing. Yea, Thou art our only
God, why therefore thmk of another 7” This utterance a
follower of Sheikh Ibrahim heard and reported to this master
that Nanak had arrived again in the neighbourhood. Sheikh
Tbrahim went out to receive him and after paying courtsies to
him asked, “Nanak, thou sayest there’s but one God ; true,
but there are two ways : which one must one adopt and- which
reject’ The Guru replied: “If there’s one God, then, there's
only Ais Way to attam Him, not another. One must follow
that way and reject the other. Worship not him who’s born
only to die, but Him Who's eternal and 1s contamedin the
whole universe.””
Tbrahim quoted Farid-ud-Din, Ganj-1-Shakar, to convey that
without abandoning the world, one couldn’t go the way of
God. Nanak rephed that he whose mind was clean would
attain God wheresoever he be. The Sheikh then asked, “What
18 that word, that virtue, that spell, which captivates the heart
of the Beloved ?”” Nanak replied : “Humility is the word, for-
bearance the virtue, civility the spell which charmsthe heart of
our Master’ Ibrahim asked, “How can a man of affairs who
lives on the blood of others be approved of by God ?”” Nanak
replied, “If one keeps the ‘knife’ of Truth in the scabbard of
Merit and then cuts one’s ‘throat’ with it, the ‘blood’ of greed
will be shed and one shall be approved by God.” Asked Ibra~
him, “Is an mtercessor necessary to meet with God 7” Nanak
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GURU NANAK 39
replied, “The pure soul is the intercessor. God Himself is the
Guru and he who surrenders his soul to God becomes like unto
Him.” The Sheikh then asked for his blessings and Nanak
said, “God will bless thee, and thy goods willarrive safehome,”*
meaning thereby that his devotion would be accepted.
On the way, the Guru was met by a recluse who asked him
to define the word “‘Udas”’ (Abandonment). Nanak answered :
“He who makes use of everything but deems not any as his
own has abandoned the world. Such a one meets with God.””
At Goindwal, he visited the house of a leper whom everyone
had discarded and left to live on the outskirts of the village.
‘Nanak stayed here for some time, nursing the ailing man who
was in utter distress. The leper asked him, “O Guru, how does
man contract disease?" The Guru replied, ‘By forgetting
God, for the malady 1s not in our body but in our souls. While
man can cure his body's ailments, only God can cure our
souls. He whose soul is in health, minds not the body’s pain,
but he who leans only on the body, keeps his soul ever sn pain.””
It is said, the leper recovered soon thereafter, and became a
a great devotee of God.
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a
“God created the earth to establish His Rule of Law “
—Guru Nanak
CONTINUING HIS WANDERINGS through the central parts of the
Panjab, Nanak arrived at Sayyadpur and visited his devotee,
Bhai Lalo, a second time. Lalo complained to Guru of the
oppression of the Pathan rulers. Nanak replied, “When good-
ness departs from men and nations, tly mvanably come to
grief. The end of the Pathan regime 18 at hand.” And, on
this occasion, he uttered a prophetic hymn pointing to the
advent of Babur who was soon to occupy the throne of Delhi
after bitter fightmg m the Panjab Addressing Lalo, Nanak
sang:
“O Lalo, I utter as 1s revealed unto me the Word of
God : ‘
With the “marnage-procession” of sin, Babur hastens
hither and asks for the hand (of the bride, our mother~
Jand) at the pomt of the sword.
Men have lost religion, nay, even the sense of shame, and
falsehood walks abroad.
Not the Brahmins and the Qazis, but the devil incarnate
conduets the marriage.
Women, Hindu or Mushm, sing the “marriage-songs””
through their wails.
1. Though no mention 1s made of Lalo in the oldest chronicle—the
Puratan Janam Shakhi—t with regard to him persists which
1s performed by this hymn i the Sikh scripture and references to him in
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GURU NANAK 41
And men sing of their lallers, and anomt their foreheads
with the saffron-mark of blood.
Nanak hymns the praises of God in the city of the flesh.
And proclaims that He whose justice is ever true and who
assigns to each man his task, He sits apart and watches
over us all.
And, lo, our bodies will be torn into shreds, and, then,
‘Hindustan will know the intent of what I utter.””
‘A few days later, Babur invaded this place, sacked the
town, put many men to the sword, and captured others, m-
cluding Nanak and Mardana While the Guru was made to
carry a heavy load on the head,-Mardana worked as a groom.
Later, Nanak was asked to grind corn at a hand-worked stone-
mull. While other prisoners cried and groaned as they laboured,
Nanak sang hymns in praise of God" one of which said :
“O God, Iam Thy bond slave : How fortunate am I that
Thou hast bought me over
At Thy shop ; and, in return, blessed me with Thy Word.
Now, I serve Thee as Thou wantest me to serve.
O, God, how can Thy slave play clever with Thee ?
There is no choice for him but to submit to Thy
Will, and never, never to say, Why ?
O Love, my father is also Thy slave, so also my
mother : I am the offspring of Thy slaves :
And as my mother danceth, and my father
singeth, I, too, pay my devotions to Thee.
O Master, if Thou art thirsty, I bring Thee water;
af hungry, I grind corn for Thee,
1, Some of the chronicles suggest that some of the prisoners saw
Nanak's load lifted above his head and hit soem spoviag puchout be,
mm.
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42 GURU NANAK
And wavee-fan over Thee, and caress Thy feet,
and utter ever Thy Name.
O God, I have betrayed Thy salt, but, Thou forgivest
and blessest me with glory.
For, Thou art ever compassionate, the great Giver,
since the beginning of Time; and no one hath
found Release without Thee.”
‘When this was reported to Mir Khan, the army General,
that a faqir was dancing for joy over the labour he was en-
trusted with, he conveyed it to Babur. The Emperor said he
would like the fagir to be brought to his presence and express-
ed distress that such 2 one should have been put to hardship.
When Nanak was presented to Babur, and the latter asked for
his forgiveness, Nanak sang :
“They whose tresses shone with lusture, their
partings lined with vermilhon,
Their locks were sheared, and dust was thrown on
their head.
‘They who lived in palaces do not find a place now
in the common :
O God, greetings to Thee !
O Primal Being, no one knows Thy limits; Thou
donnest as many garbs as there are.
Beauty and riches which led men to much revelry
now have turned their enemies.
If only one were to forethink,
‘one would come not to grief !’”
Then Babur asked, “I’ve come to mnvade India, to release
people from the oppression of the Pathans.”” The Guru said,
“True, but you will go to the same way if you oppress your
subjects. These riches and lust for power have wasted away
many people before thee. They come not without sin, but
they keep no one’s company for ever. And, whosoever loses
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GURU NANAK 43
goodness of heart, him my God destroyeth.”” Babur was im-
pressed with these words and said, “O man of God, forgive
my sins. I Promise thee not tocommit oppression on the
poor any more.” The Guru took leave of him, saying, “Let
God be thy hght.””
As they came to the town of Sayyadpur, Mardana heard
much wailing of men and women for their dear ones who had
been massacred by the hordes of Babur. He asked the Guru
why so many innocent men were done to death alongwith those
few who were guilty, The Guru asked Mardana to relax under
a banyan tree, and after a while when he came back he would
answer him. As Mardana reclined under the tree, he dozed
off. And, then, suddenly, the bite of an ant awakened him. In
‘one sweep of the hand, Mardana rubbed on his feet, as many
ants as he could find, thus killing several of them. Nanak saw
this, and before Mardana could ask for the answer to his
question, Nanak said to him : “You now know, Mardana, why
do the innocents suffer along with the guilty 2” Mardana said,
“© Master, thou alone knowest thy mystries.’”” Seemg much
distress all around, Nanak asked Mardana to play on the
rebeck and himself sang the followmg hymn :
“O God, Thou protected Khurasan, and brought
terror to Hindustan.
But Thou taken no blame for this, and sent the
Moghals to bring ruin and death unto us.
O God, when men suffer thus, and wail,
Thou feelest no pam ?
© Creator, Thou belongest to all.
If the powerful duel with the powerful,
one minds it not.
But, :f a ravenous lion pounces upon a herd of cows,
the Master must answer for it.
They who have spoiled the priceless jewel of Ind
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44 GURU NANAK
and behaved like curs, will be wiped from
memory after they are gone.
© God, Thou Thyself unitest and the separatest men
from Thee,
For such 1s Thy glory.
If someone has a great name, and enjoys himself
to his heart’s desire,
He 1s treated by Thee like a worm, who eats
(but thinketh not).
But he who dies while yet alive and lives in Thy
‘Love alone wins.””
It is said when Babur heard of this, he once again invited
the Guru to meet him, and offered to grant him anything he
asked for. Nanak said, “It's only fools who ask anything
from one other than God.”” When Babur pressed his request
several times, mn great humility, Nanak asked him to release
the prisoners he had taken. This the Emperor did. Now, Babur
offered him wine. But, the Guru refused it saying, “that which
imtoxicates a man fora little while and then leaves him cold
frustrated 1s of no use to me. I’m imebriated with something
more enduring than this.” Babur misunderstood him, and
offered him hashish (Indian hemp) mstead. The Guru, much
amused, sang the following hymn to explain himself :
“Love is my hemp, my heart its pouch :
O God, I’m mad after Thee, estranged from the rest.
‘With prayerful hands as the bowl, it 1s for the
Vision of Thee I beg at Thy door.
O Love, grant me the alms I ask for.
Saffron, flowers, musk and sandal make everyone
fragrant,
So do the Samts with the fragrance of their souls.
No one says butter can be defiled, or silk.
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GURU NANAK 4s
So also the soul of the devotee whichever caste
houses it.
© God, grant Nanak the alms of Thy Mercy,
‘That he may ever be imbued with Thy Name and
forsake Thee never.””
‘The Guru then took leave of the Emperor saying that if he
would be just and revere the holy and indulge not in pleasure
and be merciful to the poor and remember God in everything
he did, he would come not to grief and his rule would last
long.
‘Nanak now proceeded towards Sialkot wa Pasrur. Here he
rested under a wild caper tree which still stands to his memory
He told Mardana to go to the town and ask at every shop:
“My Master wants to buy a penny worthof truth, and a penny
worth of falsehood’ Mardana was much amused at this
Strange request, but did not cross the Master believing that he
might be wanting to teach him some new aspect of Truth.
Going from shop to shop he put this question. Some constder-
ed him insane, others, that he was trying to make fun of them.
But one shopkeeper, Moola by name, was much overwhelmed
with this kind of questioning and said, “‘Go, tell thy Master
that life (of the self) 1s false, and death (in the way of God)
true.” When Mardana brought this answer to his Guru, Nanak
said, “Such a sensitive soul I would like to see. It appears he
knows the Reality.” Moola was brought to the presence of
the Guru who wanted him to accompany him on his travels.
This he did for some time. But, when the Guru visited his
town asecond time and asked for his whereabouts, Moola’s
wife fearmg that he might leave her again lied that he had left
for a distant land. Moola too, it appears, had despaired of
his wanderings where he could not be treated even to a good
feast. Than to die in wilderness, he seems to have thought,
it was better to stay at home in comfort with his family. The
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46 GURU NANAK
Guru sensing that he was being cheated, said, “This man used
to protest that life for the self 1s false and death in the way of
good 1s real, but now he too seeks to cling to falsehood. So,
let 1t be. But who can escape death ?""*
Travelling thence to Mithankot, Nanak came to meet Mian
Mittha (it. the sweet one), a great Muslim Sufi, who contrary
to what his name implied was very proud of his station. When
told of the arrival of Nanak, he said to his followers : “I'd go
to see him, and squeeze him dry ke a lemon.”” When he came,
Nanak greeted him with much courtesy. Mian Mittha asked
haughtily: “O Nanak, there are only two things which if a man
accepts he’s approved by God, one, God Himself and the
other, The Prophet. But you accept not the second, nor read
the Quran, How are you then to be redeemed ?”" Nanak replied,
“It 1s the Quran of Right Conduct that I read, and as I liven
God, I lean not on another For, he who 18 in love with the
One loves not another.””
Mian Mittha then asked, “How cana lamp be lighted
without oil 2” Meaning thereby that without the aid of the
holy book, the Quran, how could one’s interior be illumined ?
‘Nanak answered : “The (body’s) lamps, if nit be the oil of
wisdom, and the wick be of God’s Fear, and if it be lighted
with the torch of Truth, its hghts illumines our withm, and we
see God. Yea, he who while he liveth serveth others, he getteth
@ seat in the Presence of God.”
Then, Mittha asked, “‘What is Wisdom ? How is one to
fear God? How 1s the torch of Truth to be lighted ? What
indeed 18 Truth 7” Nanak answered : “To love is to be wise ;
to surrender to it, in all humility, is to fear God, to believe
1. It said Moola dled soon thereafter biten by 2 saske, a8 be was
cursed ‘This cannot be true, as the Guru did not believe in
Seramng people wh did not fallow haa:
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GURU NANAK 47
in it is to hght the torch, and to know that He alone ism
everyone and everything is to know the only Truth one ought
to know.”
Then Mian Mittha asked, “What’s the name of God that’s
most sacred to Him, which pleases Him most ?” Nanak
replied, “Any with which one can be involved For Thee, it 18
Allah.” And uttering “Allah” thrice to him, Nanak took his
leave, leaving Mittha a much chastened man
The Guru now visited Lahore. Here, a multi-millionaire,
Dun: Chand by name, had planted scores of flagstaffs m front
of his door. When asked what they stood for, someone ex-
plained that each flag denoted a hundred thousand rupees that
the rich man possessed. Duni Chand heard of the arrival of
the holy man and wishing hum to partake of the feast he had
arranged in honour of his dead father, requested him most
profusely to grace the occasion. Nanak agreed, but said, “ I
would come if only I received an answer to my query from
you.” “What 1s that ?”” inquired Dum Chand in all humility.
Nanak said, “I would partake of your feast 1f you take from
me a small needle I have cherished all my life and deliver it
safe to me in the after-life.” “How can that be ?”” asked Dun
Chand, “how can one carry things of this world into the
beyond 2” Nanak asked, “Then, why have you made such a
display of wealth at your door if you cannot take even a
Itttle needle along with you into the beyond ?” Dum Chand
was much ashamed at this reckless advertisement of his riches
and, as directed by the Guru, distributed all he had to the
poor and dedicated himself to meditation and service of the
helpless.
The Guru now came to Kartarpur on the bank of the
Ravi and settled here for some time. A young boy, seven years
of age, used to visit the Guru every morning and evening.
One day, Nanak asked him what made him come to him at
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48 GURU NANAK
‘such an early age. The boy replied - “I have seen my mother
lighting firewood. And it 1s the little sticks that burned first.
‘That made my realise that one knows not when one’s life
comes to an end. So, one must start on the God’s way soon
enough.” Nanak was much pleased at this reply. This boy, who
Tived to a hoary age, and became a renowned savant and later
anointed the five successors to the Throne of Nanak, has since
then been known as “Baba Buddha” (the revered old one),
due to his maturity even at his tender age
Hearing of the Guru’s settlement at Kartarpur, men and
‘women came from far and near to pay their homage. His
fame had spread to the four corners of Hindustan. Even his
father came with all his people, his wife, children, mother and
relations. Nanak took off his unusual robes and dressed him-
self in the way of the world, a turban on his head, a sheet of
cloth over his shoulders, a cover round his waist. Morning
and evening, religious services were performed. He also started
cultivation of a farm and out of its produce food was offered
to whosover came to see him. Thus was laid the foundation
ofa community-kitchen (or, Guru-ka-langar) in which every-
one, high or low, caste or no caste, and men of all creeds,
were made to eat together, perhaps for the first time m our
hustory. One day, a Brahmin came to the Guru and asked for
-alms. He was directed to take food in the community-kitchen
along with others. But, he refused, saying unless he cooked
himself what he ate he would be defiled ! First, he would dig
up the earth, then mark off and plaster the kitchen-square
with cow-dung, wash the firewood so that no insect be burnt
with it, and then cook his food. The Guru promised to give
tum the uncooked stuff that he needed after he had dug up
and found no life coming out of the earth’s womb. But the
more he dug up, the more insects he saw coming out of the
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GURU NANAK 49
earth. Nanak told him, “It 1s not through food that we are
defiled, but through an evil mind.”
Two Sikhs, Malo and Bhago, asked the Guru if any good
attached to the practice of penances. The Guru replied : “To
practise penances 1s to reject the goodness of God. If we put
to deliberate pain the body which 1s the temple of God, how
are we to please Him? One should burn one’s craving, not
one’s body. The mind can be steadied not by tearing 1t away
under compulsion, from the activity of life, but by yoking it
to God in whatever one does Holy 1s he whose mind 1s holy,
who does injury to no one, and serves everyone, minding not
the coat he wears, and remaining humble and giving up desire
even in the midst of the work-a-day world.”
It 1s here, it 1s said, that the Guru composed one of his
masterpieces, the Bara Maha, in which he expres hus utter
devotion to the one God, like a wedded spouse pining for her
lord and master who has gone abroad. The changing moods
of nature from month to month are reflected here in superb
poetry, making more and more imtense the lover’s sense of
separateness and longing for union with the beloved.
A Sikh came to the Guru asking for help to marry off his
daughter. The Guru sent one of his devotees, Bhagirath by
name, to fetch him some gold ornaments from Lahore, but not
to sta there overnight. The devotee carried out the instruc-
tions with such meticulous care that the jeweller also liked to
accompany him to the Guru. Here, he was overwhelmed with
the piety and wisdom of Nanak and became a devotee of his.
It is said, from here he went to Ceylon, distributing all he had.
to the poor, in order to propagate the message of his new
faith and even converted Raja Shivanabham (popularly known
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30 GURU NANAK
as Shivanabh) of Ceylon’ to Nanak’s way.
And now, the Guru also decided to take a journey to the
South. His companions were two Jats, Saido and Gheeo.
Seeing the Guru rise very early m the morning, and bathing
at the river, they thought the Guru worshipped the God of
water, Khwaja Khuzar. It 1s said, one day they had a vision of
Khwaja Khizar who told them that while he was water, Nanak
was the air im which water 1s contained. Their doubt thus
dispelled, they yoked themselves to the service of Guru with
more sensitive devotion.
On their way to the South, they came across a famous
Jama temple. Its custodian, Narbhi, came to visit the Guru
and asked, “Do you take old corn or new? Do you shake
trees to get fruit ? Ifso, then you destroy Life and are not
worthy to be called a holy man.” Nanak answered : “From
water came the fourteen gems, on the river-banks all are the
Hindu places of pilgrimage, water washes us clean, how can
one despise the cool, flowing water, which gives life to us all 7
As for destroyng life, 1s there anything that has no life,
flowers and leaves have life, so has water life, so has corn, so
have milk and curds. It is through wisdom that one is emanci-
pated, not by shunnmg food that God has blessed us with, m
any form.”
1, He may not have been the king of Ceylon, but a chieftain of Jaffna,
then one of the three independent states of Ceylon, and which was
mostly peopled by Sharvite Tamils as agamst the prominent Buddhist
population of Kotte and Kandy. May be the name of the king 1s erro-
neously mentioned for recently the researches of Ceylonese scholars and
archaeological nds have established the visit of a holy person of the
‘name of “Nanakacharya” to King Dharmaprakamababu (who came to
the throne of Kotte in 1493) and who debated both with the Buddhists
and the Brahmins of his realm.
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GURU NANAK St
As they passed through an island i the ocean,a devilish-
looking man, used to eating human ficsh, barred’ their way.
‘The Guru was accompanied by another Jat also this tume,
Seeho by name. Seeing them, he wanted to spear them to
death and then eat their flesh. Saido and Gheeho were much
anguished at this, and started wailing. The Guru stood
composed, and sang the followmg hymn :
“If God be merciful He'd cause the devotee to do as he’s
bidden,
And worship Him in whatever comes to his lot.
O, such a one 1s then acceptable to my God.’
Seeing his serene and holy face in the face of utter danger,
the tyrant was transformed. It is said, he became a great
devotee of God thereafter.
On the way, he met a Muslim Pir, Makhdum Bahaudin
Qureshi, who was very proud of his spiritual attainments and
renown. Many of his muracles he advertised to the Guru
‘Nanak said to him, “You area spiritual person, and yet so
proud of your station ? The way of God is the way of humi-
lity. He who becomes fond of his own praise, loses God.””
‘The Pir took this censure to heart, and asked Nanak to stay
with him for some time more to mstruct him back to God’s
path. The Guru replied :
“Who can stay at a place, when nothing stays ?
I would stay only, if that where I am were to stay with me.
Yea, God alone stays : so I’d bide with Him,
For, the world stayeth not, nor the sky, nor day, nor night,
nor moon, nor sun, nor do the stars,
Nor Kings, nor pirs, nor angels, nor ascetics, nor men, nor
books, nor rituals :
Yea, God alone stayeth, or His Word.”
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52 GURU NANAK
Much humbled, the Pir asked, “Whom amI to adopt as
my Guru.” Nanak replied: “He who 1s the Guru of us all : thy
God.”
From there, the Guru proceeded towards Ceylon. On being
told that a great faqir had come from India to visit his land,
the King, whose name 1s givenin the Sikh chromicles as
Shivanabham, sent beautiful damsels to tempt him with their
charm. But Nanak took no notice of them Then the King him-
self came and asked : “What’s thy name, thy caste ? Are you
a yo ””” Nanak replied, “A yogis he whose interior is cleans-
ed with the discipline of God’s love, and who 1s ever imbued
with His Truth and whose commgs and goings are ended. O
God, what 1s Thy Name, Thy caste ? When Thou call me into
Thy Presence, I would ask Thee to answer the questionings of
my mind.”
Then, the King asked, “Are you a Brahmin 7” Nanak
answered : “A Brahmin is he who bathes in the waters of
God’s Wisdom, and knows the One alone whose light per~
meates the three worlds.””
‘The King asked, “Are you ‘a Khatri, a shopkeeper 2” The
Guru rephed : “My tongue is the beam, my heart the scale,
and 1 weigh therewith the Essence of the Unknown. There
is but one shop, and one Merchant, and the customers too are
all of the same type”
The King asked if he wasa Hindu ora Muslim. Nanak
rephed : “The True Guru has resolved the differences for him
of the two ways who is yoked to the One alone : he cherishes.
‘His Word and dispels his Doubt.”
‘The King was much impressed by these answers, and asked
about the state of a bemg such as the one Nanak had descri~
bed to him Nanak answered in most subtle terms :
“The man of God lives in a state of superconscious, a Void
it 18, where there’s neither joy nor sorrow, hope nor desire,
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GURU NANAK 53
caste nor castemarks, no sermons, no hymning of hymns ;
seated in himself, man meditates, composed like the sky, and
knows himself.”
This composition, consisting of 40 stanzas and known as
“Prana-sangli” 1s no longer extant. The Guru blessed the
King and said, “Thy devotion will be approved of by God.”
‘The King became a great devotee of Nanak, and did much
good to his subjects, so much that the people said, “Our king
has no love left for the joys of the world. He lives ever in
‘Nanak and God ”
On his return to Panjab, the Guru went toa fair of the
yogis m Achal-Batala to have discourse with them. He was
wearing the dress of a householder. There was such a vast
crowd wanting to see and pay homage to him that the Yogis
grew jealous and their leader, Bhangarnatha, asked, “O boy,
why have you made the ‘milk’ sour, and wear the robes of a
householder, claiming to be an ascetic. No butter (of wisdom)
is thus churned.” Nanak replied, “He whose ‘mother? 1s
unwise makes the ‘milk’ sour by washing not the ‘churn’*. He
who abandons family life and curses it, shouldn’t go out to
beg at the door of the householders He who does nothing here,
will get nothing hereafter.”
‘The Yogis asked, “You are reputed to bea man of mira-
cles. Wouldn’t you show one or two to us” The Guru replied,
“All miracles are a negation of God. I believe in no miracle
but God and the companionship of the holy. Were I to put
on the dress of fire, bide in a house of snow and eat iron, and
eschew all my pain, and drive the earth before me, and weigh
the whole firmament with a mere trifle, and perform the
impossible, all that would be vain, 1f God blesses not me with
1. i.e. The Guru.
2 1 ¢. Signifying the body.
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34 GURU NANAK
‘His Grace and the joy of ever living m Him.”
Tt 1s said Nanak was offered a cup of home-made liquor in
order to mduce samadhi (the state of super-consciousness).
The Guru refused the cup, saying, “He who has the knowledge
of the Divine, and meditates upon it, and does only what
1s good, and loves God, keeps ever intoxicated ”
The Yogis asked, “Who, n thy opimon, 1s a hermit 2”
Nanak replied, “He who with the ‘sword’ of Wisdom wrestles
with the five passions? and knows how the ten organs of action
and five of perception function, whose mind 1s ever filled with
the Divine, and who makes pilgrimages, within, all the year
round, and washes the pride of his heart, is, indeed, hermit."”
The Yogis then asked him to join their ranks without which
no one could find Release. The Guru said, “Not through a
patched coat, nor ear-rings nor wallet, nor staff, nor a deer’s
horn can one become a true yogt. For me, he alone is a yogi
who controls his five passions, sleeps little and eats but
sparingly, and keeps devoted to God, restrained m desire,
uttering wisdom, thus making his body and mind holy, and
accepting as good whatever comes from God. the Good. Then,
theUnstruck Melody of God’s Word will fill one’s being.”
From here, Nanak proceeded to Kashmir. It 1s said, he
wore in this journey “leather on his feet and on his head,
twisted a rope round his body, and on his forehead stamped
a saffron-mark like a devout Hindu.” He was accompanied
by Hassu, a blacksmith and Sihan, a calico-printer. In Sri-
nagar, they met a Brahmin of repute, Brahm Das by name,
who came with two donkeyloads of Sanskrit books to greet
lum. Asa mark of piety, he wore a Shaligram (stone-idol)
upon his neck. Seeing the Guru robed in an unusual dress,
3. Ego, lust, wrath, greed and undue attachment,
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GURU NANAK 35
he asked, “What kind of a faqur are you ? You wear leather
which 18 forbidden to the holy ? Why do you twist a rope
round thy body ? What is thy way 7”
Nanak replied, ““There’s but one road that leads to the
only Door. The True [Guru’s Wisdom teaches everyone the
Way.”
rahm Das then asked, “Know you how the world was
created ? What was m the begmnimg and what was not 2"
The Guru replied *
“In the beginning was utter darkness and chaos upon
chaos.
Then, there was neither earth, nor heaven,
nay nothing but God’s indescribable
and wondrous Will.
Neither day there was, nor night, nor sun, nor moon, only
God reflecting on Himself in the Void.
There was neither wind nor water, nor the sources of
creation, nor speech there were
Neither creation, there was nor destruction, neither coming
nor going.
No seas. There were no rivers, no continents, no hells.
No paradise, no world, no underworld there was,
Nor Brahma. nor Shiva, nor Vishnu, but my only, God.
No rituals there were, nor penances, nor the sacred
books, no imecantations, nor charms, nor the many,
many ways.
No caste then was, nor pride, nor death, nor life, nor
man, nor soul, no subject, no king.
And when and how He pleased, He created the world
and all we see and believe.”
The Pandit was still so proud of his learning that inspite
of his bemg impressed by the Guru’s mstructions, he would
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56 GURU NANAK
yet feel hurt if the new teachmg went against lis own. Nanak
feeling the inner state of his mind asked him to accept a
Guru “Who could be my Guru,”’ he asked, “I know every-
thing I ought to know.” Nanak then directed him to a
wilderness where in a house he wound find four faqirs who
would direct him to where his Guru was. The Pandit said, “May
it be so,” and went to the place he had been told The faqirs
pointed toward a temple where they said he would meet his
Guru, When Brahm Das went there, he saw a beautiful, but
nude damsel who instead of greeting him insulted him When
fe narrated the story to the faqirs who had directed him to
her, they said, “This woman 1s MAYA. Your heart 1s in her,
and that is how you cannot find the peace of mind.’’ This led
to much heart-searching on the part of the learned Brahmin
who came to Nanak to ask for instruction. The Guru said
to him, “Learning 1s not Wisdom. Wisdom comes through
experience; experience through spritual discipline which, if
cauirareated and grounded in humility, mvokes the Grace of
jod.””
The Brahmin, purged of ego, dedicated his life to contem-
plation and disinterested service of the others.
The Guru, now scaling peak after peak, reached Mount
Sumeru. There, he met some renowned Siddhas whose’ fame as
muracle-mesrand ageless ascetics had travelled throughout the
country. They asked him in what state he had left his country,
how the people lived. The Guru replied :
“The Kali age is the knife, kings are butchers,
and justice has taken wings.
The darkness of falsehood 18 abroad,
And one knows not where rises
the moon of Truth.
The subjects are bind, and submissive, being
unwise, and live on falsehood.
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GURO' NANAK 37
The teachers dance to the tune of the disciples :
The Qazis do justice if their palm is greased,
And what bind men and women to each others 1s
greed, not love,”*
Then, the Siddhas asked, “‘What sf thy name, thy sect, thy
object of contemplation ? Where do you come from, where
do you dwell and whither are you bound ?””
Nanak answered: “I dwell m God who has his seat in
every heart. I act asI’m bidden by the True Guru, I came in
accordance with God’s Will and will depart when He so
ordains To reflect upon my only God is my prayer. He who
knows himself acts this wise and is absorbed in the True
One."”
The Siddhas asked, “Know you not that the world 15
like an ocean and is impassable. He who escapes it not 1s
drowned.”
Nannk replied, “Like an lotus or as the water-fowl, I live
in the water, so I’m drowned not. He who meditates on God’s
‘Word and lives, desireless, m the midst of desire, he remains
unaffected by sorrow. For him, there 1s neither coming nor
going.”
The Siddhas acknowledged the truth im what he said. It
is said that here the Guru composed his philosophical com-
position, called the Siddha Goshti, through which are ¢x-
pounded the basic doctrines of his faith.
On the way back, the Guru visited a place called Hassan
Abdal, the seat of a Muslim divine, which was then occupied
by aperson known as Vali Kandhari, or the mystic from
Kandhar. He was person proud of his station and ocoult
powers. Mardana felt very thirsty, but there was no water
around except on top of the hillock where lived the great
Vali. Mardana trekked upto him and asked for water which
was refused to him because he was a kafir (an mfidel), and yet
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8 Gym NANAK
pretended that he was accompanied by a great Hindu Saint !
“If he hath no supernatural powers, why callest thou thy
Gurn a Saint. And if he hath any, then, he should get water
wherever he needeth it.” Mardana, greatly distressed, reported
the matter to the Guru, who, after a moment’s thought, asked
us follower to dig up the earth. He had hardly pushed aside a
huge boulder, assisted by his Master, that sparkling water
gushed out. The Muslim divine was greatly irked at this, and
threw a huge stone towards them. This the Guru halted with
the palm of his right hand. In memory of this event, a stone
carrying the impression of his hand still stands at Hassan
Abdal, known popularly as Panja Sahib (or the Sacred Palm),
at the head of a spring of lustrous water, about thirty miles
from the present capital of Pakistan. It 1s held in great reve~
rence by all communities, believed to be the hand-impression
of Nanak himself and is a centre of pilgrimage to this day.
A great fair 1s held here on the day of Baisakhi (13th April)
to which people repair from long distances.
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VI
“Wheresoever I see, I see no one but Thee *
—Guru Nanak
Tus Last Trip of Nanak was to Mecca, Medina and Meso-
potamia. In this trip he was accompained by Mardana. Nanak
dressed himself m blue robes like a Mushm haji. In one
hand he carried an earthen goblet for ablutions, and i the
armpit the ‘holy book’ and a prayer-mat Whenever occasion
arose, he performed his prayer im the orthodox Muslim way,
and disclosed his identity to no one lest he be prevented from
making this sacred journey which was permissible only to men
of the Mushm faith.
When he arrived m Mecca, tried and footsore, it 18 said, he
slept at night, with his feet towards the holy Kabba This was
considered to be an act of great sacrilege as no Mushm ever
does so. An Arab priest, much incensed at this impertinence,
Kicked him saymg, “You infidel, knowest thou not thou
turnest thy feet towards the house of God?” The Guru
replied with utter composure. “Turn my feet to whichever side
there’s no God.” The Mulla dragged his feet in the opposite
direction, but it 1 said, he saw the Vision of God in that
opposite direction also.' This amazed the Muslim divine and
saying, “Allah, Allab, this 1s a miracle-man; he maketh men
1 The Sikh chromales, say _be saw the Kaaba moving t whichever
direction Nanak’s turned by him. The story 1s repeated in
fiep,curongle andi, no record 18 present of his visit to Mecca in the
Sita ed ui ge iitbe Se whan'eas cath no non-Mushm
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60 ‘GURU NANAK
see,” he repeated the meident to several of his colleagues.
“A great Teacher has come from somewhere exuding divinity
and performing muracles,”” he said. They flocked to him in
large numbers and one of them asked,“Pray tell us, which of
the two 1s greater, Hindu or Musalman ?”’ The Guru replied,
“the who does good and lives in God.”
They then asked him if he kept fast in the month of Ram-
zan, Nanak replied, “I keep fast everyday : I fast by turning
away from the Other and fixing my gaze on the One alone.
I treasure compassion and abandon craving : thus do I fas:
Then, they asked, “Do you read the holy book, the
Quran 2”
The Guru replied, “I do not read, I do what 1s bidden by
God. He who reads, but stills not his mind, his anxiousness
goes not. But, be who 1s in love, all that he does is worship.
But how will they attain God whose gods quarrel with one
another.”
It appears that several Muslim saints who had come from
India and had met Nanak before, among them Sherkh Ibrahim,
Makhdum Bahaudin, etc., also came to know that Nanak was
m ther midst. So they told men of their faith about his
unorthodox ways and mysterious approach to the problems of
spiritual life. They also came to pay their homage to him and
asked other people to learn from him and not to argue with
him. Then, they all asked how God’s pleasure was to be
attained by men of the world ? Nanak replied :“By submitting,
1m all humility, to whatever comes from God.”
After some time, the Guru went to Medina and from there
to Baghdad. There, he sat outside the city and shouted his
own prayer which said, “There .are millions of nether and
upper regions, and no one has found their limit. Only my
God knows how vast is His expanse.” The Muslim priests
were greatly enraged, for they had been told that there were
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GURU NANAK 61
only seven upper regions and as many nether worlds. But
Nanak argued that a mortal who wanted to find the hmuts of
God's power would only weary at the end. To his memory,
ashrine still stands intact m Baghdad, looked after by a
devout Muslim?
‘The Guru then returned to his country, via Multan, which
was much frequented by faqirs in those days. The faqir sent
him a cup of milk, full to the brim, signifymg that the place
was already full of them and another like him could not be
contained. The Guru placed a jasmine flower on top of the
mulk, suggesting that as that flower with its weightlessness
floated on the surface and displaced not the milk, so would he
live n their midst, with the burden only of fragrance !
1. The inscription on the wall of this shrine reads:
soci AARC Sat iad gr nas BN
Seven Saints.” = ‘Year 927 Hijn (A.D. 1520-21)
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vil
“The light mergeth in the light, and lo, man is fulfilled”
—Goru ARUN
Anp, Now the Guru, far-famed and aging in years, though
not in spirit, settled down at Kartarpur, on the right bank of
the river Ravi. He discarded the pilgrm’s dress and donned
the robes of a householder. As has been stated before, his
wife was already here, looking after a farm along with her
married son, Lakhmi Das, the other, Sri Chand, having be~
come a recluse. Hearing that the Guru had come back, men
and women flocked to him from the four corners of India to
pay him homage and receive instructions from him.
It 1s here that Mardana, his life-long musician companion,
breathed his last, The Guru took his son, Shahzada, ito his
household and he played the rebeck like his father to the holy
congregations, while Nanak - sang his hymns, or otherwise dis-
coursed on them. It is still a tradition that the Mushm Raba-
bis (rebeck-players) perform Hart Kirtan m the Sikh temples
with as much zest, and are revered as much, as the Hindy
and Sikh musicians.
It 1s here that Bhai Lehna, later known as Angad, became
adevotee of the Guru and succeeded him to hus spiritual
Throne. Lehna was going, as usual, ona pilgrimage to the
temple of Vaishno Devi, the goddess he worshipped. On the
way, he was persuaded by one of the Sikhs to stop over for
the night and meet Nanak, the Guru. This Lehna did, and
was so impressed with the piety and searching wisdom of”
Nanak that he became his disciple and served him most
faithfully till the end of his days.
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63 GURU NANAK
One day, m order to put his followers to a test, the Guru
assumed the garb of a ‘wild? man. Donning a tattered grown,
an open knife m hand, and taking some hunting dogs with
him, he proceeded towards the forest. Seeing him robed
thus, many of his followers fled in terror. Others who went a
little further found it 1s said, some copper coins scattered on
the road and picking them they, too, hastened back. Some
who remained found a few silver pieces further ahead, and
picking these they too returned home. Only two of his Sikhs
and Lehna remamed. The party now approached a burning
pyre, beside which lay a dead body, covered with a white
sheet and emuttmg foul smell. The Guru, his eyes wild,
thundered : “Whosoever desires to remain with me, let him
eat this corpse.” The other Sikhs fied in horror, but Lehna
remained and said, “I would obey my Master” And, as he
proceeded towards :t, the Guru stopped hum, saying, “That’s
enough. I now know how many have the moral strength to
follow my Path.”
Lehna not only worked on the farm, but devoted his entire
spare time to contemplation of God’s Name. Nanak put him
along with others to several tests, but whereas his sons always
disobeyed him, and his other followers shirked work or did it
half-heartedly, Lehna never wavered in his faith. Knowing
his end to be near, the Guru anomted him as his successor,
placing five paisas and a coconut in front of him and going
round him four times. Bhai Buddha, his other devoted Sikh,
applied the rilak (saffron-mark) to his forehead as a mark of
approval. Such was Nanak’s humility that he considered the
ceremony incomplete without :ts bemg approval by his devout
followers.
The Guru's wife protested ; she brought to him his two
sons ang said, “What is to become of me, of them? Nanak
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4 GURU NANAK
replied, “God is your refuge. I have done what God in His
‘Will bade me do.””
The Guru then sang the following hymn :
“Hail, my True king, hail, Thou who createst and yokest
each to his appointed task
And, then, when one’s days are over and the cup 1s full,
‘Thou separatest the body from the soul.
Yea, when the hour strikes, the soul 1s led away and the
dear ones wail in sorrow.
Remember God, O my loved ones, for all must depart.
The world 1s but for a few brief days and then we part.
Like a guest we should bide here, and be not vain
For m the other world, only the deeds are reckoned, and
God accepts only those who have lived in His love.
O father, they alone mourn us truly, who mourn in love :
for our good, not goods.
O love, they alone weep for us, who weep for love.””
Then, the Guru asked his followers to sing the composition
called “Sohila’” (or God’s Praise), which he had enjoined
upon them to sing before retiring to bed, and which
says:
“Sing the Praises of my Lord seated in the house of
Poise
Yea, of my fearless God, whose Song brings the mind
home.
He whose gifts cannot be evaluated, O, how can one then
evaluate the Giver?
The year, the month, the hour of ‘marriage’ is fixed,
Pour oil on the threshold, my mates, and bless me that
I meet with my love.
In every home, today or tomorrow cometh from beyond
the call,
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GURU NANAK oo
So assemble your God in the heart, for the Day must
come for us all.”
Nanak, then, went into Samadhi and was no more. Now,
a quarrel ensued between Hindus and Muslims whether Nanak
should be buried like a Muslim or cremated like a Hindu,
Both clarmed him with equal vehemence. The wise of the two
communsties decided that flowers be kept by both. overnight,
on his body and flowers of whosoever withered first should
give in to the other Butin the morning, the flower-offerings
of the one party remained as fresh as those of the other But
when they lifted the cotton sheet from his body, it 1s said,
they found not the body, only silence and flowers. They then
decided that they would divide the cotton sheet ito two
equal halves, one burying it and the other consigning it to
fire!
Thus ended the life-story of the unusual and mysterious
man, who became a legend in his own life-time and for whom
his life~—nay all Infe—was one single experience of Truth, and
who lived that he may suffer and see, and who saw a Beyond
that 1s here, within us, within the reach of us all, and yet so
distant and unreal to many He gave meaning to life by
integrating it with the total self, by taking out of 1t what was
not-life, by dying while alive and yet the life living, whole
and entire, which makes man both happy and free.
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Thus Spake Nanak
“Truth 1s above everything,
but higher still is the lng of Truth?
Note: All translations are by the author and selected
from his English version of the Guru Granth Sahib. For the
exposition of the Sikh doctrine, the author’s “The Religion
of the Sikhs” may be consulted.
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ON GOD
By the grace of the one Supreme Being. The Eternal, The
all-pervading. The Creator. The (Cosmic) person. Without
fear. Without hate. The Being beyond Time. Not incarnated.
Self-existent. The Enlightener. (Mul Mantra, M; M.I., or the
basic formula im the beginning of the Sikh Scripture).
‘True in the beginning, True in the primeval age, True He
is, and True He shall be. (Jap. M.1.)
God 1s neither appomted nor created. Yea, He's Self-
existent, the Immaculate One. (ap. MI. 5)
Though a better form of life be attained through good
actions, salvation comes only through God’s Grace and Bene-
dication. (ap. M.I. 5)
Fis Knowledge is unutterable. Even if I knew, I couldn't
tell. Gap. M.L. 5)
That alone 1s good which pleases my God.
(ap. M.L. 16)
O Primal Word, (the Creator of) Maya and the Primal
Cause, hail to Thee, Thou that art Truth, eternal Bliss and
Beauty. (Jap. M.I. 21)
God alone knows how great He be. (Jap. M.I. 24)
Everywhere is God’s seat, Everywhere 1s His stall. And
He puts in st what He wills once for all. (Jap. M.I. 31)
In the brackets are indicated first the name of the composition or
the musical measure followed by the oumber of the verse and line, as
‘given in the Sikh Scripture. ‘M1? stands for the “first Master’, that is,
‘Guru Nanak.
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70 GURU NANAK
He alone knoweth who See-eth Him. (Asa, M.I. 4:2)
God neither dies nor is there any to grieve for Him.
(Asa. M.I. 4:3)
God alone giveth and His giving knows no bounds.
(Asa, M.I. 4:3)
He whose gifts cannot be evaluated, O, how then can one
evaluate the Giver ? (Gaurt Deepaki. M.I. 4:1)
The second, the mmute, the hour, the solar and the lunar
day, the changing seasons—are all created by the same lone
sun. Thus doth permeate through the many the God, the One
alone, (Asa. M..)
Thousands are Thy eyes, yet hast Thou eyes ? Thousands
are Thy forms, yet hast Thou a form? Thousands are Thy
lotus-feet, yet hast Thou feet ? Thousands Thy noses to smell,
yet hast Thou a nose, O wonder of wonders? Thou art the
Spirit that pervadeth all. (Dhanasri. M I. 4°3)
When one meets with the True One, Truth 1 revealed to
one and one merges in Truth. (Sri Rag. M I. 4.10)
Irenounced my formative willand the noise of reason,
when I met my Master, the carefree. (Sri Rag. M.I. 1:11)
How shall we become fearless sf we do not fear the Lord
and merge in His Word ? (Sri Rag. M.I. 2:11)
He who gave us life and soul, gives us also peace when He
comes into us. (Sr Rag. M.I. 2:11)
It is by realising God m our inner-selves that He blesses
us with His Grace and washes off our dirt.
(Sri Rag. M.I. 3:12)
Accussed is the Bride who loveth any one other than her
Lord. (Sri Rag. M.I, 1:13)
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GURU NANAK 1
He who sees the same light pervade all, all over, and
realises the essence of the Guru’s Way, realises the God in
himself. (Sri Rag. M.1. 4:14)
The self-willed are separated from God.
(Sr Rag. M.I. 4:18)
He, the Lord, of taste, is the enjoyer; He, indeed, is the
pleasure that He enjoys, He's the bride: yea, He the spouse
in bed with her. He it 1s who pervades all; yea, He the Master
who sports. He’s the fish, He the fisherman; He the net, He
the river. (Sri Rag. M1)
Thou art the River of Wisdom. How can I, a mere fish,
know Thy expanse ? (bid)
I see not the fisherman nor the net, but when cometh pain,
I call on Thee. (Sri Rag. M.I. 2:31)
Thou art near and far and m the middle, seeing, hearing
and creating all by Thyself. (Sri Rag. M1. 4:31)
True He 1s and Truth it is that he loves.
(Sri Rag. M.I. 2:32)
He is thy Creator, thy Transcendent God.
(Sri Rag. M.I. 1:79)
‘He seeks no one’s counsel when He builds, nor when He
razes things to the dust. He giveth and taketh as He willeth.
(Sri Rag. M.I. Ashtapadis, 4:1)
God’s Grace is upon all, but blesses He to Him whom He
chooses. (Sri Rag. M.I. Ashtapadis, 4:1)
We all are the brides of the Lord and bedeck ourselves
for His pleasure, but if we are proud of our beauty, of no
avail then are our bridal robes.
(Sri Rag. M.L. Ashtapadis, 1:2)
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72 GURU NANAK
Thou, O God, are Thy only attribute: Thou the one who
utterest, hearest, and dwellest on it. Thou Thyself art the
Jewel, Thou the evaluator, (though) beyond value art Thou.
Thou art the honour and the glory and Thou the giver of
them. (Sri Rag. M.I. Ashtapadis, 1:3)
God alone 18 pure, the others are trapped by illusion.
(Sri Rag. M.I. Ashtapadis, 4:3)
© Thou that dost not seem, but art in every heart !
(Sri Rag. M.I. Ashtapadis, 2:3)
He who fears not his God is afraid, for without Him all 1s
darkness. (Sri Rag. M.I. Ashtapadis, 3:3)
‘They all say, “Thou art highest of the high,” but who
has seen Thee, O God ? It 1s the Guru who makes me see, and
then I see Thee wherever I see.
(Sri Rag. M.I. Ashtapadis, 8:3)
In Thy Will, O God, are we all created. In Thy Will do
we do all deeds. In Thy Will are we subject to death, in Thy
Will do we merge in Truth. (Sri Rag, MI. Ashthpadis, 8:4)
He 1s Allah, the Unknowable, Unfathomable, the Creator
and the Cause, our only Beneficent God.
(Sr Rag. M. I. Ashtapadis, 6 : 17)
He the Giver gives ; it is the taker who says, “Enough no
more” (Jap. M. 1. 3)
The gifts are all God’s: with Him one is all-to-helpless.
Some receive them not while awake, others He blesses by
awakening them from their sleep.
(Sri Rag. Var. Shloka M. 1.)
The Lord createth nature and then pervadeth it.
(Sri Rag. Var. Shloka M. 1.)
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GURU NANAK 73
This world is led astray by Doubt, but who has strayed it
thus away, if not Thou ? (Sri Rag M. 1.)
The lord minded not my ment, demerit, and as is his
innate nature, He embraced me to His Bosom and now even the
hot wind touches me not. (Sri Rag. M. 1)
‘Thou art a Yogi amongst yogis, a reveller amongst revel-
ers. O dear, Thy limits are known to no one in heaven, the
world or the underworld. (Sri Rag. M. I.)
‘The world is blind and the God alone See-cth.
(Asa. M, 1.2: 4)
When Thou, O Creator, art the course of all causes, why
then shall I lean on the world and for what ?
(4sa. M. I. 2: 4)
As much is the music in our mund that much is Thy sound
OLord As much is the form, that much 1s Thy body. Thou
art the tongue that tastes, Thou the nose that smells.
(4sa. M. I. 1:5)
Great is Thy glory, for great is Thy Name. Great is Thy
Glory, for Thy Justice is true. Great is Thy glory, for eternal
is Thy Seat. Great is Thy glory, for Thou knowest our speech.
Great is Thy glory, for Thou divest our inner thoughts,
Great is Thy glory for Thou givest, unasked. Great is Thy
glory, for Thou art all-in-all. Nanak : all Thy doings one can-
not tell. For what is and will be, is all in Thy will.
(dsa M. I. Var.)
True are Thy worlds, True Thy universes. True are Thy
regions, True the forms Thou createst. True are Thy doings,
True all Thy thoughts. True 1s Thy command, True 1s Thy
Court. True is Thy Will, True is Thy utterance. True is Thy
Grace, True Thy sign. Myriads call Thee Light and Truth. In
Thee, the True One, is all power, all majesty. True is Thy
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74 GURU NANAK
Praise, True Thy commendations. O True King, True, True
18 all Thy play. (Asa. M.I. Var. Shloka M. I.)
Nanak : the Lord acteth according to His Law, and lo, He
worketh with discrummation too. (Asa. M. I. Var.)
In the Lord’s fear blows the wind with its myriad breezes. In
the Lord’s fear roll a myriad river down. In His fear 1s the fire
forced to labour hard. In His fear is the earth crushed under a
burthen. In His fear do the clouds roam on their heads. In his
fear doth the Dharma-raja* stand at the Lord’s gate. In His fear
blazes the sun, m His fear shines the moon, and move aeons of
both, and miles without count. In His fear are the Siddhas*,
Buddhas*, Nathas*. In Hus fear does the sky vault over the
earth. In His fear bide the warriors and heroes of strong
lumb. In His fear do boat-loads of men come and go. Yea,
the writ of thy Lord’s fear is over the heads ofall. Says
‘Nanak : “Fearless 1s the One Absolute, the True Lord, alone.’””
(Asa. M I. Var. Shloka M. I.)
True, O Lord, art Thou alone who hast manifested Thyself
in all as Truth. (Asa. M. I. Var.)
Thou, O God, art the Creator, who am I to create ? For, if
I create, I can create not. (ibid, Shioka, M. 1.)
In Thy creatures, 1s Thy Light, O God, Through Thy
light art Thou known and, though without attributes, all
attributes imhere in Thee. (Ibid)
1, The Lord-justiciar within, the discriminating spit. According
to the old Hindu belief, the Angel of death before whom spirits have to
render account.
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GURU NANAK 15
He whose sustenance sustains us, to Him, let’s say, ‘all
hail.’ Says Nanak: “With the Master, the command wouldn’t
do; it 1s the prayer that works.’’ (Ibid)
What use 1s that service which rids not one of the fear of
the Lord? Nanak: the true servant 1s he who merges in the
Master. (Ibid)
I do the work which He, my God, has assigned to me.
(ibid)
In the seedless (superconscious) state abideth the Yogi, our
God, who can be sdentified neither as man nor woman.
(Dhanasri. M.1. Astapadis : 1)
If the seeker cries out and begs at the Lord’s Door, the
Lord hears him and, whether He blesses hum or curses him;
he must revel in His glory. (Asa, M. I. 1: 3)
He who knows the mystry of his only God, he forsooth
is himself the Creator and the God of gods
(Ramkah M. 1.)
This, verily, is the highest virtue of God that He alone is;
neither there was nor will there ever be any other.
(Asa. M. I.)
© my Loved one, I know not Thy end ; Thou pervadest the
earth, the waters and the interspace ; yea Thou fillest all.
(Sukt. M. 1.)
He is whose mind abides God, loses his self.
(Maru. M. 1.)
Blessed 1s the township of the body im which abide the five
great ones—Truth, Compassion, Contentment, discrimination,
righteousness—and over them rules the One Detached,
wiap321 im absolute trance. (Maru, M. 1)
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16 GURU NANAK
One knows not the Unknowable, but how 1s He to be
known ? It is through the Guru who reveals unto thee thy
God abiding ever within thee. (Basant. M.L)
© God, on Thy great, infinite tree are we perched like
birds. (Gujri. M.I)
He, our God, has neither mother, nor father, nor son, nor
Kindreds, nor passion, nor wife, yea, He, the Casteless One
without a pedigree, Immaculate, Highest of the high, 1s the
Light which pervades all. (Sorath. M I.)
The spring brought bloom first, but God, was in bloom
earlier still. Yea, He through whom everyone blooms, needs
no one else for Him to flower.
War. of Rag Suht. M.1. Shloka M.I.)
‘The One Supreme Being is the One Detached, and immortal,
not born from the womb, casteless and uninvolved. He neither
has form, nor sign : He’s Unfathomable, Unperceivable.
(Bilawal. M.I. Thitti)
The True One Himself established the universe with His
Hands. Yea, breaking its egg into two, He separated and yet
united them He, And the earth andthe sky He turned mto
His Dwellings. And created He also the night and day, fear
and love. He who created them also see-eth them. Yea,
there is no other Creator but our only God.
(Bilawal. M.I. Thitti)
There is no other source that creates: (for) everything is
contained in God Whatever is, is from God. He, thy True
Lord, has ever been through the ages. Yea, there is no
one else, but thy God to create and destroy.
(Ramkali. M.I. 6)
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GURU NANAK 7
There’s no other source that creates, (for) everything 19
contained in God. Yea, whatever 1s, 1s from God.
(Ramkali. M.I. 6)
The whole world the God created spontaneously and per-
meated the three worlds with His Light.
(Ramkali. MI. Dakhni Onkar, 2)
The One God is in all ways, all forms, all colours; yea,
He’s the One, who worketh through wind, water and fire, the
one Soul permeateth all the three worlds.
(Ramkali, M.I. Dakhni Onkar, 7)
Himself is He, beyond comprehension of sense-faculties.
(Ramkah. M.I. Dakhni Onkar, 15)
From the Absolute, He, of Himself became Manifest, the
Pure One; from being Attributeless, He endowed Himself with
Attributes. (Ramkali. M.I. Dakhm Onkar, 24)
Within us is God, without us is God too, yea, God is in
the three worlds. (Ramkali. M.I. Siddha Gosht:)
The ‘crow’ turneth into a ‘swan’ if the Lord so willeth.
C41)
I am in search of my Friend, but, lo, the Friend is ever
with me. Unknowable is He, O Nanak, but one see-eth Him
through the Guru. (4.1)
Within the township of the body is the fortress of the
mind. And within the sky (of the mind), the Tenth Door,
liveth the True One. (Maru, M.I. Dakhni)
‘The fird that is quenched by water, that fire God putteth
in the seas. (ibid)
Thou art the Riches of the poor, O God, the Guru of the
Guru-less, Honour of the dishonoured, Power of the power-
less, and Light of the blind, O Jewel, O Guru. (Maru. M.L)
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78 GURU NANAK
THE WORLD
For aeons of years, there was chaos upon chaos and the
infinite Boundless Lord was seated in Himself, alone and
detached, in the heart of chaos; and the world of sacrifice
was not yet born. In this way passed the thirty-six Yugas,
yea, aeons of years, and as was His Will so He, the Absolute
Lord, worked; and there was no rival of His, He Himself
bemg mfinite and boundless. And then when He created the
four Yugas, He remained hid within all. And He prevaded
the hearts of all, yea, He alone was through all the Ages.
(Maru. M.I. 7)
Our Detached God of Himself created Himself, and created
also He, the Compassionate One. His True Abode; yea, He
binds the air, water and fire together, and out of them
creates the fortress of the body. To it, the Creator Lord
has fixed the nine Doors, and at the Tenth* liveth He, the
Unfathomable and Infinite Lord. (Maru. M.I. 16)
‘The Transcendent Lord was seated in His seedless Trance
yea, He the Infinite One, Detached; and then he Himself
created nature, and lo, the inanimate nature sprang out of
chaos that was. Yea, out of His Absolute Self came air and
water and the whole universe, and the fortress of the body
and within it the kingly (mind), and into the fire and water
of the body He breathed His own Light, yea, in His Absolute
Self lay (unmanifest) all the power of creation. Out of His
Absolute Self came Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva; yea, His
Absolute Self manifested itself n all the Universes.
(Maru, M.1)
Out of His Absolute Self were created the seven
ori
je-Organs.
2, Mind in the state of superconsciousness.
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GURU NANAK 719
underworlds, and all the world rested only on his Absolute
Self. Yea, the mfinite Lord Himself caused :t all, and everyone
went about as was His Will. And the three modes‘ also were
evolved out of His Self, and birth and death and the pain of
ego (Maru, M.I. 17)
Out of His Absolute Self came the five elements.
(Maru, M.I. 17)
In all ife pervades He ina mysterious way, but He Him-
self, our King, keeps Detached The world 1s the reflection of
Him who has neither father, nor mother. Nor has He a sister
or brother, nor is He born nor dies nor belongs He to any
class or clan, O, that Ageless God 1s pleasing to my mind.
(Maru. M.I. 18)
The world moves and has its bemg within the three
modes, while Thou abidest in the Fourth State Thou hast
over-powered and art above birth and death, and Thou art
the life of all life, pure Light, and one Realiseth Thee through
the Unstruck Melody (of the Word) by the Guru’s Grace.
(Maru, M.L)
True 1s the Lord’s Court, unaccountable is He, the Cosmic
Person, and True is His standard and His writ rans over all.
(Maru M0)
God abides in the soul, the soul in God; this is what one
learns from the Guru’s Wisdom. (Bhairo. Asthapadis. M.I.)
‘He alone liveth, in whom liveth God. (Majh. M.I. Var.)
THE LORD’S NAME
O God, I am a sacrifice to all the names Thou hast.
(Basant. M.1)
1, Inertia or darkness, passion, illumination.
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All that God has created, all that is His Name.
(Japu. M.1)
Pure is the body wherein abides the True Name of God.
(Sri Rag. M I. 2:15)
Without the Lord’s Name, thy, woes burn thee down.
(Sri Rag. M.I. 3:17)
God Himself Created Himself, Himself He Assumed the
eames (Asa, M.I. Var.)
That which is uttered with the heart and without the
tongue : O rare is the one who knoweth what kind 1s that
‘Name ? (Mathar. M.I.)
The Lord’s Name is an ecstasy that keeps me intoxicated
aight and day. (M1)
Unseen, beyond comprehension of the senses, is the Lord’s
utterly sweet and loved Name. (Maru. M.I.)
I have assembled in my heart the ‘capital’ of the Lord’s
‘Name. O God, whomsover Thou blessest it with, he is
emancipated. This treasure 1s neither burnt nor stolen, nor
drowned, nor it perisheth. (Maru. M.1)
I know of no other contemplation nor wisdom, nor wear
any garbs, nor force my will, for the Lord’s Name that abides
within me, yea, the eternal Trath, I’ve seized upon.
(Bilawal. M1.)
The Lord’s Name is Truth. (Maru. M.1)
When the mind is pierced through with the Lord’s Name
one abandons all thought of the Other. (Sri Rag. M.L)
In the contemplation of the Lord’s Name is contained the
essence of all penancesand meditations.
(Dhanasri. M1. 4)
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In the Kali-age; the most sublime thing is the Lord’s.
Name. (Dhanasri, M.I."8)
‘The immaculate Name washes off the dirt of ego.
(Dhanasri. M.I. 2)
Says Nanak, “Sweet is the great essence of the Lord’s
Name : through the Name, one’s craving 1s stilled.””
(Dhanasri. M.I.2)
Let Truth, contentment and contmence be thy compa~
nmions,.Thus, says Nanak, one cherishes the Lord’s, Name by
the Guru’s Grace (Ramkali. M I, Siddha Goshuy
All that is, has become manifest through the Lord’s Name,
through the Name 1s all Wisdom. (bid)
It1s through the True Guru that one attain unto the
Lord’s Name : through the Name one finds the Way. (Ibid)
Hark, ho, the one Name of God 1s eternally efficacious;.
this 1s the wise instructions of the Guru.
(Ramkah. M.I. Dakham Onkar, 11)
This mercurial mind is held and abides in Truth, its real
home, when the Lord’s Name 1s one’s support.
(Ramkali, M.l. Siddha Goshts):
Imbued with the Lord’s Name, one is rid of ego, and
abides im Truth. Imbued with the name one knows the way of
(true) Yoga. Imbued with the name, one 1 emancipated, and
knows the Mystery of the three worlds and 1s ever in Bliss.
(Ramkali. M.t. Siddha Goshti, 32).
The Lord’s name is the Essence of all deeds, for, without
the name, one is afflicted by Pain and Death.
(Ramkali. MI. Siddha Goshti, 50)
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a2 (GURU NANAK
The Yogi, who knows the Way of the Immaculate
‘Name, even a particle of soil sticks not to him, (Maru. M.I.)
‘My tongue is the beam; the heart the scales; andI weigh
therewith the unweighable Name. (Maru, M.I. 11)
The Lord’s Name has the ment of a pilgrimage to all holy
places, through it, one 1s rid of all one’s sins. The blind,
unwise one churns water and seeks to find the Quintessence;
but if one churns the Curds of Virtue led by the Guru’s Word,
one attains the Elour of the Lord’s Name.
(Rag Maru. Ashtapadis, M.I.)
True 1s one’s society, true the abode, true the home, true
1s one’s food and true 1s one’s love, if one leans on the True
Name. (Rag Maru. Ashtapadis, M.1)
THE GURU
They who were received in the sanctuary of the Guru, they
‘were the ones so destined from eternity. (Asa MAI. 4:4)
‘When one receives the Guru’s instructions, one begins to
fear God. (Sri Rag. MI 4 10)
They who deal in Truth, with them the Guru 1s pleased.
(Sri Rag.
11)
When we meet with the True Guru; we are blest with the
jewel of Discrimination, and we surrender our minds to
the Guru and attams the all-loving aoe We receive the gift
of salvation and our sinsare washed awa!
(Sri Rag. Sa Ashtapadis 1:10)
I am a sacrifice to my Guru a myriad times a day, who
made angels of men, and yea, without delay.
(Asa. M I. Var Shloka. M.1.)
1, But the Guru explains elsewhere everyon¢ stined
els io know and awaken ius artion thestgh the Garvey moses be
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GURU NANAK 83
Such is the glory of the True Guru that, in the midst of
the household, one 1s emancipated. (Dhanasri M. I.: 4)
The Guru is the sea full of pearls : the saints (luke swans)
pick the pearls and remain attached to him.
(Dhanasri. M. I. Ashtapadis : 1)
‘The Guru given Wisdom is the only eternal pilgrum-station
where one washes off all one’s sins.
(Dhanasri. M I. Chhant : 1)
Its through the Guru's door that one is blest with the
inner eye. If one washes one’s vessel with the Guru's
Wisdom, it sparkles clean. (Suht. MI. 6)
If one meets with the Perfect Guru, one’s doubt 1s shatter
edand cease the outgoings of one’s mind. And then oozes
(Nectar) out of the (mind’s) spring, and one 1s attuned to the
Music of Bliss and one Sees one’s Lord 1s one’s very Home.
(Suht. M. I. 8)
Through the Wisdom of the Guru, my mind is attuned to
the Lord in a state of equipoise. (Bilawal. M. I)
When one dwells upon the True Guru, one 1s rid of the
sense of the Other; and ones purged ofall errors ; and
the sinful mind is cleansed ; and one’s body sparkles like gold
and one’s soul merges im the Oversoul. (Bilawal. M. I. 3)
‘The Guru’s Word isthe Nada‘, the Guru’s Word 1s the
‘Veda, for, through it, one is imbued with Lord of the universe
In it iscontamed the merit of all austerities, fasting and
1, Unstruck Melody that the Yogi hears m the state of super-
consciousness.
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84 GURU NANAK
pilgrimages. Through it, doth one meet with the Guru and one
is Emancipated by God’s Grace.
(Ramkalt. M 1, 10)
The mind, when it accepts the lead of the Guru, then,
obliterating the sense of the other, it merges in God.
(Ramkali. M. I. 3)
The Guru wears the lom-cloth of Truth, ands for ever
absorbed in the all-filling God, his tongue mbued with his
love. The God, who created the creation, meets with the
True Guru, (for) our God is pleased with his deeds, The Guru
reveals to us the One God im all, and all contamed in the One
God. (Ramkali, Dakhni M. I. 5)
The Guru’s ocean 1s brimful with jewels, and inexhausti-
ble therein 1s the pearly treasure of Truth.
(Ramkali M. I. Dakhm Onkar, 27)
Beauteous 1s the Guru’s Word reflecting on which one
attains to one’s God. And one loses one’s self and stilled 1s
one’s desire and the Bride attains to her Spouse.
(Ramkalt. M. I. Dakhni Onkar, 47)
Meeting with the True Guru, one’s Darkness 18 dispelled.
And then, one’s ego is stilled and mto God one merges.
(Ramkali. M. I. Siddha Goshti, 15)
When one Reflects on the Guru’s Word, one is rid of one’s
ignorance. And when one meets with the Guru, one attains
the Door of Salvation.
(Ramkalt, M. I. Siddha Goshti, 56)
The rusted iron too is transmuted into gold, if it meets
with (the philosopher's stone of) the Guru.
(Maru. MI. 3y
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The True Guru 1s the Boatman and the Word (the oras), to
ferry one to the other shore, where there’s neither wind, nor
fire, nor water nor form, and where abides our True Lord dis-
pensing the True Name which takes us across. They who were
led by the Guru, reached the other shore, attuned to the True
One. And they overcame their ‘coming and going’. their soul
mergedin the Oversoul; yea, through the Guru's Wisdom
poise wells upin one, andone mergesin Truth.
(Maru, M.I. 2)
The Guru ts the pool of Nectar, we are the swans on its
bank; yea, the sea of rubies and corlas, and pearls and dia-
monds of the Lord’s Praise with which my body and mind are
imbued. (Maru. M.I. 8)
They who are under the sway of the Guru, their deeds
are true; and theycome not, nor go, nor are they subject
to the laws of death. They climg not to the branches
but the roots, and within them 1s the zeal for Truth.
(Maru, M I. 12)
I'd believe only in him as the Guru who makes me cherish
the Truth, and utter the unutterable, and merges me in the
word. (Dhanasri. M 1.)
The God is merged m the Guru who dissemmates His
Word. (Mathar. M.I.)
The True Guru has made me see the world, the under-
world and the sky through His Grace. Yea, that Lord of the
‘Universe who is, and will ever be, and it cast not into the
womb, Him I See within my heart. (Sorath. M.I)
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It is only when the True Guru is merciful that one See-eth
Him, and, wandering through a myriad births, one Heareth
His Word. (4sa.M.E)
‘Without the Guru, devotion nor love for God wells up
within us, nor are we ushered into the society of the saints.
Without the Guru, one 1s blind, and 1s involved im strife.
Through the Guru is the mind purged, through the (Guru's)
Word 18 one’s mind cleansed. It 1s by meeting with the Guru
that one conquers one’s self and one ever reveals in the Yoga
of God’s Devotion. Associatmg with the Guru-saint, one is nd
of all one’s maladies. Says Nanak : “In this way (through the
(Guru) is one Blest with the yoga of Equipoise."(Basant. M.I.)
Meeting with the Guru, one’s intellect becomes sublime.
And the mind becomes immaculate, and one is rid of one’s
ego. (Basant. M.I.)
The True Guru is one who unites one with all.
(Sri Rag. MI.)
GOOD AND EVIL
Good are they wha are judged good at the Lord’s Door.
(Sri Rag. M.I. 4:4)
Friend, that food, that pleasure is vain which fills the mind
with evil and makes the body writhe m pain,
(Sri Rag. M.I. 2:7)
When I found God’s trust, the evil in me turned into good.
(Sn Rag. M.LI1)
The true and wise farmer knows that one sows the seed
only after one has tilled the land and furrowed it.
(Sri Rag. M.1. 2:13)
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The self-willed are never at peace while those turned
God-wards are steeped in his Wonder.
(Sri Rag. M.I. 3:19)
Tf the soul of man merges in the Oversoul, and his mind is
attuned to the higher Mind of the Guru’s, then the desire for
voilence, ego and the wander-lust of the mind depart, so do
‘our doubts and woes. (Sri Rag. M.I. 2:20)
If good deeds be thy farm and thy seed be of the Word
and the way of Truth thy water, the growth will then be of
faith. Thus wilt thou gather the knowledge of heaven and
hell. (Sri Rag. M.I. 1:27)
The mud of sin sticks to you, but you are like afrog
who knows not that he lives with the lotus (of God). The
black-bee teaches you the lesson (of love), but you hear it
not. (Sri Rag. M.I. 2:27)
The more clever Iam, the more load I carry.
(Sri Rag. MI. 3:29)
Where the deeds are good, there is a perfect mind too.
(Sri Rag. M.I. 3:30)
He whose plants are we, He whose garden is the world, He
names the trees according to their fruit. (Sri Rag. MI. 2:32)
So does a man flow as his mind be, and so does he gather
the fruit as 1s bis destiny. What he soweth, he also reapeth.
(Sri Rag. M.I. 2:32)
O woman, where is happiness without merit ?
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Through His Grace does the Lord give : as are our
deeds, so blesses us He.
(Sri Rag. M.I. Ashtapadis, 3:11)
All whom Thou hikest, © God, are good. Of oneself one is
neither good nor bad.
(Sri Rag. M.I. Ashtapadis, 3:11)
Faith and contentment are the food of the angelic beings.
(Sri Rag. Var Shloka M.1)
The desires of the heart clamour like the cymbals and
the ankle-bells and with them thumps the drum of the
world. The mind dances to the tune of the Kah age. 0,
where can men of contmence plant their feet ?
(Asa, ML. 1:4)
See thou of each the Light withm and ask not his
chaste, for Hereafter the caste is of no avail. (Asa M.I. 2:3)
If one seeks one’s good, doing good one should feel
bumble. (Asa. M.I. Var Pauri, 5)
The virtuous practise righteousness but lose its the merit
if they ask for deliverance (as reward). (bid)
Through smallness of our minds, we lose even the merit of
service. (Asa, M.I. Var)
Call no one bad : this is the essence of knowledge, And
argue not with a fool. (Did)
‘Nanak : with a sharp tongue, one’s body and mind become
inspid. The sour-tongued is discarded in the True Court and
they all spit im his face. (bid)
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What kind 1s the love that clings to the Other? He alone
who merges in His love 1s the true lover. He who’s good only
when to him good 1s done and in adversity becomer adverse,
call him not a lover, for he trades in love. (ibid)
He who both greets and is impudent to the Master is
pulled from the roots. For, both his aspects are false and
are of no account to his Lord. (bid)
Friendship with the unwise, and love of the egotists, are
hike a lime drawn across water of which there 1s neither sign
nor mark left. (bid)
Evil are the ear that hear slander, evil the hands that grab
what 1s another’s, evil the eyes that feed on the beauty of
another’s woman, evil the tongue that tastes other than God.
Evil is the mind that craves for the Other, evil the body that
does no good to another. O, evilis the smell that issues
from evil. (ibid)
Cursed is the life which one leads only, to swell one's
belly. (Rag. Suki Var. Shloka M.1.)
‘The false one neither has honour, nor name, like the
black crow who 1s ever unclean or like a bird imprisoned in a
cage, who though he struts about behind the bars, is released
not. (Bilawal M.I. Thithi)
He who has desire and a sense of mmeness, and the love
of woman in the mind, 1s neither a man of this world, nor of
the other. (Ramkah. M.I. 2)
Lust and wrath are the two crops : seasons, night and
day. We water the (body’s) farm with greed, and sow im it
the seeds of illusion, and our desire tills the land. The
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plough 1s of evil intent, and the harvest is of sin; this is
what one earns through the Lord’s Will. And when of him
the Account is asked, the womb (of his deeds) 1s declared
sterile. (Shloka M.I. Var of Ramkah M. 3)
Let Love be the farm, Purity the water, and Truth and
Contentment the two bullocks; and Humility the plough and
Consciousness the tiller, and God’s Remembrance the
nght soil, and the Season Union (with God), and the seed
be of the Name, and the crop of Grace; then (before it) the
whole world seems an illusion. Nanak: if such be one’s
deeds, by the Lord’s Grace, then one 1s separated not from
God. (Shloka M.I. Var of Ramkali, M. 3)
If thou challengest the Lord’s Will, thy love breaketh. If
thou pullest the arm both ways, it breaketh. Thy love breaketh
also if thy speech 18 sour, for, thy God forsaketh and Bride
of evil intent. (Ramkali. M. I. Dakhani Onkar, 28)
Our deeds are the book which the mind writes in the ink
(Of desire) and the writing 1s of two kinds, good and bad,
and then as drives us the writ of habit, so are we driven.
But God has infimte virtues (through which one stills one’s
mund. (Maru. MI.)
Avarice (withm me) barks like a dog, falsehood Pollutes
me like a sweeper, cheating is lke the eating of a carcass.
Slander is the dirt that my tongue tasteth and anger is the
fire that burns me like a Chandala’,
(Sri Rag. M. 1. 4:4)
Their avarice goes and ther attachment, and also ther
1. ic. st 1s not the low castes whose touch pollutes t
like avarice, falsehood, cheatmg, slander, anger, etc.” hate Pied
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GURU NANAK 91
enmity and ego and stnfe and anger and love of Maya the
great Illusion, on whomsoever 1s the Grace of God.
(Sr Rag, M. I. 3: 14)
He who staims his countenance with sin gets not refuge in
the Lord’s Court. (Dhanasrt. M. I. 5)
As iron is melted m the furnace, and then recast, so 18
the evil-doer cast into the womb again and over again.
(Suki. MI. 4)
PAIN AND PLEASURE
Pain 1s the cure, pleasure the malady, for, where there 18
pleasure, there, Thou, O God, art not.
(Asa. M. I. Var. Shloka M 1.)
The Wise one is he who abides in the Will of God and
looks upon pain and pleasure alike. (did 5)
If the seeker cries out and begs at the Lord’s Door, the
Lord hears him and whether He blesses him or curses him,
‘he must revel in His Glory. (Asa. M. I. 1: 3)
Out of the clear, blue waters sprouts the lotus and also
the film of ignorance. The lotus lives with both, and yet
keeps detached from both. But the frog knows not and eats
only the dirt. It abides ever in water, but knows not love,
like the black-bee who only hearing of the glory of the lotus
is imbued with its lore, or like the Kamina flower which
lowers its head in prayer when it sees the moon from afar,
being intuitively awake. In the nectar-sweet milk are treasured
also honey and sugar, but the tick tastes them not, and feeds
itself, only on blood ! (Maru. MT)
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We enjoy myriad kinds of joy to please the mind, but our
riches are appropriated by others, while the body returns to
the dust, All our possessions too are reduced to the dust m
the end, and without the Word, the soil (of the mind) 1s
cleansed not. (Bilawal. M1)
He, who looks upon pain and pleasure like, by the Guru’s
Grace, be tastes not death.
(Ramkal. M. I. Siddha Gosthi, 61)
‘There is the pain of separation and of hunger and of disease
and the power of death. O physician, which of these maladies
would you cure ? One indulges in pleasures, forgetful of God
and one suffers. But m the immaculate body lives the imm-
aculate swan-soul in which abides the immaculate Name, yea,
the essence of God’s Attributes. It 1s through the True Name
that one sheds all one’s maladies and 1s emancipated.
(Mathar M. I.)
Nanak : the whole world 1s in pam.
(Ramkali Ram. M. I. Var.)
He alone 1s in pain who indulges in pleasures, forgetful of
God. (Mathar. M. 1)
THE PRACTICE OF THE WAY
Truth alone saves us, yea, Truth alone.
(Asa. M. 1.4: 2)
If we surrender our body like a woman to our Master, He
enjoyeth it. (Sri. Rag. M. I. 3: 20)
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The body is the farm, thy actions the seed, it 1s watered
by the Name of God in whose hands 1s the whole earth.
‘The mund 1s the farmer and when the tree sprouts m thy soul,
‘one attams to the state of Nirvana. (Sri. Rag. M. I. 1: 26)
(Maya), the great deceiver, deceives him not, nor doth the
dagger (of ego) hurt hum, who liveth as God willeth.
(Sri. Rag. M. I. 1+ 33)
Put thou the oil of wisdom (in the mind’s lamp) gathered
the sacred books. Let thy wick be of the Lord’s fear, then
fire it with the torch of Truth. Thus will thy lamp be lighted
and thy Lord wilt thou meet. (Sri Rag. M. I. 2+ 33)
Dedicate thyself to service in the world and thou gettest a
seat of Honour in the Lord’s Court. (Sri. Rag. M. I.)
The Guru's Word 1s the Bride’s decoration, and, so
decked, she surrenders herself to her Lord, And, with joined
palms, she stands in wait for Him with prayer in her heart.
Such 18 the bride of true colour, ambued with His love, decked
in the red bridal robes and living in fear of the Lord.
(Sri Rag. Ashtapadis. 2 1 2)
The (true) Bride is she who sleeps, carefree, in her Lord’s
‘embrace. (Sn Rag. M. I Ashtapadis. 8 : 2)
All_have merit save myself and beauty too, bat I love my
only God and I am met with by Him through the Guru’s
Word and then He forsakes me not.
(Sri Rag. M. I. Ashtapadis 2 : 6)
Without the Capital, the Trader looks about m the four
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94 GURU NANAK
continents in vam; for he knows not the reality that his
Capital lies buried withm hunself.
((Srt Rag. M. I. Ashtapadis 2: 6)
He, our God, testeth us on the touch-stone with love
and attention. (Sri. Rag. M. I. Ashtapadis. 4:7)
The collyrium of knowledge dispelleth all thy fear and thou
st the Pure One in His love.
= (Sri. Rag. MI. Ashtapadts, 3 +7)
I sought and sought and found my God. In His fear, I was
united with him. (Sri. Rag. M.I. Ashtapadis, 8 + 7)
Task my Guru, “Pray tell me how shall I go thy way ?”
Says he, “Keep the Lord’s praise in thy mind and burn the
agony of ego, and thou shalt meet thy Lord in the region of
Bliss, for the True One is met through Truth.”
(Sri Rag. M.I. Ashtapadis, 4 : 8)
Without loving-adoration of God, one’s body 1s cleansed
not. (Sri Rag. Mul. Ashtapadhs g : 9)
Blessed 1s the devotee who’s above ritual, above the domain
of the mind and is awake to the knowledge that the lord
knoweth all. (Srt Rag. M.1)
Truth and contentment let these be thy two cymbals and to
see Him ever, let this be thy subtle music. Let the Lord’s fear
withm thy mind be thy turning-around in dance. To roll in
dust 18 know the body as dust. (4sa. M.I. 6)
To slay the self: this, mdeed, 1s the essence of the sixt
Sastras, and to realise the Light of the All-pervading, perfec
God in all. (Asa, M. I. 2: 11)
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GURU NANAK 95
The Godwards remam loving, pure and immaculate as the
lotus, which, its roots mm mud, waveth detached above the
water’s brim. (Asa. MI. 2+ 15)
When Thou art our body and soul, to ask Thee for sus-
tenance 18 to waste one’s breath. (Asa, M.I. Var. Paurs 5)
We know the Truth, when m our heart abides the True
God, and we cleanse our body of falsehood and make it pure
(Asa. M I. Var.)
‘We know the Truth, when we love the Truth. (bid)
We know the Truth, when our soul knows the Way, and,
cultivatmg the farm of our body we sow in it the seed of God
(bidy
We know the Truth if we receive the True mstruction and
are compassionate to life and give away our bit in wholesome
charity. (bid)
We know the Truth if we abide at the pilgrim-station of
the Self, and as in the Guru’s Will, so abide we. (bid)
They who sow the whole seed reap Honour, but how shall
the broken seed sprout ? First, the seed should be whole, then
the season proprtious (only then does the seed sprout). (Ibid)
In God’s fear, if the (body’s) raw cloth be boiled and then
it be mercerised with humility, and imbued with devotion, it
takes on the Colour of God. (Asa. M.I. Var.)
Apply the collyrium of (God’s) fear to thy eyes, and deck
thyself with love. Yea, then alone art thou the true Bride when
thou lovest thy Lord. (Tilang M.I. 4)
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Go and ask thou the true Brides, how did they attam unto
‘their Lord? (Yea, in this way) that whatever He does they
submit to His Will, and neither argue with him, nor force
their will. Through whose love, one finds the ([ife’s) object,
‘why stick not fast to His Feet? And do as He commands, and
surrender our body and mind to Him, and thus make our-
selves fragrant. Says the true Bride: ‘O sister, true 1s the
Lord attained.’ (Tilang M.1. 4)
Let thy mind be the holdimg-ends of the cord and the
churning-stick be of being ever-awake. And let the churning
be the uttermg of the Lord’s Name with the tongue ; thus wilt
thou gather the butter, yea, the Nectar of the Lord. Let thy
mumd be the abode (of God) washed in the waters of Truth, and
make leaf-offerings of devotion, and dedicate to Him even thy
fe ; thus wilt thou enjoy union with thy Lord. (Suhi M.I. 1)
Build the boat of contemplation and self-control that you
‘cross (the Sea of material existence) unobstructed, as if there
‘was no sea to cross, nor tides to contend with. Such, then,
will be thy easy path. (Suhi M.I. 4)
The Yoga’s way 1s of knowledge, of the Brahmins the way
of the Vedas, of the Kshatriyas the way is of heroism, of
the Sudras the service of others. The way of ways, however,
is the way of the World. He who knows its mystery, of him
Nanak is a slave. Yea, he himself is the manifestation of the
immaculate God. (4sa, M. 1. Var. Shloka M. 2)
Of Compassion the cotton, of Contentment the thread, of
Continence the knot, of Truth the twist ; this is the sacred
Thread of the soul. For, it breaks not, nor is it soiled nor
wasted nor burnt. (Asa. M.I. Var. Shloka M.I.)
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He who disciplines the mind endowed with eight miracul-
ous powers, and, through deeds, dwells upou the detached God
and overwhelms the wind, water and fire (withm) him be-
comes manifest the True Name of the Immaculate Lord.
(Bilawal M.I. Thithi)
The collyrmm of Wisdom dispells all fear and one sees the
immaculate One m His love, and knoweth both the sutble and
the manifest, if one keepeth one’s mind 1t its place.
(Sri Rag. M.I. 7)
When one meets with the True Guru, one’s Doubt is
shattered, and cease the outgoings of one’s mind, and then of
the (Mind's) spring out-oozes (Bliss), and attuned to the
Melody of equipoise in one’s very Home, one becomes intimate
with one’s Spouse. (Suhi MT)
‘This mercurial mind is held and abides m Troth, real Home
when the Lord’s Name 1s one’s support, and one loves truly
one’s Lord. Then the Creator-Lord unites one with Himself,
of Humself. (Ramkah, M.I. Siddha Goshtt)
Let not the mind sleep within one’s home, nor without.
(bid)
My body wears the simplicity of a mendicant ; my mind 1s
the temple and I bathe at the fount of my heart. The Word.
(of the Lord) alone abides in my mund, so I'll be cast not mto
the womb again. (Bilawal. M.I. 2)
Merge thy consciousness in thy God in sucha way, that,
making thy body a raft, thou ferniest the Sea across. Withi
thee is the fire (of craving), quench it, and then the light of
wisdom will ever burn even and bright within thee. This light
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then makes thee swim across the Sea (of material existence),
and thy mind 1s illumined and thou knowest all.
(Ramkal M.1.7)
Practise thou Truth alone; for, vam is every other
attachment; yea, let this mind be bewitched by the True One
alone, and let the tongue taste naught but Truth. For, save
for the Lord’s Name all else tastes insipid ; and those that are
not God’s, carry on their heads the load of sin. (Maru. M.I.4)
He who knoweth himself, knoweth (God), and his soul
mergeth m the Oversoul. (Maru. M.1.5)
Whosoever keeps detached and above (desire), through the
Guru’s Word, he finds his God in the House of Fearlessness,
(Maru. M.I. 20)
Let (disinterested) works be the trunk, the Lord’s (Name)
the branches, righteousness the flowers, and gnosis the fruit,
and attainment the leaves, and the purging of the mind’s ego
the shade. See thou thy (Lord’s) Power with thy eyes, hear His
Word with thy ears, and utter the True Name through thy
mouth, Yea, thus are the goods of glory assembled and one
18 attuned to God in a state of Poise.
(Rag Basant, M I. Chaupadas)
Thy forelocks are in Yama’s grip, still knowest thou not,
O mind? (Tilang. M.I.1)
My wife, son, father, brother who of these, who of these
will hold my hand ? And when I fall in the grave, not one will
come to my rescue when the last prayer 1s read.(Tilang. M.1.1)
By true living, they who find the Trath and receive the
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Wisdom of the Guru, they are neither born nor do they die ;
their comings and goings are ended (Sn Rag. M.1.4 : 70)
The Bride is widowed not if she merges in her True Lord.
(Sri Rag. M.I, Ashtapadis 5 : 2)
It 18 the self-bound who cometh “and goeth, for the God-
man abideth ever in Truth. (Ramkali. M.I Siddha Goshti)
Man emerges out of the Lord’s Will, he quits also as 1s the
Will, he mergeth too in the Will. (ibid)
The false ones come into the world, but find no refuge and
leaning on the Other, they come and go. (Ibid)
They are born not, nor do they die, they come nor go,
whose minds are structed by the Guru’s Grace. They are
like unto the one from whom they emanated. (Ibid)
‘He who looks upon pain and pleasure alike, by the Guru's
Grace, he tasteth not death. (ibid)
One loads the Boat (of life) with sin and Launches it upon
the Sea (of existence), and lo, one sees not the other shore,
nor the port of sail. Dreadful 1s the Sea, but there’s'no
Boatman, nor the Rowers to row the Boat across.
(Maru M.1.2)
‘The body 1s mere earth in which speaks but air. When dust
to dust returns and air merges in the aur, then what is it that
dies ? Dies the individuated consciousness, dies one’s strife,
one’s pride of self, but dies not the, all-seeing Soul.
(Gauri. M.1.)
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THE UNSTRUCK MELODY
‘The Unstruck Melody that thou seekest to hear, hear thou
it in the instruction of the Guru. (Sri Rag. M.I. 2, 18)
He, thy Lord, 1s ummersed in the Unstruck Melody of the
Word. (Asa, MI. 4: 8)
Meditating on the Guru’s Word, thy wholesome Unstruck
strains one hears. (Sri Rag. M.L)
How 18 one to perform Thy worship, O Thou destroyer of
comung and going ? Thy Unstruck Melody (within) drummeth
ever thy glory. (Dhanasri M.I. Arti)
My doubt and fear are dispelled now that I hear the Un-
struck Melody. (Maru. M.2)
Now the mind wanders not, nor the wind waits for the
Yogi 1s attuned to the Unstruck Melody of the Word. And the
subtle five strains make him detached. Yea, ‘tis God who plays.
upon the inner harp. (Maru. M.1.)
One overcomes lust, wrath and ego, nay, all the five
‘thieves’ through the five strains (of the Unstruck Melody),
and with the Sword of Wisdom one grapples with one’s mind,
and the desires of the mind are re-absorbed in the Mind.
(Maru. MI.)
If the Unstruck Melody (of the Word) rings within one,
night and day, (then) the state of the Deathless Lord is known
by the Guru’s Grace. (Ramkali, Mt. 3
When rings the Unstruck Melody within one, one is rid of
one’s fears and doubts. (Mara, M.I. Dakhni)
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When one’s quintessence merges in its like, one’s mind is
satiated, and shedding the sense of the Other, one brings the
mind home, and the current of Life flows within one and the
sky (of the Tenth Door) resounds (with the Unstruck Melody)
(Ramkali. M.I. Siddha Goshti)
Hear you the Melody in the House of the Fourth State},
attuned to the region of Void, and then you reflect on the
inaffable Word and your mind’s outgoings submerge im the
Mind. Malhar. MI.)
They who love not, know not the taste of God. For, if one
be a guest in an empty house, he shall return as empty as he
came. (Shloka M.I. Var of Rag Suki M.3)
In the cage of Love, the parrot (mind) utters the words of
Love, and it pecks at the Truth and sucks Nectar! and when it
flies out and away it comes not back aga. (Maru. M.I. 2)
There is but one Devotion and one Love (of God), but
without being tinged with His fear, love 1s an illusion.
(Basant. M.1. 3)
THE HOLY COMPANY
In the company of the Holy, one attains to. the Guru who
is like the Kamdhenu?, the Grver of Salvation.
(Sri Rag 2712)
What kind is the company of the Saints ? Wheré utter they
the Name of the One alone. (8H Rag. WL.)
I. The State of super-consciousness.
1. The mythical, wish-fulGlling cow.
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If one cherishes Righteousness in the company of the
Saints, 1t brings him Merit and his mind 1s comforted. When
one’s countenance is anomted with the Dust (of the Saint’s
feet), the (Mind’s) iron is transmuted into gold.
(Ramkali, M.I. Dakhani. Onkar, 3)
THE SAINTS
Friends are they who accompany us even into the other
world and wherever we are called to account, here they stand
(as our pledge). (Sum. M.D
The God-man comes and goes as he wills.
(Ramkali. M 1.)
GENESIS
From the True One came air, from air came water, from
water the three worlds created He, and filled all hearts with
His Light. (Sri Rag. M.L)
DETACHEDNESS
As the lotus lives detached m waters, as the duck floats
care-free on the stream, so does one cross the Sea of existence,
his mind attuned to the Word. He who lives detached, en-
shrining the One Lord in the mind, shorn of hope living m the
midst of hope, and sees what 1s unperceivable and unfathom-
able, of him Nanak 1s a slave.
(Ramkali. M.1. Siddha Goshti, 5)
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BAD COMPANY
Thieves, illicit lovers, prostitutes and touts keep company
together, as do men of irreligion eat out of the same bowl.
They know not the Lord’s praise, for withm them abides evil.
If an ass be pasted with sandal-paste, he will still roll in dust.
(Shloka M.I. Var of Rag Suki M.3)
FORMS AND RITUALS
They read the holy books, perform prayers and then fight !
And they worship stocks and stones and then, like the herons,
enter mto a pseudo-trance. In their mouth is falsehood, though
their body be decked with piety, and the three lines (of Gaya-
tri) they recite three trmes aday. Round their necks isa
rosary, and on their foreheads the saffron-mark and the
unstitched cloth upon their lions, and a cover on their heads,
But if they ‘knew the nature of their God, they would know
these rituals to be false ! (War. Asa. M.L)
The Lord’s Praise is the sacred Thread. (ibid)
‘The man-eaters say the five prayers! And they who wield
the knife wear the sacred Thread! On their foreheads 1 the
saffron-mark and their loins are girt by unstitched cloth, but
in their hands is the knife; know ye, they are the butchers of
the world. (bid)
False from within, honourable from without, if such be
‘one’s way in the world, one’s dirt goes not, even if one bathes
at all the sixty-eight pilgrim stations. They whose heart
is silken soft, though they be robed in rags, they are the
blessed ones on the earth. For they are attuned to their Love
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and seek ever to see His Vision, and care not for any but
thew Lord, the God, and what He gives they eat, and wait ever
upon His Door. (id)
We read immense loads of the sacred texts for years, and
all life through, but only one thing 1s of account to our God—
our heart—the rest 1s all vam prattle. (bid)
To subdue desire through Hatha-yoga wears off the body.
Through fasting and penances, the mmnd 1s subdued not.
(Ramkal M.I. 5)
Wandering through the pilgrim-stations, one 1s rid not of
one’s maladies. (Ramkali M.I. 6)
Ifone dyes one’s robes in ochre and dons the distinctive
coat of a mendicant, and tearmg off one’s usual wear, one
wears a wallet, but spreads it out to gather coins, and begs
from door to door, but instructs others in wisdom lo, the
blind of mind loses all his hounour this way. He 1s torn by
Doubt and so reflects not on the Word, and gambles his life
thus away. (Maru M.I. 7)
EGO
Ifone spots out the ego within, one realises the Gate of
Deliverance. (Var. Asa. Shloka M.1.)
Intoxicated with ego, greed and self-willedness, she is
immersed m Maya. But m this wise, the ignorant Bride
. findeth not her Spouse. (Tilang M.I. 4)
The egocentrics strayed by doubt, like mad.
(Bilawal. M.I. 4)
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The (love of) body, riches and women are all mani-
festations of one’s ego. Save for the Lord’s Name, nothing
goes along with man. (Bilawal. M.12)
Though ego or conceit, one attains not God, evenif_ one
utters the Gospel or reads it aloud to others. (Ramkalt M.I.6)
Slander no one, nor incite, nor provoke another : for the
egocentric, who goes this way, 18 blind and ignorant.
(Romkah. MI. Dakhan Onkar 13)
Abiding in the house of contentment and equipoise, one 18
nid of the vice of ego (Ramkah . M.I. Siddha Goshti)
When one dies to the self, one becomes all-knowing (Ibid)
The world came into being through a sense of individu-
ation. (bid)
Without meeting with the Guru, one 1s enveloped by the
smoke of ego. (bd)
The God-man conquers his mind by stilling his ego. (Ibid)
O ego, the cause of our coming and gomg O soul of sin!
(Bid)
‘Yea, he alone is emancipated in life who is rid of his ego
(Maru. M.L)
One indulges in ego, and the sense of mineness of
and lo, one is driven by hope and desire. But what, indeed.
does one carry along save for the poison and dust (of Maya)
Maru. (M.1.10)
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Who is it that dies, who, pray, is the destroyer, who is it
that comes and goes? Who 1s it that attains Bliss, whose
consciousness 1s it that 1s merged (m God) ? It 1s through ego
that one dies, it 1s the sense of ‘mineness’ that destroys and it
1s the river of air that surges (to keep one going). But one’s
craving 1s “tired” only when the mind is imbued with the
Lord’s Name. (Shloka M.I. Var. of Maru M. 3)
‘Where I-amness is, Thou art not; yea. when Thou art
within me, then ‘I’ am not. (Shloka M.I. Var of Maru M. 3)
The world is differentiated, because of ‘I-amness.”
(Ramkali M.I. Siddha Goshti)
THE PHENOMENA
Riches and beauty are like the shade of the swallow-wort
tree. (Dhanasri Chhant, M. I. 3)
The world is a passing vanity, enshrme thou this Truth, O
my mind. (Tang M.I. 1)
The world is like sea-waves, like lightning’s flash. It goeth
as often as it cometh. (Asa M.I. Chhant, 5)
Whatever I see, there is the union of matter and spirit in
the creation which our Lord the God pervades.
(Sri Rag. M.I. 4:18)
From the True One came arr, from air came water, from
water sprang the three worlds and He, the Lord, pervaded all.
(Sri Rag. M.I. 3:15)
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The world is like a play, lke a dream: in an instant, the
play 1s over, (Sri Rag, M.I. 3:11)
What kind of station is this world ? It would be a true
home only if it stayed ! (Sri Rag. M.I. Shtapadss, 1:17)
The sky and the earth will pass away, the One alone will
remain. The sun and the moon, night and nay and myriads of
stars will also go, but the abode of the One God will stay eter-
nally and forever. (bid 8:17)
When the crop (of life) is pe, 1t breaks with a click and
is destroyed; how can then one be proud of the mere coming
and-going 7 (Sri Rag. M.I. Pahra, 4-2)
True and Thy worlds, True Thy umtverses, True Thy
Tegions, True the form Thou createst.
(Asa. M.I. Var Shloka M.I.)
The world 1s the abode of the True one, in it the True one
abides. (Ibid. Shloka M. 2)
Nanak: creating the world of hfe, and mplantmg His
Name within it, God made it the expression of His eternal
Law. (4sa. M.I, Var)
Isee within myself the whole world murrored, by the
Guru's Grace, and I deal with it in Truth, seated in poise.
(Ramkali. M I. Siddha Goshti)
From the Unmanifest, He, the Pure One, of Himself be-
came manifest; from being attributeless, He endowed Himself
with attributes. Bid)
It is for the God-man that our True God established the
earth. (Bid)
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Beauty and dominions last but for a few days, but if one
1s blest with the Lord’s Name, one’s (anner) darkness 18 illu
mined. (Bilawal M.I. 3)
The world 1s like the quadruped : and ego is the butcher.
The Lord, creating the creation, has left it freeto do as it
wills. (Ramkah MI. Dakham Onkar, 18)
The world comes into being through a sense of indivi-
duation, and, forsaking the Lord’s Name, it comes to grief
(Ramkalt. M.I. Siddha Gosht: 68)
Yea, this world 1s the house of desire, and whosoever resi-
des mm it, 18 burnt down by ego. (Maru M.E. 11)
On the (world’s) pasture-land, one passes but a few days
and sports, enveloped by darkness ; and like the juggler, one
juggles one’s part, as one mumbles in a dream.
(Maru. M.I 1.3)
As rotate the buckets hung on the cham of the persian
well, one being emptied and the other being filled, so is the
play of our God; He acteth as is His wondrous glory.
(Prabhat! M.I. 2)
The world is like the dust! if one deals in dust one
earns ashes. The body too is but dust, for, when the soul
flies away, one rolls in dust.
(Shloka M.I. Var of Sarang, M. 4, 2)
OMENS
One keeps count of the auspicious days, but thinks not
that our God, the One Supreme Being, is above and beyond
these. (Ramkali M.I. 4)
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THE BEGINNINGS
For aeons of years, there was nothing but chaos; and
there was neither earth, nor sky, only God’s Infinite Will
was. And, there was neither mght nor day, neither the sun
nor the moon, and God was m Himself contaimed. Neither
there were the (four) sources of creation, nor of speech.
‘Neither air there was nor water; neither birth, nor death;
neither commg nor going. Neither divisions of the world
there were nor of the under-world, nor the seven seas, nor rivu-
lets, nor streams. Neither was then the sky, nor the earth;
nor the world, nor the underworld. Neither the nether
regions there were, nor death there was nor time; neither
bemg nor becoming, neither heaven nor hell. Neither was
there the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, nay, not
another but the Absolute Lord. Neither woman then was,
nor man; neither caste, nor station, neither pleasure nor pain.
Neither there were the celibates, nor men of charity, neither
the adepts, nor the seekers, neither mdulgers in joys
of the flesh, nor the yogis, Jangams, or Nathas, neither
sect there was nor creed. Neither were there the practisers
of austerities or contemplation, nor of self-control; neither
worshippers nor fasting men. Yea, there was no one to
utter, “Lo, there’s also another.” The Lord only Himself
was in Absolute Bliss and prized only Himself His own glory.
(Maru, M.L. 15)
THE FOUR AGES
Nanak: for the spirit-filled human body there 1s a chariot
and a charioteer. Age after age they change, yea, the wise
one knoweth it all. In the age of Satya, contentment is the
chariot and religion the charioteer. In the Treta age, conti-
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nence is the chariot and power drives ton. Inthe Duapar
age, austerity is the chariot and charity its driving force.
In the Kali! age the chariot 1s of fire and it 1s driven along by
falsehood. (Asa. M I. Var)
WOMAN
From the woman is our birth, in the woman’s womb
are we conceived To the woman are we engaged, to the
‘woman are we wedded. The woman is our friend, from the
woman 1s the family, yea, through the woman are our bonds
with the world. Why call woman evil who gives birth to
kings and all? From the woman is the woman, without the
woman there is no one, save the one God alone.
(4sa. MI. Var)
HOUSEHOLD
Amidst the impurities of the world, he who abides in the
Pure One attains the true way of Yoga. (Sukhi M.T)
One must hive in the world as the lotus lives, detached, in
water, or as the duck lives in a stream.
(Ramkalt. M.1. Siddha Goshti)
TRANSMIGRATION
Preciousis human birth: only those turned Godwards
attain unto it. (Suhi. M.I. Kafi,)
Without the Guru’s Grace, one cometh and goeth.
(Ramkali. M.I. Siddha Goshti)
1. Identified with the present age.
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By true living, they who find the Truth and receive the
Wisdom of the Guru, they are neither born nor do they die.
Their comings and goings are ended.
(Sri Rag. ML. 4:14)
The God-man cometh and goeth as he willeth.
(Ramkali M.1.)
‘The bondage of ego is that we are cast into the womb.
(Asa. MI. Var. Shloka, M. 2)
O ego, the cause of our coming and going ! O soul of
sin! (Ramkali, M.I. Siddha Goshti)
THE MIND
In thy mind are the jewels, the rubies, the pearls and the
diamonds I (Sr Rag. M.I. 4:21)
What kand is the man of Wisdom ? Yea, he who knoweth
himself, he alone knoweth. (Sri Rag. M.I. 4:30)
If thy mind be impure, umpure also are thy body and
tongue. (Sri Rag. Ashtapadis, MI. 1:5)
O my mind, love thy Lord as is the love of the fish for
water, The more the waler, the more she revels and her
body and mind are at peace. O my mind, love thy Lord as
the chatrik bird loves the rains; all the pools are brimful and
green 1s the earth, but he longs only for the auspicious drop.
O my mind, love thy Lord as water loves the milk. It suffers
itself the heat, but the milk it allows not to burn.
(Sri Rag. MI. Ashtapadis, 2—4:11)
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112 GURU NANAK
Water is held in the pitcher, but without water can a
pitcher be shaped ? The mind is held by Wisdom, but with-
out the Guru’s Wisdom, how can the mind be gashered ?
(Asa. MI. Var)
If the mind becomes stranger to itself, estranged from it,
then, 18 the whole world ! (Suht. MI. 5)
When the mind 1s satisfied by the Mind, then is shattered
‘one’s ego and cease one’s outgoings. (Gauri, M.L)
If one holds One’s mind ina seedless trance, the Swan-
soul then flies not out, nor the Wall (of time) falls.
(Ramkali. M.I. Siddha Goshti)
The body is the store-house the mund its pedlar, and it 1s
the mind in poise that deals in Truth. (bid)
When there wasn’t a human body or heart, the mind abid-
ed in the Absolute Lord m detachedness. (ibid)
The God-man conquers his mind by stilling his ego.
(ord)
As the mind leads, so the mind goes. Yea, this mind now
drives towards virtue, now sin. (Bilawal. M.I. 2)
If one disciplines the mind, through which eight psychic
powers are attained, and, through deeds, contemplates the
True One, the ever-Detached, and abandons his humours born
of wind, water and fire, then within his heart abides the mma-
culate and True Name; to it is then one’s mind attuned, and
then death overwhelms him not. (Bilawal, M.I.Thittt)
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‘The mind 1s mercural; it 1s held not, and surreptitiously
it eats the green shoots (of evil). If one cherishes the Lotus-
Feet (of God) m the mind, one lives eternally, and abides ever
in a state of super-consciousness.
(Ramkal!. M.I Dakhant Onkar, 23)
The body is the furnace, m which 1s (cast) the iron of the
mind, and it is heated by the five fires. And the coals are of
sins stacked with tongs of care; and lo, the mind 1s burnt.
(Maru, M13)
If one shuts up the (mind’s) snake in the basket, sts poison
goes not (aru, M.I. 2)
© my mind, what did you bring into the world, and what
will you take out 7 my mind, you are delivered only if you
are rid of your Doubt. (Tukharl, MI.)
Mercurzal 1s the mind, so it knows not the extent (of God).
(Basant. MI. 4)
The mind wings ceaselessly after Maya, like the bird across
the skies, and 1t1s only when the five Thieves (within) are
overwhelmed through the (Guru’s) Word, that calm prevails
in the blessed township (of the body). (Prabhati. M.I. 10)
HEREAFTER
He whose protector is the Guru-God, he 18 questioned not
Hereafter. (Sri Rag. M. I. Ashtapadis, 22 15)
In the world beyond, only the virtuous deeds are taken
into account. The evil-doer is thrashed and he wails, but who
is there to listen to his woes ? The blind of mind has wasted
his life away. (Asa. M.I. Var. Paurt 3)
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Hereafter, caste and power are of no account, for a new
man is born into the world of God. Yea, they whose honour
4s of account to the Lord, they alone are men of honour.
(Asa. MI. Var)
If a literate man be a sinner, an illiterate saint 1s punished
not in his stead. And who 1s the literate, who illiterate one, 1s to
‘be considered only in the Court of God. Yea, he who follows
jus mind’s will (is uliterate and) shall suffer Hereafter. (Ibid)
Man commands here as he wills, but Hereafter he passes
through a narrow path. And, naked he is driven to hell and
he is struck with terror. (ibid)
Hereafter, one has to cross the Sea of Fire with its poison-
ous flames, and, there, no one, save for one’s soul, keeps
company with one. Yea, the Sea of Fire blazes, its waves
leaping hngh, and the egocentric 1s cast ito it and he 1s roast-
ed therein. (Maru M.I. 6)
SIGNS AND SYMBOLS
Without the Lord’s True Name, what use are the saffron-
mark or the sacred Thread ? (Asa. M.I. Var Shloka M.1)
The more one takes to garbs and distinctive marks, the
more one’s body suffers. O life, these are thy own doings
(dsa. Mul. Shloka M.I.)
HEAVEN AND HELL
The false ones find no refuge, their faces are blackened and
they are marched off to hell. (Asa. M.I Var Pauri 2)
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Thy name, O Lord, 1s ‘The Formless One’ : dwelling on it,
‘one goes not to hell. (Asa. MI. Var Pauri 5)
In ego does one land in heaven or hell.
(Asa. MI. Var Shloka MI.)
PILGRIMAGES
How can the Undeceived One be deceived by bathing (at
the holy places), (or customary) charity or (mere) knowledge,
or ablutions ? (Suhi M.I. 5)
‘You go to bathe at the pilgrim-stations with an evil mind
and the body of @ thief. So while your one part 1s washed,
the other parts are sullied twice over. From without, you are
cleansed like a gourd, but withm you 1s sheer poison. The
Saint is blessed even without (such a wash), for, the thef
remains a thief even after ablutions.
(Shloka M.I. Rag. Suhi, Var M.3.)
FASTING AND FOOD
Men of contentment serve their Lord and dwell upon no
‘one but the True One alone. They put not their feet in sin and
practise what 1s good and holy. They loosen their worldly
bonds and eat but sparingly. (Asa, M.I. Var Paurl)
As one starves, one loses taste of the tongue, and in love
with the Other, one grieves immensely. (Asa. M.I. Var MI.)
The foodgrains are a god, so are water, air, fire and salt.
And when one mixes ghee, the fifth god, with food, it becomes
purer still. (Asa. MI. Var Shloka M.I.)
All things we eat and drmk are pure, for the Lord has blest
‘us with them in His Mercy. (Asa. ML. Var)
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O friend, that food, that pleasure 1s vain which, if indulged
pains the body or brings to the mind thoughts of sin.
(Sri Rag. M.1)
NIRVANA OR EMANCIPATION
He has neither hunger nor thirst, and his mind pleased with
itself, he seeks the all-pervading, detached God in every heart.
(Maru, M.I. Dakhni)
As the lotus lives detached in water, or the duck in the
stream, so does one cross the Sea of material existence, his
mind attuned to the Word, enshrining the One God in the
mind, shorn of hope in the midst of hope.
(Ramkali, M.I. Siddha Gosht:)
The God-man 1s for ever emancipated. (Ibid)
When one overcometh the three Modes, one eateth as of
the Uneatable. And then, Nanak, the Emancipator of Himself
emancipateth. (bid)
He who dies to the self, being ever-awake to the Ward,
alone 1s emancipated. (Ubidy
Without meeting with the True Guru, one 1s emancipated
not. (Ibid)
MAN
Precious is the human birth; only those turned Godwards
attain to it. (Suki MI. Kafi I: 3)
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Says Nanak : “That alone happens what God Wills, for
nothing 1s in the hands of man.”
(Sri Rag. Ashtapadis, 3 : 4)
Beauteous 1s God’s temple within thee. He, the Creator:
has raised it. (Sri Rag. M.I. Ashtapadis)
Implanting His Name within us, God made our body the
expression of His Law. (Asa. M.I. Var Pauri 3)
Wonderful is found, wonderful is wisdom. Wonderful is
hfe, wonderful its distinctions. Wonderful is form, wonderful
is colour. Wonderful are the creatures who wander about
naked. Wonderful 1s air, wonderful the water. Wonderful
is fire that works many wonders. Wonderful 1s the earth,
wonderful are the species. Wonderful are the tastes that
lure life away. Wonderful is Union, Wonderful 1s Separation.
Wonderful the Hunger, wonderful the experience. Wonder-
ful the praise, wonderful the eulogy, wonderful the Path,
wonderful the straying-away Wonderful the nearness,
wonderful the distance : wonderful the Presence one see-eth
in the present. O wonder-struck am I to see wonder upon
wonder. But it 1s through perfect Destiny that one knoweth
its answer.
(Asa. M.l. Var Shloka M.I.)
© ignorant one, what use is thy beauty when the Lord
liketh it not ? (Tilang M1. 4)
The body that came with thee, that too keeps not thy
company in the end. Thy father, mother, sons and kindred,
whom you love, cast thee to the flames when the soul departs
from thy body. (Titang MI. 2)
The body is the tree, the mind the bud, the five knowing
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faculties are the (other) duds. They unitmg with God,
partake of His Essence, and so are trapped not. They who
fly fast secking the seed (of desire), thei wings are clipped
and they fall into the trap of immense sin.
(Ramkalt. M I. Dakhani Onkar, 33)
The body is a lump of dust, an illusory wall of sand, then
how, O man, can you earn Merit without the Lord’s Name.
(Maru. M.I. 11)
EQUIPOISE (SAHAJA)
. The Saints, like the swans, abandon not the Pool of
Nectar, and, through loving adoration, merge in equipoise.
(Dhanasri. M.I. Ashtapadis, 8)
The God-conscious beings dwell upon Him through
devotion in a state of equipoise.
(Dhanasri, M.I. Ashtapadis, 8)
‘He alone meets truly with his God who meets Him through
equipoise. And then he dies not, nor comes he, nor goes.
‘In the Master is the servant, -in the servant 1s the Lord.
(Dhanasri. M I. Ashtapadis, 2)
Through the Guru's World, one merges im equipoise,
and through equipoise, one attains the essence of the
Absolute. Then, one goeth not on another path And
one who seeketh, finds too.
(Ramkalt, M.I. Siddha Goshti, 23)
If one holds one’s mind in a seedless Trance, this swan-
soul then fies not out, nor the wall (of Time) falls.
(Ramkali, MI. Siddha Goshii)
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MAYA
He who is drunk with the wme of Maya, forsaking the
Lord’s Name, 1s never at peace, for Bliss comes from the
loving adoration of the Guru. He’s like a swine, a cur,
as ass, a cat; yea, a quadruped, a vile chandala, an untouch.
able. (Bllawal. MI. 2)
Neither Maya dies (within one) nor 1s the mind stilled and
the sea (of desire) swells with a myriad waves as if intoxicated
with wine. But the (body’s) boat, which 1s directed by the
Truth within, sways not upon the surging seas, and 1s ferried
across. (Maru. M.I. 9)
Silver and gold are but an illusion, and, one day, they mix
with the dust. (Maru. M.I. 5)
The worshipper of Maya passes through the hell of count-
less* species, but he receives the reward of what he had com-
mitted. (Maru, M.I. 8)
‘The worshipper of Maya runs after nothing but illusion.
(Maru. M.I. 9)
‘When Maya clings to one, one can overwhelm her not, but
the True Guru may save one, implanting the God’s Nanak
within. (Parbhati. M.I.)
KARMA, FREE-WILL AND GRACE
As is the state of one’s consciousness, so is one’s way.
(Sri Rag. M.I. 1:30)
Thy Grace is my family. (Sri Rag. MI. 4:7)
1. Lit. eighty-four lakhs.
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When our body 1s content with Truth, God’s Grace 1s
upon us. (Sri Rag. M.I. 4:15)
Nanak : if the Lord so Wills, He turns a crow into a
swan. (Sn Rag. Var Shloka M.1.)
Of what avail 1s that gift which we receive through our
own efforts? Nanak: a Blessimg is that which the Lord, m
‘His Mercy, blesses us with. (Asa. MI. Var Shloka M 2)
O God, how canst Thou be angry with Thy own children,
for, as Thou belong to them, they belong to Thee.
(Sri Rag. M1.)
The good and bad that a man does, he receives the reward
thereof, (Var. Asa. M.I.)
© friends, the Writ of our Lord the God can be effaced
not. (Ramkalt. M1)
The mind is the paper on which are recorded in the ink
of our deeds, good and bad, the impressions as the habit
of our cumulative past dictates, but hmutless (also) are the
virtues of our God... ...For the dross turns into gold
if one meets with the Guru who blesses us with the Nectar-
Name of God and the fires of the body are extinguished.
(Maru. M.1.)
SOUL AND OVERSOUL
Krishna may be the god of gods, but higher still is man’s
Self, yea, his soul. (4sa. M.I. Var Shloka M. 2)
Having abandoned oneself to the Self, one revels, and,
then, becommg ashes, his soul departs.
(Asa. MI, Var Paurt 5.)
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GURU NANAK 1
This soul had wandered through many births before the
True Guru imparted to 1t the World. (Asa. M.I. Var Pauri 4)
Immaculate m the body with an immaculate swan-soul in
which abides the Lord’s Name, the very essence of the
detached God. It drinks all pain like sweet pleasures and so
suffers not again. (Maru. M.I. 14)
‘The body and the soul are immensely in love with each
other; the male-soul is (detached) like a Yogi, while the body
1s like a beauteous woman. Lo, the soul enjoys many joys,
but, then, he fies out; and while so domg consults not (with
his bride). (Maru. M.1. 8)
God resides in the soul; the soul is contained in God.
(Bhairo M.1.)
Dieth ind:viduated consciousness, dieth one’s strife, one’s
pride of self, but dieth not the Soul that see-eth all.
(Gauri. M 1.)
The drop 1s contained in the sea, so too the seain the
drop. (Ramkali, M.1.)
THE TRUE YOGA
He alone is a Yogi who knoweth the Way.
(Dhanasri. M.I. 7)
Yoga is neither in the patched coat, nor m the Yogi's
staff, nor m smearing oneself with ashes. Nor in wearing
earrings, nor close-cropping the head, nor in blowing the
horn. Ifone remains detached in the midst of attachments,
one attains to the (true) state of Yoga. One becomes not a
Yogi by mere talk. If:one looks upon all creation alike,
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122 GURU NANAK
one is acclaimed as atrue Yogi. Yoga 1s not m abiding at
the tombs or the crematoriums, nor in entering into a pseudo-
trance. Yoga consists not im roammg the world, nor m
bathing at pilgrim-stations. Ifone remains detached in the
midst of attachments, then, verily, one attains to the (true)
state of Yoga. (Suhi. MI. 8)
Sayeth Nanak: “Die thou to thy self while yet alive:
yea, practise thou such a Yoga, that without being blown,
the Horn ringeth and one attaineth to the state of fearless-
ness. Yea, if one remameth detached im the midst of attach-
ments, then, verily, one attaimeth to the (true) state of Yoga.’”
(Suki, M.I. 8)
PRAYER
Tam shorn of all merit, O Lord, then, how shall I attain
unto Thee? Neither I have beauty nor lustrous eyes, nor
famuly. nor culture nor sweet speech. I have neither intuition
Ror intellect, I’m ignorant and unwise. Bless me Thou,O my
Lord, that I repair to thy Feet. Of what avail 1s my
Thou, my Lord, lovest me not, and clinging to the Illusion, I
am strayed by Dobut ? It is only when I lose my ego that I
merge in Thee and become Thy Bride, blest with all the nine
treasures of the earth. Birth after birth, I was separated from
Thee and I grieved. Now hold me by Thy hand, O my Love
my God, my King! (Suhi. M.I. Ashpatadis)
O God, enjoyable are gold and silver, so are pearls and
rubies, but these are Thy gifts, and yet I love them, not Thee
The mansions raised of dust and of decorative stones have
lured me away by their grandeur and I sat not by the side of
any Love the sky (of my head) the swallows (of age) shriek; the
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GURU NANAK 123
herons (of grey hair) have descended upon me. I am ready to
leave for the real Home, O how shall I face Thee now? I
sleep, the night (of life) turned mto the dawn (of death), and
having lost my way, I kept separated from Thee. Now, pain 13
my only refuge. Thou art the Lord of Merit, I am meritless O
Lord, this is the only prayer of Nanak to Thee : “Thou hast
blest all Thy Brides with Thy company for all these many
nights: Isn’t there a night also for me ?”*
(Suht M.I. Kuchajt)
When Thou art with me I attain everything. Thou, O
Lord art my Master, my capital-stack. When Thou abidest
within me Iam m Peace. Yea, blessed am I when Thou
comest into me If such be Thy Will, Thou makest mea king or
@ beggar detached from the world. If such be Thy Will, the
seas surge 1m the (heart's) sky. In thy Will do we cross the
Sea of material existence, in Thy will 1s our load drowned in
mud-stream. In Thy Will do I find Theea colourful Person
and then I’m imbued with Thy Parise, O Treasure of Virtue.
In Thy Will, Thou seemest dreadful to me and I’m bound to
the cycle of coming and gomg. O Lord, unfathomable, in-
comparable, seeing Thee, I surrender to Thee. What shall I
ask, pray what shall I utter save that I hunger and thirst for
Thee ? (Suht. MI. Suchajt)
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