It is from the one God the mountains and the ages of the world emanated;

It is the one God who bestoweth knowledge.

It is by the word of God man is saved.

It is by the name of the one God the pious are saved.

Hear an account of the letter O--[2]

O is the best letter in the three worlds.

Hear, O Pandit, why writest thou puzzles?

Write under the instruction of the Guru the name of God, the Cherisher of the world.

He created the world with ease: in the three worlds there is one Lord of Light.

Under the Guru's instruction select gems and pearls, and thou shalt obtain God the real thing.

If man understand, reflect, and comprehend what he readeth, he shall know at last that the True One is everywhere.[3]

The pious man knoweth and remembereth the truth--that without the True One the world is unreal.

On hearing the whole fifty-four stanzas of the Oamkar, the Pandit fell at the Guru's feet, and became a Sikh and possessor of God's name.

During the Guru's stay at Banaras Krishan Lal and Har Lal, two eminent young pandits, went to visit him, and he explained to them the tenets and principles of his religion.

From Banaras the Guru proceeded to Gaya, the famous place of pilgrimage, where Buddha in days long past made his great renunciation and performed his memorable penance. There the Guru uttered the following in reply to Brahmans who had

[1. This means that the true God is superior to all other gods.

2. The symbol of the eternal God. It is here used instead of the Name.

3. Nirantar, pervades creation uninterruptedly.]

{p. 65}

urged him to perform the ceremonies usual among Hindus for the repose of the souls of ancestors.

The Name alone, is my lamp, suffering the oil I put therein.

The lamp's light hath dried it up, and I have escaped meeting Death.

O ye people, make me not an object of derision.

The application of a particle of fire will destroy even hundreds of thousands of logs heaped together.[1]

God is my barley rolls[2] and leafy platters[3] the Creator's name the true obsequies.[4]

In this world and the next, in the past and the future, that is my support.

Thy praises are as the Ganges and Banaras to me; my soul laveth therein.

If day and night I love Thee, then shall my ablution be true.

Some rolls are offered to the gods, some to the manes but it is the Brahman who kneadeth and eateth them.

Nanak, the rolls which are the gift of God are never exhausted.[6]

The Guru and Mardana in the course of their travels found themselves at a grain-dealer's house. A son had just been born to one of the partners, and several people had come to offer him congratulations. Some threw red powder[7] in token of joy, and voices of blessing and congratulation filled the neighbourhood. Mardana sat down and gazed on the