By forgetting the Lord man hath ruined himself and rendered his life accursed; he is not to tarry here.

O man, ponder on the one Name,

And thou shalt go to thy home with honour.

What do they who worship Thee give Thee? Nay, they

cease not to beg of Thee.

Thou conferrest gifts on all creatures; Thou art the life

within their lives.

The pious who meditate on God receive nectar; it is they who are pure.

Day and night repeat the Name, O mortal, that thine

impurities may be washed away.

As is the season so the comfort of the body, and so the

body itself.[1]

O Nanak, that season is agreeable in which God's name is repeated; but what is any season without the Name?

The Guru and Mardana did not remain long in that village. Mardana asked the Guru what his decision was regarding its inhabitants. He replied, 'O Mardana, may they remain here! '

The inhabitants of the next village at which they arrived showed them great attention. They remained there, however, for only one night, and departed next morning. The Guru when leaving said that the village should be abandoned. Then Mardana remarked, 'Sir, the village in which we were not allowed to sit down, thou hast blessed; and that which bestowed great attention and kindness on us thou hast cursed.' The Guru replied, 'Mardana, if the people of the former village remove to another, they shall ruin it; but if the people of the latter village remove to another, they shall save it.'

The Guru returned from Kamrup by the great river Brahmaputra, and then made a coasting voyage to Puri on the Bay of Bengal, where Vishnu or

[1. That is, the condition of the body is as changeable as the seasons.]

{p. 82}

Krishan, under the name of Jagannath, lord of the world, is specially worshipped. When the lamps were lit in the evening the Guru was invited by the high priest to stand up and join in the god's worship, which was of a gorgeous and imposing character. In that rich temple offerings to the god were made on salvers studded with pearls. On the salvers were placed flowers and censers. A fan was employed to excite the flames of the incense, while the lamps around threw light over the temple. But the use of these articles showed artificial worship, while the expanse of the firmament, the sun and the moon, the procession of the stars, the natural incense of the sandal, the winds and forests, were the fitting accessories of Nanak's purer worship of the God of creation. The Guru therefore, instead of accepting the high priest's invitation to adore the idol, raised his eyes to heaven, and gave utterance to the following hymn:--

The sun and moon, O Lord, are: thy lamps; the firmament, Thy salver; the orbs of the stars, the pearls enchased in it.