To Thee sing heroes and the men of might;

The sources four from which all life doth spring.

To Thee sing regions, orbs, and universe,

Created, cherish'd, and upheld by Thee!

To Thee sing those whose deeds delight Thine eye,

The hosts who wear the colours of Thy faith.

All things beside which sing Thy glorious name,

Could ne'er be told by Nanak's lowly song.

[1. Also translated--Creation shall depart, but not He who made it.

2. This and the following three pauris were composed by Guru Nânak after the Jogis had pressed him to adopt their dress and their religion.

3. This verse is also translated--Make the chastening of thy body not yet wedded to death thy patched coat, and faith thy beggar's staff.

4. A sect of Jogi.]

{p. 213}

HAIL![1] HAIL TO HIM,

The primal, the pure,[2] without beginning, the indestructible, the same in every age!

XXIX

Make divine knowledge thy food, compassion thy store

keeper, and the voice which is in every heart the pipe to call to repast.

Make Him who hath strung the whole world on His string thy spiritual Lord; let wealth and supernatural power be relishes for others.

Union and separation is the law which regulateth the world.[3] By destiny we receive our portion.

HAIL! HAIL TO HIM,

The primal, the pure, without beginning, the indestructible, the same in every age!

XXX

One Maya in union with God gave birth to three acceptable children.[4]

One of them is the creator, the second the provider, the third performeth the function of destroyer.[5]

As it pleaseth God, He directeth them by His orders.

He beholdeth them, but is not seen by them. This is very marvellous.

HAIL! HAIL TO HIM,

The primal, the pure, without beginning, the indestructible, the same in every age!

[1. Adesh, the ordinary salutation of Jogis. This word is derived from âdi, primal and Îsh or Îshwar, God. Guru Nânak means that this salutation should only be offered to God.

2. Anîl--literally, not of a blue colour, as Kristian is represented.

3. Also translated--favourable and unfavourable destinies shape men's actions.

4. Chele, literally, disciples.

5. Lai may either mean absorption or reaper (lâve). Both meanings convey the idea of destruction.]

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XXXI

His seat and His storehouses[1] are in every world.

What was to be put into them was put in at one time.[2]

The Creator beholdeth His creation.

Nanak, true is the work of the True One.

HAIL! HAIL TO HIM,

The primal, the pure, without beginning, the indestructible, the same in every age!

XXXII

Were one tongue to become a hundred thousand, and a hundred thousand to become twentyfold more,