15 The Muhammadan expression Bismillâh (in the name of God), used when slaughtering animals as well as on other occasions. It is, of course, unacceptable to Hindus.]

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Their hearts are false while they perform ablutions after their meals.

Saith Nanak, meditate on the True One;

If thou art pure, thou shalt obtain Him.

PAURI XVI

All are within Thy ken, O Lord; Thou seest all, and Thou movest them beneath Thy glance.

God himself bestoweth greatness; He Himself causeth men to do good works.

He is the greatest of the great; great is His world; He appointeth all men to their respective duties.

If He cast a backward glance, He maketh monarchs as grass;[1]

They may beg from door to door and receive no alms.

Guru Nanak composed the following slok on being invited by a dishonest shopkeeper to attend a shradh, or religious service, for his deceased father:--

SLOK XVII

If a robber break a house and sacrifice the fruits of that robbery to his ancestors,

The sacrifice shall be known in the next world, and make out the ancestors to be thieves.

The hand of the Brahman go-between shall be cut off; thus will God do justice.

Nanak, it is only the fruit of what man giveth from his earnings and toil that shall be obtained in the next world.

Guru Nanak:

As a woman hath her recurring courses, so falsehood dwelleth in the mouth of the false one, and he is ever despised.

He should not be called pure who sitteth and washeth his body;

Rather is he pure, Nanak, in whose heart God dwelleth.

[1. Ghâh. Generally translated 'grass-cutters' by the gyânis: a third interpretation too is current. In former times men of position appeared before conquerors with grass in their mouths, implying that they were the conquerors' cows whose lives should be saved. Accordingly, the phrase is also translated--and He would cause kings to put grass in their mouths.]

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PAURI XVII

Caparisoned horses fleet as the wind and women adorned with every aid to beauty[1]--

Men fix their hearts on them, dwell in mansions, pavilions and palaces, and make display;

They enjoy pleasures to their hearts' content; but they know not God and therefore fail.

They live by their authority, and, beholding their women's chambers, forget death;

But old age shall come and youth fail them.

A rich man gave a feast to which Guru Nanak and several Brahmans were invited. During the feast a child was born in the house, whereupon the Brahmans refused food and. departed, deeming the house impure. Guru Nanak remonstrated with the following:--

SLOK XVIII

If the idea of impurity be admitted, there is impurity in everything.

There are worms in cow-dung[2] and in wood;

There is no grain of corn without life.