She whom God hath struck with it is struck, and being struck is acceptable.

The body is frail and cannot be saved without God's grace:--

Who can wash a vessel which is fragile in its construction?

The body is a compound of five elements; it hath a false gilding.

If it please God, the vessel shall be acceptable,

The supreme light shall shine and God's praises resound in it.

Pride without merit:--

Nanak, those men are the real donkeys who are proud without merit.

A definition of a Brahman:--

He is a Brahman who knoweth God,

Who performeth works of devotion, penance, and self-restraint;

And who observeth the religion of mildness and patience.

Such a Brahman shall burst his bonds, obtain salvation,.

And be worthy of worship.

A definition of a Khatri:--

He is a Khatri who is brave in good deeds

And who employeth his body in charity.[1]

The Khatri who inspecteth his ground before sowing his gifts,

[1. That is, who sacrifices himself for others.]

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Shall be acceptable in God's court.

The Khatri who practiseth greed, covetousness, and falsehood,

Shall suffer for his misdeeds.

The Guru required complete self-sacrifice from his disciples:--

If thou desire to play at love with me,

Come my way with thy head in the palm of thy hand.

Put thy feet on this road;

Give thy head and regard not human opinion.

The Guru, faith, truth, and the capital of God's name are necessary for salvation:--

Without the Guru there is no divine knowledge, without faith no meditation;

Without truth there is no credit, and without capital no balance.

If Ram had been God he would not have lost his queen Sita, and he would himself have healed his half-brother Lachhman instead of calling on Hanuman to do so:--

Ram Chandar mourned in his soul for Sita and Lachhman

He remembered Hanuman,[l] and he came to meet him.

The misguided demon Rawan did not know it was not Ram but God who did this.

Nanak, God is independent: Ram could not erase his destiny.

A purse-proud person addressed improper language to the Guru. When the Guru's disciples took this amiss, the Guru uttered the following:--

Impute not blame to the Rai;[2] his intellect is forsaking him in his old age.

[1. See the story of Hanumân going for a plant to heal Lachhman, in Dowson's Dictionary of Hindu Mythology.

2. This word means a nobleman.]

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The blind man talketh much and falleth into the pit.

Whatever the Perfect One hath done is perfect; there is no deficiency or excess in it.

Nanak, the pious who know this, shall be absorbed in the Perfect One.

END OF VOL. I

Sikhism

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