Preaching and listening are as the sough of the wind, when man's mind is tinctured by the illusions of the world.

The Lord casteth a look of favour, and is well pleased with those who meditate on Him alone.

Even though thou perform the thirty days' fast, and make the five prayers thy daily companions, yet he who is called Satan will cut the thread of thy thoughts.[1]

Nanak saith, man must depart; why amass property and wealth?[2]

On the same occasion the Guru uttered the following:--

Make thy mind the ploughman, good acts the cultivation, modesty the irrigating water, and thy body the field to till,

The Name the seed, contentment the harrow, and the garb of humility thy fence:

By the work of love the seed will germinate; thou mayest behold happy the homes of persons who thus act.

O father, mammon accompanieth not man when he departeth:

Mammon hath allured this world, and few there are who understand it.

Then Nanak informed his father that he had sown his own field, and that its harvest was now ready. He had such confidence in his tillage, that, even after deduction of the portion paid in kind to the government as revenue, the full produce would still remain. Sons, daughters, beggars, brethren, and relations would all be profited thereby. He had done farming work for God, who had treated him as a lord does his tenants, and the day that he effected union with his Creator, his soul within him would be glad.

[1. That is, make thy thoughts wander. For man in the old Panjabi life of the Guru the Granth Sahib has mat. The line may then be translated--Perform the thirty days' fast. of the Musalmâns, make their five daily prayers thy companions, and take care lest Satan destroy the effect of thy prayers.

2 Sri Râg.]

{p. 23}

On hearing this, his father told him to keep a shop, for a shop was as profitable as tillage. Nanak replied:--

Make the knowledge that life is frail thy shop, the true Name thy stock-in-trade;

Make meditation and contemplation thy piles of vessels;[1] put the true Name into them.

Deal with the dealers of the true Name, and thou shalt gladly take home thy profits.

Then again Kalu. said, 'If thou desire not to be a shopkeeper, take horses and deal in them. Thy heart is sad; but do something for thy livelihood, and visit foreign countries. We will say that thou hast gone to earn thy living, and that thou wilt soon return.' Upon this Nanak uttered a third stanza:--

Make thy hearing of the sacred books thy merchandise, truth the horses thou takest to sell;

Tie up virtues as thy travelling expenses, and think not in thy heart of to-morrow.

When thou arrivest in the land of God, thou shalt obtain happiness in His abode.