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.
Kalu in despair replied, 'Thou art lost to us; go and take government service. Jai Ram, Daulat Khan's revenue officer, is thy brother-in-law; go and take service with him; perhaps thou wilt like that place; we can dispense with thine earnings. If thou go elsewhere without any occupation, everybody will say that my son hath become a faqir, and people will heap reproaches on me.' Upon this, Guru Nanak uttered a fourth stanza :—
Make attention thy service, faith in the Name thine occupation;
- ↑ In which the Indian petty shopkeeper keeps his goods.
