Page:The Sikh Religion, its gurus, sacred writings and authors Vol 1.djvu/124

When man shall possess the Name of the Bright and Radiant^[1] One,
His body shall become like gold and his soul be made pure;
All his pain and disease shall be dispelled,
And he shall be saved, Nanak, by the true Name.^[2]

The following was on the same subject :—

Pain is arsenic, the name of God is the antidote.
O ignorant man, take such medicines
As shall cure thee of thy sins.
Make contentment thy mortar, the gift of thy hands thy pestle:
By ever using these the body pineth not away,
Nor at the final hour shall Death pommel thee.
Make enjoyments thy firewood, covetousness thy clarified butter and oil.
Burn them with the oil of lust and anger in the fire^[3] of divine knowledge.
Burnt offerings, sacred feasts, and the reading of the Purans,^[4]
If pleasing to God, are acceptable.
Empire, wealth, and youth are all shadows;
So are carriages and imposing mansions.
Hereafter neither man's name nor his caste shall be considered.
There is day, here all is night.
Let us make penitence the paper,^[5] Thy name, O Lord, the prescription.

They for whom this priceless medicine is prescribed,

1. Also translated—When man possesseth even a portion of the name of the Bright One.
2. Malār.
3. It was intended by his parents to make a hom sacrifice or burnt offering for Nānak's recovery. The Sanskrit word hom is interpreted to mean casting into the fire, and correctly represents the oblation of clarified butter, sesames, butter, &c., which forms part of the ceremonial.
4. Sacred books of the Hindus, eighteen in number. They are the principal authorities for the idolatry and superstition of the Hindus.
5. To write a prescription on.