Then again the Shaikh desired to know what sect the Guru s slippers denoted. The Guru replied:—
By associating with those who go the right way I have obtained all knowledge.
I have reduced my mind to the caste of fire and wind;[1]
I abide in the manner of the earth or a tree;
I can endure the cutting and digging of my heart;[2]
I desire to be as a river or sandal
Which whether pleased or displeased conferreth advantage on all.
Having churned the churn[3] of this world I am exalted,
And having abandoned evil I appear before my God.
To those, who put on their slippers while meditating on Him,
O Nanak, mortal sin shall not attach.
Again the Shaikh said, 'Explain to me what a darwesh is. The Guru, ordering Mardana to play the rebeck, composed the following hymn:—
He who while he liveth is dead, while he waketh is asleep,[4] who knowingly alloweth himself to be plundered,[5]
And who having abandoned everything meeteth his Creator, is a darwesh.
Few servants of Thine, O God, are darweshes at heart,
Who feel not joy, sorrow, anger, wrath, pride, or avarice;
Who look on gold as dross, and consider what is right to be lawful;
Who obey the summons of God and heed none other;
Who seated in a contemplative attitude in the firmament[6] play spontaneous music—
Saith Nanak, neither the Veds nor the Quran know the praises of such holy men.
- ↑ That is—I have no more caste than fire and wind.
- ↑ Cutting, as applied to a tree, and digging to earth. That is—I can endure every form of torture.
- ↑ Having extracted all pleasures from this world.
- ↑ Who takes no heed of the world.
- ↑ That is, who effaces himself.
- ↑ That is, in the brain in a state of exaltation.
