Saith Nanak, everybody speaketh of Thee, one wiser than another.
Great is the Lord, great is His name ; what He doeth cometh to pass.
Nanak, he who is proud shall not be honoured on his arrival in the next world.
XXII
There are hundreds of thousands of nether and upper regions.
Men have grown weary at last of searching for God's limits ; the Veds say one thing, that God has no limit. [1]
The thousands of Purans [2] and Muhammadan books tell that in reality there is but one principle.[3]
If God can be described by writing, then describe Him ; but such description is impossible.
Nanak, call Him great ; only He Himself knoweth how great He is.
XXIII
Praisers praise God, but have not acquired a knowledge of Him,
As rivers and streams fall into the sea, but know not its extent.
Kings and emperors who possess oceans and mountains of property and wealth,[4]
Are not equal to the worm which forgetteth not God in its heart.
- ↑ The verse is also translated - The Veds have at last grown weary of searching for God's limits, but they cannot give the slightest description of Him.
- ↑ There being only eighteen Purāns, the expression in the text means a thousand times eighteen or an indefinite number. The word sahans is also understood by the gyānis to refer to rikhis and learned men in indefinite numbers.
- ↑ That is, that God is the root or principle of all things.
- ↑ Also translated - As the sea is the king of streams, so is God the monarch of all. They who possess mountainous wealth, &c.
