Behold the result the Tapa obtained for slandering the true—Guru all his labours have been in vain.
When he sitteth outside among the village elders he is called a penitent; when he sitteth at home he is committing sin; God hath disclosed his secret sin to the elders.
Dharmraj said to his myrmidons, Take and place the Tapa where the greatest murderers are.
'Let no one look at this Tapa again; he is accursed of the true Guru.
Nanak telleth what took place in God's court. He understandeth whom God hath regenerated.[1]
The third Guru supplemented this hymn with his own injunctions: 'He is a Tapa or penitent who practiseth penance, who renounceth slander, falsehood, envy, and jealousy, who is the same in woe as in weal. When a deceitful and ill-conducted man pretendeth to be a Tapa, his counterfeit gilding is soon discovered. Wherefore it is better to renounce evil deeds, falsehood, and deception.'
The Guru again added the following:—
He whose heart is false acteth falsely;
He goeth about for money, yet he calleth himself a penitent;
Led astray by superstition he frequenteth all places of pilgrimage.
How shall a penitent obtain the supreme reward?
By the favour of the Guru a few are sincere:
Nanak, such penitents shall obtain salvation at home.
The true penitent:—
He is a penitent who performeth the penance
Of remembering the Word on meeting the true Guru.
The service of the true Guru is the acceptable penance:
Nanak, such a penitent shall obtain honour in God's court.
- ↑ Gauri ki Wār I.
