The Ādi Granth, or the Holy Scriptures of the Sikhs (1877) · 150

' Kabir (see p. 93, note 1), one of the most important reformers of mediaeval India, and at the same time one of the oldest Hindiii writers, is quoted at the end of nearly every Rag, as well as other famous Bhagats, as a witness for the truth of tlie teaching of the Sikh Gurus. By profession he was a weaver, to which he frequently alludes. He was a pantheist, who equally ridiculed the idolatry of the Pandit and the bigotry of the MuUii. There is still a sect in ludia, bearing his name (which is by no means fictitious), the so-caUed Kabir-panthls. — I have been so fortunate as to collect nearly all the works of Kabir, which are still current in India, thougli some of them appear to be spurious.

^ tr^3' tTI^cA might also be translated: life not sinking or declining (^ + •f'^); otherwise n{7y3 is the formative of Jlf??. other.

* Trilocan is said to have been a Brahman; who he was, and where he lived, is not known. He is not mentioned by Garcin de Tassy in Ids Histoire de la Litt^rature Hindoui et Hindoustani. But as far as may be judged from the use of the word 'Sn"3W> he was from the Dakhan, where this God was worshipped.

A messenger has come from the side of Tama.

Is there some, some friend, ■who ■will come and say:

Join me, 0 my Bithal,' take (thy) arm and sling it round (me)!

By many, many enjoyments and passions (lusts) he is forgotten (by thee), 0 man, on the ocean of the ■world thou hast become immortal (in thy eyes).

Carried a-way by the Maya (illusion) thou dost not remember (him), thy human birth is lost (by thee), 0 lazy man!

On a difficult, terrible road thou must go, 0 man, ■whither sun and moon do not penetrate. The infatuation of the Maya is then forgotten (by thee), ■when thou hast left behind- the ■world.

To-day he has become manifest in my mind, Dharm-Eau (Tama) has been seen. His strong arms break in pieces (men), before him I cannot abide.

If one gives me instruction, then Xarayan is contained (diffused) in tree and grass. 0 Sir, thou thyself knowest every thing! Trilocan says: he is contained (everywhere).

One is ■wonderful, hear, 0 Pandit; no^w nothing can be said.

By ■whom the Gods, Ifaras (centaurs), Gauas and Gandharvas are deluded, (by whom) a rope is applied to the three -worlds.^

The Kingurl of Ram, the king, sounds ■without being struck.

By his favourable look deep meditation springs up (in the heart) by (its) sound.

tJliM. Sansk. fq j7!f, said to be an incarnation of Krishna and much worshipped in tj^^'q"^ (in tlie Dakhan), whitli city he is believed to have visited. X,=imdev was also a worshipper of "Ef^'Jfy. The Sikhs no longer know what is meant by the word TJ^'SW, and proffer all sorts of guesses about it. ■ 3^»>f% is a Marathi form (Wf^*^). another proof that Trilocan was from the Dakhan. Ty'f^T s.f., a rope, by which cattle are fastened together. God has bound the three worlds with a rope and leads them as he pleases. (Sansk. ^11^ a girdle.)

The furnace is the skull,' (under) the horns and funnels ' a pot of gold is placed. Into this (pot) a very pure stream oozes, the juice is caused to drop on the organ of taste (= the tongue).^

The one incomparable thing, that is made, (is this, that) the -breath is made the cup.* In the three worlds is the JogT alone; say, who is (their) king?

By such divine knowledge the Supreme Spirit has become manifest.

Kabir says: I am steeped in (his) colour (= identified with him).

All the other world is led astray in error; (my) mind is intoxicated by the elixir of Ram.

IV. SIRI RAG. THE SPEECH OF THE BHAGAT BENL'

To he sung after the tune: " PahaeiI kai." Om! By the favour of the true Guru!

0 man, when thou wast in the circle of the womb, thou wast given to meditation and contemplative absorption with the head upwards.

In the mortal body (= womb) (is) no pride of rank, day and night (there is) one thorough absence of ignorance.

Remember those days, the trouble and great pain, now (thy) thought is excessively expanded.

Having left the womb, thou hast come into the region of death, thou hast forgotten from thy mind Hari, the divine male.

' ^T'jt. ^-f- = dil. a furnace, kiln. 3f3T^, literally: the sky, the vaulted firmament; thence meta- phorically, the skull = the tenth gate (in the skull), where the nectar is distilled, according to the language of the Jogis.

^ fflfSWT. HfSlfT) Gen. Plur. from fjTST and ^^. f^5T signifies in the language of the Jogis the fyj^l («.?«.), one of the channels of the vital breath. The fy^i is said to be the passage on the right side, proceeding from the os coccygis (the lon-er back bone) and passing through the •Jlf'T^^ or umbilical region and through the right upper nostril to the head; the ^^T (Hind! '^'IT) or funnel is the channel of the vital breath on the left side (usually called f\(diw|); the supposed channel between the two, leading to the middle part of the bead, is called T^M^cM sf. (JTtJl^), Sansk. ^>4<^|. We shall often meet with these expressions in the Granth.

^ d^A s.m. The organ of taste (Sansk. '^^^, neuter) = tongue, on which the juice is dropped, to be thence put into tlie pot of gold, which is said to be the heart.