IV

It is the fourth watch; the sun riseth. They who night and day are watchful have saved their homes. Night is pleasant for those who under the Guru's instruction watch and apply themselves to the Name. They who act according to the instruction of the Guru shall not be born again; the Lord will befriend them. In the fourth watch hands shake, feet and frames totter, eyes grow dim, and men s bodies become like ashes. Nanak, without God's name abiding in the mind man is unhappy during the four watches.

The knot of life is open; arise, thine allotted time hath come. All pleasures and happiness are at an end; Death will lead thee captive away. Without being seen or heard he will lead thee captive, when it so pleaseth God. His turn shall come to every one; the ripe field shall ever be cut down. An account of every ghari and moment shall be taken, and the soul shall obtain punishment or reward. Nanak, God made everything, demigods and men are herein agreed. [247]

When the Guru and Shaikh Brahm left the forest the villager returned to fetch his basin. On lifting it up, it is said, he found that it had become gold, and was filled with gold coins. Then he began to repent of his suspicions, and confessed to himself that they were religious men. If he had come with

attached to forms of existence. Whenever any one of the three qualities predominates, it causes the embodied spirit to abound in that quality. The aim of the soul apparently should be to divest itself of all three qualities. Compare Plato's distinction of the three parts of the mind corresponding to the three classes of his ideal state. ​his heart disposed towards God, he would have gained holiness. 'I came with worldliness, and worldliness have I found.' Upon this he took up his basin and departed.

Shaikh Brahm remarked that it was difficult for those who attached themselves to mammon to obtain salvation, and inquired what aid besides God's name was ordinarily necessary for future happiness. The Guru replied with the following hymn:—

The union of father and mother produceth a body, On which the Creator hath written its destiny, The gifts, the divine lights, and the greatness allotted it; But on associating with mammon it loseth remembrance of God. O foolish man, why art thou proud? Thou shalt have to depart when it pleaseth the Lord. Abandon pleasures, and peace and happiness shall be thine. Thou shalt have to leave thy home; no one is permanent here. Eat a little and leave a little, If thou art again to return to this world. [248] Man decketh his body, dresseth it in silk, And issueth many orders; He maketh a couch of ease and sleepeth thereon. Why weepeth he when he falleth into the hands of Death? [249] Domestic entanglements are a whirlpool, O brother; Sin is a stone which floateth not over. Put thy soul on the raft of God s fear, and thou shalt be saved. Saith Nanak, such a raft God giveth but to few. [250]

Then the people brought them bread, but Shaikh Brahm said that he had already dined. The people, annoyed that their offerings were thus spurned, said ​to him: 'You must be a liar from that country where Farid, who wore a wooden cake on his stomach, held religious sway. Whenever any one offered him food he used to say he had taken dinner.'[251] Upon this Shaikh Brahm said: 'What shall be my condition, who am ever saying that I have dined, when I am only fasting?' The Guru was pleased to observe the Shaikh's tender conscience, and said to him: Shaikh Brahm, God is in thee.' The Shaikh then asked the Guru to tell him of God, and by what virtues and merits He was to be found. The Guru replied as follows:—

Come, my sisters and dear companions, embrace me. Having embraced me, tell me tales of the Omnipotent Spouse. In the true Lord are all merits, in us all dements. O Creator, every one is in Thy power. Meditate on the one Word; where Thou, O God, art, what more is required? Go ask the happy wife by what merits she enjoyeth her Spouse— 'Composure, contentment, and sweet discourse are mine ornaments. 'I met my Beloved, who is an abode of pleasure, when I heard the Guru's word.' How great, O God, is Thy power! how great Thy gifts! How many men and lower animals utter Thy praises day and night! How many are Thy forms and colours! how many castes high and low! When the true Guru is found, truth is produced, and man becoming true is absorbed in the truth. When man is filled with fear through the Guru's instructions, then he obtaineth understanding, and honour resulteth. Nanak, the true King then blendeth man with Himself. [252] ​The Guru, after his pleasant visit to Shaikh Brahm and his district, where he made several converts, proceeded to a country called Bisiar, probably the state of Bushahir in the Himalayas, where he was ill received. The inhabitants, deeming his presence pollution, purified every place he had stood on. One man alone, Jhanda, a carpenter, was found to treat him with hospitality. He took him to his house, washed his feet, and drank the water used for the purpose. While drinking, it was revealed to him that Nanak was a Guru. He joined him in his wanderings.

The Guru and his companions directed their steps to the East. They went to an island in the ocean where they could obtain no food. There the Guru composed the Jugawali, a poem (no longer extant) on the four ages of the world. Jhanda committed it to writing and circulated it. With the new composition in his possession he returned to his own country, leaving the Guru and Mardana to continue their pilgrimage.

Not long after they found themselves in a lonely desert. Mardana began to feel the pangs of hunger, and thus addressed his master: 'We are lost in this great wilderness, from which God alone can extricate us. Here I shall fall into the clutches of some wild animal which will kill and eat me.' The Guru asked him to take care, and nothing should come near him. He further consoled him by stating that they were not in a desert, as the place where God's name was uttered was always inhabited. 'Many better men than we,' said the Guru, 'have endured greater hardships.' Upon this he composed the following:—

The demigods in order to behold Thee, O God, made pilgrimages in sufferings and hunger. Jogis and Jatis [253] go their own ways, and don ochre-coloured garbs. ​For Thy sake, O my Lord, the darweshes are imbued with love. Thy names are various, Thy forms are various, the number of Thy merits cannot be told. Men leaving houses and homes, palaces, elephants and horses go abroad. Priests, prophets, holy and sincere men leave the world to obtain salvation. They abandon good living, rest, happiness, and dainties; they doff clothes, and wear skins. Imbued with Thy name they in anguish and pain become darweshes at Thy gate. They don skins, carry begging bowls, staves, and wear hair-tufts, sacrificial threads, and loin-cloths. Thou art the Lord, I am Thy player; Nanak representeth, what is caste? [254]

The Guru further remonstrated with his attendant: 'We cannot succeed without God's word. Think of some hymn and play the rebeck.' Mardana replied that his throat was collapsing for want of food, and he had no strength to move, much less to play. The Guru then pointed to a tree and told him to eat his fill of its fruit, but take none with him. Mardana accordingly began to eat, and so much enjoyed the flavour of the fruit, that he thought he would eat what he could, and also take some with him, lest he might soon again find himself in a similar plight.

As they continued their wanderings, Mardana again felt hungry, so he drew forth his stock of fruit. Directly he tasted it he fell down. The Guru inquired what had happened. Mardana confessed his disobedience of his master's instructions in having brought with him and eaten some of the forbidden fruit. The Guru remonstrated with him for his disregard of orders. The fruit was poisonous, but the Guru had blessed it for the occasion and made ​it wholesome. The Guru put his foot on Mardana's forehead as he lay stretched on the ground, and he at once revived.