A history of the Sikhs, from the origin of the nation to the battles of the Sutlej.

CHAP. It

TEACHING OF NANAK

He addresses equally the Mulla and the Pandit, the Dervish 1469-1539.
and the Sannyasi, and tells them to remember that Lord of
Lords who has seen come and go numberless Muhammads, Muhamand Vishnus, and Sivas.' He tells them that virtues and maadans
and Hindus
charities, heroic acts and gathered wisdom, are nought of equally
themselves, that the only knowledge which availeth is the called on to
worship
knowledge of God;2 and then, as if to rebuke those vain God in
men who saw eternal life in their own act of faith, he truth
Faith,
declares that they only can find the Lord on whom the grace, and
Lord looks with favour.3 Yet the extension of grace is good works
linked with the exercise of our will and the beneficent use allrnecessary.
of our faculties. God, said Nanak, places salvation in good
works and uprightness of conduct: the Lord will ask of
man, 'What has he done? ' 4-and the teacher further
required timely repentance of men, saying, 'If not until
the day of reckoning the sinner abaseth himself, punishment
shall overtake him '.5
Nanak adopted the philosophical system of his country- Nanak
men, and regarded bliss as the dwelling of the soul with adopts the
BrdhmaniGod after its punitory transmigrations should have ceased. cal philoLife, he says, is as the shadow of the passing bird, but the.sophy; but
in a popusoul of man is, as the potter's wheel, ever circling on its lar sense,
pivot.6 He makes the same uses of the current language or of iltray
notions of the time on other subjects, and thus says, he tiononly.
who remains bright amid darkness (Anjan), unmoved amid
deceit (Maya), that is, perfect amid temptation, should
1 A passage of Nanak's in the supplement to the Adi-Granth, after
saying that there have been multitudes of prophets, teachers, and
holy men, concludes thus:
The Lord of Lords is the One God, the Almighty God himself;
Oh Nanak! his qualities are beyond comprehension.'
2 See the Adi-Granth, towards the end of the portion called Asa.
3 See the Adi-Granth, end of the Asa Rag, and in the supplementary
portion called the Ratan Mala.
4 The Adi-Granth, Parbhati Ragni. Cf. Malcolm (Sketch, p. 161)
and Wilkins (As. Res., i. 289, &c.).
5 See the Nasihat Nama, or admonition of Nanak to Karon, a
fabulous monarch, which, however, is not admitted into the Granth,
perhaps because its personal or particular application is not in keeping
with the abstract and general nature of that book. Neither, indeed,
is it certainly known to be Nanak's composition, although it embodies
many of his notions. 6 Adi-Granth, end of the Asa Rag.