spectacle. In the evening, when the grain-dealer's entertainment was at an end, he stood up and went to his private apartments without taking any notice of Mardana. The latter went to the Guru, who sat at some distance, informed him of the birth of the child, and gave him an account of the entertainment. The Guru smiled, and said it was not a son who had been born in the grain-dealer's house, but a creditor who had come to settle his account. He would remain for the night and depart in the morning. Then the Guru ordered Mardana to play the rebeck, and sang to its strains the following hymn:—
I
In the first watch of night, my merchant friend, the child by God's order entereth the womb.
With body reversed it performeth penance within, O merchant friend, and prayeth to the Lord—
It prayeth to the Lord in deep meditation and love.
It cometh naked into the world, and again it departeth naked.
Such destiny shall attend it as God's pen hath recorded upon its forehead.
Saith Nanak, in the first watch the child on receiving the order entereth the womb
II
In the second watch of night, O merchant friend, it forgetteth to meditate on God.
It is dandled in the arms, O merchant friend, like Krishan in the house of Yasodha.
The child is dandled in the arms, and its mother saith, 'This is my son.'
Think on this, O thoughtless and stupid man,[1] nothing shall be thine at last.
- ↑ Man in the original might be translated mind, but the word includes the heart in the next line.
