Krishan, under the name of Jagannath, lord of the world, is specially worshipped. When the lamps were lit in the evening the Guru was invited by the high priest to stand up and join in the god s worship, which was of a gorgeous and imposing character. In that rich temple offerings to the god were made on salvers studded with pearls. On the salvers were placed flowers and censers. A fan was employed to excite the flames of the incense, while the lamps around threw light over the temple. But the use of these articles showed artificial worship, while the expanse of the firmament, the sun and the moon, the procession of the stars, the natural incense of the sandal, the winds and forests, were the fitting accessories of Nanak's purer worship of the God of creation. The Guru therefore, instead of accepting the high priest's invitation to adore the idol, raised his eyes to heaven, and gave utterance to the following hymn:—
The sun and moon, O Lord, are thy lamps; the firmament, Thy salver; the orbs of the stars, the pearls enchased in it. The perfume of the sandal [1] is Thine incense; the wind is Thy fan; [2] all the forests are Thy flowers, O Lord of light. [3]
- ↑ Malianlo, literally the wind from the Malay tree.
- ↑ In the original, chauri, a flapper made from the tail of the yak or Thibetan cow, and used in India to brush away flies.
- ↑ The following is Dr. Trumpp's translation of these two verses:—
The dish is made of the sky, the sun and moon are made the lamps, the orbs of stars are, so to say, the pearls.
The wind is incense-grinding, the wind swings the fly-brush, the whole blooming wood is the flames (of the lamps).
While the present author was engaged in translating the sacred writings of the Sikhs at their request, one Bhāi Gurumukh Singh projected a rival translation, which was to surpass all others. His modus operandi was to alter Dr. Trumpp s words here and there, and thus produce what he perhaps deemed would be an original version. He circulated the following as his translation of these lines:— The sky is for my plate (for arti); the sun and moon are for lamps; (and) rows of stars are as it were for pearls.
The air of sandal wood for perfumary smoke, the wind (for my) fan and all the rows of blooming forests (for flowers), O Lord of light.
