II
It is the second watch; awake, O heedless one.
Watch thy property, O mortal; thy field is being eaten up.
Watch thy field, love God's praises; while thou art awake, the thief shall not touch thee.
Then shalt thou not go the way of Death, nor suffer from him; the fear and dread of him shall depart.
The lamps of the sun and moon shall shine for thee, if thou under the Guru's instruction ponder on the True One in thy heart, and utter His name with thy lips.
Nanak, the fool heedeth not even now; how shall he obtain happiness in the second watch?
III
It is the third watch, thou art wrapt in slumber.
By wealth, children, and wives men are afflicted with sorrow:
Yet wealth, children, wives, and worldly possessions are dear to man; he nibbleth at the bait, and is continually caught.
If man under the Guru's instruction meditate on the Name, he shall obtain rest, and Death shall not seize him. [1]
Transmigration and death never forsake us; without the
Name we are afflicted.
Nanak, in the third watch men, under the influence of the three qualities, [2] feel worldly love.
- ↑ Death only seizes the soul which has to undergo further transmigration. He does not harass the emancipated soul.
- ↑ The three gunas or qualities of goodness, passion, and darkness—
or reality, impulse, and ignorance are frequently mentioned in Sikh as well as Hindu sacred literature. The Mosaic and Zoroastrian systems recognized two principles, good and evil, in the economy of nature. It was the Indian sage Kapila who discerned the three principles or qualities above stated. He beheld good, moderately good, and evil everywhere in creation. He believed that these qualities, but in different degrees, pervade all things, and are the distinguishing characteristics of matter implanted in it by the Creator Himself.
The demigods possess goodness in excess, the demons darkness, and men passion. Manu thus defines the three qualities: 'It ought to be known that the three gunas or fetters of the soul are goodness, passion, and darkness. Restrained by one or more of these it is ever
