necessary for me to tear my coat or adopt a religious garb. Men who reside at home and work in their ordinary costume shall find the Lord if they fix their hearts on Him ;[1]
A young wife sitteth at home, her Beloved is abroad; she continually thinketh of Him and pineth away.
She shall have no delay in meeting Him if she have good intentions.[2]
Shaikh Brahm replied to the latter couplet :
When she was little, she enjoyed not her Spouse; when she grew up she died.
Lying in the grave she calleth out, I have not met Thee, O Lord.[3]
Guru Nanak then gave utterance to the following, to the effect that salvation depends upon virtue and not on a pleasing exterior or the possession of accomplishments :
A woman may be stupid, untidy, black, and impure-minded ; Yet, if she possess merits, she meeteth her Beloved ; otherwise, Nanak, the woman is to blame. The Shaikh then put the following questions : What is that word, what that virtue, what that priceless spell What dress shall I wear by which I may captivate the Spouse ?[4]
