Were I to put on a dress of fire, construct a house of
snow and eat iron;
Were I to turn all my troubles into water, drink it, and
drive the earth as a steed;
Were I able to put the firmament into one scale and
weigh it with a tank;[1]
Were I to become so large that I could be nowhere contained; and were I to lead every one by the nose;[2]
Had I such power in myself that I could perform such
things or cause others to perform them, it would be all in
vain.
As great as the Lord is, so great are His gifts; He bestoweth
according to His pleasure.
Nanak, he on whom God looketh with favour obtaineth
the glory of the True Name.’[3]
In Batala the Guru vanquished in argument all priests who attended the fair, and obliged the followers of the six schools of philosophy to bow before him. The Jogis finally complimented him on his success and said: ‘Hail, O Nanak, great are thy deeds! Thou hast arisen a great being, and lit a light in this last age of the world.’ It was the time the Jogis took their daily wine, and the goblet was accordingly passed around. On its reaching the Guru he asked what it was. They said it was the Sidhs’ cup. He inquired what it contained. They said molasses and the flower of the dhava[4] plant, of which Indian spirits are made. The Guru then uttered the following hymn:—
Make divine knowledge thy molasses, meditation thy
dhava flowers, good actions thy fermenting bark[5] to put
into them.
Make the love of God thy furnace, devotion the sealing of the still; in this way shall nectar be distilled.
