Page:The Sikh Religion, its gurus, sacred writings and authors Vol 1.djvu/299

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THE JAPJI
203

But the Creator s works cannot be numbered.
The bull that is spoken of is righteousness, the offspring of mercy,
Which supported by patience maintaineth the order of nature. [1]
Whoever understandeth this is a true man.
What a load there is upon the bull ! [2]
Beyond this earth there are more worlds, more and more.
What power can support their weight ?
The names of living things, their species, and colours
Have all been written with a flowing pen.
Doth any one know how to write an account of them ?
If the account were written, how great it would be !
What power and beautiful form are Thine, O God !
Who hath power [3] to know how great Thy gifts are ?
By one word [4] Thou didst effect the expansion of the world,
Whereby hundreds of thousands of rivers were produced.
What power have I to describe Thee ?
So powerless am I, that I cannot even once be a sacrifice unto Thee.
Whatever pleaseth Thee is good.
Thou, Formless One, art ever secure.

XVII

Numberless thy worshippers,[5] and numberless Thy lovers ;
Numberless Thine adorers, and numberless they who perform austerities for Thee ;
Numberless the reciters of sacred books and Veds ;

  1. Sūt, the thread on which the world is strung. The Guru means by patience the adjusted balance of the world, everything being in equipoise.
  2. Here Guru Nānak obviously rejects the Hindu story that the earth is supported by a bull.
  3. We understand kūt as the Arabic kuwwat. If kūt be held to mean food, a meaning which the word so pronounced also bears in Arabic, the verse will be translated - Who knoweth the extent of Thy gifts of sustenance ?
  4. The Hindus believe this is Eko aham, bahu syām, I am one, let Me become many.
  5. Literally - repetitions of God's name. Here the word is used by metonymy for those who repeat God's name.