Tempo:
— 62 1675-1708.
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HISTORY OF THE SIKHS
CHAP, in
He describes how the 'Daityas' had been vainly sent to reprove the wickedness of man, and how the succeeding 'Devtas' procured worship for themselves as Siva and Brahma and Vishnu. How the Siddhs had
The religions of the world held to be corrupt, and a new dispensation to have
been vouchsafed.
The legend regarding Gobind's reformation of the sect of
Nanak.
established diverse sects, how Gorakhnath and Ramanand introduced other modes, and how Muhan mad had required men to repeat his own name when beseeching the Almighty. Each perversely, continues Gobind, established ways of his own and misled the world, but he himself had come to declare a perfect faith, to extend virtue, and to destroy evil. Thus, he said, had he been manifested, but he was only as other men, the servant of the supreme, a beholder of the wonders of creation, and whosoever worshipped him as the Lord should assuredly burn in everlasting flame. The practices of Muhammadans and Hindus he decla-
red to be of no avail, the reading of Korans and Purans
was all in vain, and the votaries of idols and the worshippers of the dead could never attain to bliss. God, he said, was not to be found in texts or in modes, but in humility and sincerity.^
Such is Gobind's mode of presenting his mission; but his followers have extended the allegory, and have variously given an earthly blose to his celestial vision. He is stated to have performed the most austere devotions at the fane of the goddess-mother of mankind on the summit of the hill named Naina, and to have asked how in the olden times the heroic Arjun transpierced multitudes with an arrow. He was told that by prayer and sacrifice the power had been attained. He invited from Benares a Brahman of great fame for piety and for power over the unseen world. He himself carefully consulted the Vedas, and he called upon his numerous disciples to aid in the awful ceremony he was about to perform. Before all he makes successful trial of the virtue of the magician, and an ample altar is labouriously prepared for the Horn, or burnt offering. He is told that the goddess will appear to him, an armed shade, and that, undaunted, he should hail her and ask for fortune. The Guru, terror-struck, could but advance his sword, as if in salutation to the 'He asked, but all the heavenly quire stood mute. And silence was in heaven: on man's behalf, Patron or intercessor none appeared.' Until Christ himself said 'Account me man, I for his sake will leave Thy bosom, and this glory next to thee Freely put off.' Paradise Lost, iii. 1 Cf. the extracts given by Malcolm from the Vichitr Natak (Sketch, p. 173, &c.)
—
HISTORY OF THE SIKHS
CHAP, in
He describes how the 'Daityas' had been vainly sent to reprove the wickedness of man, and how the succeeding 'Devtas' procured worship for themselves as Siva and Brahma and Vishnu. How the Siddhs had
The religions of the world held to be corrupt, and a new dispensation to have
been vouchsafed.
The legend regarding Gobind's reformation of the sect of
Nanak.
established diverse sects, how Gorakhnath and Ramanand introduced other modes, and how Muhan mad had required men to repeat his own name when beseeching the Almighty. Each perversely, continues Gobind, established ways of his own and misled the world, but he himself had come to declare a perfect faith, to extend virtue, and to destroy evil. Thus, he said, had he been manifested, but he was only as other men, the servant of the supreme, a beholder of the wonders of creation, and whosoever worshipped him as the Lord should assuredly burn in everlasting flame. The practices of Muhammadans and Hindus he decla-
red to be of no avail, the reading of Korans and Purans
was all in vain, and the votaries of idols and the worshippers of the dead could never attain to bliss. God, he said, was not to be found in texts or in modes, but in humility and sincerity.^
Such is Gobind's mode of presenting his mission; but his followers have extended the allegory, and have variously given an earthly blose to his celestial vision. He is stated to have performed the most austere devotions at the fane of the goddess-mother of mankind on the summit of the hill named Naina, and to have asked how in the olden times the heroic Arjun transpierced multitudes with an arrow. He was told that by prayer and sacrifice the power had been attained. He invited from Benares a Brahman of great fame for piety and for power over the unseen world. He himself carefully consulted the Vedas, and he called upon his numerous disciples to aid in the awful ceremony he was about to perform. Before all he makes successful trial of the virtue of the magician, and an ample altar is labouriously prepared for the Horn, or burnt offering. He is told that the goddess will appear to him, an armed shade, and that, undaunted, he should hail her and ask for fortune. The Guru, terror-struck, could but advance his sword, as if in salutation to the 'He asked, but all the heavenly quire stood mute. And silence was in heaven: on man's behalf, Patron or intercessor none appeared.' Until Christ himself said 'Account me man, I for his sake will leave Thy bosom, and this glory next to thee Freely put off.' Paradise Lost, iii. 1 Cf. the extracts given by Malcolm from the Vichitr Natak (Sketch, p. 173, &c.)
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