Page:The Sikh Religion, its gurus, sacred writings and authors Vol 1.djvu/147

51 rest, and he was obliged to have recourse to this form of irrigation. On hearing this, the spectators thought he was crazed, and told him he was sprinkling water in vain, for it would never reach his field. Where was his field and where was he, and how could the water ever reach it? 'Thou art a great fool, thy field shall never become green by what thou art doing.' The Guru replied, 'Ye have forgotten God. Without love and devotion your minds have gone astray. My field, which you say this water cannot reach, is near, but your ancestors are very far away, so how can the water ye offer them ever reach them or profit them? Ye call me a fool, but ye are greater fools yourselves.'

The Guru after a little time again broke silence, and said, 'The Hindus are going to hell. Death will seize and mercilessly punish them.' A Brahman replied, 'How can they who repeat God's name go to hell? Thou hast in the first place acted contrary to our custom, and now thou hast the audacity to tell us that we are going to hell.' The Guru replied, 'It is true that, if ye repeat the Name with love, ye shall not be damned. But when ye take rosaries in your hands, and sit down counting your beads, ye never think of God, but allow your minds to wander thinking of worldly objects. Your rosaries are therefore only for show, and your counting your beads is only hypocrisy. One of you is thinking of his trade with Multan, another of his trade with Kabul, another of his trade with Dihli, and the gain that shall in each case accrue.' The people, on hearing the Guru thus accurately divine their thoughts, began to think him a god, and prayed him to pardon them and grant them salvation by making them his disciples.

The Guru, requiring fire to cook his food, went into a Brahman's cooking-square for it. The Brahman charged him with having defiled his viands. The Guru replied that they had already