SKETCffOF THE SIKHS: 275 



*^ strengtb, blended the four casts* into one, established one mode of salu-^ 

 « tation, changed the childish play of bending the head at the feet of idols, 

 <* taught the worship of the true God j and reformed a depraved world/" 



Na'nac. appears, by the account of this author, to have established his 

 fame for san,6lity, by the usuaLmodes of religious mendicants. He .per- 

 formed severe Tapasa,f Imng upon sand and svv^allow-v^ort, and sleep- 

 fng on sharp pebbles; and after attaining fame by this kind of penancCj 

 he commenced his travels, with the view of spreading his dodrine over 

 the earth. 



After Na'nac had completed his terrestrial travels, he is supposed to 

 have ascended to Sume'ru, where he saw the Sidd'his,X all seated in a cir- 

 cle. These, from a knowledge of that eminence for which he was pre-= 

 destined, wished to make him assume the chara6leristic devotion of their 

 se(5l, to which they thought he would be an ornament. While means v^ere 

 used to efFe6l this purpose, a divine voice was heard to exclaim:" Na- 

 " NAC shall form his own se6l, distin6l from all the Tdtis^ and Sidd'his ; 

 " and his name shall be joyful to the Cali Tug." After this, Na'nac 

 preached the adoration of the true God, to the HindXis-;- and then went to 

 instruct the MuKammedans, in their sacred temples at Mecca;. When at 

 that place, the holy men are said to have gathered round him, and' deman- 



* There is no gronnd to eonclude, that casts v«;re altogether abolished by Na'nac; though 

 liis doctriues and writings had a teiidency to equalize the Hindus, and unite all in the worship, 

 of one God. 



f A kind of ascetic devotion, which has been before explained. 



% The Siddhis (Saints) arc the attendants of the gods- The name is most generally ap- 

 plied to those who wait on Ganesa. 



§ Tiic name Yali is most usually applied to the priests of the Jainas ; but it is also ap. 

 plicable to Himi/usis and other penitents. 



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