SKETCHT OF TOE SIKHSi §83 



** The do(5trine of no- other is of any avail : this (ia<51:nne fix iir your minds. 

 «* There is no benefit in any other dodtH*ie, this fix in your minds. 



" Whoever reads the Kordiit whoever reads the Purdriy neither of 

 " them shall escape death, and nothing but virtue shall avail at last. 

 " Millions of men may read the Koran, they may read innumerable P«- 

 ** rdns, but it shall be of no atvail in the life to come, and the power of 

 »* destiny shall ptev^ilove^^h^:--'^' 



Guru' Govind, after this account of the origin of his mission, gives a 

 short account of his birth and succession to the spiritual duties at his 

 father's death. 



" At the command of God I received mortal birth, and came into th^ 

 " world. This I now declare briefly, attend to what I speak. 



" My .father journeyed towards the cast, performing ablution inall tha 

 «« sacred springs. When he arrivecl at TnWw^ he spent a day in a^Sls of 

 ** devotion and charity. ;0n thatoccasionwaslmdnif^ted. In the town 

 f* of Patna I received a bodyi .: Then the Madra D^i "received me, and 

 *-*; nurses nursed me tenderly^ and tended me with great care, instructing 

 5* me attentively every day. When I reached the ag6 of Dherm^n^ 

 " Carm (principles and practice), my father departed to the iDeva hocct, 

 « -When I was invested with the dignity of Rdjdy I established virtue to 

 ••the utmoist of my powi^r. I addicted myself to every species of hunting 

 ** in the forests, and daily killed the bear and;the stag. When I had be- 

 ** come acquainted with that country, I proceeded to the city of Pdvatd, 

 J* Where,! ^niused myself on the banks of the palindrif and viewed every 

 •* kind of speftacle. There I slew a great number of tigers ; and, in 

 ^ various modes, hunted xht bear." 



