TRANSLATION. Canto I. The Preface. (1). I bear in mind tliat one and only primal Maker, who gave life and made tbe world. First made He manifest the Light, then made He (for the Light) the mighty mountain Kailasa.' He made the fire, the air, the water, and the dust, and, from them, made He forms' of varied hue. He made the Earth, and Heaven, and Hell ; and He made incarnations in many persons.^ He made the mundane egg* with its seven^ continents. He made the universe with its fourteen^ worlds. He made the sun for the day, and the moon for the night ; He made the asterisms and the systems of the stars. He made coolness, sunshine and shade ; He made the clouds and lightning (that abideth) in them. 1 By 'Light,' the poet refers to Mahadeva, who dwells in Kailasa. Indian Mnsal- mans frequently consider Adam, the first man, as the same as Mahadeva. The fact that the poet expressly says that Kailasa w-as made 'for ' the Light, shows that he cannot bs referring to light, the first of created things. In the system of the Nanak-panthis, to which Kablr, from whom Malik llahammad borrowed much, originally belonged, the Supreme Being is, in its essence, joti or light, which, though diffused into all creatures, remains distinct from them. The Human Soul is also this light, a scintilla animoi divinw, which has emanated from the absolute, and is itself immortal. See Trumpp, Adi Granth, pp. ci and £E. 2 An Urdu gloss translates ureha by (jiSJ, design, stamp, drawing. I have noted it also in asa murata fee dai urehl, and in bhal ureha puhupa saba ndmd. In the second the Urda translation gives ^ y^l^ and in the latter, the whole line is trans- lated i^ jL f"^ j^ df^, ^y. '-^J a/ t«J lj^ CJ^ *^.y- '^^^ '"°'"<1 'S Btill used in Oudh and Biliar by women, in the sense of racana. It is derived from the Skr. ullekha. 8 Apparently, incarnations in many castes. Alluding to the doctrine that incarna- tions have occurred in all religions in many parts of the world. Or it may, as the comm. suggests, only refer to the various avatars of Visnu.
- I. e., the universe, alluding to the well known tradition detailed in Manu.
6 The seven horizontal divisions of the world, viz., Jambu, Plaksa or Gomedaka Calmala, Ku9a, Kraufica, (^ska, and Pnskara. 6 There are seven worlds (loka) above, vi:., Bhiir-loka, Bhuvar-l., Svar-1., Mahar-l. Janar-!., Tapar-1., and Satya-1. or Brahma-l., and seven below, ri:., A-tala, Vi-tala, Sn-tala fiasa-tala, Tala-tala, JIaha-tala, and Patala. According to Musalmans, there are seven regions ( li^h ) above (these are heavens), and seven below (earths). 1
