[13] This interview must have taken place in 1526 or 1527; as it is stated to have been immediately after Daulet Khán Lódí had visited Paniput, in 1526; where that prince had fought, and subdued Ibrahim, emperor of Hindústan.
[14] Recluse penitents, who, by means of mental and corporeal mortifications, have acquired a command over the powers of nature.
[15] Kírtipúr Dehra, on the banks of the Rávi, or Hydraotes.
[16] He is, throughout this sketch, called Nánac. Muhammedan historians generally term him Nánac Sháh, to denote his being a Fakír, the name of Sháh being frequently given to men of celebrity in that sect. The Sikhs, in speaking of him, call him Bábá Nánac, or Gúrú Nánac, father Nánac, or Nánac the teacher; and their writers term him Nánac Nirinkar, which means Nánac the omnipresent.
[17] This fanciful etymology represents the word Angad as a compound of the Sanscrit Ang, which signifies body, and the Persian Khúd, which signifies own. This mixture of language is quite common in the jargon of the Penjáb.
[18] Angad died at Khandúr, a village about forty miles east of Lahore.
[19] Though a contrary belief is inculcated by Nánac, the Sikhs, like the Hindús, are inclined to be predestinarians, and this gives their minds a great tendency to view accidents as decrees of Providence; and it is probable that this instance of early good fortune in Rám Dás, by impressing his countrymen with an idea of his being particularly favoured of Heaven, gave rise to an impression that promoted, in no slight degree, that success which it anticipated.
[20] No dates of the events which occurred during the rule of Rám Dás are given in any of the authorities from which this sketch is drawn. One author, however, states, that he lived in the time of Akber, and was honoured with the favour of that truly tolerant and great emperor.
[21] Arjunmal, or Arjun, as he is more commonly called, according to B'hai Gúrú Dás B'halé, the author of the Gnyán Ratnávalí, was not initiated in the sacred mysteries of his father. This author says, that Arjun, though a secular man, did not suffer the office of Gúrú, or priest, to leave the Sóndi tribe. "Like a substance," he adds, "which none else could digest, the property of the family remained in the family."
[22] Grant'h means book; but, as a mark of its superiority to all others, is given to this work, as "The Book." Adí-Grant'h means, the first Grant'h, or book, and is generally given to this work to distinguish it from the Dasama Pádsháh ká Grant'h, or the book of the tenth king, composed by Gúrú Góvind.