he sandal tree is thy incense; the wind is
thy fan; all the forests are thy flowers, O Lord of light."

Though Nanak is full of Hindu allusions he is more Mohammedan in tone
than Kabir, and the ritual of Sikh temples is modelled on the
Mohammedan rather than on the Hindu pattern. The opening words of the
Japji are: "There is but one God, whose name is true, the
Creator"[668] and he is regarded rather as the ruler of the world than
as a spirit finding expression in it. "By his order" all things
happen. "By obeying him" man obtains happiness and salvation. "There
is no limit to his mercy and his praises." In the presence of God "man
has no power and no strength." Such sentiments have a smack of
Mohammed and Nanak sometimes uses the very words of the Koran as when
he says that God has no companion. And though the penetrating spirit
of the Vedanta infects this regal monotheism, yet the doctrine of Maya
is set forth in unusual phraseology: "God himself created the world
and himself gave names to things. He made Maya by his power: seated,
he beheld his work with delight."

In other compositions attributed to Nanak greater prominence is given
to Maya and to the common Hindu idea that creation is a self-expansion
of the deity. Metempsychosis is taught and the divine name is Hari.
This is characteristic of the age, for Nanak was nearly a contemporary
of Caitanya and Vallabhacarya. For Kabir, the disciple of Ramananda,
the name was Ram.

Nanak was sufficiently conscious of his position as head of a sect to
leave a successor as Guru,[669] but there is no indication that at
this time the Sikhs differed materially from many other religious
bodies who reprobated caste and idolatry. Under the fourth Guru, Ram
Das, the beginnings of a change appear. His strong personality
collected many wealthy adherents and with their offerings he purchased
the tank of Amritsar[670] and built in its midst the celebrated Golden
Temple. He appointed his son Arjun as Guru in 1581, just before his
death: the succession was made hereditary and henceforth the Gurus
became chiefs rather than spiritual teachers. Arjun assumed some of
the insignia of royalty: a town grew up round the sacred tank and
became the centre of a community; a tax was collected from all Sikhs
and they were subjected to special and often salutary legislation.
Infanticide, for instance, was strictly forbidden. With a view of
providing a code and standard Arjun compiled the Granth