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RELIGIOUS SECTS
the distance being soine hundred miles, attesting his proficiency, he was dismissed by his Guru, in order to become a teacher. He settled at Dehanpur, near Sirhind, where he erected a Math, comprehending a handsome temple, and where he initiated a number of persons in the articles of his faith.
Amongst the individuals attracted by the doctrines of BÁBÁ LÁL, was the liberal-minded and unfortunate DÁRÁ SHUKOH: he summoned the sage to his presence to be instructed in his tenets, and the result of seven interviews was committed to writing, in the form of a dialogue between the Prince and the Pír, by two literary Hindus attached to the Prince's train, one YADU Dás, a Kshatriya, and the other RAICHAND) Brahman, the latter the Mirmúnshi; the interview took place in the garden of JAFFAR KHÁN SÁduh, in the 21st year of Suán Jenán's reign, or 1649: the work is entitled Nadir un nikát, and is written, as the name implies, in the Persian language. Some miscellaneous extracts from it may not be unacceptable, as they may not only explain the tenets of BÁBÁ LÁL, and something of the Vedanta and Ssúfí doctrines, but may illustrate better than any description the notions generally prevailing of the duties of a religious and mendicant life. The interrogator is the Prince, BÁBÁ LÁL himself the respondent.
What is the passion of a Fakir? - Knowledge of God. What is the power of an Ascetic?- Impotence. What is Wisdom?- Devotion of the heart to the Heart's Lord. How are the hands of a Fakir employed ?—To cover his ears.
