July

A lot of Baba Nanak’s verses celebrate the beauty of Nature and the Seasons. If life is a river of fire in the painting the best way to cross it is the path of devotion: Sweet sound of water gurgling down the water-spout The peacock’s shrill, exultant cry Sister, it’s saavan, the month of rain! It is the month of Chet It is spring.

All is seemly, The beauteous bumble-bees The woodlands in flower; But there is a sorrow in my soul Far away is the Lord my Master. Mardana also joins Guru Nanak in his hymns to the Divine. Mardana and Bala were Guru Nanak’s constant companions in his travels.

Here Mardana is shown as part of Nanak’s being, totally blended with him.