1 22 A Short History of the Sikhs.
2 break him of his religious habits. But Nanak paid
3 little attention either to persuasion or to admoni-
4 tion. He displayed more and more disinclination
5 to engage in any secular task, and passed more
6 and more of his time in religious contemplation.
7 At last, trusting that a fixed occupation and regular
8 duties would restore his son's mind to a normal
9 state, Kalu sent him away to Sultanpiir, where he
10 had obtained for him the post of storekeeper in
11 one of the royal granaries.
12 For some years Nanak applied himself with zeal
13 to his uncongenial duties. He married a wife and
14 became the father of two sons, and Kalu congratu-
15 lated himself on the success of his plan. But
16 though Na^iak made an efficient storekeeper, his
17 thoughts were constantly directed towards, spiritual
18 things. He lived a life of severe abstinence, devot-
19 ing only a small fraction of his earnings to his
20 own wants, and giving the remainder to the poor.
21 At night he retired to the forest, where he spent
22 the hours in prayer and in singing hymns to the
23 Creator.
24 Once, while resting in his accustomed retreat,
25 God appeared to him in a vision, and bade him
26 go forth and proclaim His name to the world.
27 For three whole days Nanak remained in the
28 forest, absorbed in the contemplation of his divine
29 mission. The people of Sultanpur, to whom he
30 had endeared himself by his charitable deeds,
31 thought that he had been drowned in the neigh-
32 bouring river;- and on his reappearance amongst
33 them they rejoiced greatly, and welcomed him as