Some ascribe creation to matter: but this, according to Chaitanya, is impossible. What power has inert matter, he asks, that can produce so grand a creation, filled with wisdom and beauty? It is the will of an Almighty Being that brought this universe into existence. It is impossible for man even to think of His greatness. The human soul, the _G_îvâtman, is, according to Chaitanya, an infinitesimal portion, like a ray, of the Divine Being. God is like a blazing fire, and the souls are like sparks that come out of it. Deluded by Mâyâ, i.e. the attractions of the world, the _G_îvâtman forgets its own nature: but when it has recognised the transitory nature of all things, it goes up again to its Maker. Many ascribe to this _G_îvâtman the attributes of God. But this, according to Chaitanya, cannot be, because it has an individual character. _S_ruti (revelation) says that he who thinks that he has found out the nature of God knows nothing of Him. Chaitanya says that it is the duty of every man to adore K_ri_sh_n_a and to perform good deeds without any expectation of rewards. Bhakti (devotion) is the channel that carries man to K_ri_sh_n_a. When a devotee says, “O Lord, I am yours,” it is then only that he can attain K_ri_sh_n_a. Lastly, it must be the aim of every man to gain K_ri_sh_n_a’s love, and Bhakti is the way that leads to it. Chaitanya defined Bhakti as an uninterrupted tendency of the heart towards God, just like the flow of a river towards the sea. It is difficult to understand how the followers of Mohammed could ever have been induced to use the name of K_ri_sh_n_a for that of Allah, but we know that it was so, and the same religious amalgamation between Hinduism and Islam was attempted by Nânak, the contemporary of Chaitanya. The Sîkhs, though much changed in time, are the followers of that reformer. Nânak and the Sîkhs.