One day as the Guru was hunting he had everything white on and about his person. He was clothed in white muslin, he was protected from the sun’s rays and the dust by a white umbrella, he carried his white hawk on his hand, rode on a white horse, and his groom waved a white chauri by his side. To him thus arrayed a father and son, Sikhs of Amritsar, presented themselves. The father represented that the son had with severe study learned the art of painting, and they were both ready to perform any service the Guru might desire. Bidhi Chand suggested that the youth should paint
a picture of the Guru. The young man fixed his attention on the work, and drew a satisfactory likeness of the Guru. The Guru presented the picture to Bidhi Chand. It is unfortunately no longer in existence.
On -the approach of the Baisakhi festival several Sikhs, including Rai Jodh, went to visit the Guru. A Sikh named Chitar Sain made him a present of a horse, a hawk, a dress, and some military weapons. The Guru gave all the offerings to Painda Khan except the hawk, which he reserved for his own son Gurditta. The dress and arms Painda Khan put on to adorn his person. He then appeared a magnificent warrior, and began to consider himself a very superior being. The Guru ordered him to appear before him always in that style. He mounted the horse which he had received, rode swiftly to his village, and showed himself to his admiring relations. Asman Khan, his son-in-law, asked him for all the presents given him by the Guru, but he very properly refused.
Asman Khan then tried to steal them by suborning Painda Khan’s wife. He said that if he did not get them, he would either became a faqir or drown himself. She told this to Painda Khan, and represented how sad it would be if their daughter, Asman Khan’s wife, became a widow. Painda Khan, however, did not wish to displease the Guru by transferring the presents he had made him to another. Were the Guru to dismiss him, how could he maintain himself ? Painda Khan’s, wife disregarding his strong remonstrance, stood up, and gave the sword, shield, and clothes which he had just taken off to her son-in-law, saying to her husband as she did so, ‘Thou needest nothing; the Guru will give thee other presents. May I not claim sp much from thee ? ’ She then laughed away her husband’s displeasure. Asman Khan at once put on his father-in-iaw’s dress, buckled on his
LIFE OF GURU HAR GOBIND
sword and shield, mounted his horse, and went forth to amuse himself with the chase. Painda Khan seeing this stared in blank astonishment at his wife who had robbed him in his own house. He threw himself on his bed, heaved cold sighs, and considered what the Guru would say to him for parting with his presents. He felt for the time mentally disorganized and unable to pay his respects to the Guru.
It happened that Gurditta, taking the hawk which had been presented to the Guru, went hawking on that very day. In opposition to the advice of his attendants, he let fly the bird at a time when it was not hungry. The hawk consequently did not return, but flew off to the village of Wadamir, where Asman Khan happened to be resting from the fatigue of the chase. Asman Khan captured it, thinking to himself that if he took it to the Emperor instead of the one the Sikhs had formerly appropriated, he should be rewarded with a grant of land.
Asman Khan, on returning home, told his mother- in-law all the events of the day. She said, ‘ Conceal the hawk. If the Guru hear that thou art in possession of it, he will not fail to punish thee. Painda Khan said, ‘ If thou give me the hawk I will take it to the Guru, and obtain his pardon for letting thee have his presents.’ Asman Khan laughingly said, ‘ Thou art ever prating of losing thine appointment. I want this hawk to enable me to obtain a tract of country from the Emperor. Why shouldst thou be dependent on infidels for thy subsistence ? Pray to God to support thee.’ Father-in-law and son-in-law spent the whole night wrangling over the hawk, but without arriving at any satisfactory settlement.
When the Guru heard that his son Gurditta’s hawk had been taken possession of by Asman Khan, he said, ‘ The will of God is very powerful. Worldly love destroyeth the understanding. Five days have
now elapsed, and Painda Khan through shame hath not come near me.’ Painda Khan did not venture to go near the Guru during the Baisakhi fair, which is generally a time of universal enjoyment. The Guru again remarking his absence sent for him. He appeared looking dejected and wearing dirty clothes. The Guru inquired the cause of his altered appearance. Where were the clothes and the horse he had received ? Was he in possession of Gurditta’s hawk ? If he told the truth he should be pardoned and receive presents to make amends for those he had lost.
Painda Khan, fearing his wife’s and son-in-law’s ire, falsely replied, ‘ The horse and clothes thou gavest me are in my possession. As soon as thine order reached me, T hastened to come to thee without even thinking of my appearance. Were I in possession of the hawk, I would surrender it to thee. I would never detain thy property. Do me justice and listen not to slanderers.’ The Guru said, ‘ Falsehood pleaseth me not. I have heard that thy son-in-law hath seized the hawk. There is even yet time for thee to make a full confession.’ Painda Khan swore by the Guru that he had not seen the hawk. Upon this the Guru whispered to Bidhi Chand to go and bring the hawk with all the offerings that had been presented to Painda Khan. Bidhi Chand found Asman Khan asleep, and quietly took all the property he had misappropriated. The Guru again pressed Painda Khan to tell the truth, but he swore for the third time that he knew nothing of the hawk, and that he was in full possession of the Guru’s presents. Upon this the Guru called on Bidhi Chand to produce the hawk, the sword, and the dress he had taken from Asman Khan’s house. The Guru then in presence of his Sikhs charged Painda Khan with having sworn falsely three times in succession. When Painda Khan could make no reply, the Guru ordered him
LIFE OF GURU MAR GOBIND 193
to be expelled from the darbar. The 1 presence otf Painda Khan had never been agreeable to the'Sikhs, and they obeyed the Guru’s order with alacrity. They seized Painda Khan and submitted him to very rough treatment. He could not bring himself to ask the Guru’s pardon. On the contrary he thus addressed him : ‘ I will go and complain to the Emperor. Thou shalt suffer as thy father did, and then I shall have my revenge.’ The Guru simply replied, ‘Go by all means and complain to thy heart’s content. Thou shalt reap the reward of thine acts.’ The Guru then caused him to be .forcibly expelled from the precincts of Kartarpur.
When Painda Khan reached home he found his son-in-law Asman Khan weeping for the loss of the hawk. On seeing Painda Khan crestfallen and hearing him curse his fate, Asman Khan inquired the cause. Painda Khan then gave him all the details of his treatment at the hands of the Guru and his Sikhs, and vowed that he would have his revenge. He then went from his village of Chhota- mir to the Muhammadan village of Bassi. A resolution was there passed at his instigation, that: the priest of the Sikhs was a great tyrant, that his power daily increased to the public detriment, that he received countless offerings and possessed boundless wealth, and that the Emperor should be invited to send an army to reduce him to subjection and take possession of all his property. Some people laughed, and said Painda Khan was an ungrateful scoundrel, who returned evil for good, and must one day inevitably receive his deserts.
Painda Khan was able, under the promise, of plunder, to induce five hundred horsemen to join him. Some far-seeing men among them, however, suggested that the advice of his cousin Qutub Khan, who was now governor of Jalandhar, should be taken before war was declared against the Guru. They accordingly proceeded to Jalandhar , where Painda
o
SIKH. iV
THE SIKH RELIGION* ■
Khan laid his case before his cousin, and said,* ‘ A generous man is tested in famine time. Join me mid assist me.’ Qutub Khan was surprised, and asked why such a crowd had favoured him with a visit. Painda Khan told him of the ill-treatment he had received, and begged him to induce the Emperor to send an army to punish the Guru. His cousin replied, ‘ Thou sinner, masters are ever chastising their servants. What if the Guru hath taken his own property ? Thou hast eaten his salt and been brought up by him. Whatever desirable things the Guru obtaineth he ever bestoweth on thee. Disgrace not the Pathans by fighting with such a man. If thou do, the world will call thee ungrateful. If thou desire thine own advantage, make peace with the Guru.’
Painda Khan angrily replied, ‘ Perhaps thou hast eaten the Guru’s sacred food, and it speaketh within thee.’ Qutub Khan rejoined, ‘ Thou oughtest to be ashamed of thy words. I have never eaten the Gum’s food, sacred or profane; but thou, having eaten it over and over again, hast been nourished on it. Everybody knoweth that thou desirest to fight with him whose menial thou hast been the greater part of thy life.’ Painda Khan then thought it proper to adopt a more concilatory tone, ‘ Deeming thee to be a Musalman and brother I have come to thee.’ Qutub Khan jeeringly retorted, ‘ Fine Musalman thou art to desire to do evil to him whose salt thou hast eaten ! ’ Painda Khan ingeniously gave a new turn to the discussion, ‘ I am waging a religious war. The Guru hath stolen thy master’s horses from the Lahore fort and ridden them. I desire to avenge that wrong.’ After much debate of this description Qutub Khan said, ‘ I have only been making trial of thee. True it certainly is that the Guru is an enemy of the Emperor. Proceed and I will follow and (assist thee.’ Painda Khan and his cousin then swore fidelity to each other, and Painda Khan and
LIFE OF GURU- HAR GOBIND 195
his son-in-law proceeded to Lahore to lay their complaints in person before the Emperor. Qutub Khan promised to follow them.
Chapter XIX
When Painda Khan and his son-in-law reached Lahore, no one would allow them to approach the Emperor. They had spent all the money they had brought with them in maintaining themselves and their five hundred horses, and in bribing a courtier called Salamat Khan to procure them an audience ; but the ever-faithful Wazir Khan would not allow any one to poison the Emperor’s mind against the Guru. Painda Khan was consequently reduced to great straits. He could not return home, nor could he gain access to the Emperor. He was in the condition of a snake which takes a lizard into its mouth, and can neither swallow nor reject it.
Qutub Khan soon arrived in Lahore, and listened to the story of his cousin Painda Khan’s disappointment. He advised him to procure a long bamboo, tie a hen to the end of it, and lift her to the royal casement, when her clucking might perhaps awake the Emperor. Should this fail, he was to light torches at midnight and cause his five hundred men to raise a loud shout opposite the Emperor’s apartments, upon which an audience might be vouchsafed him on the morrow. This expedient proved successful. Next morning the Emperor sent for the men who had disturbed his rest over night, but it was not with the object of giving them a satisfactory audience. He peremptorily demanded an explanation of their conduct.
Before Painda Khan or Qutub Khan could address the Emperor on the subject of their grievances, Wazir Khan was ready with his usual pleading oh behalf of the Guru. ‘Thy majesty, this is not an age for an honest man. The evils prophesied
j 9 6 i THE SIKH RELIGION, ..
for the thirteenth century 1 of our era have already begun. He whom thou treatest well doeth thee harm in return. This Painda Khan was a poor unprotected child. His parents were dead. The Guru found him as a waif, took pity on him, and brought him up as if he were his own son. He bestowed on him every valuable present he received for himself. He procured a wife for him and made provision for his family. It is through the Guru’s munificence his daughter’s marriage hath been cele* brated. Now when he ought to be satisfied with his position, he hath stolen the Guru’s hawk, denied the offence on oath, and come to complain against the very man who cherished him and made him distinguished among his fellows. He hath thus committed the most heinous sin of ingratitude, the extreme of all wickedness.’
Wazir Khan in thus pleading was actuated as much by his devotion to the Emperor as by gratitude to the Guru. He knew the Guru’s power, and did not wish to embroil the Emperor in further warfare with him. It happened soon after, that there was urgent need of Wazir Khan’s services in a distant part of the empire, and thither he was accordingly dispatched. Painda Khan now found his opportunity of approaching the Emperor in person, and thus unburdened himself: ‘ Sire, the Guru hath done me grievous wrong. I have been his servant. I asked him for my last six months’ salary, but, instead of giving it to me, he hath confiscated my clothes and arms, and expelled me with ignominy from his court. Three times hath he conquered in war by my assistance. I have killed a large portion of thine army. Thy chiefs now
, i,™ s Z ? 8 r ^ 0S ^ em prophecy which like others has not been fulfilled. The fourteenth century of the Muhammadan era has already ^ be stated, however, that orthodox Muhammadhna mtatafo that the prophecies were not for the thirteenth* centhtybht for the day of jw%emem. > j ' ./ )tf
LIFE OF GURU HAR GOBIND 197
know my strength.’ The Emperor inquired what wars he referred to, and where they had been fought. Qutub Khan replied, ‘ First the Guru had an engagement in Amritsar with Mukhlis Khan, who had an army of seven thousand men, secondly at Har Gobindpur with Abdulla Khan, the governor of the Jalandhar province, and thirdly at the Nathana tank with Lala Beg. They with their armies were all vanquished by thy petitioner Painda Khan’s assistance.’
Painda Khan continued, ‘ I am so strong that I can throw an elephant. I can pulverize a rupee under my thumb. I bore with the kicking and cuffing I suffered from the Guru because I had patience and confidence in thy justice. He is thy deadly enemy and hath killed thousands of thine army. His robbers have stolen thy horses from thy fort at Lahore. He seized thy white hawk and refused to surrender it. I am in his secrets, and if thou entrust an army to me, thou shalt assuredly succeed in reducing him to submission. I promise to bring him and the horses he stole to thee, or kill him and have my revenge.’ Then spoke the corrupt Salamat Khan in support of the charges: ‘ Painda Khan’s assistance is providential. The Guru hath quarrelled with him without reason, and he hath come to thee for justice. Look at him. He hath the frame of a giant. If thou but order he will catch the Guru by the neck and produce him before thee, and what the Guru hath in his treasury shall become thy spoil.’
By such representations was the mind of the Emperor influenced. He inquired the strength of the Guru’s army and the amount of his wealth. Painda Khan replied, * He hath no army. The halt, the cripple, the blind, the deaf and dumb, the diseased, the old, the poor, the lazy, and the good' for-nothings gather round him. Barbers, washermen, pedlars, strolling minstrels, and similar unWar- like people compose what he calleth his army. As
for wealthy he possesseth millions upon millions.’ Salamat Khan chimed in. ‘ Such an opportunity as this which God hath given us ought not to be lost.’ The Emperor was worked iip to a passion and taking a Sword in his hand said, ‘ Is there any one of my officers brave enough to go and assist Painda Khan, and subdue the Guru who hath caused all this trouble.’ Kale Khan, governor of Peshawar, desir* ous of avenging the fate of his brother, Mukhlis Khan, rose and said, * May it please thy Majesty, I will capture the Guru and bring him before thee.’
The Emperor gave Kale Khan command of fifty thousand men, bestowed on him, as insignia of his appointment, a necklace of enormous pearls and a robe of gold lace, and ordered him to proceed forthwith against the Guru. Anwar Khan, a con* fidential officer of the Emperor, friend of the late Abdulla Khan, and anxious to be his avenger, joined Kale Khan with two thousand men. The Emperor decorated him too with a robe of honour worth five thousand rupees. Qutub Khan, Painda Khan, and Asman Khan also received dresses of honour, and were commissioned to fight under Kale Khan. The Emperor on dismissing them said that, when they returned victorious, they should receive further marks of his favour. But the Emperor did not reflect that his army was as the ocean, and the Guru as the barwanal, the fire that consumed it. The imperial troops were in reality like a herd of deer proceeding to engage with a tiger.
Kale Khan crossing the Bias proceeded to Jalandhar. Qutub Khan entertained all the generals and provided for the encampment of the troops. During the following night they planned their campaigns While they were so engaged a voice of warning proceeded as from a neighbouring tree, ■ One of thee hath been untrue to his salt. With him thousands shall perish. These troops which have come in proud array, are like moths hovering around a lamp.
LIFE OF GURU HAR GOBIND 199
The Chaughatta 1 (Chiaghtai) monarch too is ill- advised, arid is sowing thorns for his children.’
When the generals heard' this mysterious boding, they came forth from their tents* looked hither and thither and examined the trees in the vicinity, but could not see the speaker. They then said among themselves, ‘ The Guru is a great miracle-worker. This must be a voice from heaven.’ Painda Khan thought it necessary to encourage his brother generals, ‘ Fear not; had the Guru the power of working miracles, could he not have made himself emperor of the whole world ? He hath been powerful and victorious only through my assistance. Now victory shall no longer be his. You shall see my strength. If you allow me a free hand to plunder I shall capture the Guru this very day.’ Kale Khan thought it necessary to repress the speaker, ‘ Pride and braggadocio avail not. It seemeth to me it would be well to send an envoy to ascertain what the Guru meaneth—whether he will fight or come to terms with us.’ Anwar Khan suggested that they should make an offering to the Guru, and thus deceive him into believing that they were his friends. They would thus obtain an easy victory and succeed in capturing him. Qutub Khan was for more violent measures, ‘ Deceive him, deceive him! and overpower him in any way you can! ’
A faithful Sikh hearing of the arrival of an enormous imperial army in Jalandhar hastened to inform the Guru. Next arrived a masand who said that the imperial army was approaching thick as flies, and suggested to the Guru that he should take measures to protect himself and his followers, as, when it rained iron, the showers would not fall like ordinary raindrops. The Guru replied by a hymn of Guru; Amar Das :—
God Himself protecteth His saints; what can a sinner do against them ?
aoo i, THE &IKH REUGI 0 N i
• i: Proud, fools practise^ pride* and die by eating poison.