Having communicated religious instruction to the inhabitants of Walla, the Guru returned to his favourite Bakala. Here too he was not allowed to abide in peace, for the old jealousy and enmity of the Sodhis had revived. He therefore decided not to remain there, but proceed in the direction of the river Bias. On arriving at its margin he saw some of his men carrying the Granth Sahib and said to them : ‘You surely have not brought any of Dhir Mai’s property with you ? ’ They replied that they had returned everything they had taken from him except the Granth Sahib which they had brought with them. He became angry that they had taken any of Dhir Mai’s property and ordered the Granth Sahib to be restored to him. The Guru upon this crossed the river. 1
Meanwhile the Guru pursuing his journey arrived at the village of Hazara situated not far from Kartarpur, where a memorial Sikh church was subsequently built in commemoration of his visit. The next day he reached Durga near Nawashahar where also an edifice was erected in his honour. The
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Guru thence proceeded by very easy stages to Kiratpur. There again he was plagued with the jealousy of the Sodhis, and sought rest on some land about six miles distant, which he subsequently purchased from the Kahlur Raja. He there laid the foundation of the city of Anandpur in the month of Har, Sambat 1722 (a. d. 1665).
On hearing of the founding of the city, Dhir Mai and the Sodhis became still more envious of the Guru, and determined to ruin him. Of this the Guru was duly warned by his people. He merely said in reply that he himself entertained no envy or jealousy of any one. ‘ He who is angry with the Guru without cause shall obtain his deserts. I do not desire to annoy any one. The Guru’s love and kindliness are at the disposal of all. I have received Guru Nanak’s order to cause the true Name to be repeated throughout the world.’
The Guru at that time had another cause of disquietude. The Sikhs of Dihli sent a messenger to inform him that Dhir Mai had instigated Ram Rai to complain again to the emperor regarding his supersession. The Guru dismissed the messenger, and told him to put the minds of the Dihli Sikhs at ease. He at the same time wrote to them,
‘ What can a thousand enemies do to those on whose side God the great Guru is ? Kings and emperors are all in His power. No one can be touched except by His will.’
The Guru determined to change his abode, as well to give instructions to his Sikhs as to avoid annoyance from his relations. On hearing of his intention the people of Anandpur waited on him. They represented that they had all come thither through reliance on him, and yet he was now going to leave them. They had left their homes for the twofold advantage of being able to see the Guru and derive material profit from their change of residence. The Guru preached to them in reply to their representations—
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‘This world is transitory. You ought never to fix your hearts on it. Profit and loss, weal and woe, rejoicing and mourning, which come according to God’s will, ought to be equally endured. Perform the duties of your religion, and repeat God’s name. Meditation on God’s name is the only means of salvation in this world. Wherefore ponder on it, give alms and practise ablution, serve saints with your mind, body, and wealth ; speak civilly to every one, but keep your thoughts fixed on God. A great being shall be born who shall come to abide here, and contribute to the extension and importance of this city. I have only sown the seed; he shall shade this place like an overspreading tree.’
On the 15th of Maghar, Sambat 1722, the Guru set out on his tour from Anandpur. His first long halt was at Mulowal in the Patiala State. On arriving there the people complained to him that they could only obtain drinking water from a great distance. There was a well near, but its water was brackish and unwholesome. He told them to repeat God’s name over it, draw water therefrom, and they should find it pure and sweet. From that day the well has yielded sweet water. It is still known as the Guru’s well.
The Guru then proceeded to Handiaya, where there was a severe epidemic of fever and great consequent mortality. The inhabitants went to put themselves under his protection and implore him to save them. Upon this the Guru uttering the true Name, threw a glance of favour on them and healed them of all their maladies. Having given them the usual religious instruction he proceeded slowly to Dhilwan. * •
Thence the Guru proceeded to the villages of Khiwa and Bhikki. In the latter lived a man called Desu who was a disciple of Sakhi Sarwar, He, however, went to see the Guru. The Guru, on seeing a piece of bent iron hanging from his
neck, asked him what it was. He said it was an article that satisfied all his necessities. It gave him corn, money, and clothing, and he worshipped it every day. ‘ I offer a breakfast of bread and sweets,’ said he, ‘to Sakhi Sarwar. The priest having read a blessing and set aside a portion thereof, returneth me the remainder, which I distribute among the people after satisfying myself.’ The Guru on hearing this said that Desu, a Hindu, did what a true-born Musalman would never do, and he was ruining his prospects both in this world and the next. The Guru then gave him spiritual instruction and he became a Sikh. At parting the Guru presented him with five arrows in memory of the occasion.
On arriving at home Desu fell ill. His wife said it was all the result of his having forsaken Sakhi Sarwar and taken the Guru’s arrows with him. She pressed him to return the arrows and resume his religious allegiance to the Baloch Pir. At first Desu stoutly refused, but afterwards consented. His wife then broke the arrows and threw the pieces away. After some days Desu died, leaving a son called Gainda. Gainda’s brother-in-law committed a murder, and was killed by Gainda. The other brothers-in-law then joined and killed Gainda. And Gainda’s son was poisoned by his relations for the sake of his property. Desu’s death and the tragic fate of his relations were popularly attributed to his desertion of the Guru.
The Guru then proceeded to Maur on the Southern Panjab Railway, where he was awaited by a great concourse of people to whom he preached the true Name. He induced the people to sink a well. It should be buttressed with baked bricks when an opportunity, offered. The Guru thence went to Maisarkhana, and thence to Talwandi Sabo, now known to the Sikhs as Damdama. He thence travelled to Kot Dharmwala and was everywhere
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received with affection by the people. During his journey he was pursued by two thieves, one a Musalman and the other a Hindu, who watched day and night fof an opportunity to steal his horse. While the Guru wearied with travel lay asleep On a dark night, the thieves, it is said, saw from their place of concealment a tiger issue from a lonely forest and make three prostrations before the sleeping Guru. The Musalman thief became afraid and said to the Hindu, ‘ The Guru whom a carnivorous animal not only toucheth not, but boweth to, must be some wonder-worker.’ The Musalman would therefore never steal his horse, but would go home. The Hindu thief could not avoid recognizing the Guru’s power, but at the same time remained fixed in his resolution to commit the theft. On awaking in the morning the Guru heard of the theft, and in reply to his men said that the horse and the thief would be found standing on a certain spot to the north of his camp. He accordingly sent his servants, and ordered them to bring the horse and the thief before him. The Guru asked the thief why he had stolen the horse, and why he had remained standing with the animal instead of running away. The thief told him all that had occurred prior to the theft, and added that when he had mounted the horse he became blind and could not see his way. He had travelled several miles but could not find the road, and therefore halted at the place where he was arrested. In his contrition he afterwards climbed a jand tree, broke off a portion of a branch, and impaled himself on the stump. The place is now called Sulisar. Thus did the thief gather the fruit df his sins. Such is the punishment, as saith Shaikh Farid, that awaiteth those who perpetrate evil dfeeds. ' ■ . ;
The Guru then proceeded slowly to Dhamdhan in the Bangar tract, now a station of the Southern Panjab Railway. It is related that the Guru pre-
sented the Chaudhri of the village with funds to construct a well and a dharmsal for the reception of travellers. The inhabitants at that time largely subsisted on plunder, and the Guru was anxious to wean them from that mode of livelihood. One of them took milk to the Guru which he refused as being the produce 4 of theft and violence.
The Guru was* accompanied by a Sikh called Mihan who was totally devoted to his service. He drew water, brought firewood from the forest, and performed the most menial offices for him. He always kept a cushion on his head for lifting burdens. It was continually wet from water dripping on it, and his head in consequence soon festered. One day as he was on the point of depositing a pitcher of water which he had brought, his cushion and turban fell off when maggots were seen to issue from a sore in his head. The Guru’s mother and. wife observed this, and brought it to the Guru’s notice. The Guru sent for Mihan, gave him a robe of honour, and promised him that he should be a Mahant, or superior of a religious order. The Guru then put his hand on his head, and its pain and sores disappeared. Upon this, Mihan obtained a knowledge of God and of the past, present, and future.. The Guru presented him with a bullock of the famed Nagauri breed and a drum and banner to grace his new position. .
The Guru then proceeded to Tekpur also called Baharjakh. He abode there for three days in the house qf a carpenter who conducted him as far as Kaithal. Thence he proceeded to Barna. The Guru there took occasion to preach against the use of tobacco. Save thy people from the vile drug, and employ thyself in the service of Sikhs and holy men. Rely on the Guru who is the protector in both worlds. He giveth his hand; and saveth from affliction. When thy people abandon the degrading smoke and cultivate their lands, their wealth and
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prosperity shall greatly increase, and they shall want for nothing. They shall possess cows and buffaloes in abundance, and they shall be respected by the world, but when they inhale the vile vegetable, they shall grow poor and lose their wealth.’ Bhai Santokh Singh, author of the Suraj Parkash, gives his own testimony after a visit to the village of Barna, that, as long as the people abstained from tobacco, they were happy, but that those who indulged in its use became idle and lost all their property. Men spent money on tobacco which they ought to have applied to the purchase of grain to live on or sow in their fields. Bhai Santokh Singh baptized several of their descendants according to the rites prescribed by the tenth Guru, and did all in his power to induce them to abstain from the pernicious stimulant.
Chapter III
The Guru proceeded to Kurkhetar (Thanesar) on the occasion of a solar eclipse. He was received with the greatest distinction by all the holy men present, to say nothing of his own numerous followers. During his stay there he preached the true Name. Then he went to Bani Badrpur where he contributed a bag of rupees for the excavation of a well. Thence he crossed the Jamna and hunted on the way. He shot some animals which he strung to his saddle and took to the town of Kara Manak, 1 where lived an eminent saint called Maluk Das. Having heard that the Guru killed animals, he refused to receive him. It is said that, as next day the saint was laying food before his idol, he found it to his horror changing into meat. He felt that this must have been a miracle wrought by the Guru to bring him to his senses, so he thought it proper
to go and bow before him. He mentally argued, however, that if the Guru had the preternatural power attributed to him, he would first send for him. The Guru knew what was passing in his mind, and sent his servants and a palki to fetch him. He Went to the Guru, received initiation and instruc-r tion, and became one of his most devoted followers.
The Guru on his missionary tour visited Agra, Itawa, and Priyag. While at Priyag, Nanaki, the Guru’s mother, approached him with a request of the highest importance. She said that all her desires had been fulfilled, but there was yet one remaining. She remembered that her late husband Guru Har Gobind had promised that a great being should be born in the house of Guru Teg Bahadur, and she was awaiting that event. The Guru replied that all her desires should soon be fulfilled, and she should have a grandson who would save the true religion. She had only to meditate continually on Guru Nanak. The Guru remained six months at Priyag, during which time his wife Gujari, to the great joy of his mother, became pregnant.
The Guru next proceeded with his family to Banaras. He rested in a house which he called Shabd ka kotha, or the mansion of the Word. It is in that part of the city known as Resham Katra. He there received the usual honours from his followers. Over the spot on which he rested a raised platform has since been erected, and the place is now known at the Bari Sangat or the Great Society. The Guru’s shoes and coat are still preserved in memory of his visit. He thence proceeded to the river Karmnasha, so called because it was believed that all the good acts of a man who bathed in it would be forfeited. The Guru scorning that tradition bathed in its waters, and affirmed that the river could never wash away the result of good deeds. 1
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The Guru then went to the village of Sarasrawan, where lived a very devout and truthful discipfie popularly known as Chacha Phaggo. He had built a very beautiful mansion with a stately portico and a large hall of entrance. He was perpetually asked by his neighbours why he had built such a large building, and especially such a large portico and entrance chamber. He said his object was that when the Guru paid a visit he should not have the trouble of alighting, but could enter the mansion on horseback. Within it he had placed a superb couch for the Guru to lie on. Chacha Phaggo kept the building locked so that the couch might not be soiled. Every morning he used to perfume it and then close the doors, declaring that he would not live in the edifice himself until the Guru had once entered it, and hallowed it with his footsteps. People laughed at him, and asked what hope there was that the Guru, who resided in the Panjab, should ever visit his village. Chacha Phaggo disregarded such banter, and maintained that the Guru would certainly come and fulfil his desires, as Guru Nanak went to the house of Lalo; and therefore he had made arrangements for a suitable reception. It turned out, as Chacha Phaggo had anticipated, that in due time he had the happiness of entertaining the Guru.
The Guru thence departed for Gaya. There the Brahmans visited him in a body, and explained the virtues of that famous place of pilgrimage. They made no mention of Budha having made his great renunciation and penance there—events never men-
streams in the world to wash away the sin. These waters after the purification collected in the spring from which the Karmnasha river issues.
A more probable cause of the evil reputation of the river is that it once formed the boundary between the Aryan colonies of the north and the aborigines of the south, and all Aryans who crossed it were said to have passed beyond the pale of religious merit. Travellers who still cross, take care that not a drop of its water touches their bodies.
tioned for centuries by ordinary Hindus. They said if barley rolls were offered at Gaya for the souls of ancestors, they would immediately go to heaven, even though they had already entered hell. Upon this they pressed the Guru to give them money for the ceremony. The Guru refused to satisfy their cupidity. He exhorted them to meditate on God and instructed them in divine knowledge. Having exposed the hypocrisy and deceit of the Brahmans, he taught his Sikhs how to remain for ever free from their toils. He then recited for their edification the hymn in Rag Asa composed by Guru Nanak at Gaya, the second Ashtapadi of the Sukhmani, and the following hymn of Kabir :—
Nobody obeyeth his parents when alive,-yet he giveth them feasts when dead ;
Say how shall the poor parents obtain what the ravens and the dogs have eaten.
Let some one explain to me what kushal 1 means ;
The world dieth talking of kushal; how ever shall kushal be obtained ?
Men make goddesses and gods of clay, and offer them living sacrifices.
As your lifeless gods, so your deceased, who ask not for what they want themselves.
You kill living things, and you worship lifeless things ; at the last moment great shall be your suffering.
You know not the worth of God’s name, and you shall be drowned in the sea of terror.
You waver 2 and know not the supreme God ; wherefore you worship gods and goddesses.
Saith Kabir, you have not thought of the Unknowable, and you have become entangled in the deadly sins . 3
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After this the Guru dismissed the Brahmans and departed in disgust from their place of pilgrimage. 1
The Guru in the. progress of his mission arrived at Patna, then as now a strong Muhammadan centre. Crowds of both sexes hearing of his religious fame went to behold him and make him offerings. They warmly invited him to abide with them, give them religious instruction, and render them happy. The Guru replied : ‘ Wherever is the congregation of saints, there it is God’s order for me to abide.’
There lived in Patna a Sikh confectioner, called Bhai Jaita, who through humility always wore soiled clothes. Noticing this the Sikhs thought that he never bathed, and they twitted him on the subject. He told them they might go to his house, and see if he did or did not. They accordingly sent two of their body disguised as travellers. He received them, washed their feet, performed every menial service for them, and gave them bed and supper. A watch and a quarter before day Bhai Jaita arose, and performed his sacred ablutions. He then meditated on God and the Guru till daybreak, after which he went to his shop to attend to his business. On hearing of Bhai Jaita’s devotion, the Guru went to stay with him, while the Sikhs prepared a magnificent mansion, the present local Har Mandar, for the reception of the head of their religion.
When the Guru after some time had completed his instructions, he, knowing the future, said one day to his mother Nanaki: ‘ Remain here with thy
daughter-in-law; I must depart.' His mother replied, ‘ Thou knowest my love for thee ; I cannot live for a moment without thee, and now thou art going to leave me.’ He represented to her that many Sikhs were waiting for him in a distant land, and he must go to them. His wife, Gujari, seeing that the Guru’s mother’s remonstrances were of no avail, then began to ply her own entreaties—‘ O Guru, thou art leaving me alone in this foreign country. I have no peace when I behold thee not. What shall become of me ? ’ On hearing these words the Guru remained thoughtful for some time, and at last replied—‘ The prophecy of my father, Guru Har Gobind, is now about to be accomplished. A son shall soon be born to thee, who shall be great and powerful, extend the faith, establish Sikh supremacy, root out the wicked, and destroy the enemies of truth and true religion. Wherefore remain thou here to give him birth. Thou wouldst suffer great hardship in travelling, so be happy here. I shall soon return after having made a tour through Bengal.' The Guru’s wife felt the force of these words, and remained silent.