only on condition that they received higher wages. After a short time they told the Guru that one of their daughters was to be married, and they asked for five hundred rupees to meet expenses. The Guru desired them to wait for two months, and he would settle their accounts at the yearly Baisakhi fair. Balwand said they could not wait so long; they wanted money at once, and pressed him to borrow it for them. The Guru replied that it was not a good thing to borrow, and he asked them to have patience and see what God would do. They then began to address him in an insolent tone: ‘It is we who by singing thy praises have made thee famous. Did we not sing the Guru's hymns, the Sikhs would never make thee offerings. Therefore refuse not our request. If thou choose not to give the money we require, we will go to our homes and sing our hymns there.’
The quarrel was not adjusted, and next morning they did not present themselves. The Guru sent for them, but they failed to answer his summons. He again sent a special messenger to tell them not to delay, but come to him at once. The more, however, the Guru humbled himself, the prouder they became. They replied, ‘The Guru knoweth not our worth. His court shall have no splendour without us. Even Guru Nanak's court would not have been known without the music of Mardana.’ The Guru could endure the ingratitude of the minstrels who owed everything to him, but he could not endure the disrespect shown to Guru Nanak's court, so he cursed them and said, ‘Their children shall wander forlorn, and none shall cherish them.’ The Guru then assigned the duty of singing the hymns to his Sikhs. For a good cause enthusiasts are sometimes found. Bhai Ramu, Bhai Dipa, Bhai Ugarsain, and Bhai Nagauri came from Dalla with two-stringed violins and cymbals, and took the places of the faithless Balwand and Satta. It soon began
