A Sikh named Jagga asked the Guru's permission to become a hermit. He said he had met a Jogi and asked him for instruction. The Jogi would only give it on his relinquishing a domestic and adopting an ascetic life. The Guru replied that deliverance could not be obtained either by the relinquishment of house and home or by the practice of Jog. As a lotus, while growing in the mud, turns its petals towards the sun, so should man while engaged in worldly affairs turn his thoughts to God by means of the instruction of the Guru.
To Gopi, Mohan, Rama, and Amru, the Guru spoke as follows: ‘Practise forbearance and forgiveness, and harbour not enmity to any one in your hearts. Should any one address you a harsh or disrespectful word, be not angry, but speak civilly in return.’
To Gangu and Saharu the Guru delivered the following instruction: ‘When you have prepared food, first feed the Sikhs, and then eat the remainder yourselves. He who eateth after his brother Sikhs shall become very holy. Ever remember Wahguru. Worship not cremation grounds, tanks,[1] or Hindu or Muhammadan shrines.’
When the Guru paid a visit to the Sikh families in Dalla, Prithi Mal and Tulsa of the Bhalla caste went to see him. They unceremoniously seated themselves beside him, and said with much familiarity, Thou and we are of the same caste. The Guru replied in the words of Guru Nanak :—
Caste hath no power in the next world ; there is a new
order of beings.
It is the good whose accounts are honoured.
‘This body’, continued the Guru, ‘is composed of five elements. It is subject to hunger, thirst, joy,
- ↑ Hindu women dig holes near tanks for the benefit of their ancestors. Others drawing forth mud from tanks worship unseen spirits under the name of Bibaris, who are supposed to control children's diseases.
