The Sikh Religion/Volume 2/Angad/Life/Chapter I
LIFE OF GURU ANGAD, THE SECOND GURU
CHAPTER I
IN Matte di Sarai, a village about six miles from Muktsar in the Firozpur district of the Panjab, once lived a trader called Pheru. He subsequently removed to the village of Harike, where he found a better opening for commerce. His wife's maiden name was Ramo, but after her marriage she was called Daya Kaur. She is described as a lady of gentle disposition, charitable, and religious. Four hours before day on the 11th of Baisakh in the Sambat year 1561 (A.D. 1504) a son was born to them. He received the name Lahina. In due time he wedded a lady called Khivi, a native of Matte di Sarai. His father grew weary of Harike, and with his own family and Lahina's returned to Matte di Sarai and lived there. Lahina's wife there gave birth to a daughter called Amro and to two sons who were named Dasu and Datu.
When Matte di Sarai was sacked by the Mughals and Baloches, Pheru and Lahina's families went to live in Khadur, now a famous Sikh town in the Tarn Taran sub-collectorate of the Amritsar district. While dwelling there Lahina organized a yearly pilgrimage of devout Hindus to Jawalamukhi,[1] a place sacred to Durga in the lower Himalayas, where fire issues from the mountains.
There lived in Khadur a Sikh called Jodha whose practice it was to rise every morning three hours before day and repeat the Japji and the Asa ki War. One pleasant night when gentle zephyrs cooled the heated air, Lahina heard a voice which awakened his emotions as it sang the following :—
Ever remember that Lord by worshipping whom thou
shalt find happiness.
Why hast thou done such evil deeds as thou shalt suffer
for?
Do absolutely nothing evil; look well before thee.
So throw the dice that thou mayest not lose with the
Lord,
Nay, that thou mayest gain some profit.[2]
As Lahina attentively listened, his mind obtained peace. After daybreak he asked Jodha who had composed that stimulating hymn. Jodha duly informed him that it was his Guru, Baba[3] Nanak, then dwelling in Kartarpur on the bank of the Ravi. Devotion was kindled in Lahina’s heart by all that he had heard from Jodha ; and he longed to behold the Guru, it is said, as the chakor[4] desires to see the moon.
Lahina was conducting his family and his company of pilgrims to Jawalamukhi, but he induced them to break their journey at Kartarpur, telling them that they could perform two religious acts on the one pilgrimage. They could visit Guru Nanak, whom many persons believed to be beloved of God, and whose holy company was desirable and ought to be sought by all men. They might afterwards behold the flame goddess of Jawalamukhi. Lahina's advice was adopted and he was enabled to offer his obeisance to the Guru. The Guru, on observing his kind heart and amiable disposition, inquired who he was and whither he was going. Lahina told him his name and errand, on hearing which, the Guru spoke to him of the True Creator. His discourse made such an impression on Lahina that he threw away the bells with which he had provided himself to dance before the goddess at Jawalamukhi. He congratulated himself on his good fortune in meeting the Guru, and said he no longer felt an inclination to worship in a heathen temple.
His companions, who had grown weary of waiting for him, at last pressed him to continue his journey to Jawalamukhi. They said that, though he was the leader of their party, yet he forsook them on the road and in a strange country. They further represented that it was written in the holy books of their faith, that he who threw any obstacle in the way of those who were doing penance, giving alms, fasting, going on pilgrimage, or getting married; who through laziness or fear of growing weary failed to worship Durga, the giver of wealth and holiness; or who having made a vow relinquished all efforts to accomplish it, was a great sinner, and his wealth and sons should all perish. Lahina coolly replied that he was prepared to suffer every calamity that might occur to him, but he would not forsake his true Guru. He had obtained such peace of mind while listening to his discourses, that he said he had already derived all the advantage he could have hoped for from the worship of the goddess. He then decided to discontinue his pilgrimage and abide with the Guru.
The Guru, on seeing his daily increasing devotion, said to him one day, I must give thee something; but first go home and settle thine affairs, and when thou returnest I will initiate thee as a Sikh. Upon this Lahina returned to Khadur, and told his wife what had happened and the spiritual change which had been wrought in him by meeting Guru Nanak, whom he described as the bestower of happiness both in this world and the next. He said he had determined to place himself for the future at the Guru's feet. After a stay of some days at his home, during which he procured a new suit of clothes for himself and a bag of salt for the Guru's free kitchen, he set out, accompanied by his nephew, for Kartarpur. On arriving at the Guru's house he was respectfully received by Sulakhani, the Guru's wife, who told him that the Guru was in his fields, and would be home by evening. If, however, Lahina desired to see him at once, he might go to meet him. Accordingly Lahina, making over the bag of salt to Mata Sulakhani, went straightway to the Guru.
The Guru had collected three bundles of grass for his cows and buffaloes, and he desired to have the bundles taken home; but, as the grass was wet and full of mud, his ordinary Sikhs slunk away from the task. He then asked his sons Sri Chand and Lakhmi Das to carry the bundles. They too evaded the duty, saying that there was a labourer coming who would take them. Lahina, who had just arrived, made his obeisance and said, ‘Consider me as a labourer, and give me this work to do.’ The Guru repeated his wish to have the bundles taken to his house. Lahina asked for assistance to lift the bundles on his head, and he would then carry them. The Guru said he might take as many as his strength permitted. Lahina, gathering strength from his enthusiasm, took up the three bundles, and walked with them in company with Guru Nanak to his house. On the way the dripping of the moist mud from the grass soiled his new clothes.
When they arrived, the Guru's wife, seeing Lahina's state, asked the Guru if it were a proper thing for him to impose such menial labour on a guest and soil his new clothes. The Guru, she said, was depriving the Sikhs of their faith through his great want of consideration. The Guru replied that God had put the bundles on the head of the man who was fit to carry them. His wife, not understanding the Guru's hidden meaning, rejoined, ‘See, his clothes from his head to his feet are fouled with the mud which has been dripping from the grass.’ The Guru replied, ‘This is not mud; it is the saffron of God's court, which marketh the elect. Even one of these bundles was difficult to lift. He hath acquired divine strength, and lifted all three.’ On looking again the Guru's wife observed that the mud on Lahina s clothes had really changed to saffron. The three bundles are held by the Sikhs to symbolize spiritual affairs, temporal affairs, and the Guruship. It was Guru Nanak's practice to rise three hours before day and go to bathe in the Ravi. After his bath, he used to recite the Japji, meditate on God, and sing His praises till day dawned. He was always attended by Lahina, who took charge of his clothes, and performed for him any other offices he required. Three other Sikhs—Bhai Bhagirath, Bhai Budha, and Bhai Sudhara—on seeing Lahina's constancy and devotion to the Guru, thought that they too would perform meritorious service for him, so they proceeded in the early morning to the bank of the river to wait on him. It was the winter season, black clouds gathered, cold winds blew in gusts, and hail began to fall. The three men became quite benumbed, and were with difficulty able to make their way home shaking and shivering. It was only by warming themselves at the fire that they recovered the use of their limbs. Lahina endured the cold as if it had been the mildest weather. When the Guru at sunrise came out of the water, he congratulated Lahina on his endurance, and said he had attained salvation, which was the main object of human birth.
Once Lahina thought to himself, ‘The Guru endureth great cold in performing his penance. It is not right that his servant should live in comfort.’ Accordingly before day next morning he too entered the water, and only came out at sunrise, by which time his body was nearly frozen. He fell down at the Guru's feet, and the Guru's touch had the effect of restoring the natural heat of his body. All the Sikhs were astonished on seeing the Guru's kindness to the man who had voluntarily become his servant, and endured well nigh unendurable hardships for him.
- ↑ A place in the Himālayas where flame issues from the mountain. It is held sacred by Hindus, who make it an object of pilgrimage. It appears from one of Seneca's letters that the ancient Romans worshipped similar places, such as springs of hot water, sources of rivers, &c.
- ↑ Asa ki War.
- ↑ Baba means father. The word was and is frequently applied to Guru Nanak.
- ↑ The Greek partridge.