One day, in conversation with his Sikhs in Lahore, Arjan expressed the regret he felt at his long separation from his father. They accordingly suggested that he should write to him for his recall. Arjan was pleased with the suggestion and said, ‘ Although the Guru appeareth to have forgotten us, we have never forgotten him.’ Upon this he addressed the following to his father :—
My soul longeth for a sight of the Guru ;
It crieth hke the chatrik for raindrops.
My thirst is not quenched, and I have no rest without a sight of the dear saint.
I am a sacrifice, I am a sacrifice to a sight of the Guru, the dear saint.
He sent this quatrain by a Sikh to the Guru. When the Sikh reached Amritsar the Guru was [p. 279] taking his afternoon repose. Prithia recognized the messenger as the servant who had accompanied Arjan to Lahore. He called him, and asked if he had brought a letter. He replied that he had, and unsuspectingly delivered it. Prithia on reading it became filled with jealousy. He knew he could not have written the verses himself, and he feared that, if the Guru saw them, he might appoint Arjan as his successor. He therefore concealed the letter and sent a verbal reply in his father’s name, telling Arjan to remain in Lahore and not return until he was sent for. Arjan on receiving this message knew it had been sent by Prithia and not by his father the Guru, and on questioning the messenger, discovered what had occurred. He then wrote a second quatrain and dispatched it with strict orders to deliver it only to the Guru. It was as follows :—
Thy face is beautiful, the sound of thy words giveth composure.
It is long since I have seen my lord.
Blest is the land where thou dwellest, O my saint, friend, and lord.
I am a sacrifice, I am a sacrifice to the holy Guru, my friend and lord.
Prithia was lying in wait for the messenger and forcibly took possession of Arjan’s second letter. On reading it he became more incensed than before. In his father’s name he sent a second message, ‘Remain at Lahore for some time yet and come not without orders. I will myself shortly go to fetch thee.’ Prithia instructed the servant to take the message quickly, or the Guru would be angry with him. What Prithia really feared was that if the servant delayed in Amritsar, the Guru might come to know the deceit that was being practised. The servant on reaching Lahore told Arjan how Prithia had taken possession of the letter. On this Arjan [p. 280] wrote and despatched a third quatrain to his father :—
When I was separated from thee for a ghari, it seemed an age.
When shall I now meet thee, O my beloved lord ?
I cannot pass the night, and sleep cometh not without beholding the Guru’s court.
I am a sacrifice, I am a sacrifice to that court of the true Guru.
On this letter Arjan took the precaution of writing No. 3, so that his father might know that two other letters had previously been dispatched. Arjan on this occasion gave urgent instruction to the messenger that the letter should only be handed to the Guru himself.
Prithia, as before, was waiting to intercept the third letter. The messenger was also on his guard, and, on seeing Prithia, hid himself. Prithia could not be for ever on the watch. When he went to his private house for reflection, the messenger took the opportunity to approach the Guru and give him his son Arjan’s letter. The Guru on seeing it noticed that it bore the number 3, but only this one letter had reached him. The messenger told him what had previously occurred, whereat the Guru was much incensed. Prithia, who did not wish to remain long absent, arrived by the time the messenger had finished his narrative. The Guru asked Prithia what had become of the first two letters. He replied that he did not remember where they had been put. He would search and bring them. The Guru thrice asked him if he did not know where the letters were, and thrice he swore by the Guru’s holy feet that he had no knowledge of them. Upon this the Guru, reading his secret thoughts, told him that the letters were concealed in his coat pocket at home. The Guru sent a servant to Prithia’s house with a request to his wife to send Prithia’s coat which [p. 281] was hanging on a peg on the wall. The servant brought the coat, and in its pocket were found the two missing letters !
Bhai Budha then by order of the Guru proclaimed Prithia’s villainy to the whole assembly. Prithia was thoroughly ashamed, and found no retreat in subterfuge and no pardon in apology. The Guru said: ‘ Prithia’s deception hath been laid bare before the Sikhs. A trial hath been made as to whether he 1s noble or base, obedient or disobedient to the Guru.’ The Guru then at once dispatched Bhai Budha to Lahore with a carriage to bring Arjan home with all possible speed. After Arjan’s arrival and obeisance to his father, the Guru remarked to him that he had previously sent three quatrains, and suggested him to write a fourth that the hymn might be complete. On this he extemporized the following :—
It is my good fortune to have met the holy Guru,
And I have found the Immortal God in my own home.
May I serve thee and never again be separated from thee for an instant! Nanak is thy slave.
I am a sacrifice, and my soul is a sacrifice unto thee : Nanak is thy slave.[1]
On hearing this the Guru was highly pleased and embraced his son. He then addressed him the following brief but pregnant words: ‘Guru Amar Das declared that the Guruship was the reward of merit. As only he who is lowly and humble-minded may lay claim to it, I grant it to thee.’ Saying this the Guru sent for five paise and a coco-nut, placed them before Arjan, and descending from his throne seated him on it in presence of the whole assembly. Bhai Budha affixed the tilak or mark of spiritual sovereignty to Arjan’s forehead, and he was publicly proclaimed Guru amid universal manifestations of delight. Guru Ram Das said, ‘ Guru [p. 282] Arjan hath become the world’s Guru, and, as one lamp is lighted from another, so the Guru’s spirit hath passed into him, and will dispel the darkness of the world.’
When Guru Arjan went to embrace his mother, he said: ‘All my anxieties have been removed. Having earned the true name of God, I have come home.’ He then composed the following :—
The wealth of God’s name hath become my devotion, the wealth of God’s name my penance, the wealth of God’s name my food.
May I not forget for a moment Him whom I have obtained in the company of the saints !
O mother, thy son hath come home to thee with profit.
I possess God’s wealth walking, God’s wealth sitting, God’s wealth waking and sleeping.
God’s wealth is mine ablutions, God’s wealth my divine knowledge ; I fix mine attention on God.
God’s wealth is my raft, God’s wealth my boat ; it is God’s wealth which shall take me across.
God’s wealth hath caused me to forget my worldly anxiety; God’s wealth hath removed my doubts of salvation.
From God’s wealth I have obtained the nine treasures ; I have come into the possession of God as wealth.
I may eat and spend this wealth without exhausting it ; it will abide with me in this world and the next.
God loaded a treasure, and gave it to Guru Nanak; my mind is imbued with God’s love.[2]
Prithia, whose anger knew no bounds, addressed offensive language to his father, and then informed Bhai Budha that his father had acted improperly. The Guruship was his own right, yet it had been given to his youngest brother. He vowed that he would remove Guru Arjan, seat himself on the Guru’s throne, and the Emperor himself would admit the Justice of his claim. The Guru addressed Prithia the following by way of remonstrance :—
[p. 283]
Why, O my son, quarrel with thy father ?
It is a sin to quarrel with him who begot thee and reared thee.
The wealth of which thou art proud belongeth to no one.
In a moment shalt thou abandon the pleasures of sin, and then shalt thou repent.
Repeat His name who is thy dear Lord, thy Master, and thy God.
The slave Nanak giveth thee instruction ; if thou hearken unto it, thy regrets shall depart.[3]
Notwithstanding this remonstrance Prithia continued to use offensive language to the author of his existence. ‘Fine mercy thou hast shown me! Thou hast conferred the Guruship on thy youngest son and told me falsehoods. Thou hast told me to repeat God’s name. Practise what thou preachest, and let Arjan, who hath been honoured by thee, also heed thine instructions.’ Guru Ram Das then uttered the following :—
They render God hearty worship on whose forehead such destiny was recorded in the beginning.
How can one be jealous of those whom my God the Creator assisteth ?
Meditate on God, O my soul, meditate on God ; He is the Remover of the troubles of every birth.
God in the beginning bestowed on his saints the ambrosial storehouse of saintship.
The fool who trieth to rival them, shall have his face blackened both in this world and the next.
They are saints, they are worshippers to whom God’s name is dear.
God is obtained by their service ; ashes shall be thrown on the slanderer’s head.
He in whose house this occurreth knoweth what 1s proper ; ask Guru Nanak the world’s Guru, and reflect on it.
In the case of the four Gurus none hath ever obtained the [p. 284] Guruship by revilings ; it is by God’s service the Guruship is obtained.[4]
When Prithia still continued to insult his father, the latter ordered him out of his sight, and said, ‘Thou art a Mina[5]; my Sikhs will not obey thee, and will never associate with thee.’ Bibi Bhani then painfully called to mind the words of Guru Amar Das, namely, “Thou hast dammed the clear flowing stream of the Guruship and consequently great trouble and annoyance shall result.’
While this unpleasant scene was being enacted, night came on, and Guru Arjan, his mother, Bhai Budha, and all the Sikhs went to pay their respects to Guru Ram Das. Guru Ram Das announced that he could not always abide with them, that his end was approaching, and that he would go to die in Goindwal. At his departure so many Sikhs gathered round him that it was difficult for them to obtain a sight of him. He addressed them some parting words of instruction of priceless value, and taking Arjan with him set out for Goindwal.
On arriving at Goindwal, Guru Ram Das bathed in the Bawali, and had interviews with his two brothers-in-law, Mohan and Mohri. The next day he prepared a great feast, at which every one ate his fill. The following morning before day the Guru again bathed, and, having repeated the preamble of the Japji and the Asa ki War, began to meditate on Guru Amar Das. When day dawned and his devotions were at an end, he entrusted his Sikhs to Guru Arjan, directed him to complete the tanks at Amritsar, and repeated for him the main tenets of Sikhism by which he charged him ever to abide.
Bibi Bhani, knowing that these injunctions were the signals of her husband’s death, begged him to [p. 285] take her with him on his final journey. He bade her abide in the world for some days, and then she should meet him. Guru Ram Das’s soul was borne to the celestial regions on the third day of the light half of the month of Bhadon, Sambat 1638 (A.D. 1581). The bard Mathura composed the following on his death :—
Guru Ram Das who was pleasing to God, went to God’s city ;
God gave him a throne and seated him on it.
The demigods on receiving thee, O Ram Das, were pleased, and sang victory to thee.
During thy life the sins of the demons[6] trembled within them and they fled.[7]
The sins of those who received Guru Ram Das’s instruction were cut away.
He gave the umbrella and sovereignty of the earth to Guru Arjan.[8]