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BISI BHANI, wife of Guru Ram Das, gave birth to Arjan at Goindwal on Tuesday the 7th day of the dark half of Baisakh, Sambat 1620 (A.D. 1563).
We have already related one legend of Guru Amar Das’s fondness for his grandson Arjan, and of his offer to him of the Guruship. Another legend is also current. The child Arjan one day found his way to the bed of Guru Amar Das while taking his repose. It was generally considered a serious thing to disturb the Guru in his siesta. Bibi Bhani on missing the child ran to fetch him. He had, however, already awakened the Guru, who said, ‘Let him come to me; yih mera dohita pani ka bohita howega’ —this grandson of mine shall be a boat to take mankind across the ocean of the world.
Arjan was in due time married to Ganga, daughter of Krishan Chand, a resident of the village of Meo in the Philor sub-collectorate of the present district of Jalandhar.
The details of Arjan’s life up to the date of his father Guru Ram Das’s death are given in the life of the latter. It will be remembered that he died in Goindwal. After his decease, Mohri, maternal uncle of Arjan, bestowed on him a turban as his father’s heir, according to ancient custom. Prithia urged that it was he himself who, as eldest son of the late Guru Ram Das, should receive the turban. Upon this Guru Arjan conferred it on him and returned to Amritsar. A short time afterwards Prithia met Sulahi Khan, a revenue officer of the province of Lahore, and interested him in a complaint which [ p. 2 ] he was preparing to make to the Emperor on the subject of his supersession by his youngest brother.
Prithia next complained to the chaudhris of Amritsar, that he and his brother had been left without maintenance. The chaudhris made a representation to Guru Arjan on the subject. He accordingly granted certain taxes and _ house rents to Prithia, the customs duties of Pasian ka Chauk (a ward of Amritsar) to Mahadev, his second brother, and merely reserved for himself the voluntary offerings of the faithful.[1]
As we have seen, it was under Guru Amar Das that Jetha, his son-in-law, afterwards Guru Ram Das, began the excavation of the tanks of Santokhsar and Amritsar and the foundation of the city. After the death of Guru Ram Das, Guru Arjan applied himself to the task of completing the tanks and extending the city of Ramdaspur. It was his practice to go every day and sit under a shisham[2] tree, which had sheltered Guru Ram Das, and superintend the work.
When the tank of Santokhsar was approaching completion, it is said the workmen came on a hut in which a naked Jogi was seated in profound contemplation. The Guru clothed him, and restored him to consciousness. He was rubbed and the breath which was concentrated in his brain was diffused through his body. He then opened his eyes, and seeing the Guru and his Sikhs standing round him, inquired, ‘Who are you and who reigneth now?’ Bhai Budha answered these and many other queries. The Guru interrogated him as to how he had been so long concealed alive beneath the earth. The Jogi replied, ‘I pleased my guru, and he granted me the privilege of lying in deep contemplation here. He promised that I should Sleep till the coming of Guru Arjan, who would awaken me and grant me deliverance.’ He then put [ p. 3 ] several questions to the Guru, who replied by the following hymn :—
A player playeth his part
And representeth many characters ;
But when he taketh off his disguises the play is brought to an end,
And he assumeth his original appearance.
What characters appeared and disappeared !
Whither did they vanish and whence did they come ?
Many waves are formed in the water,
And ornaments of many fashions are made of gold
I have seen seeds of various kinds sown :
When the produce ripeneth, the seed reappeareth in its original shape.
In a thousand water-pots there is one sky reflected.
When the water-pots burst the sky remaineth as before.
Man goeth astray through the sins of covetousness and worldly love ;
But, when he is freed from his error, he assumeth the likeness of God,
Who is imperishable and perisheth not,
Who neither cometh nor goeth.
The perfect Guru hath washed away the filth of my pride,
And Nanak hath obtained the supreme state.[3]
It is said that the Jogi on hearing this found his doubts resolved and obtained divine knowledge. He then cast aside his body, in the words of the Sikh chronicler, as a snake sloughs his skin, and by the favour of the Guru obtained salvation. The tank from the site of which the Jogi had emerged was completed on the first of Phagan, Sambat 1645 (A. D. 1588).
The Guru hastened the construction of the Amritsar, or sacred tank, and projected the Har Mandar or temple of God. He appointed his most trustworthy Sikhs—Bhais Budha, Salo, Bhagtu, Paira, Bahlo, Kaliana, and others—to superintend the work and [ p. 4 ] procure lime, bricks, and all other necessary materials. The removal of the earth had all been effected under Guru Ram Das in Sambat 1634. The task of making the masonry side-walls and floor fell to Guru Arjan.
One day the Guru seated in court, said that in order to complete the work more money was required, and he suggested to his Sikhs to endeavour to obtain it from the hill chiefs. Bhai Kaliana said he would gladly act in furtherance of the Guru’s wishes. He proceeded to the Hindu state of Mandi in the hills, and appreciating the beauty of the country after his residence in the plains decided to sojourn there. On the occasion of the Janam Ashtami—eighth day of the dark half of the month of Bhadon—the anniversary of Krishan’s birth, the Raja decreed that all the inhabitants of his state should observe a rigid fast during the day, and not sleep the following night, but keep vigil and occupy their time uttering ‘ Krishan, Krishan’. In the morning they should repair to the temple to behold the salagram ; and there they might break their fast by drinking water in which the salagram had been bathed.
Kaliana was the only one who heeded not these stringent orders. He did not fast, or go to the temple, or drink the water in which the idol had been bathed. In reply to several questions as to the cause of his disobedience he replied: ‘My God is a living Being who speaketh and conferreth great happiness on His worshippers. Vain is the worship of a lifeless stone which neither eateth, nor speaketh, nor conferreth favours. It is true that you occasionally fast, but at the same time you refrain not from grievous sins. The Sikhs of my Guru eat little and thus are ever fasting. They ever restrain lust and wrath, and apply their hearts to God’s worship.’ He then repeated the following hymn of Guru Arjan :—
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Did God put aside all the other days of the month
That He should have been born on the eighth ?
Man led astray by error uttereth nonsense.
God is not subject to birth and death.
Man taketh cakes [4] and giveth them secretly to an idol to eat.
O, brute of an infidel, God is not born, nor doth He die.
All thy sin resulteth from fondling the idol.
May the mouth which sayeth God entered a womb be burnt !
Nanak’s God is everywhere ;
He is not born, nor doth He die ; He cometh not and goeth not. [5]
On hearing this everybody laughed and began to criticize Kaliana’s words. They were repeated throughout the city, and the Raja was informed that there had come to the state a stranger who spoke slightingly of the salagram and called it a stone, and who did not fast on the holy anniversary of Krishan’s birth. The Raja became very wroth, and at once sent an orderly to summon Kaliana. When he arrived, the Raja in imperious and angry tones asked him to tell his place of residence, his religion, and the name of his guru.
Kaliana replied: ‘On the throne of the holy Guru Nanak, who was very famous in the world, now sitteth the holy and perfect Guru Arjan. We who are his disciples obtain the object of our desires from him. He giveth us instruction, which conferreth happiness here and hereafter. We ever read his hymns, wherefore we reverence not stones which neither see, nor hear, nor speak. How can a stone be pleased, and what can we gain by worshipping it? God who is the life within our lives, by whose support we exist, and who is ever bounteous to us all—that God you suppose to be a stone. God who pervadeth sea and [ p. 6 ] land, who conferreth happiness here and hereafter, who is contained in animate and inanimate nature, who is in the past, present and future, who is supreme in the three worlds and to whom none is equal—that God you imagine to be an inanimate object. How can He be pleased with you when you treat him with such utter indignity ?’[6]
The Raja finding Kaliana thus intractable ordered that he should be imprisoned. Next day he was again produced, and ordered to bow before the idol. Kaliana refused, and said his idol was Guru Arjan. The Raja then ordered him to lose one of his legs as punishment, and be expelled the country. After the delivery of this order the Raja fainted, and the execution was accordingly stayed. Every known remedy was employed to revive him, but in vain. The wise men at the royal court frankly said that this was all the result of the annoyance inflicted upon the holy stranger. Instead of being punished, he ought to have been received with hospitality and respect.
Better counsels having thus prevailed, Kaliana was called to the Raja’s bedside. He said he could cure him if he promised to believe in the Guru and become one of his Sikhs; otherwise he had no healing power. His ministers promised on behalf of the Raja that he would act as Kaliana desired. Upon this Kaliana stood up, clasped his hands, and prayed to God to save the monarch’s life. While Kaliana was thus praying, the Raja recovered consciousness. On seeing Kaliana as his physician standing before [ p. 7 ] him, he ordered that he should be received into his palace, and treated with all possible courtesy and distinction.
The Raja after complete recovery begged Kaliana to take him to the Guru. The Raja went with his queens, his concubines, and his army, and pitched his camp outside Amritsar. Kaliana proceeded to inform the Guru of the monarch’s arrival, and of the circumstances which had led to it. The Raja next day, accompanied only by his macebearers, went on foot to see the Guru. On arriving in his presence he put his head on the Guru’s feet, and begged him to save him now that he had come under his protection. The Guru imparted to him religious instruction upon which he realized his past errors. The Guru asked him to stay with him for three days, and he would reap the advantage thereof. The Raja consented to delay his departure and also to take his meals from the Guru’s kitchen. In due time he took leave of the Guru and returned with all his suite to his own kingdom.
There is a story told of one Manj, a votary of Sakhi Sarwar, a Muhammadan pir, whose shrine is on the border of Balochistan. The Guru’s fame had reached Manj; he had heard the Guru’s hymns recited, and passionately desired to behold him. When this favour had been vouchsafed him, he made the following requests: ‘O Guru, heal my three fevers, make me a Sikh, and, deeming me thy servant, save me and remove the great pain of transmigration.’ The Guru replied: ‘Thou hast made Sakhi Sarwar thy priest. His way is easy: Sikhism on the contrary is difficult. In it thou canst not put thyself forward or assert thyself. Thou canst not embrace it without being ready to sacrifice without a groan thy life on its behalf. If thou become my Sikh, thou shalt be an object of public obloquy. Thy relations will ridicule thee, and not allow thee to associate with them. They will also [ p. 8 ] dispossess thee of all thy property. If thou art prepared to endure such hardships and sufferings, then mayest thou become a disciple of mine. Otherwise continue to worship the shrine of thy saint and talk not of Sikhism. Keep thy wealth, and the good opinion of thy family. Why heap on thyself trouble by embracing my religion ? ’
Manj replied: ‘O Guru, the very moment I saw thee and heard thy words I turned away from Sakhi Sarwar, and I was overwhelmed with shame when I reflected that in imitation of others I bowed my head at the shrine of a pretended saint possessing no real greatness. Thus do men forfeit their religion and lose the advantage of human birth.’
Manj thus spoke in his humility and tears clouded his eyes. The Guru replied: ‘Accept Sikhism. Worship the true God, and it shall be a source of happiness to thee.” The Guru then told his visitor that he must go home, demolish the niche appropriated to Sakhi Sarwar’s worship in his dwelling, return to the Guru, and place himself under his protection. Manj did all this, returned to the Guru, lived by manual labour, and contributed a fourth part of his earnings to the Sikh cause.
A Sikh named Bahilo came from Malwa to visit the Guru. He professed to know how to make bricks in the most durable manner. The Guru accordingly entrusted to him the whole of the brick-making necessary for the completion of the tanks and the temple. Indeed there were many Sikhs at the time who served the Guru with the utmost fidelity. Among others the names of Ajab, Ajaib, and Umar Shah are mentioned. They were masands who collected offerings for the Guru, and faithfully delivered them. On one occasion he asked them in what light they regarded the offerings which passed through their hands. They replied that they regarded them as poison not only for their bodies but for their souls.
Suraj Parkash, Ras II, Chapter 29. ↩︎
Dalbergia Sissoo. ↩︎
Sahi. B2 ↩︎
Made out of clarified butter, sugar, and flour kneaded without water. ↩︎
Bhairo. ↩︎
This teaching may be contrasted with the present idolatrous practices of many ignorant Sikhs. Sardar Kahn Singh, in his Gurmat Sudhakar, states that some Sikhs go to temples of Shiv and imitate there the bleating of goats. They go to temples of Vishnu and there chew leaves of sweet basil, sacred in the estimation of the Hindus, and drink water in which the idol has been bathed. They go to temples of Durga and there offer goats in sacrifice, and put on red and yellow necklaces consecrated to the goddess. They also go to Muhammadan temples and cemeteries and there offer lamps, sweets, &c., after the manner of ignorant Muhammadans. ↩︎