Natti, Gurditta’s wife, in due time became pregnant, whereat his mother Damodari greatly rejoiced. The Guru ordered Gurditta to go with his wife, spend the Baisakhi fair at Kartarpur, and take his place as expounder of the faith. While there a son was born to him. When the Guru in Amritsar heard of the glad event, he said that Gurditta’s son should prove a second Prithia. The Guru at the same time called Gurditta and his family. On their arrival in Amritsar the Guru put a shirt on the child and named him Dhir Mal.
The Guru went one day a-hunting and heard a woman singing the following rustic verses :—
Thou with the black beard and white turban,
My name is Sulakhani, and I live in Chabba.
I present a petition to the true Guru.
May I, who am now without fruit, bear fruit !
Chabba isa village about four miles from Amritsar on the road to Tarn Taran and is near the Sangrana Or monument raised to those who fell in the Guru’s battle with the imperial forces. The lady was the wife of a Jat agriculturist. She had come to implore the Guru to intercede for her that she might have a son. The Guru prayed for her and she was subsequently blessed with a family of seven children. A bard has celebrated this occurrence as follows :—
As the Guru was touring, a woman came to him to ask for a son.
He said, ‘A son hath not been written on thy forehead’ ; on hearing this she was disappointed. [ p. 130 ]
Then the Guru wrote on her forehead the figure one.
At the time of writing his hand shook and one became seven.
There were seven sons born; the universe knoweth it.
By the Guru’s favour a stake is changed into a thorn.
As the Guru on another occasion went hunting some thirty miles from Amritsar, he came on Sri Chand’s retreat. Sri Chand asked him to allow him to adopt one of his sons. The Guru with great reluctance gave his eldest son Gurditta, who appears to have accompanied him to the chase. Sri Chand, in token of adoption and succession to him, put on Gurditta’s head a Persian hat, and on his neck a string of lotus seeds.
Baba Atal, the Guru’s son by Nanaki, while playing with the children of the city used to instruct them by his conversation. Whatever he said even jestingly had a profound meaning. He was so beloved by all, that no one refused his requests. The Guru used to take him in his lap, fondle him, and say, ‘Display not thy power, or, if thou do, use it with discretion. Squander it not in vain.’ Baba Atal would reply, ‘Great king, thy treasury never faileth.’
There lived in Amritsar a Sikh named Gurumukh who had an only son called Mohan, eight years of age. He and Baba Atal used to play at bat and ball together. Once they played until nightfall. The victory remained with Baba Atal, and it was agreed between the two boys that Mohan should pay his forfeit in the morning. Both boys went home. At night Mohan arose for purposes of nature, and walking in the dark was bitten by a cobra. On hearing his screams his father and mother arose and found him fainting. A physician was called, but the poison had done its work, and the boy succumbed.
Next morning Baba Atal proceeded to Mohan’s house. He heard weeping on the way, and on being [ p. 131 ] told that Mohan was dead, said, ‘ No, he is not dead. He is alive. Come, I will fetch him.’ Saying this he went to the apartment where Mohan’s body was lying. Touching it with his bat he said, ‘ Mohan, arise. Utter Wahguru! Open thine eyes. Thou oughtest not to sleep so late, arise and pay me what I have won.’ Upon this, it is said, Mohan, though dead for four hours and a half, arose as if from sleep. A crowd of bystanders congratulated the Guru’s son, and said he had done a deed beyond the power of other mortal.
The Guru while sitting in his court heard the rejoicings. People were saying, ‘ As is the father, so is the son, a treasury of miraculous power.’ But the Guru was not at all pleased. He said, ‘It hath ever been Baba Atal’s custom to dissipate his power. Now whenever a son may die, the parents will bring him to our door. Whose son shall we reanimate, and whose shall we allow to die ? God showeth no favour to man, who must enjoy or suffer the result of his acts, and the religion of saints and holy men prescribeth obedience to God’s will.’
While the Guru was thus speaking, Baba Atal returned from Mohan’s house. The Guru angrily addressed him: ‘Thou must be working miracles, while I teach men to obey God’s will.’ Baba Atal replied, “Great king, mayest thou live for ages! I depart to Sach Khand.’ Saying this he left the assembly. It did not occur to any one to seek him or beg the Guru to pardon him. It was thought that the boy had simply gone to his mother’s apartments. He had, however, actually gone to bathe in the Guru’s tank of nectar. After his ablutions he four times circumambulated the Golden Temple, and then went and sat on the margin of the Kaulsar. Bending his head forward he supported his chin with his bat, and repeated the Japji with his eyes directed towards the Temple. As he finished his morning devotions, his light blended with the light of God [ p. 132 ] on the tenth day of the dark half of Assu, Sambat 1685, when he was in his ninth year.
The Guru seeing his wives, children, and Sikhs lamenting their beloved Baba Atal said, ‘This world is perishable. Everything is the sport of death. It maketh the weepers laugh and the laughers weep, and produceth the other vicissitudes of life. Be consoled. Baba Atal hath obtained immortal dignity and his fame shall for ever abide.’ When the Guru sent for a load of sandal wood to cremate him in the forest, the Sikhs suggested that the body should be taken near some inhabited place and not cremated in that unfrequented spot. The Guru replied, ‘ The city shall increase in population, and this shall be the centre of it. In the Guru’s city this place shall be as the Anpurna[1] in Banaras, where all comers are gratuitously filled with corn.’ Baba Atal at the time of cremation received the name of Kotwal, or police officer of the city, by which was meant that he would ever guard its inhabitants. The Guru said, ‘In commemoration of him who by God’s will hath resigned his body in his ninth year, a ninestoried shrine shall be erected which shall be seen from afar.’ The virtues and miracles of Baba Atal have been abundantly celebrated by the Sikhs in song and story.
A great crowd of relations and friends came from Goindwal, Khadur, Daroli, Kartarpur, and other places to offer their condolences to the Guru on the death of hisson. He repeated for them the following hymn of Guru Arjan :—
[ p. 133 ]
As a husbandman having sown his field
Cutteth down the crop whether ripe or unripe,[2]
So, O mortal, know that what is born shall die:
God’s saint alone is permanent.
Night shall assuredly follow day,
And when the night is passed, morn shall dawn.
The ill-fated sleep in the love of mammon,
But by the Guru’s favour a few are wakeful.
Saith Nanak, ever sing God’s praises,
So shall thy face be bright and thy heart be pure.[3]
Sain Das, husband of the Guru’s sister-in-law, said to the Guru, ‘ Ordinary people suffer greatly on the loss of a son. What is the suffering of holy men in such cases?’ The Guru requested him to draw lines on the ground. He then requested him to erase them. He did so. The Guru then said, ‘Thou hast had no pleasure in making these lines and no pain in erasing them.’ Sain Das replied, ‘None whatever.’ Then said the Guru, ‘ That is all a holy man suffereth on the loss of a son.’
A Sikh called Prem Chand, resident of Kartarpur, proposed his daughter as a wife for Suraj Mal, the Guru’s third son.
One day a conversation arose in the presence of the Guru as to the difficulties of Sikhism. Bhai Gur Das admitted the fact, but said that at the same time men should have faith in their religion. He then recited the twentieth pauri of his thirty-fifth War :—
If a mother become unchaste, how can her son disgrace her ?
If a cow swallow a gem, one would not tear open her belly and kill her.
Even if a husband visit several women, his wife should preserve her chastity.
Even if a ruler make current a leather coin, the subjects are powerless, and ought to accept it.
[ p. 134 ]
If Brahmans drink wine, shall people burn them ?[4]
Even if the Guru become a play-actor, his Sikhs should not lose their faith.
The Guru was not pleased with the last verse, and thought he would do something to teach Gur Das humility. At the time he wanted two chargers, and was informed that Kabul alone produced horses worthy to bear him. He decided to send Bhai Gur Das thither, and gave him money to make the purchases. The horses were to be. bought subject to the Guru’s approval. Gur Das found two chargers priced at fifty thousand rupees each, and sent them to the Guru. The Guru approved and wrote to him to pay their price and return forthwith to Anunritsar.
When the owner went to Gur Das for settlement, Gur Das seated him outside his tent and went within to count the money. On opening the saddle-bags he found that they contained not money but brickbats. When he did not come forth from his tent within a reasonable time, the horse merchant went in to ascertain the cause of his delay. He found that Gur Das had escaped by an opening in the back of his tent, and left the saddle-bags, which to the merchant now appeared filled with money. The Sikhs who had come with Gur Das paid the merchant, returned with the balance to Amritsar, and informed the Guru of Gur Das’s sudden disappearance.
Gur Das was afraid to return to the Guru, and sought refuge in Banaras, which he reached by a circuitous route after great hardship and suffering. Some Sikhs residing there received him with great respect on account of his former connexion with the Guru and his literary gifts. The Raja of the city heard from the Sikhs of the arrival of a very distinguished member of their body, and went to do him honour.
[ p. 135 ]
The Raja used often to send for Gur Das and listen to his expositions of the hymns of the Gurus. Once several pandits and Sanyasis said, ‘ Banaras is the city of Shiv, and he dealeth salvation there to his worshippers. Wherefore abandon the teachings of the Guru and adore Shiv. What hast thou to gain from the Guru?’ Gur Das replied, ‘As a virtuous woman leaveth not her husband to go to another man, so will I not abandon the Guru to worship a Hindu god. A calf which leaveth its mother and goeth to a strange cow, only receiveth kicks. If a swan abandon Mansarowar, it will not elsewhere receive pearls as food. If a man leave an emperor and go to serve his subjects, he will feel his altered position. So the Guru’s Sikhs cannot leave God or preserve their honour by worshipping the gods and goddesses of His creation.’[5]
The pandits represented, ‘The great God in Sanskrit literature bore the names Shiv, Gobind, Ram, &c. Why did Guru Nanak introduce the custom of uttering Wahguru and what is the meaning of the words ?’ Gur Das replied that Wahguru was the greatest of all names. ‘Wah means congratulation, and guru means great. Both words combined, therefore, mean congratulation to the Great God. They also mean that God is marvellous, that is, beyond human comprehension. ’[6]
The pandits discussed with him the relative merits of Sanskrit and the vulgar tongue. They said that Sanskrit, which was a written language, was the language of the gods, and Hindi, which was a spoken language, the language of men. Gur Das replied, ‘The Guru used the spoken language in order to communicate his ideas to men. Sanskrit was merely the language of priests. The current spoken language had preceded it and will succeed it. Sanskrit [ p. 136 ] only holdeth an intermediate position. It was the current language Krishan used in his exhortations to Arjan. Whenever any one readeth or preacheth a Sanskrit discourse, he must explain it in the language of the people. Speech can only be uttered by a being with a body. God hath no body, therefore He speaketh no language, nor was Sanskrit composed by Him. It is now found only in books, and is therefore a dead language. It is a tree which beareth no fruit, while the current language on the contrary is a tree with fruit-bearing branches. The Guru seeing that human life was limited, compiled the Granth Sahib in easy language. Sanskrit is so difficult that a whole life must be spent in acquiring it, wherefore we use the spoken language which children and women can read and understand.[7] It is on this account the Guru hath made the spoken language the vehicle for divine instruction. All persons of whatever caste may read it, not like your Sanskrit, a knowledge of which you deny to women and men of low caste.’ It is said that on this the pandits and Sanyasis of Banaras admitted the force of his argument and acknowledged themselves vanquished. After a sojourn of two months in Banaras Gur Das felt an inclination to return to the Guru and brave his ire.
Gur Das wrote to the Guru, ‘As a tethered calf crieth for its dam ; as a labourer who desireth to go home, but is forced to work for another, passeth his time in anxiety ; as a wife. detained by her parents and separated from her spouse pineth for him, so a Sikh desireth happiness at the Guru’s feet, but is kept in misery in a foreign land in obedience to his order.’ [8]
The Guru sent Bhai Jetha and some Sikhs to fetch Gur Das, but not in the manner in which he had anticipated. The Guru sent by Jetha a letter [ p. 137 ] to the governor of Banaras to say that Gur Das had deserted him without his permission, and requested that he might be sent under arrest for punishment. The governor was astonished on receiving the Guru’s letter, and said that he knew no thief called Gur Das, or Guru’s servant, but the Guru’s messengers might arrest himself and take him to serve the Guru. On this Gur Das, who had just finished reading the Japji, related to the governor and his staff the whole story of his journey to Kabul, and his flight from there, whereat there was further curlosity and astonishment.
Gur Das’s hands were then tied behind his back, but, at the same time, he was dismissed with great respect by the governor and his people, who fully believed in his innocence. When the arresting party had proceeded about four miles on their homeward journey, Bhai Jetha unbound Gur Das, so that he might travel more comfortably. Bhai Gur Das had not requested this favour. When they arrived near Amritsar Bhai Jetha again bound his prisoner as before for presentation to the Guru. The Guru ironically told Gur Das that he was an excellent Sikh, and made several other cutting observations on his conduct. Bhai Gur Das replied :—
If a mother poison her son, who is affectionate enough to save him ?
If a sentry break into a house, who is to guard it ?
If a guide take a traveller into a wilderness, to whom shall he complain ?
If a fence devour the field, there will be no one to look after it.
If the Guru become a play-actor and cause his Sikhs to doubt, what can the poor Sikhs do ?[9]
The Guru pardoned him and suggested that he might complete the compositions in which he had been engaged prior to his arrest.
Anpurna,a name of Parbati, is supposed to be the Anna Perenna of the Romans, whom Varro placed in the same rank as Pallas and Ceres, and who was deified by the Roman people in consequence of having supplied them with food when they retired to Mount Aventine. Besides the almost identity of names there is a singular coincidence in the times of their worship, the festival of Anptirna taking place in the early part of the increase of the moon in the month of Chet (March-April). ↩︎
Unripe crops are frequently cut in the East. ↩︎
Asa. ↩︎
It is written in the Shastars that if a Brahman drinks wine, the only atonement is to kill himself by drinking it boiling hot. ↩︎
Gur Das’s Kadit. ↩︎
Another interpretation of Wahguru has been given already in the Life of Guru Amar Das. ↩︎
This is not now the case. ↩︎
Gur Das’s Kabit. ↩︎
War XXXV. ↩︎