The Guru thence proceeded to Saran and thence to Nautheha. The inhabitants of the latter village prayed him to leave them. He then went to Tahlian Fatah Sammun, a village about twenty miles soutl.west of Muktsar, where he was welcomed.
Some Sikhs from Harike came to him with an offering of a lungi and a khes. The Guru put the khes on his shoulders and tied the lungi round his loins, Man Singh remonstrated and reminded him of his own prohibition of the wearing of a lungi in this fashion, and said he was liable to a fine. The Guru replied, ‘I am dressed according to the custom of the country. Jeha des teha bhes ; ter lungi modhe khes—Every country hath its own dress ;[1] a lungi for the loins and a khes (shawl) for the shoulders.’
The Guru feeling his insecurity asked that a guard should be provided for him. The warlike Sikhs put some Dogars on guard. The Guru intended to [ p. 218 ] of the money which his pious follower had brought him.
A Muhammadan faqir called Brahmi (Ibrahim), who lived on a neighbouring mound, came to the Guru with offerings, and asked to be baptized. The Guru expressed his satisfaction at the proposal. ‘Thou art the first Moslem to be baptized according to my rites. If any Moslem, whether of high or low position, in good faith desire to join the Khalsa, it is proper that he should be baptized and received into our community. The Muhammadan was accordingly baptized and received the name Ajmer Singh.[2]
The Guru thence went to the village of Sahib Chand and thence to Kot Bhai. On his way he baptized several people. From there he proceeded to Rohila and then to Bambiha, where he remained nine days. Thence he returned to Bajak.
When the Guru was in the neighbourhood of Maluka and Kotha, one of the sect called Diwanas (madmen),. who attempted forcible access to him, was cut down by his sentry. While the Guru was in Bajak, Ghudda, the Diwanas’ spiritual guide, sought to avenge the death of his follower, and accordingly sent fifty men of his sect to assassinate the Guru. On learning, however, that the Guru had a strong body-guard, forty-eight of them turned back and only two, Sukkhu and Buddha, proceeded to the Guru. They carried no weapons, but whiled away their time on the journey with the music of a sarangi. On reaching the Guru instead of trying to kill him they began to play and sing for him. They sang among others the following verses :—
The soul resideth in a frail body. Parents are not for ever, nor doth youth abide. We must all march onwards : why should man be proud ? The Guru was much pleased with them, and they [ p. 219 ] were equally pleased with him. To show their satisfaction and the pleasure they felt in his company, they took up his bed on their shoulders, and carried it for more than a mile. The Guru gave them a square rupee, and told them to preserve it in memory of him and promised that they should obtain whatever their hearts desired.
The Guru then proceeded to Jassi Baghwali and thence towards Talwandi Sabo, now called Damdama, in the Patiala state, halting on the way at a place called Pakka. In Talwandi Sabo resided his friend Dalla, who asked him why he had not previously applied to him for assistance against .the treacherous Muhammadans. He.said he could have saved the Guru much suffering. Here the Guru met some Sikhs who had come from Lahore with a musket as an offering. He asked Dalla for two men to serve as targets to make trial of the weapon. All who heard him thought he was insane and made no reply. The Guru then saw two Ranghreta Sikhs and invited them to submit to the trial. When the Guru called them they were tying on their turbans, but, so eager were they to please him, that they went before him with their turbans only half-bound, and vied with each other as to who should first be the subject of his experiment. The Guru said he only wanted one of them, and further explained that he merely desired to prove. the cowardice and disloyalty of. Dalla’s soldiers, and show that, had they been with him in Anandpur, they would have deserted him in the hour of danger.
The Guru’s wives Mata Sundari and Sahib Kaur here joined him in his wanderings. They wept copiously on hearing the fate of the young children. The Guru endeavoured to console them, and said, * Ajit Singh, Zorawar Singh, Jujhar Singh, and Fatah Singh have been sacrificed for their religion and obtained eternal life, so why should the mothers of such heroes. lament? Lo! the whole world is [ p. 220 ] transitory. There is first childhood, then youth which diminisheth day by day, and at last old age, when the body perisheth. In the presence of God what is old age, what childhood, and what youth ? They are all the same—equally of short duration. The more we love our bodies, the more sufféring we endure. Love:for the body is meaningless. Only those who apply it to good works profit by their lives. Your sons have gone with honour to where bliss ever abideth. Having performed the work of the immortal God they have now returned to Him. Therefore accept God’s will as the best and most advantageous portion. Instead of your sons I present you with my Sikhs as a brave and worthy offspring.’
Dayal Das, a grandson of Bhai Bhagtu, came from Bhuchcho to visit the Guru. The Guru wished to baptize him, but he refused, saying he was a Sikh of the ancient fashion and wished to remain so. Ram Singh, a great-grandson of Bhai Bhagtu, came from Chakk Bhai to invite the Guru to go and stay with him. The Guru promised that he would go some day, and requested him to hold his house*in readiness to receive him.
The woman Bhago who remained with the Guru after the battle of Muktsar, in a fit of devotional abstraction tore off her clothes and wandered half naked in the forest. The Guru restrained her, gave her the kachh or Sikh drawers, and allowed her again to wear man’s costume. She attained a good old age, and died in Abchalanagar (Nander) revered by the Sikhs as a saint.
While the Guru was in Talwandi Wazir Khan sent a peremptory note to Dalla to surrender him, or he would dispatch an army and put them both to death. Dalla replied that the Guru was his lie, and he could not part with him. If Wazir Khan sent an army, the Guru and Dalla would go into the recesses of the forest, where, even if an army [ p. 221 ] penetrated, it would perish for want of water. In fine Dalla manfully and courageously stated that he intended the Guru should reside with him for ever.
One day the Guru, probably not wishing to compromise his friend Dalla, said he would like to see the old fort of Bhatinda which had been founded by Binaipal. He first, however, in pursuance of his promise went to visit Ram Singh at Chakk Bhai. Ram Singh informed Dayal Das of the Guru’s visit, and suggested to him to prepare dinner for him in Bhuchcho. He did so, but the Guru refused his hospitality and proceeded to Bhagtu on his way to Bhatinda. The Guru took up his residence on the top of the fort where now is a small temple dedicated to him.
At night some Baloches sang of Sassi and Punnu. Sassi-had been brought up by a washerman. Punnu was a Baloch merchant who came to the Panjab with merchandise for sale. He met Sasst, fell in love with her, and remained with her, until his brother came and took him forcibly away by night. Sassi at daybreak hearing of his abduction followed him, and on arriving at a sandy desert was so overcome by the heat that she expired. The poet represented that she had entered the earth in quest of Punnu. Next day the Guru took occasion to expatiate on love. He said, ‘Men may perform devotion and penance for hundreds of thousands of years, but it would be all in vain without the love of God.’
The Bairars told the Guru a legend regarding the founding of Bhatinda. One day, as Binaipal was hunting, he saw a wolf and a goat struggling. The goat was trying to save her young from the wolf. On the very spot where the struggle between the two animals took place Binaipal caused the fort to be erected. The Bairars told the Guru that there was a subterranean passage between Bhatinda and Bhatner in Bikaner. The chroniclers do not state [ p. 222 ] who was in possession of the fort when visited by the Guru.[3]
The Guru thence proceeded to Samma and thence returned to Talwandi Sabo. There his friend Dalla again met him. Dayal Das had been following the Guru for some time to present him with the sacred food he had prepared for him, and thus secure the Guru’s pardon. On arriving at Damdama Ram Singh, who was in the Guru’s service, interceded for Dayal Das, and the Guru was pleased to restore him to his friendship.
Wazir Khan sent another letter to Dalla to arrest the Guru, or he would plunder his country and put him to death without mercy. Dalla replied, ‘O viceroy, I fear thee not, however much thou threatenest me with thine army. Having destroyed it, the Guru and I will retire into the forest where thou shalt: have no power over us, and whence thou shalt have to return when thy troops have perished of hunger and thirst. I will by no means have the Guru arrested to please thee. Nay, I will defend him with my life.’
Zabardast Khan, the Viceroy of Lahore, plundered a party of Sikhs who were going to make offerings to the Guru. Wazir Khan, the viceroy of Sarhind, plundered another party going on the same errand. The Guru then repeated his exhortation to his Sikhs to wear arms and diligently practise their use. In the early days of Sikhism it was different. At that time the Guru’s teaching was to remember the true Name and not annoy anybody. Farid said, ‘ If any one strike thee with his fists, strike him not back.’ With such teaching, the Guru said, the Sikhs had become faint-hearted and ever suffered defeat. Now that the times had altered, and the Sikhs were obliged to defend themselves, he had established the [ p. 223 ] Khalsa, and whoever desired to abide in it should not fear the clash of arms, but be ever ready for the combat and the defence of his faith. At the same time the Name was still to remain the chief object of the Sikhs’ adoration.
Although the Guru allowed his Sikhs to adopt the dress of every country they inhabited, yet they must not wear hats but turbans to confine the long hair they are strictly enjoined to preserve. They must also put on a kachh (drawers), but over it they may wear trousers. ↩︎
Suraj Parkash, Ayan I, Chapter xviii. ↩︎
There is a tradition in Bhatinda that the fort was partially destroyed by Shahab-ul-Din Ghori during his campaign for the recovery of the Panjab. ↩︎