A man came to Anandpur from far away, from Multan. His name was Dulich Chand, but everybody called him Dulcha, and his job was to collect the offerings that Sikhs sent to Guru Ji from all over the country and carry them safely in.
Now, on the way, a very rich merchant called Bhai Roopa Ji had given Dulcha a great pile of things to bring. Pearls. Gold coins. And a pair of gold bangles with jewels set into them, made small, the size of Guru Ji's own wrist, sent with a message of love.
And somewhere on that long road, Dulcha's mind began to talk to him.
Nobody is counting, it said. Keep a few pearls. Keep some of the coins. And those bangles are so pretty. Who would ever know?
There was one more thought underneath all of that, and it was the worst one. Guru Ji is only a child, thought Dulcha. What does a child know about pearls?
So he wound the gold bangles up inside his turban and put the turban on his head and walked into Anandpur, and gave up the rest of what he carried, and sat down in the sangat feeling quite safe.
The next day the kirtan was sung and the parshad was given out. It was an ordinary morning. No visitors, nobody new, only the same people who came every day, and the hall was full.
Guru Gobind Singh Ji had been sitting with his eyes shut. Now he opened them.
Where is Dulcha? he said.
Dulcha came and stood in front of him with his hands folded.
Well, sir, said Guru Ji. What have you brought me?
Everything I brought, said Dulcha, I put at your feet the same day I arrived.
But what have you brought me yourself? said Guru Ji.
I gave what little I had, said Dulcha.
No gift from some loving Sikh somewhere? said Guru Ji. Have another think. Nothing you might have forgotten? Look, my hands are bare.
And Dulcha, who should have gone very quiet at that moment, said the thing he had been thinking the whole way from Multan. You are teasing me, he said, the way children tease.
The whole sangat went still.
Then Guru Ji stood up, reached over, and pulled the turban off Dulcha's head.
Down it came. And out of it, onto the floor in front of everybody, rolled a pair of small gold bangles with jewels set into them.
One of the Sikhs picked them up and laid them at Guru Ji's feet.
Dulcha stood there with his head bare. He picked up his turban. He put it back on. Then he went down at Guru Ji's feet and out it all came.
Forgive me, he said. It was my own pride that tricked me. I told myself that because I collect the money and hand it over, I must be somebody important. And I told myself you were too young to know. Somebody warned me only yesterday. Wake up, he said, or you will fall. I did not understand him. Today I have fallen.
I am greedy and blind and full of faults, said Dulcha, and you are the image of Guru Nanak Dev Ji himself. Please forgive me.
Bhai Hardita Ji, whose heart was soft, spoke up for him at once. O Magnificent, he said. Forgive him.
And Guru Ji said: The house of Guru Nanak Dev Ji is always a house of forgiveness.
Then he made Dulcha stand up and tell the whole sangat the story he had been carrying, the story of Bhai Roopa Ji who had sent the gifts, and how the Lord had helped Bhai Roopa Ji when he was once wrongly accused of being a thief.
And Dulcha told it, and then told the rest too, because it was easier now. Fifty-eight pearls, he said. Twenty-six gold coins. Kept back at home. And the bangles in my turban.
Guru Ji listened to all of it.
This wealth pulls people in, he said, and traps them. Spend it on something useful. The country is suffering and the people have lost heart.
Go. You are forgiven.
And then, to the rest of them, so that Dulcha could hear it: nobody is to bring this up again, ever, or say one word to him about it. I have forgiven him.
Wealth is not the bad thing, said Guru Gobind Singh Ji. Wanting it is the bad thing.