Panipat
After blessing Nanu at Kurukshetra, as also many more people, Guru Ji traveled towards the west and reached Panipat. He stayed near a well on the outskirts of the town.
Soon, a disciple of a holy man came to fetch water from the well. This disciple's name was Sheikh Tahir but people called him Sheikh Tatihari.
When, he saw Guru Ji and Mardana Ji sitting near the well, he was much impressed. From, the dress he could judge that they are saints and he saw the radiance on Guru Ji's forehead. He thought him to be a Muslim saint. So, he came near, bowed down and said: 'O Lord-sent, Salute to you'. The benevolent Guru Ji looked towards him and said: 'Salute to the Lord' who is invisible and formless. Greetings with folded hands to the holy man.
Sheikh Tahir was bewildered that this saint has not returned the salute. The reply should have been 'salute to you'. The saint did not say that. Instead he said, salute to the Lord. He is no doubt right in his own way, but is it not being too bold to go against the usual norms? Let me go and tell my mentor that today I have come across a saint who has not returned the salute. He says: Salute to the Lord. In this deliberation he came to his mentor's house.
His mentor was Sheikh Sharaf HI. He was on the 3rd seat of Sheikh Sharaf whose original name was Abu Ali Qalander, but people called him Sheikh Sharaf. He was a highly respected intellectual saint in Mohammedan circles. This saint was also called Sheikh Sharaf.
He told his mentor: Today, one saint has come and he has turned down the 'Salute to you' and speaks in his own way. I saw the radiance on his godly face and said: 'Salute to you' but he turned down my salute.
Sheikh Sharaf asked: What did he say?
Sheikh Tahir: 'Salute to the Lord' who is invisible and formless and greetings to the holy man.
Sheikh Sharaf thought: No Mohammedan would return the Salute like that, being afraid of his own Muslim priests and no Hindu is so bold to do that. This saint must be a big saint and a real saint. Then, he said to Sheikh Tahir: O child, he has saluted the Lord to guide you that one should always be in remembrance of the Lord. He seems to be a big saint Come, let us go and have his glimpse.
Then, Sheikh Sharaf got ready and accompanied by Sheikh Tahir came to the well where Guru Nanak Dev Ji was staying.
The holy man saluted him and Guru Ji replied in the same way as before. Then, Sheikh Sharaf asked: From where do you come?
Guru Ji said: From here only.
Sheikh Sharaf (impatiently): Is 'I and me' your paraphernalia? Then, Guru Ji replied: The ego of 'I and me' has vanished. Then, Sheikh Sharaf said: If I ask any questions, will you reply? Guru Ji: You are welcome to ask.
Sheikh Sharaf: I cannot judge from your dress. You look to be a saint but you have not shorn your hair. You have renounced your home and family and become a recluse but you have not shaved. What sect do you belong to?
Guru Ji: Saintliness or religiousness is in controlling the mind, not in shaving the body. Without controlling the mind, one cannot be on the path of saintliness or religiousness. Controlling the mind is, that one should surrender his mind to Guru Ji and what the guru says, keep that in his mind. Our mind keeps us in ego, which takes us into selfishness. Ego teaches us to bother for ourselves and not bother about others. For this reason only, there is envy, enmity and suffering in the world.
Guru Ji's words will teach us to see the Lord as our father and the people as our brothers. The effect of going by Guru Ji's words will be that one will consider everyone as his brother and himself a younger brother. One should be a seeker of the Lord and imbibe the words of Guru Ji. Going by Guru Ji's words, one will have peace of mind and will give happiness to others. Then, one will realize that Guru Ji's words are really giving peace to the mind. Then, one will remain steadfast on Guru Ji's words and become a saint. But it is rare to find such an ideal saint This ideal saint wins over the ego of 'I and me'.
Then, the holy man said: The dress that you are wearing, what religion does it denote?
Then, Guru Ji said: The real dress of a saint is to become a disciple of Guru Ji and remain in the incessant remembrance of the Lord and to deviate the mind from wandering towards the Lord by recitation of His name. Then, the Lord's name will settle in the mind and give ecstasy. The individual soul will immerse in the Supreme soul. The sufferings will vanish. I have put on this dress and my desires have vanished. This dress has given elevation to my mind and I am in ecstasy.
Then, the holy man asked: What does this loincloth that you are wearing denote?
Guru Ji: To imbibe the words of Guru Ji in the mind, to rein the five senses, to keep away from the worldly desires, to control the body passions, to remain in remembrance of the Lord. One who has worn this loincloth gets out of the cycle of births and deaths. By the blessings of Guru Ji, the mind turns towards the Lord and becomes elevated. The mind gets a sensation of the Lord. One gets ecstasy.
Then, the saint asked: You are not wearing shoes. What does this indicate?
Then, Guru Ji smiled and said: Forgetf ulness of the Lord is the darkness. Remembrance of the Lord is the light. A seeker of the Lord should remain in the incessant remembrance of the Lord.
One should have forbearance, like the tree standing in rain, fire, summer heat, and cold winter. One should bear the suffering of the world. One should not do evil to anyone.
One should remain nice like the river. Whether one throws a flower or a stone at it, it flows on doing goodness to all.
One should churn his mind with the Lord's name. As the yogurt is churned and butter comes out, similarly, churning the mind with the Lord's name gives ecstasy. The Name settles in the mind and gives a sensation of the presence of the Lord in the body. Anybody who becomes a saint without remembering Him in his mind and heart is not a saint.
On listening to this, the saint again asked: What practice will he do? What will be his manner of living? What rituals will he do? What dress will he wear?
Then, Guru Ji said: O saint, to become a real saint requires proper understanding. Saintliness is not in dresses and rituals. One should detach
one's mind from the worldly entanglements of envy, enmity, desires and passions and attach one's mind to the Lord. One should rein the mind and control the passions and vices. Imbibe humility and bear the ego of others and remain humble. One should discard one's ego and fall at the Lord's feet in humility.
Then, Guru Ji prayed: O Lord, such a saint, who has tied his mind only to your feet, can give salvation to others.
Again, he said: The saint should be above happiness, sadness, anger, selfishness, greed, for whom being rich or poor is equal, who has respect for the rights of others, who distinguishes between right and wrong, who should desire the Lord only and not desire anything else, whose heart is in the love of the Lord, whose mind is elevated, who is immersed in the Lord's love, who has the sensation of the Lord in his mind, heart and body. Nobody can write or say the praise of such a saint. It is indescribable.
Now, Mardana Ji played the rebeck and sang a divine song.
On listening to the divine song, the saint got dyed in the Lord's love.
Where the intellect cannot reach, the intellectual mind tries to reach but it cannot. Because the intellectual mind is instrumental only to keep the man living and prospering in this world.
But something that is beyond the intellectual mind where the mind gets ecstasy, the Sheikh got the sensation of the Lord. His mind got ecstasy and rapture.
When his mind came back from this ecstasy into intellectualness, then, he said: You are immersed in the love of the Lord. Even your glimpse gives ecstasy. Then, the Sheikh kissed Guru Ji's hands and kissed Guru Ji's feet. Guru Ji blessed him with the Lord's name.
Then, Guru Ji and Mardana Ji departed.
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