Meditating on the feet of Sri Guru ji, it is like a strong tree. Love is the water; poetry, the flower, blossoming when watered. The great fruit is the collection of all wisdom.
Sri Bala Sandhur Vaach..
The Master travelled. The two of us were with him. He was the Ocean of Compassion who gave us the Gyaan in Kathas. The Govind, giver of Mukti, first went to Bhai Lallo ji. Bhai Lallo ji saw Guru ji and bowed to him. Love sprouted in his heart. He laid out a beautiful bed and had Guru ji sit on it with love. Bhai Lallo ji was thirsty for Amrit. He drank as much as he could from Guru ji’s Darshan. Guru ji stayed there for 5 nights and travelled on. Saying his name makes the sins go away. Bhai Lallo ji came very far to see Guru ji off. He was drenched in love; he didn’t want to go home. Guru ji insisted many times for him to go home. Bhai Lallo ji finally turned back. He meditated on the form of Guru Nanak Dev ji all the time.
Where the land of Dhakka, Bengal; where a lot of Mantras are said for magic, we all headed that way. Guru ji walked slowly and softly. Wherever there was a village along the way, we stayed there. We set off in the morning. After travelling for 3 days, we didn’t get any food from anywhere. I wasn’t hungry because Guru ji gave me the strength to withstand hunger. I was in bliss, day and night. Bhai Mardana ji was really hungry. He got anxious. Guru ji gave him the hunger to do a drama. Bhai Mardana ji was getting hungry and was getting angry. He didn’t say anything though. Without strength, he was losing patience. He became weak and felt pain. He thought to himself: “how will I stay in his Sangat? He doesn’t eat or drink anything. I think I will die like this in some place. He can stay without food, anywhere.” Sri Guru ji knew what Bhai Mardana ji was thinking. He was omniscient. He smiled slightly towards Bhai Mardana ji. Guru ji gives to all. Guru ji laughed and said: “what is your news? What do you wish to say? You are walking quietly and humbly. Your face was blossoming before but it looks like its wilting now.” Bhai Mardana ji said: “you are the Parmeshwar and the Master of the universe. You are never hungry nor thirsty. You never think about eating. How will I stay with you? It has been 3 days without food. I am getting anxious. I will die with sorrow and hunger. You don’t eat nor give me anything to eat.” The Mine of Virtues laughed out loud. Compassion was in his eyes. Guru ji said: “don’t worry. I won’t let you die. If you do die, I will make you alive again.” There was an Akk plant nearby. Guru ji looked at the plant and said: “take the fruits (Khakhris) and eat them. Your hunger will calm down.” Bhai Mardana ji said: “are you joking with me? These are poisonous. How will I eat them? I will die.” The Lotus bodied One said while smiling: “eat as many as you can. Don’t be greedy afterwards for more. Don’t keep anything with you either, oh wise one. As much hunger you have, satisfy it with these fruits. You will be in peace. You won’t be in pain. You won’t die. Obey my words. Eat.” Bhai Mardana ji heard this and obeyed. He ate the Akk fruits with joy. They were sweet. He broke them from the branch and ate them. They tasted better than Amrit. He filled his belly. He couldn’t stop but had no more room. I was with him as well. The greed did not stop. Bhai Mardana ji broke some fruit and tied them to his shirt. He broke as much needed for a whole day’s worth. He hid them from Guru ji.
The next day, Bhai Mardana ji was hungry again. He stayed quiet and took out the Akk fruit. As soon as he ate the fruit, he became anxious. He yelled out in pain: “I’m going to die!” He laid down on the ground and wagged his legs. He yelled: “Guru ji I’m going to die!” He rubbed his stomach. He sat up and squished his face. He didn’t say what he had done, out of embarrassment. He was in pain. He was upset. He was worried. He suffered. The Giver of joy to his Sikhs, Guru ji, saw Bhai Mardana ji’s painful state. Guru ji smiled and said to Bhai Mardana ji: “you kept the fruit with you, didn’t you? You became greedy. If you would have asked me about taking fruit there, you wouldn’t be in so much pain now. You should have asked me.” Bhai Mardana ji understood that Guru ji figured out what he had done. He said: “I did this due to my unwise nature. I didn’t know what was going to happen. I ate the fruit like it was before. I ate them and felt pain. I broke the fruit and hid them from you. I thought that I would eat them the next day.” There was another Akk tree there. Guru ji saw it and broke some of the fruit with his hands. He gave the fruit to Bhai Mardana ji to rid him of the pain. As soon as Bhai Mardana ji ate it, he felt at ease. He was happy. The pain was all gone. He folded his hands and bowed his head, many times. After this event, Guru ji and the two of us travelled on. Guru ji joked around with us about the situation. We had some good laughs recalling the events as we walked.
Guru ji spoke great wisdom. Our doubts were being dispelled. Guru ji walked slowly. It was a blissful walk. We saw villages go by. We stayed in the villages during the night. I saw Guru ji give wisdom to many and give them Mukti. It was amazing!
We soon reached Kavroo (Kamroop) and entered the land. Guru ji was in the form of a Dervish. In Kavroo, people did Mantras, Jantras and Tantras. The women did a lot of magic there. They were experts in those techniques. As we came into the city, Guru ji sat under the shade of a tree. We sat there for just under an hour when Bhai Mardana ji said: “oh Prabhoo ji, this is a very beautiful land. There are many beautiful trees here. Betelnut, Paan, Taal and Tamaal trees are here. Their leaves are big and green. Look how the branches are bending. The banana gardens are full of bananas. The men and women here dress differently. Please give me permission to go into the city. I will roam the city and find something to eat. I am hungry again. I don’t lie in front of you. I am really hungry.” Sri Guru ji said: “don’t go into the city, Mardana. Understand this. This is a place that will give you pain. Believe me. It’s not a place for you.” Bhai Mardana ji said: “you are trying to scare me. You didn’t go and eat anything yourself, nor did you give me anything to eat. I have been walking with you. How will I survive with you? I will die without food with you. How long can I tolerate the hunger? Please give me your command to go and find food. I will get food and come back quickly.” Guru Nanak Dev ji understood that he was determined to go. Guru ji said: “you have no patience. Alright. Go and see the city. I don’t want this wish of yours to remain unfulfilled. You desire food as well. Go and eat.” Bhai Mardana ji quickly got up and left. He didn’t know why he was being stopped.
Bhai Mardana ji was happy to see the city. He saw the beautiful women of the city. The women’s nature was of such: they had uprooted the tree of good deeds, along with the leaves and roots. They were like elephants who pulled the tree of their Karma. They wanted to pull Bhai Mardana ji’s tree of good Karma as well. The women kept their hair nice. They wore soorma in their eyes and did their makeup. They would take notice of foreigners coming into their land. They would say Mantras and possess their minds. They would never get tired indulging in acts of ill-repute with men. The women were of bad character. They had kept their husbands under their control with Mantras. They did bad deeds. When Baba Mardana ji came into the city, he went to a place to get food. There were beautiful women there who were looking at him. They spoke to others: “he’s mine!” Another said: “he’s my friend.” The third said: “I saw him first.” The fourth quickly got up and put a string around Bhai Mardana ji’s neck. She used her magic to turn Bhai Mardana ji into a lamb. Bhai Mardana ji’s human body turned into a lamb. He noticed that he was a lamb. The string was a magical one. The woman tied Bhai Mardana ji to a peg. The handsome Bhai Mardana ji was now ugly. He tried to jump. He was aware of what had happened to him but there was nothing he could do. He was tied up. He was upset and depressed. He thought to himself: “I didn’t know this was going to happen. I didn’t obey Guru ji. I have to suffer this pain now. I did this to myself. If someone doesn’t obey him, they will be in pain like me. This land is not mine. I lived in Talwandi but now I am stuck in this foreign land. Who will go and tell my Master of what happened to me? How will he know to come here? I can’t speak now. How can I tell him to save me? How will I be saved?” He thought to himself in this way. He thought of all this and became anxious. He then thought: “he is omniscient. He knows every heart. He will come to save me.” He thought of this in his heart. He looked in all the 10 directions, looking for Guru ji to come. He loved Guru ji’s feet.
After about 2 hours, Sri Guru ji said to me: “listen Bala, we should go and get Mardana.” The Giver of Joy got up, quickly. I said to him: “where are you going? Where is Mardana? Tell me, Compassionate One.” Guru ji said: “he has become a lamb by Mantras. He is tied to a peg.” I said: “oh Compassionate One, this is what should have happened to him. You stopped him but he didn’t listen. He quickly went to the city. I think you should leave him in pain for a little while. When he is in pain, you can save him then. He won’t disobey you again. He will understand this.” Guru ji said: “listen Bala, you are wise but I brought him with me. I need to take care of him. He loses his patience when he gets hungry. I have many tasks for him to do still. He is doing my Simran and is scared. Let’s go and save him quickly.” The complete Guru quickly went to save his servant.
I went with the Lotus face One to save Baba Mardana ji. He had turned into an ugly lamb. He saw Guru ji coming and started to jump in joy. He flared his nostrils and blew air. He scratched his hooves on to the ground. There was nothing else he could do. Guru ji saw Bhai Mardana ji and laughed out loud. The Compassionate One went to the door of the woman who possessed Bhai Mardana ji. She was pretty. She was dressed well and had her makeup done. The woman loved lust and was always looking for carnal pleasures. The women noticed someone coming to the door. There were 4 women sitting. 2 of them ran to the door. They had strings in their hands and spoke Mantras. They made their eyes dance and made sexual gestures with their bodies. They smiled and had joy in their hearts. One of the women tried to put a string around my neck but the vile woman turned into a lamb herself. The second woman ran towards Sri Guru ji to put a string around his neck. She became a dog, right away. She was going to disrespect the Complete Being. Only pain comes from this. The other women got scared and ran away. The dog and lamb, women, ran to their homes. Bhai Mardana ji was jumping around to get Guru ji’s attention. Guru ji said: “go Bala ji and break the string around Bhai Mardana ji’s neck.” I quickly went and broke the string. Bhai Mardana ji turned back into a human. He came to Guru ji and bowed to his feet. He said: “there are many big problems here. I am a simple person and don’t know the crocked ways.” Guru ji said: “listen to me Mardana: you didn’t listen to me and you did what you pleased.” They spoke some more.
The women who turned into the dog and the lamb, went to their husbands and pointed towards the direction of Guru ji. They couldn’t speak so they ran around frantically. The dog wagged her tail. The lamb jumped around. The husbands saw their wives as animals. They become worried and understood that a powerful saint had come: “our wives must have done a magical spell but it backfired. We hope the saint doesn’t leave them like this. We need to have them forgiven from the saint.” The husbands ran and bowed to my feet. They were humble. I said to them: “the Master is over there. Fold your hands and ask him for forgiveness. He can forgive the mistakes of the women.” The husbands ran to Guru ji and grabbed his feet. They said: “please don’t be angry for their mistakes. Saints are calm and cool. They are never angry at anyone. Our women were bad. They are unwise and desired lust, all the time. They received what they deserved. Sadhoos don’t have desires. They are never in sorrow or joy. These women are unwise and fools who disrespected a complete saint. They tried to possess you with their magic. They don’t know good from bad. They are always possessed with the desires for carnal pleasures. Please bless them oh Compassionate One. We take the shelter of your feet. Please turn them back into humans, as before. Forgive their sins. We know that you are the Parmeshwar.” Guru Nanak Dev ji said: “accept Gursikhi in your hearts. Make a Dharamsala here and say the name of Hari. Have love in your heart and let go of these sinful acts. Do the Seva of Sikh Saints. You will be well. You will not go to the Jumms then.” The men became humble and said: “we are under your command now. We won’t follow anyone else.” Guru ji said: “these women who do bad deeds, they deserve pain. You made requests to me with humility so I will make them back into humans.” As soon as Guru ji said this, the women turned into humans as they were before. The women saw Guru ji’s handsome form and regretted their actions.
Guru ji stayed the night in their home. He was fearless. He slept in peace. In the morning, the conches sounded in the Mandir. The ocean of Joy woke up. The people heard of Guru ji and came to Guru ji. They came with gifts and bowed to his feet. Guru ji gave them Charan Pahul and blessed them. Their sins were washed away and they had become fortunate. A Dharamsala was built soon. The people became coloured in the praise of Parmeshwar. Guru ji stayed there for 5 days and destroyed their sins. Guru ji then said: “I need to go on ahead.” The people folded their hands and said: “this place has come to be with your blessing. We were unwise and you gave us Prema Bhagti. You showed us the way to Mukti. You are the giver of joy and Mukti. You are the Prabhoo and the Saviour. Stay here for a few more days. You are the Supreme in this world. You are the highest. You give Mukti.” Guru ji said: “say Vahiguru with your mouths everyday. Make Karah Prashaad and do an Ardaas. Your wishes will be fulfilled. Have love for the Keertan of Hari. Spend the most time in the Satsangat with great beings. The filth of sins will be destroyed.” Guru ji gave them instructions and then headed on. Doing his Darshan makes one blessed. In this way, Guru ji gave wisdom and went on to another land. Guru ji headed towards Raja Shivnaab, to fulfill his wish. (This place was called Dhanpur. The people of Dhanpur asked Guru ji for something to remember him by. Guru ji gave them a spear, which the people did Pooja of everyday. The spear is still there till today.)