Guru Angad Dev ji would spend a lot of time with the kids, teaching them the Gurmukhi script and getting them to wrestle. Guru ji would remain in a still state; free of pleasure and pain, joy or sorrow. He would preach the message of Sikhi. Many came to him for mukti. Such a person would be fortunate if they got the chance to serve the feet of Guru Angad Dev ji.
The history will now turn to the gem of the Bhalla clan, Guru Amardas ji. His history will now be written as how he came to meet Guru Angad Dev ji and did his seva. In the village of Baasarke, lived a person named Baba Tej Bhaan ji. Born in the house of Bhallas (the descendants of Bharat, the brother of Ram Chander ji), he was religious and very spiritual. Baba Tej Bhaan ji was without faults. He had four sons, of which Guru Amardas ji was the eldest. All of the sons would farm their land and Tej Bhaan ji would meditate and do the Simran of Akaal Purakh. He had all his sons married into good families and was living a peaceful life. All of the sons were busy in their own households, soon enough. After a long time, Tej Bhaan ji had grandkids from all of his sons. Guru Amardas ji stayed in his household for most of his life. One day he began to ponder about how fast life was going by. He figured he should start a business by travelling around and to visit holy places to wash his vices. He wanted to start getting involved in religious activities so his afterlife would be successful. Otherwise, he would have been caught up in worldly attachments and would have to face the pains of the world. Otherwise, it won’t be long when the Jumms would come to take the soul and then the dying person can only regret the time he/she wasted on futile things. He thought to himself: “it is the right time to go to holy places and do Tapasya. It is better to go in my youth. My body will be weak once I am old.” He made a plan to go to the Ganga, where sins can be washed away. He set a goal for himself to go to the Ganga by foot every six months. It was a distance of 400 km.
He would go to the Ganga and bathe in the river with great devotion. He would do it with great faith and not speak to anyone as he went. He would perform pooja and offer flowers at the shores of the Ganga. He would come in a state of humility and light incense and pour pataasay (sugar clumps) into the water and keep fasts. He had a great love in his heart and would say Jaikaras. He was without desire and totally selfless. He made many trips to the Ganga in his lifetime. He would make the purifying trip and wash his vices away. He destroyed all his vices as he travelled. He destroyed his desire, anger and greed. He would go with a clean heart. He went every 6 months. He would think of the Ganga while in his home. When he went for his 19th trip, his body had become old. He would do Simran on the way to the Ganga and call jaikaras out loud. On his twentieth trip, he took the path of Mihrda village. There, lived a famous Saarsut Brahmin from the Bhumbi subcaste, named Durga. The travellers would stay at his home to rest on the way to Ganga, or on their way back home. Guru Amardas ji stopped at Durga’s house. Durga would serve travellers with water and give them a place to rest. On Guru ji’s 20th trip, he stopped at Durga’s house and rested on one of the beds that Durga had laid out. Guru Amardas ji rested during the high heat of noon. Durga Pandit was a very educated Brahmin. He was educated in the six angas of the Vedas: of Kalp (rituals), Sikhya (phonology/pronunciation), Chands (prosody/poetic measures), Nirukt (etymology/explanation of words), Jyotish (astrology) and Vyakarana (grammar). He was knowledgeable of Samudrika Vidya (face/palm/aura reading) which is the highest form of Jyotish. He caught sight of Guru ji’s feet and being an expert in Jyotish, he saw the lines on the bottom of Guru ji’s feet. He saw the design of a lotus flower formed on the foot of Guru ji. He saw it from far away and then came close to Sri Amardas ji. He sat towards Guru ji’s feet and began to read his lines. Guru ji had lines that formed a lotus in his right hand and in his feet. Durga thought very deeply and noticed that this person was a very high level of an Avatar. This symbol is only in the feet of the Avatar of Vishnu or a very powerful King. “He is definitely an Avatar of Vishnu or a great king. No one else has this formation in their feet,” thought Durga. As Guru Amardas ji lay their sleeping, the Brahmin kept thinking that: “this was a great Avatar or a King that will win the world.” These were the most unique type of lines that he had ever seen. Sri Amardas ji woke up and got ready to leave. The Brahman came and sat down in front of him. He started looking at Guru ji’s face. Guru Amardas ji figured that the Brahman was looking for a donation. Guru ji took out some money from his pocket. “Here you go Pandit ji. This is a great place you have. You do a great service for travellers for letting them rest here. Keep up the seva that you do. The travellers to Ganga rest here. This is great karma you are doing. Saints come to your home and make it pure.” As Guru ji offered money, the Brahmin said: “I will not take this money from you. When you become great, I will take it from you then. Please promise me: when you achieve a great status you will give me this money. I will come see you.” Guru ji asked him: “Pandit ji, I only have a few acres of land and I farm it for a living. How can I become big? I’m a simple man that raises his kids with farming. I don’t have much. Why are you asking me to give you money later?” The Brahmin said: “I have read your lines and have determined that you will be a great being. You have not blossomed yet. Your time will come. The light of Akaal Purakh will come in to you. You are an Avaysha Avatar in which the light of Akaal Purakh will come to you, later in life. It is either that, or you will become an Emperor. I am 100% sure of this. My calculations have never been wrong. When you achieve this high status, I want you to give me whatever I ask for.” Guru Amardas ji laughed and said: “if your words are true, I will give you what you ask for, for sure. What you say: of being an Avatar or a King, I don’t know about that. I am a simple man. I come to the Ganga every 6 months and raise my family. But I will give you what you ask for.” Guru ji left Mihrda and travelled home.
On the way home, Guru ji stopped at another place where the Naths of Gorakh Nath lived. There was a Brahamachaari (celibate) that joined Guru ji along his travels. He was very educated and very religious. They talked about religious texts and had great company. They talked about spirituality and Akaal Purakh. They travelled together the whole time and rested the nights. They ate together the whole time and rested at the same time. The Brahmin wanted to go to Lahore. They soon reached Baasarke and Guru ji kept him at his house. The Brahamachaari rested there and was served well. During night time, they laid their beds out on the rooftop. They had very deep conversations about Bhagti. The Brahamachaari then asked: “who is your Guru and from where did you receive such great knowledge?” Guru ji responded: “I don’t have any Guru. I’ve been looking for a Guru for a long time but haven’t come across anyone. I haven’t received Dikhsha (initiation by a Guru, usually by a mantra given to the disciple) or served any Guru. I have a great wish to have a Guru one day.” The Brahamachaari was very upset and said: “you have destroyed my Tapasya and good karma. I have done a lot of Bhagti and visited holy sites, but my being in your company, all my good karma is gone. You are without a Guru and it is not good to be in such a person’s company or eat at their house who has no Guru. My Tapasya is all gone because of you. You are a senior and you don’t have a Guru? Why have you not found a Guru yet? This is a very bad thing you have done; that you do not have a Guru. Did anyone not tell you to have a Guru?” The Brahamachaari got up right away and left Guru ji’s home. Sri Amardas ji felt very bad after.
He couldn’t think of anything else; he would only think about getting a Guru. He was determined to find a Guru. He prayed to Akaal Purakh all the time that Akaal Purakh would take pity on him. “You are the giver of the poor. From your feet came the holy Ganga. I served the Ganga for many years without any desire. I have full faith in the Ganga. If I can receive something in return for serving the Ganga, I would like to receive this fruit, this reward: having a Guru. Akaal Purakh, you know the desires of every heart. Who else can I ask this boon from?” This wish would worry Guru ji all day long. He would wonder when he would receive a Guru. He would pray to Ganga: “oh mother of Bheesham Pitamah, you are the holiest of all holy sites and fulfill everyone’s wishes. You were brought from Brahamlok by the Bagheerath King. (Bagheerath did Tapasya. Ganga saved 60,000 people in Bagheerath’s family.) The Devatas bathe in your waters and you wash everyone’s sins. You give everyone peace and are the queen of the world. Your flow cannot be stopped by anyone. Please fulfill my wish and help me meet a Guru.” Sri Amardas ji would sing the glories of the Ganga and do his Ardaas everyday. Night fell and Guru ji went to sleep. The next day, he had no hunger to eat food. He was depressed and did not want to eat or drink anything. The next night, he stayed awake all night and kept thinking. He only had one wish and prayed to Akaal Purakh and Ganga all the time. He would keep singing their praises and shedding tears. He didn’t know where the Guru was, nor who he was, nor what his name was, but he was remembering the Satguru. He prayed to the Satguru ji: “Guru ji, wherever you are, please come meet me. You are omnipresent and exist above time. Satguru ji, you are everywhere. Please listen to my plea and come see me yourself. I don’t know who and where you are. I don’t know how to see if a Guru is complete or fake. I do not have that wisdom. Please come see me and hold my hand so that I may have a Guru.” Sri Amardas ji would pray to the Satguru, constantly. He had no will to eat, drink or sleep. He would take deep breaths. He was now old but still went to the Ganga. He was filled with love but worry as well. He thought: “either I want to die or either I want the complete Satguru. My life is useless without the Satguru. Nothing of mine is done or complete unless I meet the True Guru. Even if I receive the kingdom of the world or the kingdom of heaven, without the Guru, it is all useless. The tapp, fast or visitation of holy sites is useless without the Satguru. The pleasures of the heavens are useless. If the Satguru gives me wisdom, all my Tapasyas will be fruitful and my pain will be gone. I will attain to the Satguru for sure, otherwise, I will not eat or drink.”