The next day, Sri Satguru Angad Dev ji was sitting in Sangat, blessing all his Sikh servants. He gave everyone, rich or poor, the blessing to be in his divine presence. That same day, a person named Gonda Khatri came. He saw Guru ji and bowed his head. He folded his hands and said: “Sri Guru ji, I have heard of your glories from a lot of people. The wise ones sing your glories. The life forms that can be seen and the ones that can’t be seen, they are all under your command. My village is in ruins, as it is inhabited by ghosts. There are many types of deos, jinns, demons and prayts (types of ghosts) that live there. They are destroying the area and doing many bad things there. There are thousands and thousands of prayts living there. They roam around the area and don’t let humans live there. They seem to be growing in numbers. We construct walls to build homes during the day, thinking we will put the roof in the next day. Overnight, the hideous looking prayts break the walls. Many times, have I tried to establish the village but the ghosts kill or scare away the people. Please bless my village by going there. Once your feet come to the village, the ghosts will go away. I will give you all the land you need. You can build your home there and there will be no muzahum (tax) on that land. Please come and establish that village.” Sri Guru Angad Dev ji heard Gonda’s plea and spoke in Sangat: “tell me exactly, and truthfully, why and how did this all happen? Since when did the prayts come to live there? How did the village come to ruins? Sit down and tell us the whole story. Your wishes will be fulfilled.” Gonda heard Guru ji’s words and spoke: “Sri Satguru ji, I’ll tell you what happened. My relatives and I were in conflict for my land. My cousins disputed the claim to my land. We had many fights regarding the land and many people tried to resolve the conflict. We went to the Delhi court to settle this. After listening to the arguments, a situation arose over a point where the hakims (magistrates) said that whoever can swear upon their dharma will win this case, over that particular statement. When I heard that, I was ready to swear upon my dharma. I lied though. I won the case. I was happy and became the owner of the land. When I came back to my land, the prayts saw that I had lied to win the land and that I had falsely sworn on my dharma. The prayts all came to that land. My sin was seen by the prayts. They came from many far-off lands and came to destroy the place. They scared away the people. They began to live there in the thousands. Many live there now and people are afraid to come into the village. This was a big sin that I had done by swearing and lying under oath. Guru ji, only you can help me now. Please purify my village.” Guru Angad Dev ji then thought in his heart: “my sons are egotistical and I need to break their ego. They don’t listen to me but want the Guru Ghuddi. The Guru Ghaddi only goes to the servant. Whoever stays under the Guru’s command is eligible for the Guruship. My sons are jealous of Guru Amardas ji and will continue to grow their hatred towards him. They do not see their own faults. Many other Sikhs are on Dasu’s side to receive the Guruship. He is my son but does not obey my command. I will test them in front of everyone.” Thus Guru ji decided to test his sons in front of everyone. He called Baba Dasu ji, the eldest son and said to him: “Dasu, my son, go with Gonda Khatri to his village. There are ghosts there. Help him establish his village.” Baba Dasu ji responded to his father’s command: “I will not go! How can I live amongst ghosts? Khadoor is my village. I shall stay here and not go to Goindwal. You are sending me to a place where people cannot live. Everyone is leaving from there. I cannot go there. It is too hard to live there. I have heard the ghosts there are very strong and they are too many in numbers. Any walls that are built there, are destroyed. They scare everyone away. How shall I build a house there? What am I going to do there when I have everything I need, here?” After listening to Baba Dasu ji’s refusal, Guru ji asked Baba Dattu ji: “your brother is not going. Listen to my command and go. Gonda is requesting us to go. Get up and do this favor for him. Scare all the ghosts away. You go and establish his village.” Baba Dattu ji responded: “listen Pitha ji, I live in Khadoor. What do I need to go to his village for? I listen to Kirtan here. What do I need to go there for? People come here to fulfil their wishes. If someone else comes with the same wish, how many times will you move? What do we care if a village is established or in ruins? Are you looking to establish us or ruin us?” Guru ji heard both of his sons and then looked towards Guru Amardas ji. He said to him: “Purkha, you go there where the ghosts live, and establish a beautiful village. That village will be a heaven of Guru Keerat (glory of the Guru). This will be the dimension of the Guru.” Guru ji’s whole sentence didn’t even finish that Guru Amardas ji was ready to go. He tied a kumerkassa (cummerbund) and got ready. He folded his hands and asked: “how should this new village be established? I will establish it the way you wish to establish it.” Guru ji said: “on the east side of the village, start digging there and level the ground for building houses. Build houses there.” Guru Angad Dev ji used to carry a cane. He took that cane, filled it with all his powers and blessings, and gave it to Guru Amardas ji. He said to him: “take this cane and wherever you wave this, the ghosts will fear it and run away. None of the ghosts will remain there. Wherever your feet will go, the impure land will become pure. Find a good portion of land and make your permanent house there too. Other people will come, seeing you build your house. This Gonda Khatri is very rich. He will make many big houses there. Name the village after him. Make beautiful houses for people to live there. Call your family and relatives to live there as well. Both Dattu and Dasu did not obey my command. They are afraid of ghosts and do not realize the power of the Guru’s house or Guru’s Bani. They do not have faith in the Guru. They believe that they do things. They do not know that it is the Guru that does everything. They have fear in their hearts. The architect and actioner are both the Guru, the true Karta Purakh (the doer).” After giving Guru Amardas ji instructions, he sent him off with Gonda.
Guru Amardas ji headed towards Goindwal and took the plant of love in his heart. Faith is the berm, the basin, which stores the water of love to feed the plant. He listened to every command of the Guru. This is the water that will nourish the plant. The bark of the plant is the daily meditation of the Guru. The root is the Bhagti, which goes deeper. Sat (truth), Santokh (contentment), Daya (compassion), Dharam (duty) and Dheeraj (patience) are the branches of this plant of love. The knowledge of the self is the fruit of this plant. The nectar of bliss is achieved with this plant. The love increases everyday. Guru Amardas ji’s love grew. He obeyed the command but he began to shed tears as he was going away from the Guru. He bowed to the feet of the Guru and washed the feet of the Guru with his tears. Guru Amardas ji was leaving the Guru after many years. He felt the pain of separation. Guru Angad Dev ji consoled Guru Amardas ji by placing his hand on his head and back. He said: “go to this new place and I will be with you, by your side.” As Guru ji left Khadoor, he faced the Guru and walked backwards. He folded his hands, faced towards the Guru, and walked backwards towards the boundaries of Khadoor.
This is how the Guru tested his sons. There was now no doubt left in the hearts of the Sikhs that only the servant becomes the Guru. Guru Amardas ji did the most seva and impressed the Guru. The Guru Parmeshwar is only won by seva and by the growth of devotion. Whoever discards their ego and serves the Guru, why wouldn’t the Guru listen to them and be on their side? Whoever rejects the world and only meditates on the Guru, they are worthy of the Guru Ghuddi. The sons were egotistical about their father being the Guru. They did not have faith and love for the Guru. They only saw their father. This was the same that happened with Guru Nanak Dev ji. Guru Nanak Dev ji gave the Guru Ghuddi to his servant, Bhai Lehna ji, Guru Angad Dev ji. Baba Sri Chand ji and Lakhmi Das ji did not get it. This is what happened to Guru Angad Dev ji. Everyone now knew that the Guru Ghaddi was going to go to Guru Amardas ji. The Sikhs would talk about this and understood this: “Guru Sahib does what is best.”