Reciting Japji Sahib, Guru Amardas ji walked backwards along with Gonda. His body was now old. He was weak. He had a short height but his radiance made him enormous, as he was now the whole universe’s support. After walking about 9 km, he bowed down like a long stick on the ground. He completed the recitation of Japji Sahib. He thought of Guru Angad Dev ji, the treasure of virtues, in his heart and did the “ashtanga parnaam.” He then faced Goindwal and fearlessly walked forward. He had the cane that was given to him by Guru Angad Dev ji, which he kept above his head as a sign of respect. He saw the swarms of ghosts ahead and began to wave the cane of Guru Angad Dev ji. A fire came from the cane which began to burn the ghosts. The ghosts couldn’t stand the heat, even for a second. (As the ghosts are a “jooni,” (beings that are born into, and die from) they also have families and households. According to Gurbani, the soul is born into the ghostly bodies as a punishment. Just as there are species within different types of beings, there are different types of ghosts as well: pisaach, prayt, bhoot, jinn, deo, daint etc. They have their own food and have their own items of use.) As the cane of the Guru was swung around, the ghosts were in pain and ran away. Their bodies were burning and they couldn’t gather their clothes in time. They didn’t wait for their son or father. The brothers left their brothers and ran. The husbands left their wives and ran away. Some fell to the ground, unconscious. They were in such a panic that they could no longer stay there. They were yelling and screaming. They were running away, fast. As Guru Amardas ji waved the cane, more fire would come from it. They folded their hands and said: “please leave us. Don’t kill us. We have been living here for a long time now so let us gather our things so we can leave. Please don’t wave that cane at us, it hurts us. We will leave from here right away.” All of the ghosts eventually ran away in a little while. Among the ghosts was a deovani (female deo) who was pregnant and about to give birth. She saw the panic with her eyes and got scared. She made a run for it as well, as she couldn’t find her husband. As she ran, she gave birth to two ghosts, which fell to the ground as she ran. She was running through the millet fields as her kids fell. The chopped stalk of the millet poked one of the kids in the eye. The kid’s eye was damaged. That ghost became the infamous “kana deo” and haunted the fort of Bathinda. Guru Gobind Singh ji made him run away from there when he got there. The other kid landed on its arm, which broke instantly. The deovani came back and quickly gathered the kids in her piece of cloth and ran off again. After many years, these two kids became famous ghosts. One haunted a place in Masoorpur and the other haunted a fort in Bathinda. In this way, the ghosts all ran away and left Goindwal forever.
Guru Amardas ji was left standing there alone and started to look around. It was a very beautiful place. He saw the Bipasha (Beas) flowing. The water was clear and the waves were majestic. Many types of birds were there, singing their songs. It was a very beautiful sight, just like the Ganga. On both sides of the river, there was soft sand. There was a road that went to Lahore on one end; and one that went to Delhi on the other. People would stop here, travelling to and from Delhi and Lahore. People boarded canoes to cross the river. The shores were beautiful and higher in elevation. Just as Guru Angad Dev ji had instructed, Guru Amardas ji said “Satnam” and sprinkled water all around the village. This was so the ghosts don’t come back here. Guru Amardas ji took the cane and dragged lines around the village. Guru Amardas ji then asked for sweets. Gonda was very happy seeing all this. The wise Guru Amardas ji then stood up and folded his hands. He did an Ardaas by saying the names of Guru Nanak Dev ji and Guru Angad Dev ji. He did Simran of the names of the Gurus. He offered the sweets to the Gurus in his Ardaas and distributed them to the Sangat. As he was instructed, he started digging and leveling the eastern portions of the village. He meditated on the feet of Guru Nanak Dev ji and broke the ground to begin digging. No ghosts ever came back, nor did the walls ever fall again. The houses that were attempted to be built before; the ghosts would tear down the walls. Now, they were left alone. Gonda was now extremely happy. Gonda spent a lot of money and called labourers and other tradesmen to come and build houses. Guru Amardas ji named the place after Gonda. He gathered everyone and told them that this place shall be known as “Goindwal.” After many houses were built, Guru ji decided to go see Guru Angad Dev ji.
Guru Amardas ji went back to Khadoor and bowed to Guru Angad Dev ji with the utmost respect and humility. He said to Guru ji: “as you commanded Guru ji, so the work has been done and the village is now established. The tradesmen are working to build the houses. Many houses have already been built.” Guru Angad Dev ji was very happy to hear that and said to Guru Amardas ji: “Purkha, listen to what I am about to say: call your whole family and take up residence in Goindwal. If anyone else wants to come live there, help them build their home and have them settle there. You will still be close to Khadoor, living in Goindwal. Go back to your village of Baasarke and meet your family with love. You have been here for many years now and did not go back to meet your family ever since. Go there immediately and take them to Goindwal to live there.”
Guru Amardas ji went to his village of Baasarke, as per Guru Angad Dev ji’s instructions and met everyone. He told them: “Guru ji is very happy with me and gave me great blessings. Guru ji has now commanded me to take my whole family and move to Goindwal. Let’s be quick and go there now. The place is beautiful and the houses are big.” Whoever listened to Guru Amardas ji, they all get ready and went with him to Goindwal and lived there happily. Guru Amardas ji would go to Khadoor from Goindwal to meet Guru Angad Dev ji. As he would return, he would walk backwards for 9 km. At the 9 km mark, he would stand and then bow towards Khadoor Sahib. He would then turn around and face his home to walk the rest of the way. Some of the Sikhs in the area told Kavi Santokh Singh ji that when Guru Amardas ji used to get water for Guru Angad Dev ji’s bath, he would walk backwards, leaving and walking forwards coming back. He would fetch the water from the Beas River. He would come to this point and bow and then face Goindwal when returning. He continued his seva in this way.
Purshooram ji did a great Tapasya. He did Tapasya for thousands of years in the jungle and attained to his Vishnu form. But even then, he was only able to get 4 of the powers of his real Vishnu form. He couldn’t attain to his full Avatar form of Vishnu, with 16 powers. (Ram Chander ji was born with 12 powers and later took 2 of Purshooram ji’s powers, leaving him with only 2. Ram Chander ji thus had 14 powers in total of the Vishnu form). In 11 years, Guru Amardas ji did seva and impressed the all-powerful Guru and become the all-powerful Avatar of Akaal Purakh with unlimited powers. He blessed thousands of people and saved their souls. The seva of the Satguru and the Satsang is of the highest kind. Doing this seva was more fruitful than thousands of years of Tapasya. Whoever, in the past, present or future, will do, or has done seva, with full faith and devotion, was or will be granted both: the pleasures of the world and the mukti from the cycle of birth and death.
The brothers of Guru Amardas ji, Guru ji’s son-in-law, Rama and Guru ji’s nephews, all came to live in Goindwal and built their houses. Other relatives came there as well and lived there happily. They were given a lot of respect and people followed them in many ways. They lived there in peace. Everyone was great and began to live with Guru Amardas ji in Goindwal. Satguru ji gave everyone hope and kept them with him.