A Sikh named Teeratha Sabharwal came to Guru Ramdas ji. He bowed to Satguru ji and sat down with the wish of Mukti in his heart. He said to Guru ji: “Sri Guru ji, I have come to you for the wisdom of Mukti. Whoever has heard the words from your mouth, their sins were washed away and their minds were calm.” Sri Guru Ramdas ji gave him wisdom, saying: “there is no other virtue bigger than “truth.” The form of the Parmeshwar is Truth as well. If you speak and think the Truth, you will merge with Parameshver. You will get the happiness of both worlds. The Devatas will respect and worship you. The Satguru is always with the person who speaks the Truth. The Truth is the greatest virtue. The great wisdom is to be analysed and the Truth should be said and thought. There is more wisdom to this as well: if saying the truth causes harm to someone, one should not say anything at all. I will tell you an example about this so you can understand this better: there was a Sadhoo that was sitting near the door of a king’s palace. He had been sitting there for many months, doing Simran. The king’s son got married. The new bride came to live in the palace. There was a great celebration in the palace as they came back. The house of the prince, that was newly married, was close by. During the first night, the bride was not able to go to sleep, as it was a new place for her. Near the pillow of the prince, there was a very expensive Kataar. The princess took the Kataar out of its sheath and started to look at it. She had it in her hand and noticed that it was very sharp. The prince was asleep, directly below. The Kataar fell from her hand by accident and fell on top of the prince’s stomach. It stabbed him deeply in his abdomen by which the prince died right away. Since the princess didn’t know the prince very well, as it was her first day with him, she wasn’t really attached to him. The princess got worried. She figured that if everyone found out what had happened, she would be in deep trouble. She decided to blame the prince’s death on someone else. As everyone came into the room in the morning and saw the dead body of the prince, the princess said: “there is a Sadhoo sitting outside, he came here last night and killed my husband with the Kataar. Now he is posing as a Sadhoo.” The king heard this and cried. The king ordered his soldiers to arrest the Sadhoo. The soldiers arrested the Sadhoo and brought him to their jail. They tortured him and punished him. The Sadhoo held on to his not-guilty plea and did not accept the crime. The king along with the ministers began to think about the situation. The ministers said: “if we kill the Sadhoo, that won’t bring the prince back. Let’s cut off his hand he used to kill the prince. He will see his hand and think about what he did and will be in pain the rest of his life.” The king agreed and the Sadhoo’s hand was cut off. The Sadhoo, bleeding and in pain left the palace. He wondered: “why did this happen to me? There is always justice in Prabhoo’s court. This was a great injustice that I was punished for a crime I didn’t do.” He was worried and upset at what happened to him. He heard about a Brahmin that lived in Kanshi, Banaras, that could speak about different lives in previous births. He had the knowledge of previous Karmas as he had studied a Granth named Karam Vipaak Granth. He could give the reason of pain and pleasure for all Karma.
The Sadhoo went to Kanshi to find the Brahmin. He soon arrived at his home and saw that the Brahmin wasn’t at his home. He met his wife instead and asked her where the Pandit was. The wife of the Brahmin was a very angry person and said to him: “where is that lazy person going to go? He’s probably somewhere close by. What do you want with him?” The Sadhoo was amazed to see such a rude person. He wondered if the Pandit was good at all: “I heard the Pandit is very generous but his wife swears at his name. I’ll wait for the Pandit by his door.” The Sadhoo sat by his door. The Pandit soon came and greeted the Sadhoo. The Sadhoo told the Pandit his story. He also told him how the Pandit’s wife behaved with him. He said: “I asked about you and she swore at me and you.” The Pandit ji brought him inside and said: “let me tell you your story first. I’ll tell you my story after. The reason why you are here: in your previous birth, you were a Brahmin and sat cross-legged near a river, after taking a bath. You were doing Simran with a Mala with one hand, with the arm elevated. After a while, a scared cow crossed in front of you, running away. After the cow, came a bad butcher. He asked you: “did you see a cow cross from here?” You were doing Simran so you didn’t say anything but you pointed with a hand gesture showing him where the cow went. The butcher then found the cow and killed her. She died because you pointed her out. The butcher had some good karma and became a prince in his next birth. The same cow was born as his new bride. The stage was set for her to take her revenge in this birth. The prince was killed by her hand but you were blamed for the murder. She was scared, that’s why she blamed you. You pointed out to the butcher where the cow went, that’s why your hand was cut. That’s what you were punished for. Prabhoo does not do any injustice. It is always your own karma that become your fruits. Now, I well tell you my story. Don’t keep any doubt in your heart. This is my karma. In my last birth, I was a crow. My wife was a donkey in her last birth. On her back, there was a bleeding cut. I used to pick at her cut to eat her meat all the time. One day, I pecked too hard and my beak got stuck into a bone. I couldn’t release my beak. The donkey was in pain and ran to the Ganga River and jumped into it. Because of the pain, she went further into the river. I tried to take my beak out but her pain would increase. The flow of the river was fast and swept both of us away. Both of us drowned and died in the Ganga. Because we died in the waters of the Ganga, we got the reward of being born as human beings in the Brahmin caste. We were then married. I gave her a lot of pain in her last birth and that is why she speaks harsh words and gives me pain. Our karma is balancing out.” The Sadhoo heard this and understood that pain and pleasure is due to our own karma.” Sri Guru ji said: “the Sadhoo spoke the truth but the result was bad. The cow was snitched on. The Sadhoo had his hand cut off, which gave the gesture. Previous karma does not get erased. This is called “paralabadh.” Everyone receives the fruit. If pain is caused to Guru, Pandit, Saint and cow, you should not speak such a truth. Such a truth will take you to hell. The wise person does not speak such a truth which causes pain to someone else. In any other situation, you should always speak the truth. There is no sin bigger than lying. The Gursikh should never lie. If a person is released from death or a danger is dispelled, in that situation, that lie is like the truth. But this should be for others, not yourself.” Bhai Teeratha heard Guru ji’s words and began to implement them in his life. He spoke the truth and stayed by the will of Guru ji. He achieved the highest state and became a Brahmgyaani. Saying the truth gives you Brahmgyaan. That person remains connected to the truth.
Bhai Bishandas, Bhai Manak Chand and Bhai Pooro came to Guru Ramdas ji and bowed. They met Guru ji and sat down. They folded their hands and said: “Guru ji, please release us from the cycle of birth and death. Please bless our families as well in every dimension. Give us the great wisdom.” Sri Gurudev ji then spoke: “do the Seva of Gursikhs. Tell your wives, sons and daughters to do Seva. Show them how to do Seva. See yourselves as the servant of Vahiguru. Make your children into the servants of the Guru as well. Just as a horse stands by his master’s door and is served by the other servants; the master takes the responsibilities of the horse’s needs. The master is worried about the food, water and care of the horse. In the same way, the Sikh should stay loyal to the Guru and give the responsibility of his/her family to the Guru. Let go of your claim on your possessions. Consider your family as riders on a rented ferry. They are with you for a limited time. After the soul leaves the body, you are no longer related to them. When a person sees that their body and family are not theirs and becomes the Guru’s, then the Guru takes their responsibility. The Guru takes care of them in the society. The Guru arranges for their good food, clothing and well-being. The Guru erases their problems and gives them Mukti.” Bhai Bishandas, Manak Chand and Pooro heard the wisdom from Guru ji and began to live in this way. They received Brahmgyaan in the end.
Three Sikhs: Bhai Padartha, Taru and Bharu came to Guru ji’s court. There was a great court in session with Katha and Keertan in progress. They were concerned and asked Guru ji, with their hands folded: “Guru ji, we are engrossed in our household duties and do not have time to read or listen to the words of the Guru. We don’t come to Satsangat. Guru ji, how will we be blessed? We are at your mercy. We come to you for your blessings.” Guru Ramdas ji said to them: “the people that Vahiguru has created, their food has been arranged for in advance. You should sit in the Guru’s court for this reason. Have determination in your heart and do not wobble (doubt). Do the Simran of Vahiguru ji in your heart. The Guru will give all of your relatives food, wherever they are. Your food will be given here by the Guru. Make your life a success, understand this.” All three Sikhs called their sons and said to them: “you are all grown up now. Earn for yourselves and take care of the house. Make an effort in your work and give the Guru a share of your earnings (Dasvand). The Sikhs that come to your home, do their Seva. We are going to stay with Guru ji now. We will carry water, fan the Sangat and serve with other Sevas. We will focus our minds into the Seva of the Satsangat. We will listen to Katha and Keertan for bliss. We will achieve high status and Mukti for this. You will be blessed in this way as well.” These Sikhs and their families were great. They did many great Sevas of the Guru and received Mukti in the end. They became one with the Satguru and broke their cycles of birth and death.