In this way, the Jogi Tapasvi, named Santokha, had done a Tapasya for thousands of years, waiting for Guru Arjan Dev ji; the people saw this and were amazed. They were surprised to see this unique event.
After this event, a couple came to Guru Arjan Dev ji who were quarrelling with each other. Kavi Santokh Singh ji will now explain the background story of why this couple came. This history will also show how the Sarovar of Amritsar was discovered.
There was a place called Patti within the Majha region of Punjab. There was a Raja that lived there named Raja Dhunni Chand. He ruled the area of Patti. He was a Hindu but he ruled under the Mughals and he paid allegiance to them. He had 5 beautiful daughters. They were all very pretty with fair skins and sharp facial features. Their eyes were like lotus petals and their figures were naturally healthy. One of the girls would visit the Satsang. She was young and beautiful. She was very tender, as princesses are. She would love to visit saints and listen to the glories of Akaal Purakh. She would listen to the Kathas of Saints. Her name was Bibi Rajni (also known by other historians as Raj Kaur). She heard from the Saints: “all life-forms of all three worlds are sustained and maintained by Akaal Purakh. Akaal Purakh sends food to all life-forms to where they live. Prabhoo provides food to animals in the sea and on the land.” She heard the Salok of Guru Nanak Dev ji. The Saint said the Salok and explained it. Bibi Rajni heard the Salok and memorized it.
Sri Mukhvaak Salok M: 1..
Human, trees, holy shrines, banks of sacred rivers, clouds, fields.. Islands, continents, worlds, solar systems and universes..
Life forms born from eggs, wombs, from the earth and of sweat.. Oceans, mountains and all beings, Nanak, Akaal Purakh knows their condition..
Nanak says, having created the living beings, Akaal Purakh takes care of them all.. The creator who created the creation, that creator takes care of it as well..
(SGGS 467)
As she heard the meanings of the Shabad, she determined and had faith that: “the ultimate Guru is the one that gives everyone food in all three worlds.”
One day, all five sisters were sitting together and talking. They praised their father and said to each other: “our father gives us everything we need to eat and enjoy. He gives us food and clothing along with jewellery.” Rajni heard this and said: “only Prabhoo gives to everyone. Prabhoo takes care of everyone. The giver of everything is only the One, Ram, the one that resides in all. Ram completes all the tasks. Ram gives all of the life-forms the food they need. If Ram didn’t give, then everyone would die. There is no other support for life. King, pauper, elephant and ant; the giver of all is the One Ram, Akaal Purakh. Who else would have such a power that can support all of life?” The other sisters then responded to Rajni’s words: “we are raised by father. We have never seen Ram give us anything. We haven’t seen Ram prepare any clothes or food for anyone.” The sisters got into an argument and they then went to their father to tell him. The other sisters said to Dhunni Chand: “we all say that we get everything from you, but Rajni says that it’s not you who gives us anything, it is Parmeshwar that gives us everything. The father that raised us since we were small, we all live in peace with good food and great clothing, she does not believe this. It is you that does not let us worry about anything. She fights with us and says that it is Ram that gives us everything.” The foolish father got mad at Rajni. He didn’t have faith in Ishwar. He was filled with ego about his kingdom and had forgotten about Prabhoo. He called his daughters to him and asked them individually. He said to them: “tell me, who gives you food to eat?” They responded: “you give us food, Pitha ji. You give us money and clothing as well. You take care of us and give us food.” The Raja then called Raj Kaur (Rajni) and asked her the same question. Raj Kaur responded: “Pitha ji, if one was to eat what is in another’s destiny, that has never happened. We all eat what is in our destiny. Some have more and some have less. King and pauper eat what is in their destiny.” When the father heard this, he got really angry. He said to Rajni: “there is a poor person in our caste. That person is a handicap. He has leprosy and his hands and feet are deformed. I will marry you off to him. I want to see how you won’t be affected by his destiny. You will have to suffer his destiny and live a life of hell.” Raj Kaur was a religions and dutiful person. She said to her father: “as you wish father. I will see that person as my husband.” Raj Kaur’s mother came out and tried to convince the Raja not to do such an atrocity but Rajni spoke up and said: “I have now accepted that person as my husband. I will not marry any other man. Whatever Pitha ji has said, that will be true. This is my destiny.” Everyone tried to convince Rajni and Dhunni Chand that a life with a leper was not good. Rajni did not listen and married the leper.
Dhunni Chand did not give any dowry in his stubbornness. He was a foolish person and didn’t realize what he was doing. Rajni was accepting of her destiny. She saw the light of Akaal Purakh in her husband. Her in-laws were very poor. They had no food or clothes. For many days she tolerated pain and hunger. She then decided to take her husband and go to another place. She placed her husband in a basket and went to beg in other villages. She decided not to go to her home town of Patti, her father’s land, to beg. She would ask for food from different villages. She only took as much as she needed. She would feed her leper husband first and eat what was left. She would take her husband from village to village and get food. After seeing people’s uncomfortable nature, she then began to leave her husband outside of the village while going in to ask for food. As she travelled, she one day came to Guru ka Chak, Sri Amritsar Sahib. She and her husband ate Langar. They both felt a deep joy eating the Langar.
The next day she took her husband into the jungle with Beri trees. She rested her husband amongst the trees (this was the place of Dukhbhanjani Beri). She wouldn’t take her husband into the village as people would not give her food afraid of her husband. She would keep her husband away from people. She saw a Beri tree and placed her husband under its shade. There was a village named Tungh nearby. She went to Tungh to ask for food. The Sarovar that Guru Ramdas ji had dug, that was filled with mud and lost. The Beri Tree, however, was the tree that Guru Ramdas ji would sit under and direct the Seva of the Amritsar Sarovar. Although the Sarovar was filled, there was a bit of a pond that was there. It was right under the Beri (which had very little water in it). It was the day of Vaisakhi (for this reason there is a tradition of taking a dip in the Amritsar Sarovar on Vaisakhi). The leper saw a crow land on the tree. It saw the water and wanted to drink the water right below it. The crow drank 5 beak-fills of the water from the Sarovar. When the Amrit water went into the crow’s body, the heart of the crow became pure and the crow gained wisdom. The crow bathed in the water and by this, his black body became white. The crow became a beautiful swan. The handicap leper saw this amazing event. He saw the crow turn into a swan. The leper had some good karma in his previous birth and realised that this place was holy. He thought to himself: “this crow has come to me because of my good karma.” The leper crawled from his basket and fell out. He crawled to the pool of water. He bathed in the water and received a great gift. There was less water so he rubbed mud on his body as well. His hands and feet that were damaged, grew back to the way they were when he was not sick. The signs of the disease of leprosy were all gone and his body was brand new again, like gold. He became a very handsome young man. The disease was all gone and he was all cured (some historians state that the man left a portion of his toe to not dip into the water as a sign of proof that he was the same person).