There was a potter by the name of Bhuddu. He was a Sikh with great patience. He lived in Lahore and visited Guru ji often. He did the Seva of Sikhs and made an honest living. He had great faith in Guru ji and started his tasks by doing Ardaas to Guru ji. He made bricks and sold them for a living in Lahore. He would invite Sikhs to his home on special days and make Langar for them. He had great faith and devotion, so all of his tasks were always successful.
There was a time when Bhai Bhuddu made a really big kiln to bake bricks in. He spent thousands of Rupees on it by taking loans from Shahukaars. He hired many workers to make and work the kiln. The workers fetched firewood and baked the bricks. The kiln was like a mountain. It was quite big. It took about 3 months to make the kiln. A lot of money was spent on this kiln. It costed more than he expected. Almost twice as much. He said to the Shahukaars from which he took his loan from: “when my bricks are sold, I will pay you back your money. This will take many months though.” He took a loan to pay for it. Most of the money was spent on the workers to make the kiln. He had thousands of workers working. In the evening, he would pay them. After a few months the kiln was ready. It was time to fire up the kiln and he thought of Guru Sahib: “I should worship the feet of Guru ji. The task will be without obstacles then. This is the glory of the Satsangat, that is known.” After thinking about this, he set off to Amritsar to see Guru ji and ask for his blessings. It took about 2 days to get to Amritsar. He bathed from a well and then took a dip in the Sarovar that was still being built. He recited Japji Sahib after taking a bath in the pool of Amritsar. Although the Sarovar was still being built, a part of the Sarovar had water to bathe in. Guru Arjan Dev ji was sitting in his seat, like Vishnu Prabhoo sitting in Vaikunt. The Rababis were singing Keertan in various Raags. Listening to the Keertan would give a person many rewards. It was Bhai Satta and Bhai Balwand who were doing Keertan. There was a big pile of money in front of Guru ji that had gathered since morning. A Sikh was waving a beautiful Chaur on top of Guru ji. The throne was great on which he was sitting on. There were many Sikhs all around Guru ji. Guru ji was sitting with his Sikhs and looking radiant just as Shiv sits with the Munis. Bhai Bhuddu presented his offerings in front of Guru ji as well. The Mevra did an Ardaas for him to Guru ji: “Guru ji, this is your Sikh Bhai Bhuddu from Lahore who seeks the gift of Sikhi from you. He wishes to gain faith and devotion. He has spent a lot of money for a brick kiln. He wishes to seek your blessings to start his kiln. If you bless him, his kiln would be a success.” Guru ji heard the Ardaas and had Amrit in his eyes. He looked at Bhai Bhuddu and said: “your task will be complete. Serve the Sikhs with the greatest devotion. Make Langar for them. The bricks will be great then and all of your wishes will be fulfilled.” Bhai Bhuddu bowed to Guru ji and came back to Lahore.
Bhai Bhuddu had faith on Guru ji’s word. He fired up the kiln and started the business. After a few days, he saw nice bricks being made. He thought to himself: “I should call Sikhs and have them for Langar. I’ll call them over now. I will sell my bricks after that. I will repay my loan.” Bhai Bhuddu went home and told his wife: “make delicious Langar for the Sikhs.” He called a lot of Sikhs from Lahore to his home for Langar. The Sikhs came and ate Langar. He washed their hands before and after. He had Keertan Seva before the Langar. The Rababis sang Shabads and then Ardaas was done. The Langar was then distributed. Everyone was satiated and enjoyed the food. The Langar was finished. Afterwards, a Sikh by the name of Bhai Lakhoo ji Patoolia came. He said to Bhai Bhuddu: “I am here for the Guru’s Langar. I want to eat as well. You made it for the Guru, therefore I am entitled to take part in the Langar as well. I am late but I wish to eat.” Bhai Bhuddu looked in the kitchen and noticed that all of the Langar was finished. He said to Bhai Lakhoo: “all of the Langar has been distributed. You could have had some if you came earlier.” All of the hands of the Sangat were washed. The Sangat stood up and began to do Ardaas: “Sri Satguru ji, Bhai Bhuddu is your Sikh. He has made and fed Langar to the Sangat. Please complete his tasks for his business and bless him with prosperity. May his bricks bake to the desired hardness.” Bhai Lakhoo heard the Ardaas and spoke out aloud: “Bhuddu! Your bricks will remain soft. He saw me hungry and didn’t give me anything to eat. His bricks will not be hard.” Bhai Bhuddu said to Bhai Lakhoo: “who are you to say my bricks will be soft? I was blessed by Guru ji. He said my bricks will be complete. What kind of a Sikh are you to reverse Guru ji’s words? The words of the Guru are always true. You didn’t come at the right time. It was your fault. You are angry and cursing me but you were the one that was late. I am a Sikh. The Sangat is great too. I have given them Langar.” Bhai Lakhoo responded: “I am a Sikh too. You didn’t feed me. Your bricks will remain soft.” Bhai Lakhoo was on his way after saying this for the third time.
The next day, Bhai Bhuddu checked his kiln. He looked at his bricks. They were all soft. The first 5 were red that he had seen a few days ago. They were the only ones that were red. The rest were all soft. Bhai Bhuddu got scared that his bricks were soft: “my principle is gone and I won’t be able to sell these soft bricks. I spent a lot of money on this. My money is gone into the mud.” He was really scared and thinking about his loan that he needed to repay. He thought: “what will I do now?” He thought of Guru ji and decided to go see him. He set off to Amritsar.
Bhai Bhuddu met Guru ji and bowed to him. He told him his whole story and said: “Guru ji I followed your instructions with faith and called the Sangat for Langar but the batch of bricks were soft. I will not make any profit. I am drowning in loans now. You are my only support, Guru ji. I will die but never be able to pay off my loan.” Guru ji said: “when you gave Langar to the Sangat, was there a Sikh that left hungry? Did something go wrong? Think about it and tell me truthfully.” Bhai Bhuddu folded his hands and said: “everyone was happy after eating. Keertan happened and Langar was served. A Sikh came afterwards when the Langar was finished. I couldn’t feed him. The Sangat was doing an Ardaas and Bhai Lakhoo said out loud 3 times that my batch of bricks will be soft and raw. I told him that is not possible because Guru ji has said it would be complete. I told him that you can’t cut Guru ji’s word but that is exactly what happened. I don’t understand what happened. This is what went wrong. We had a little argument as well. I argued with him by mistake. I should have asked for forgiveness from him instead. It wasn’t my fault though because he was late. I would have given him food if he was on time. He cursed me when he left. I tried to find him but he couldn’t be found.” Guru ji heard this and went quiet. Bhai Bhuddu was really worried at this point. He stood there with his head down. All he could think of was the loan: “what will I do now.” After a while, Guru ji looked at Bhai Bhuddu and said: “you didn’t do a good thing. You made someone leave hungry from your home. My Sikhs’ words are not reversable. I can’t even reverse my Sikhs’ words. The Sikhs can reverse my words but their words can’t be reversed by anyone. The Langar you made for the Sikhs, you should have made sure no one left hungry. This is a bad thing. Whoever listens to my teachings their tasks will be complete. You should be aware of my Sikhs’ words. Those words can do anything. Don’t disrespect my Sikhs. Their words are sweet. Greet them with respect. See them as your friend and Lord. Don’t worry though. Your tasks will be complete. I will make sure to make your tasks complete. Don’t make this mistake again. Disrespecting a Sikh will be very bad. Your soft bricks will remain soft but they will sell at the price of the hard ones. You will be able to repay your loan and make the profit you want. Serve the Sikhs and you will be happy.” Bhai Bhuddu came back to Lahore after bowing to Guru ji. Bhai Bhuddu came home and checked his bricks. He took out the bricks from the kiln and noticed they were still soft. He regretted his mistakes. He thought of Guru ji’s word and that gave him hope.
There was a time when it rained a lot in a matter of a few days from by Bhai Bhuddu ji’s incident. No other potter was making any bricks at that time. The fort of the king needed bricks as the walls were leaking. The kings’ men looked for bricks but couldn’t find any. They were desperate as the King was coming back in a few days from a trip. The king’s men found out that Bhai Bhuddu had bricks. They called him to the fort and said: “we need bricks. How much will you charge?” Bhai Bhuddu responded: “I will sell you my soft bricks at the price of hard ones. Your walls will be fine though.” The officers agreed and paid him the price he asked for. Bhai Bhuddu was able to repay his loan and made a profit which he had wanted. He saw the greatness of Guru ji. He also noticed the greatness of the Sikhs. He knew that Guru ji completes the Sikhs’ words. He reversed his own words. Guru ji had blessed him again. The soft bricks were sold at the price of the hard ones. The Sikhs all heard of this and sang the praises of Guru Arjan Dev ji. Just as Vasudev Krishan reversed his words for Bheesham and made his words true; “I will not wield weapons in the war,” said Krishan. Bheesham, in a bout of devotion said: “I will surely make you pick up a weapon then.” Krishan ji broke his own vow and picked up a wheel and came towards Bheesham, to honor his devotee’s words. Guru ji’s ways are just the same. All of the Sikhs saw this that Guru ji was the supreme Avatar of Akaal Purakh. He didn’t care about his own words but gave priority to his Sikh’s word.