The Katha of the Satguru will continue. I can write as much as wisdom has been given to me. This Katha should be listened to with love. This Katha is about Guru Granth Sahib ji. The Bani of the 5 Gurus, 15 Bhagats, Bhatts and other Saints will be compiled together to bind Guru Granth Sahib ji. Oh listeners, listen to this Katha with love. Sri Satguru Arjan Dev ji was in Amritsar. His words were filled with Gyaan. He was the gem of Gyaan. His praises were like the ocean, filled with gems and pearls. There are life forms in the ocean. Within the Guru, there are Gursikhs. Truth, contentment, calmness, purity, beauty, compassion, forgiveness, joy, tenderness, simplicity, without jealousy, patience, dharma, Gyaan, were the virtues of Guru ji and his Sikhs. Guru ji was deeper than the ocean. He was wise and able to see the Aatma separate from the body. Love and Prema Bhagti were his waves. Just as swans enjoy the ocean, the saints enjoy themselves. The jumms run away. He gave bliss to many people. He recited and scribed a lot of Gurbani. He wanted to compile all of the Bani together in one place. The Sikhs would read and listen to it and be filled with joy. He didn’t want Bani to be mixed with other stuff.
One day, Guru ji was sitting in his Divaan. He had compassion in his eyes and gave the Sangat the wisdom of Satnam. One Sikh stood up and made a request: “Guru ji, Prithi Chand and his Sikhs are bad. They make up their own Bani. Meharvaan likes to write poetry and put Guru Nanak Dev ji’s name to confuse people in it. People think it’s Bani. The wise Sikhs identify it as false but the new Sikhs don’t know the difference. How will the unwise know which is the real Bani? The Bani will get mixed in this way. Everyone will do their own thing then. Please make the effort to make the Gurbani separate from the fake Bani.” Another Sikh got up and said: “without the Guru, the Bani is raw. Guru Amardas ji had said this in his Bani. How would one know which Bani is raw and which is real? There are Sikhs like Bhai Gurdas ji who write Bani. Is his Bani raw? He has written the praises of the Satguru that teaches us Gurmat. He has written the praises of Akaal Purakh and Akaal Purakh’s Avatars. He also wrote Kathas of wars and great conflicts by warriors. Should the Sikhs read and listen to that or not?” The gracious and compassionate Guru ji spoke to dispel doubt: “Gurbani is the supreme, which should be recited everyday. Recite it, sing it and understand the meanings. The meanings will give you Gyaan. Rise up at Amritvela and recite the Gurbani. A Sikh should memorize Bani. There is greatness and rewards in this. Love will arise inside you. The Bani of the Poets is at the medium level, which help you understand Bani. You will get the Gyaan of Prabhoo and the Avatars from that Bani. The poetry of the poets which has the same ideology of Gurbani, has the praises of the Gurus in it; recite and listen to that too. It will give you joy as well. There are many Banis with stories which are outside the ideology of Gurmat. They have good and bad stuff in them. Don’t read the opposite ideologies. That will make your mind restless. Keep Gurbani as the highest which will give you Mukti. Bhai Gurdas ji’s Bani praises the Gurus. Reciting Bhai Gurdas ji’s Bani will give you Sikhi. Understand it as well.” Guru ji said this and thought about the good of the world. He thought about the 10 incarnations of the Guru: “what will happen after the 10th incarnation? Who will the Sikhs bow to? There needs to be a place where the Jot will reside. The Guru Granth Sahib ji should be written.” In this way Guru ji spoke in the Divaan: “Goindwal sits on the shores of Beas, the place of the Satguru. Baba Mohan ji, my Mammaji, lives there who has a really high status. He is the eldest son of Guru Amardas ji. He lives above this world and is unaware of his senses most of the time. He has the Bani of 4 Gurus. His son Baba Sansram ji was the scribe. He has all of the Bani. Somebody needs to get those Pothis from Baba Mohan ji. How shall we get those Pothis? We will make one binding for all the Gurbani.”
Bhai Gurdas ji was sitting in the court as well. He heard Guru ji’s words and folded his hands. He said to Guru ji: “if it be your command, I will go to Baba Mohan ji and get the Pothis. I will meet Bhai Mohan ji and Bhai Mohri ji to get the Pothis.” Bhai Gurdas ji was Baba Mohan ji and Baba Mohri ji’s cousin. Guru Arjan Dev ji heard Bhai Gurdas ji and noticed that he spoke in pride. Just a little bit though. Guru ji heard the “I” in his words and thought that he should let him go. Guru ji thought to himself: “he won’t get the Bani but his pride will be broken. Bani can only be understood when that last strand of ego is gone.” Guru ji gave him permission to go.
Bhai Gurdas ji set off for Goindwal in the South direction. Bhai ji arrived in Goindwal and first bathed at the Baoli Sahib. He recited Japji Sahib and remembered his uncle, Guru Amardas ji. He then went to Chabarra Sahib. Baba Mohan ji was sitting in a Samadhi, in the lotus pose. His conscious was in Guru Nanak Dev ji. Baba Mohan ji had the windows and doors locked. Bhai Gurdas ji yelled out: “Bhai ji, your younger brother, Gurdas, is here from Amritsar. Guru Arjan Dev ji has sent me here for an important task. Please give me your Darshan.” He knocked and yelled for a long time. He continued: “oh gem of the family of Guru Amardas ji, you are a high Brahmgyaani. You are the son of the Guru. I bow to you. I worship you. Meeting you, will wash all of my sins away. You have seen the Aatma like an amla (gooseberry) in the hand. You have the deepest Gyaan. You are in the Jog, the unbreakable Samadhi. Please accept my plea. Guru Arjan Dev ji has sent me. Guru Arjan Dev ji, the treasure of virtues, whose praises are wide spread.” Bhai Gurdas ji knocked all day, all evening, and all night. It was soon morning. Baba Mohan ji did not speak nor did he open his eyes. His Samadhi was deep. He did not care for the world. In the morning Baba Mohri ji came and said to Bhai Gurdas ji: “he is a Mast. He won’t hear you. He is in his Samadhi. He can stay like this for months. He does what he pleases. He has no needs. He lives in Hari and Hari lives in him.” Bhai Gurdas ji made many efforts, knocking. He tried but he failed. His pride was broken. He was hurt and depressed. He thought to himself: “how will I face Guru ji.” Bhai Gurdas ji came back to Amritsar and met Guru Arjan Dev ji. He bowed to him and said: “I made a great effort, standing at the door, knocking. Bhai Mohan did not open the door. I shouted all night but Baba Mohan did not open the door. I said your name and called out to him; he still didn’t open the door. Baba Mohri ji told me that Baba Mohan ji was not aware of the world.” Baba Bhudda ji heard the whole thing. He thought to himself: “this is an important task. This is an obstacle. Who else can go? Bhai Gurdas ji was from that family. If he didn’t succeed, then who can? Only Guru ji will be able to do this task.” Baba Bhudda ji folded his hands and said: “Guru ji, shall I go and get the Pothis?” Guru ji smiled and said: “this is good. You should go and try.” Baba Bhudda ji heard the command and started off to Goindwal.
Baba Bhudda ji was in his high 90s. He walked to Goindwal and bathed at Baoli Sahib. He was filled with joy. He then went to Chabarra Sahib, to see Baba Mohan ji. The door was closed. Baba Bhudda ji knocked and yelled: “oh son of Guru Amardas ji, I have come to see you. I am your servant, Bhudda. Guru Arjan Dev ji sent me. Please listen to my request and be gracious to me.” There was no response from Baba Mohan ji. Baba Bhudda ji tried hard but he was not successful. He knocked with both his hands and tried to open the door, but it did not budge. Baba Bhudda ji thought to himself: “what shall I do now?” Baba Bhudda ji used his strength and pulled the door out. Some of the bricks came apart as well. He put the door to the side and went inside. He saw Baba Mohan ji sitting in the Padamasana. He was in a deep Samadhi and had no awareness of his own body. His breath was raised to his Dasam Duaar. His body was like wood. His limbs were still. He was not breathing. The radiance of his face showed that he was connected to the Aatma. His hair was open and spread around. He was wearing a cloth around his waist and his back was bare. Baba Bhudda ji was amazed to see him. He tried to wake him up by shaking his body. The Samadhi was deep. The breath did not come down. Other people heard the noise of the door breaking and went to tell Baba Mohri ji. Baba Mohri ji came right away to see Baba Bhudda ji. Baba Mohri ji saw Baba Bhudda ji massaging Baba Mohan ji’s feet to wake him up. Baba Mohri ji bowed to Baba Bhudda ji and said: “don’t wake him up. He stays like this for months at a time. When he wakes up, he may disrespect you as he does not care about high or low. He may curse you if he gets angry. Don’t touch his body or try to get him to open his eyes. He stays in his own self and does not talk to anyone. He sits in this room for many months. He only comes out sometimes. When he comes out, he eats roti with two hands, like children. He goes deep into his Samadhi. Only he knows how deep he is.” Baba Bhudda ji bowed to Baba Mohan ji. He then bowed to Baba Mohri ji, who is praised as the son of the Guru who obeyed. Baba Bhudda ji figured out that he was not going to be successful. He went back to Amritsar. He bowed to Guru ji and told him that he could not get the Pothis. He told him how he broke the door and tried to massage his body to wake him: “his Samadhi did not open. Who else would give us the Pothis? He is the eldest. Only he can give them. I broke the door to go in. I massaged his temples and feet. His Dyaan did not open. I came back without the Pothis.”