Bhai Puriya and Bhai Choohar were the Chaudharys of a village who had heard about the glories of Guru Arjan Dev ji. They wanted to meet him and receive Mukti. They had devotion in their heart and came to Guru ji. They folded their hands and bowed to Guru ji’s feet. They presented money as a gift for Guru ji. They sat down after getting Guru ji’s permission. They said to Guru ji: “listen, oh saviour of the poor, a lot of time has passed since we heard your glories. We wanted to come to you for a while but we got tied up in our Chaudhary duties of our village. It was with your compassion that we have finally come to you. Both of us have come to you with faith. We are Chaudharys of our village and we need to lie a lot for political reasons. Sri Guru ji, how can we be saved? We wish to hear the wisdom from you.” Guru Arjan Dev ji heard the plea of the Sikhs and said from his glorious mouth: “stop lying; let go of anger and ego. There is no bigger sin than lying. You can’t achieve Mukti by lying. The charioteer of Kaliyuga is “the lie.” The lie is the capital of all the vices. The ones who make it a point to reject lying; and in turn, connect with the truth, they receive Mukti. The Sikh should not lie. The Sikh will have to face obstacles by lying.” Bhai Puriya ji said: “we can’t be Chaudharys without lying. We can’t make a living without lying. Many types of conflicts we have to face and have to keep secrets.” Guru Arjan Dev ji heard this and said: “in your village, make a Dharamsala (Gurduara). Have Katha and Keertan there, morning and evening. Listen to and sing the Gurbani of the Guru. Go morning and evening to the Dharamsala. For 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening, listen to Katha and Keertan. Keep your mind focused and still; have love in your heart when you listen to Keertan and Katha. All the lies that you say in the whole day, come to the Dharamsala in the evening and write them down with the Granthi. After a month, collect them. Re-write them and come to me every New Moon. Tell me all the lies that you have said in the month. Also write the good deeds that you do and bring them to me.” The two heard this and bowed to Guru ji.
Bhai Puriya and Bhai Choohar went back to their village. They constructed a Dharamsala and started the tradition of Katha and Keertan there. They would tell the Sangat in the evening of all the lies they had said. This would make them feel embarrassed. Eventually what happened was, they started to think about every lie they were about to say. They started to say less lies after some time. After the month, they would feel embarrassed when they would tell them to Guru ji in front of thousands of other Sikhs. They followed Guru ji’s command. They would say all the lies they had said and feel bad about it. After 6 months, they stopped lying all together. People began to respect them a lot as they were now only speaking the truth. People started to like them more. Sikhs praised them as well. They didn’t like the feeling of being embarrassed so they stopped lying. They started to like doing good deeds. They connected to the Simran of the Name. They started following the righteous path by the fear of the Guru. Meeting the Satsangat, their lives improved. They listened to Gurbani and fell in love with doing Seva of Guru ji. They received Mukti when they eventually died.
Two Sikhs named Bhai Paira and Bhai Durga came to Guru Arjan Dev ji with love and respect. They bowed to Guru ji and sat down. They said to Guru ji: “please bless us Prabhoo! Thousands have done your Seva and received Mukti. Give us wisdom that will destroy our pain and conflicts.” Guru ji saw their devotion and said: “the ones who have given donations and done good deeds in their last birth, they get a new body and many material things. Good health, good wife and good children; good animals, money and food; this is all because of your deeds from your previous births. The Gurmukhs on the other hand, when they get rewards, they make their life and rewards successful. Wherever the Sangat gets together, the Gurmukhs go there and taste the Amrit from Katha and Keertan. There are four types of foods: crunching, biting, sucking and drinking. The Gurmukhs get all the tastes in the Sangat. They give these foods to the Sangat in the form of Langar. They speak sweet words to the Sangat and make them satiated. They wash the hands and feet of the Sangat. If it is hot, they waive fans to the Sangat. One should always feed Langar, as much as their money allows. The Langar that is left over after feeding the Sangat, that is Amrit. One should eat that. It washes the sins away. The good deeds grow after that. If one can’t do this everyday, then do it on a special days like full moon, Shangrand or new moon. Feed Langar to Gursikhs. The Gursikhs will think of Guru ji and do Ardaas before eating. The one serving, should think of Guru ji and say: “Guru ji, this is your Prashaad and I am feeding you.” Bow to the Sikhs and keep faith that: it is the Guru that is eating the food. If one can’t do this after a month, then choose a good day to feed the Gursikhs. Make new clothes and give it to the Sikhs and Saints. During the winter, give them blankets and make them happy. Give them to the poor as well. These are the two types of donations: food and clothes. Do this with love. Do it with the best of your abilities. This is for the ones who follow Ghrist Dharam. The great Guru Nanak Dev ji has said: “the one who donates with his/her body, that person is pure like the waters of Ganga.” The Dharma of the Ghrist Dharam is to give donations. As much as you can, if you see a person without clothes or food, give them what they need. There are other good deeds, but none are greater than these two. This donation is the Satoguni donation which gives you peace and Bhagti in your heart. It destroys your problems and pains.” Bhai Paira ji and Bhai Durga ji heard this and bowed to Guru ji.
They both went back to their villages and started to live by the Guru’s words. They started to give Langar to the Sangat with respect. They would call travellers and other saints as well. Many days passed like this. They would go to Guru Arjan Dev ji on special days. Their spending had grown but their income was less. They had to take loans to keep the Langar going. One day, a lot of Sangat came and there was nothing to make Langar with. The two went to the Shahukaar for more money. They were rejected. They then sold the gold of their wives. They bought food and made Langar with the money they received. The money finished in one day. They did not lose faith. Both of them went outside and started to dig in the ground for some unknown reason. As they dug, they found a dish filled with golden coins. They rejoiced and paid off their loans, bought their gold back and made more Langar. They realised that the new treasure they found was given to them by Parmeshwar. They made a lot of clothes and donated them. They made food for Langar. They recited Gurbani and did Bhagti. They came to Guru Arjan Dev ji and told him what had happened. Guru ji said to them: “the ones who share and eat, Vahiguru does not let any shortages come their way. Their homes are filled with all the goods they need.” Bhai Paira and Bhai Durga did Simran of Satnam. When they died, Guru ji was with them.