There was a Sikh that lived close to Guru ji whose name was Bhai Gurmukh ji. He folded his hands and said: “I am in your sanctuary. I have heard that the Sikhs that are Sunmukhs, they accept your will. They accept whatever happens to them. Please tell me, how are they like? I would like to see them.” Guru Arjan Dev ji said: “in Gujarat, there is a Sikh named Bhai Bhikhari. Go and see him now.”
Bhai Gurmukh ji headed to Gujarat. He thought in his mind: “this must be a great Sikh. Guru ji praised him and said that he accepts the Guru’s will. I want to see what he does for a living and how he lives.” He eventually reached Gujarat and asked around for Bhai Bhikhari. When he found his home, he went there. He saw a great celebration happening in his home. There was a wedding going on. It was his son’s wedding. He saw everyone singing songs. Bhai Bhikhari was working. He was sewing a “Shatranji,” which is used to sit while mourning someone’s death. He said to him: “Pairi Paina (I touch your feet- this was the greeting of the Sikhs before the Fateh). Guru ji sent me to you.” Bhai Bhikhari ji greeted him with great respect. It was as though the Guru came for him. He bowed to Bhai Gurmukh ji and had him sit close to him. He continued doing his work. Bhai Gurmukh was surprised to see what was going on. Bhai Bhikhari took Bhai Gurmukh to show him around. He said to Bhai Gurmukh: “let me show you the wedding stuff. These are the groom’s clothes; this is his sera and these are the clothes we will give to the bride when she comes. Here is the food. Here are the jewellers making the jewellery. This is the gold that my son will wear. Here are the sweets. The Halvaee made many types of sweets. He is a good cook. Here is the stuff for a cremation. This is the shroud and platform for the cremation.” Bhai Gurmukh ji was surprised and said: “why is the cremation stuff here?” Bhai Bhikhari responded: “I will tell you later when its use will be required.” They came back to the first place where they were. Bhai Bhikhari ji continued sewing the Shatranji. Bhai Gurmukh was confused and surprised to see what he was doing. He wondered why Guru ji praised Bhai Bhikhari as he was deeply engaged in his household tasks. He wondered when Bhai Bhikhari did his Bhagti and if he accepted the will of Akaal Purakh or not. It was soon night and Bhai Gurmukh was given a bed to sleep on and food to eat. He was served well with good food.
In the morning, the Bharaat got ready to go. Everyone got ready and took the groom for the wedding. The marriage took place and the Bharaat came back with the Dholi. Musical instruments played while they travelled. The marriage party came back after a few days. After a few days of returning, the guests were seen off and given parting gifts. During the second night, the newly married groom had an excruciating pain arise in his stomach and died. The women that were singing songs of joy a few days ago, were now crying out in grief. The shroud that Bhai Bhikhari ji had sewn, he brought it and put it on top of his son’s dead body. He put him on the platform and took him to the cremation grounds while singing Gurbani Shabads. They came back and did Keertan. They distributed the Karah Prashaad. The Shatranji that was sewn by Bhai Bhikhari was laid out for people to sit on. People came to offer their condolences and sat on the Shatranji. Bhai Gurmukh ji observed this all day long. He thought to himself: “this was weird. He knew what was going to happen.” At night time when everyone left, Bhai Gurmukh ji went to Bhai Bhikhari and said while folding his hands: “if you knew your son was going to die, why did you marry him off? You brought a girl into your home and now she is a widow. You spent so much money on gold, clothes and food. Everything is gone in two days. If you had received the power to know the future from Satguru ji, why did you not ask for your son’s long life? Guru ji would have seen your devotion and faith; and would have granted your son with a longer life. This troubling time would not have come upon your home. The whole family is crying now. I am very confused about this. You had powers and still let all of this pain happen.” Bhai Bhikhari ji heard this and said: “what you are saying is the way of Manmukhs. Whatever Parmeshwar does, is always good. One shouldn’t be upset about it. If one is upset, they will never meet Parmatma. Whatever Bhagavan does, accept it and be happy with it. Akaal Purakh sees everyone as the same. No one is better or worse for Akaal Purakh. The rewards and punishments are given, based on one’s Karma. When pain comes due to sins, it was to be endured. If one sees someone as happy and tries to take their happiness away, or curses them, they will not be respected in Akaal Purakh’s court. Akaal Purakh is the master of the world and does what he pleases. If an employee of the king does what he is supposed to do, he would be happy. The employee who criticizes the King, he is not liked by the King. The King criticizes him in turn. This is the way of the unwise person. Keep this in mind: the master is omnipotent and does what he pleases. Only Karma is what gives joy or sorrow. You get back what you plant. Whoever thinks like this, they are happy with what Akaal Purakh does. That is the Sunmukh, Saintly Sikh. The one that criticizes, is the Manmukh. One should ask for the ability to live in the will of Akaal Purakh from the Guru. The things we see in the world will not exist forever. Don’t waste your life for no reason. My daughter-in-law and son had their own Karma. I’ll tell you their history. My son was a Tapasvi in his last birth. He lived in the jungle and went to the village to beg for food. He did Tapasya of Parmeshwar. He conquered his Indriyas with great effort. One day, he went to the village to get food and saw a beautiful prostitute. The prostitute saw the radiance on the Tapasvi’s face and fell in love with him. The Tapasvi fell in love and didn’t go back to the jungle. Both of them died soon. The Tapasvi came as my son and did Simran his whole life. His Karma was cleansed in my home by doing Simran. The prostitute who wanted to meet him, came as my daughter-in-law. Because she fell in love with a Tapasvi, she became fortunate. She will stay here and do Simran. She will do Seva of Sikhs and her Karma will be cleansed too. She only wanted one night with the Tapasvi, which she received. The rest of her time will be spent on doing Simran and Bhagti. She will receive Mukti at the end. Bhai Gurmukh ji, whatever Akaal Purakh does is good. Accept the will of Akaal Purakh and do the Simran of Satnam. Get rid of the attachment of your body. These are the three things required to achieve Mukti. Guru ji and the saints all say the same thing.” Bhai Gurmukh ji heard this and folded his hands. He bowed his head to Bhai Bhikhari ji and said: “you are a great and wise Sikh. My name is Gurmukh but it is you, who is the true Gurmukh. Satguru ji showed me exactly what I asked for. Meeting you, washes all the sins away. You are a beloved of the Guru.” He humbly bowed to Bhai Bhikhari’s feet, over and over again.
Bhai Gurmukh came back to Amritsar and was happy to see such a Sikh. His faith and devotion to Guru ji grew. We went to the place where Satguru Arjan Dev ji was and bowed his head to Guru ji’s feet. Guru ji smiled and said: “how was the Sikh that you met? How does he live and how does he do Seva? How is his faith and how does he deal with joy and sorrow?” Bhai Gurmukh ji folded his hands and said: “Prabhoo ji, your Sikhs are solid. They cannot be praised to their fullest. They see pain and pleasure as equal. They are happy with both.” He told Guru ji the whole katha of him going to Bhai Bhikhari ji’s home and what happened there. He said: “whoever you are pleased with, that is how their faith becomes.” Guru ji was happy to hear the praises of his Sikh. Guru ji helps his Sikhs in every dimension. He saves his Sikhs no matter where they go. Kavi Santokh Singh ji bows to such a Guru that destroys all of the troubles.
Thus ends the 3rd Raas.