The Sikh Religion/Volume 2/Angad/Life/Chapter III
Chapter III
A Jat girl called Nihali was one day making cakes of cow-dung for fuel in the vicinity of Khadur. She saw Guru Angad approaching and felt delighted at the opportunity afforded her of doing him homage. Guru Angad, who still keenly felt his separation from Guru Nanak, was singing his praises as he proceeded. Yearning for solitude, he said that the eyes which beheld Guru Nanak desired to see nothing more, and he then remained silent for some time. When he spoke again, he asked her to let him have a room where he might sit alone and meditate on God, without any distraction or interruption. The room might be locked on him outside. He required nothing to eat or drink except a pot of milk daily. The girl granted his request. She gave him a pot of milk daily, and in doing so continued to gladden her eyes by beholding him. Guru Angad remained in profound meditation with the name of God as additional support. It is said that six months passed in this manner, every moment of which seemed an age to his Sikhs.
One day Bhai Lalo, Bhai Saido, Bhai Ajitta and other Sikhs asked Bhai Budha, to whom the Guru Nanak had been so kind, to tell them where they could find his successor. They had searched Khadur and other places, but could obtain no trace of him. Bhai Budha said he would give them an answer on the morrow. Overnight he read the Sodar and the Sohila, and then fixed his thoughts on the Guru. He then with his mind's eye saw Guru Angad sitting concealed in the house of Nihali. Bhai Budha rose three hours before day and read the Japji, the Asa ki War, and other hymns of Guru Nanak. At daybreak the devout Sikhs came again and surrounded him, as they knew the Guru had communicated to him supernatural knowledge. He told them what he had seen in a vision. They then, taking him as leader, proceeded to Nihali's house near Khadur. The owner of the house in reply to their inquiries gave them no information. Bhai Budha then said that, as there could be no darkness after the sun had arisen, so a Guru could not be hidden. Nihali went to Guru Angad, and told him of the visit of his four Sikhs. He at once ordered that they should be shown into his apartment. The Guru embraced Bhai Budha and uttered the following sloks :—
Die before the dear one thou lovest;
To live after him in the world is a curse to life.
After a pause the Guru resumed :—
Cut off the head which boweth not to the Lord.
Nanak,[1] take and burn the wretched body[2] which feeleth
not the pain of separation.[3]
The other Sikhs saw that Guru Angad had the same radiance on his countenance, the same manners, and the same appearance as Guru Nanak, and congratulated Bhai Budha on his success in discovering him.
The Guru asked Bhai Budha how he had obtained his name Budha, and how it was that Guru Nanak had been always pleased with him. Bhai Budha then told him that he was the boy who had watched the little sticks burning first, and the large sticks afterwards, and had attended Guru Nanak's prayer-meetings. Bhai Budha related another incident of his life. Once the Emperor's troops marching through his village cut down all his father's young crops to feed their horses. He begged his father to protect his fields. His father replied that he was powerless against the Emperor's troops. Bhai Budha then concluded that, if his father could not withstand the Emperor's troops, how could he withstand Death, a still more powerful antagonist? On this Bhai Budha went and put himself under Guru Nanak's protection. Guru Nanak on hearing his history said, ‘My brother, thou talkest like an old man (budha). Thou shalt henceforth be called Bhai Budha, and thy transmigration shall be at an end.’
Bhai Budha then told how next day he took a pot of clarified butter to Guru Nanak. The Guru asked if he had brought the offering with his mother's consent or secretly. Bhai Budha replied he had brought it with his mother's consent. ‘Guru Nanak then’, continued Bhai Budha, ‘gave me divine instruction, upon which my mind became pure, and I obtained the spiritual knowledge which enabled me to find thee.’ Saying this he fell at Guru Angad's feet. The Guru invited him to ask a favour. Bhai Budha replied, ‘Take thy seat as Guru and receive the Sikhs publicly. Instruct us in our faith, and save us all.’ Upon this Guru Angad repeated the following :—
He whom Guru Nanak's instruction enlightened is
immersed in the praises of the True One.
What instruction can I give him who had divine Nanak
for his guru ?[4]
After this Guru Angad came forth from his seclusion. When this was announced, crowds went to see him and make him offerings. All that he received was sent to his kitchen for the support of pilgrims and wayfarers. There were continual preaching, singing, and repetition of the Name as in Guru Nanak's time.
It was Guru Angad's daily practice to rise three hours before day, bathe in cold water, and engage in meditation and introspection. Meanwhile the musicians sang the Asa ki War. At its completion the Guru arose from his attitude of contemplation. Sick persons, particularly lepers, came from great distances to be healed by him; and on being healed returned to their respective homes singing the Guru's praises. After his healing ministrations the Guru preached and expounded Guru Nanak's hymns. About nine o'clock in the forenoon visitors of all conditions sat in a line, and received sacred food indiscriminately. When the elders had finished and grace had been said, the children were fed and instruction imparted to them by the Guru himself. Very often he took the opportunity of pointing a moral from the children's behaviour. He used to delight in watching their sports, and would tell his Sikhs that the children's time for mourning had not yet come, that elders ought to be pure and simple in heart as they, and then should they be dear to their Creator. The Guru used sometimes to witness wrestling matches in the early afternoon. On such occasions he would often take the opportunity of in structing the spectators how to overcome anger and other deadly sins. After this he used to hold court, when Balwand and Satta, two famous minstrels of the time, entertained the company with vocal and instrumental music. The Sodar was then repeated and food distributed as in the morning. After that followed further singing of sacred hymns, and then the Guru and his disciples retired to rest.
Jogis of different sub-sects visited the Guru, and endeavoured to win him over to their own practices and beliefs. They represented that the great Rikhis, Munis, and Penitents of former ages had none of them obtained happiness or mental purity without Jog with its eight accessories of forbearance, observance, posture, introspection, suspension of breath, contemplation, absorption, and trance.[5] ‘By the practice of Jog,’ they said, ‘life is prolonged and wealth and super-natural power obtained. Guru Nanak practised it, and was able to make disciples out of the four castes. Wherefore do thou also practise Jog. If thou now learn of us, thou shalt by the favour of Gorakh obtain twofold power.’ The Guru, divining their object, replied: ‘By the favour of Guru Nanak I am not conscious of any deficiency in myself for the work in which I am engaged. In this Kaljug it is difficult to practise the Jog you mean, but by the Jog of real devotion it is easy to render the mind pure. Holy men say that Sahaj Jog consisteth in repeating the Name with fixed attention, and associating with the holy. By your Jog, wealth and supernatural power may be obtained, but, when man becometh attached to these things, he cannot obtain salvation. If man's life be prolonged, he is ruined by avarice and pride. While pluming your selves on your bodily austerities, you have not seen God who is in every heart. Guru Nanak hath shown us how to abide pure amid impurity, that is, how to find God while leading a secular life.[6] The Guru then quoted for the Jogis Guru Nanak's hymn describing in what religion consists.
It is said that the superior of the Jogis on hearing it was pleased, and invited the Guru to ask him a favour. The Guru replied that Baba Nanak had given him everything, and he wanted nothing more. The superior again urged, ‘Ask for something. Let not my words be uttered in vain.’ Upon this the Guru asked for humility. The superior replied, ‘I have it not, nor is it with the demigods in heaven.’ The Jogi then fixing his thoughts on God prayed for humility for himself, whereupon a voice came from heaven that humility had been granted with unsparing hand to Guru Nanak and his successor Guru Angad. Upon this the Jogis took their leave.
After them came another Jogi of high spiritual rank called Harinath. He felt happy on seeing the Guru, and requested him to tell him man's highest duty. The Guru replied with the twelfth slok of Asa ki War. On hearing it Harinath's doubts were dispelled. The Guru's fame increased; there was ever a large crowd around him, and those for whom he interceded received the objects of their desires.
One evening in the hot weather there arose a storm which brought clouds of dust and hindered the preparation of dinner. Jiva, the Guru's cook, said he could only serve it if the Guru quelled the storm. The Guru chid him in the following language: ‘O Jiva, remain ever satisfied with the will of God and the true Guru. This is the main article of our faith; and the Sikh who observeth it shall be beloved by the Guru. As a woman who is virtuous, well-behaved, and clever, is ever happy in her obedience to her spouse, so, O Jiva, do thou accept the Guru's instruction and be ever happy in thine obedience to God. By so doing thou shalt obtain all the advantages of devotion, penance, fasting, and alms-deeds, and abide in bliss.
A blacksmith called Gujjar went to the Guru and asked for divine instruction that he might obtain salvation. The Guru bade him recite the Japji with attention every morning, and work gratuitously for the poor.
A barber named Dhinga remained with the Guru and performed ordinary menial offices for his Sikhs. One day he asked the Guru for spiritual consolation. The Guru replied, ‘The Guru is as it were a grave, and the Sikhs are as it were corpses. These are laid in the grave when life is extinct, and they cease to move. So when the Sikhs divest themselves of pride, they are fit to rest in the Guru's bosom. His Sikhs should therefore be humble and serve others. The saint Sain[7] was of the same trade and caste as thou, yet he obtained salvation by serving his fellow-creatures. Thou shouldst therefore not despair of thy deliverance from transmigration during thy present birth.’
Paro of the Julka tribe asked the Guru the meaning of param hans—superior swan—as applied to holy men. The Guru replied: ‘In the first place, the holy accept good precepts from the Guru as the swan, according to the popular belief, feedeth on pearls in Lake Mansarowar; secondly, the holy renounce evil and do good as the swan by the peculiar structure of its bill separateth water from milk.’
A soldier named Malu Shah, orderly of a Mughal officer, sought for spiritual advice which would be profitable to him here and hereafter. The Guru counselled him, if ever the necessity of battle arose, to fight for his master, and not consider whether his side was in a numerical minority or not.
Kidaru asked the Guru how he should escape from the fire of the deadly sins which was consuming the world. The Guru replied, ‘As when a forest is burning the deer flee and cool themselves in the nearest lake, so should man flee the deadly sins and take refuge in the cooling water of the Guru's instruction.’
- ↑ Guru Nānak's successors assumed the name Nānak as their nom de plume.
- ↑ Pinjar. Literally—a skeleton; here used contemptuously for the body.
- ↑ Sri Rāg ki Wār.
- ↑ Mājh ki Wār.
- ↑ See the Yoga Sutra of Pātanjali, by Manilāl Nabhubhāi Dvivedi, Bombay.
- ↑ So also Guru Amar Dās; see below, paragraph on salvation, p. 252.
- ↑ An account of this saint will subsequently be given.