Guru Nanak Dev Ji and Kauda Demon

In one of his mission to enlighten people, Guru ji traveled many miles in the wilderness of Assam. His minstrel,Mardana was very hungry and tired, so they sat under a tree. After sometime, Mardana went to get something to eat. On his way he met Kauda, the cannibal. Kauda took Mardana by surprise and bounded his hand and foot by a rope and then carried him to the spot where he had kept a big pan full of oil for frying the flesh of his victims. Kauda started to lighten fire under the pan. When Mardana saw that, he was very frightened and prayed to Guru ji to come to his rescue. The all-knowing Guru realized what was happening to Mardana, so he started walking towards Kauda’s place in order to rescue Mardana.

Kauda was trying to light the fire when Guru ji appeared. This bewildered Kauda completely. He went towards the Guru and captured him. He lit the fire and within minutes the oil was burning hot. Upon seeing this, the Guru said that he wants be the first one to be fried. Kauda was astonished, bewildered. He had never seen someone like this. Kauda carried on his routine and lifted Guru ji to be put in the big pan.

When the Guru’s feet touched the hot oil, it became cold as ice. Kauda then knew that Guru Nanak Dev ji was not an ordinary person. Guru ji looked at him compassionately and graciously and said, "Kauda! You do not see what you do, would you cast yourself in the burning fire of hell?" Kauda, whose conscience was dead with heinous crimes, suddenly came to realization and was overwhelmed with repentance. The very gracious and holy sight of the Divine Master made him realize his guilt and he fell on the feet of the Master and prayed for mercy. The gracious Master blessed him with the Name. Kauda was completely a changed person and thereafter lived as a devout disciple of the Guru as a completely honest worshipper of God.

Respect from Akbar

After the construction of the step-well in 1559 A.D., people started bathing at one place which resulted in the elimination of differences on account of caste and creed from their minds. They started discarding the useless rituals of Brahmins. It became difficult for the Brahmins and high caste people to bear that low caste people think themselves to be their equals.


In October 1566 A.D., King Akbar stayed for some time at Lahore. Taking advantage of his presence, the Brahmins and high caste people drafted a memorandum against Guru Amar Das and presented it to Akbar. Having read the charge-sheet, Akbar sent word to Guru Amar Das at Goindwal to come to Lahore and reply to those complaints. On receipt of the message, Guru Amar Das sent Guru Ram Das as his representative to Akbar.


The first complaint was, "The Sikhs do not recite the 'Gayatri' which, according to the teaching of Vedas, is to be recited thrice a day." Guru Ram Das said, "The doctrine of the Vedas also says that the Sudras (untouchables) cannot recite the Gayatri but the teaching of Guru Nanak is common for all the castes, creeds and faiths which tells us to remember God all the time and not merely to read it with the word of mouth only three times a day."


The second question was put, "The Sikhs do not visit holy places of the Hindus." Guru Ram Das replied. "The places of pilgrimage are not sacred because of the water but were sacred because of the sojourn of great and learned men who imparted knowledge to the pilgrims. Now, only Brahmins live at these places who only collect offerings. There is no learned man to impart knowledge."


The third question was, "The Sikhs do not believe in caste system." Guru Ram Das replied, "Manu Brahmin had invented the caste system in order to keep the poor oppressed. It was not for the welfare of the people."


The fourth question was, "Sikhs do not worship the idols." He replied, "Stone has no life. The God of the Sikhs is ever-alive. He is present everywhere all the time." Akbar was convinced by the answers of Guru Ram Das. Akbar honoured him with a robe of honour. Before leaving, Guru Ram Das said to Akbar, "It would be a great relief if you stop imposition of Jazia and Pilgrimage Tax on the Hindus." And Akbar complied with accordingly.

Raja Hari Chand

When Guru Amar Dass Ji shifted his headquarters from Khadur to Goindwal, the Sikhs started going there for an audience with Guru Ji. As the number of devotees was increasing day by day, Guru Ji planned to construct more houses and inns. Though other construction material was available, but there was scarcity of wooden material. One day, Guru Ji called his nephew Bhai Sawan Mal, handed him a handkerchief and advised him to go to Raja Hari Chand of Haripur to arrange the wooden material for the buildings.


Bhai Sawan Mal then rode towards Haripur State. Reaching the city he found that the residents were observing lkadashi fast. No edible material was available there. Bhai Sawan Mal was feeling very hungry. So he himself gathered some dry wooden sticks and baked some loaves. But a spy informed the Raja about this. Raja at once ordered to arrest Bhai Sawan Mal. When Bhai Sawan Mal was arrested, the son of Raja fell seriously ill. None of the royal vaids could cure him. Then Raja ordered his soldiers to free the outsider and to bring him in his palace with honour.


When Bhai Sawan Mal reached the palace, the Raja told him about the condition of his son. Bhai Sawan Mal smiled and said, "You should not worry, your son will be alright." Then he went near the child and rubbed the face of the child with Guru Ji's handkerchief. The child at once became hale and healthy. The Raja and queens became very happy and they asked about the where abouts of Bhai Sawan Mal very impatiently. Bhai Sawan Mal told them that he was disciple of Guru Amar Dass Ji. He informed them that his mission of coming there was to arrange wooden building material for Goindwal. Raja Hari Chand was very pleased to hear it. He said, "My friend! state of Haripur has such trees in abundance. I would be very lucky to supply such wooden material to Goindwal." The Raja said, "If a disciple of Guru Ji possesses such supernatural powers, how great would the Guru be. I want to have a glimpse of your Guru Ji. Please tell me on which day I can attend his Darbar".


Bhai Sawan Mal said, "The doors of his Darbar are always open. You can meet him whenever you like." Hearing this Raja made up his mind to go to Goindwal next day.

Dara Shakoh

Guru Har Rai had opened a hospital to keep his Sikhs healthy. He appointed experienced physicians in his hospital. According to the advice of the physician, he had kept all types of medicines available at the time. The treatment was given to all without any discrimination. He also got prepared rare medicines, which were not available in other parts of the country.


King Shahjahan loved his elder son Dara Shakoh very much. But his younger son Aurangzeb was feeling jealous of it. One day with help of a cook, he mixed the moustache of a lion in the food of Dara Shakoh. When Dara Shakoh took that food, he fell ill. He was suffering from severe pain in the stomach.When Shahjahan heard about the suffering of Dara Shakoh he sent for all the experienced physicians working in the royal hospitals. They tried their best but were unable to relieve Dara Shakoh from the severe pain. At last the physicians said, "This medicine which can cure Dara Shakoh of this disease lies in the hospital of Guru Har Rai. Please bring the medicine as early as possible." But Shahjahan was hesitant to bring medicine from Guru Har Rai. He said, "How the Guru will give the medicine. I have sent my army many times to annihilate them. On the other hand I am a King of lndia and he is a Darvesh. Will it not be insult on my part to beg medicine from a Darvesh?" Pir Hasan Ali and Shekh Abu Gangohi advised him that there was no discrimination in the house of Guru Nanak.


Then Shah Jahan wrote a letter to Guru Har Rai. This letter he handed over to his trusted courtiers Aakal Khan and Gul Beg and sent them to Kiratpur to meet the Guru.


When the Guru heard about their mission, he welcomed them and asked his Sikhs to serve them meals and fruits. They were pleased to see the tradition of common kitchen. The Guru called his physicians and ordered them to give the courtiers the required medicine. The physicians provided them the medicines and they returned back.


When Dara Shakoh took that medicine he became hale and hearty within a few days. He made up his mind to visit Kiratpur. He reached Kiratpur and thanked the Guru for his kindness. The Guru blessed him and he said, "The Kings must be God fearing." Dara Shakoh wrote a poem in the praise of the Guru. He stayed for many days with the Guru. As Dara Shakoh was a very learned man, he studied the Sikh scriptures with great curiosity. Later on he became a devout devotee of the Guru. During the war of succession, when he was fleeing towards Kabul, Guru Har Rai helped him to cross the river Beas.

Madness for Gold

One day Guru Nanak and Bhai Mardana reached a country which was ruled by a very cruel king named karu. He had an urge to amass gold and silver. If he heard that one of his subjects had some gold or silver, he would ask for it and then take it away by force if his request failed. In this way, he had filled forty boxes with gold and silver.

One day the king asked his minister. "Does anyone in our country possess gold or silver about which we have not come to know?"The minister said, "I shall inquire about it and let you know tomorrow,"

On the next day, the minister sent a very beautiful slave girl to the market for sale. The sale price of that slave girl was fixed as one silver coin. When the merchant's son came to know about the news he went to his widowed mother and said, "Mother, if we buy this slave girl for a silver coin, she will do all the house work and make life easy for you." Mother replied, "We do not have any silver coin in our house but when your father died, he was buried with a silver coin in his mouth. You should now go dig the grave and take out that coin to buy this slave girl”. When the King came to know about the silver coin in the mouth of the dead, he had all the graves dug up and had the silver coin taken out.

Later, Guru Nanak went to his palace and said to the King’s gatekeeper, “Convey our message to the King, two outsiders want to see him”. When the King came to the door, he saw Guru Nanak counting pieces of broken earthen pots. The King asked in great wonder, “O holy man, what use are these pieces to you?” Guru Nanak replied, “We are to take these to the next world.” The King asked “How can you take these pieces to the next world?” Guru Nanak replied, “In the same way as the wealth collected by you by cruelty.” Hearing this, he realized his mistake. He said, “I have great love for gold and silver. Advise me so that my love for gold and silver goes away and I may embark on the path of God.”

Guru Nanak said, “O Karu, whatever you see with the eyes will be destroyed one day. The wealth which is spent in the name of God goes along with you to the next world. Horses, forces and kingdom will remain here when death overtakes you. You came to this world alone and empty handed and shall leave this world empty handed. You have seen with your own eyes that the dead, who has been buried with one silver coin in their mouths could not take even a coin with them. How will this wealth amassed with sins and cruelty, go with you? However the sins and cruelty committing those sins you will be thrown into fire of hell.”Hearing about the fire of hell, he trembled more. He asked. “How can I escape those fire?” Guru Nanak said, “Only if you shun cruelty henceforth and use the wealth which you have collected by your sins, to provide free meals to the poor.”

Importance of reading Kirtan Sohila

After traveling for many years and showing the people of the world the path to God, Guru Nanak Dev Ji came to a land near the banks of the Ravi River. This Land belonged to a wealthy man named Krori Mal who donated this entire land to Guru Nanak Dev Ji. The land was renamed to Kartarpur. Guru Nanak Dev Ji spent the later years of his life here in Kartarpur along with Bhai Lehna Ji. One afternoon, while staying in Kartarpur, Bhai Lehna Ji was giving Guru Nanak Dev Ji a massage. What did Bhai Lehna Ji see?

When he first started the massage Guru Nanak Sahib Ji was fine. He had no marks or cuts on his body, but now out of nowhere Guru Ji’s feet were bleeding. There were cuts in the feet as if they had walked over some prickles or something sharp.

Bhai Lehna Ji was shocked! He asked, “Guru Ji, you are sitting here yet how come your feet have started to bleed? How come there are cuts in your feet as if you have walked over something sharp?”
Guru Nanak Dev Ji said that there is a Sikh who is milking goats out in the field. Call that Sikh here and then I will give you the answer to your question. Guru Ji sent another Sikh to call the Sikh in the fields. When the messenger reached the fields the Sikh was reading the Bani of Kirtan Sohila while he was milking the goats. The messenger told the Sikh that Guru Ji was calling him.

The Sikh came and bowed to Guru Ji. Guru Nanak Dev Ji then told the Sikh, “Whenever anybody reads the Bani that you were reciting (Kirtan Sohila), I am always present there. While you were walking around in the fields reading Kirtan Sohila, I was walking behind you listening to the Bani. I didn’t let a single cut come on to your body; instead I took the cuts for you.”
The Sikh asked Guru Ji for forgiveness and asked what he should do now.

Guru Ji told him that Kirtan Sohila Bani should be read at night time before going to sleep. First you should wash your hands, feet, and face and then read the Bani with full concentration. If you do this, then I will sit by that person’s side and listen.

From this moment on, Kirtan Sohila started to be read at night time. Kirtan Sohila is a very short Bani, but some people are so lazy that they go to sleep without reading it. It’s not like Sukhmani Saheb which is very long. It is only a few small shabads.

If someone reads this Bani before going to sleep then they will not have any nightmares during the night. If you die during your sleep you will not become a ghost or evil spirit in your next life. Guru Ji will look after you.

This is Guru Ji’s Hukam, “That person who reads Kirtan Sohila before going to sleep will be close to me.”

While reading this Bani with concentration you should think in your mind that Guru Ji is sitting by listening to me reading the Bani. This Bani is comprised of 5 shabads; 3 from Guru Nanak Dev Ji and one each by the fourth and fifth Gurus.

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The Value of Satguru's Darshan

In Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s time there were two men who always met each other at night while walking to back from their destination. One of them is Satguru Ji’s Sikh who always goes for Satguru Ji’s darshan and the other man always went to wrong side. One day while Satguru Ji’s Sikh was going for Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s darshan he was hurt by a thorn on his feet. The Sikh was very upset and walked home with pain on his feet. When they met at night, Satguru Ji’s Sikh came to know that the other man found gold stamp. The man also told the Sikh that you go to darshan (meet) Guru Nanak Dev Ji and you get hurt but I go wrong way and I got gold. The next day Satguru Ji’s Sikh went to ask Guru Nanak Dev Ji that why did I have to suffer where as the other man got gold stamp. Guru Nanak Dev Ji told him to ask the other man that in the pot where he found the gold stamp that there was just a gold stamp and the rest was ashes right? And Guru Nanak Dev Ji said that he got the gold because you come to darshan me and then he has your darshan every night so that’s why there is just one gold stamp left. The Sikh then asked Guru Nanak Dev Ji that why did I get hurt in my feet? Guru Nanak Dev Ji replied that "you were going to get a death sentence but your karem (deed) is reduced because you have Satguru’s darshan (meet) every day".

-From Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji's Updesh, Written by Harmeet Kaur