Indian Antiquary Vol 03

SR No.: 032495
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jas Burgess
Publisher: Swati Publications
Publication Year: 1984
Total Pages: 420
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 19 MB

Page 324

OCTOBER, 1874.]
THE LIFE OF BÅBÅ NÅNAK.
297
of Maula, of the Chanê got of the Khatris, a resident of Lokhoki, Pargana Batâla, in the district of Gurdaspur: her name was Solakhni. By her he had two sons, Sri Chand and Lakhmi Dâs. From the latter descend the whole tribe of the Bedis, who pretend to the sanctity, though they do not adopt the virtues, of their great ancestors : the former founded the sect of the Audasis, who dwell in numerous convents, or Akhârâhs, all over the Panjab. Nânak had no other children, and he gave no authority to his descendants to practise the wicked custom of killing their daughters: indeed it is contrary to the mild and benevolent principles which he taught. He appears to have anticipated that his descendants would make a bad use of the circumstance of his being their ancostor, for he was unwilling to marry, and had no wish to have children. In none of his travels did he take them with him, and he expressly excluded them from the succession to the position of spiritual teacher, which he had attained, and chose one of his disciples, as more worthy of that important office
Soon after the birth of his children he ceased to care for worldly affairs : his mind was more and more occupied with a sense of the vanity of wealth,
nk. and power, and even of life. He went once to bathe in the Bau Nadi near Sultanpur, and stayed there a whole day in the water : the tree is still shown where he used to sit, and is known as Bdbd-ki-Bir, and the place where he bathed is called Sant-Ghat. Even the shop where he used to trade is called Hath-Scheb, and weights are shown stated to be those which he had used in his trade : so great is the reverence paid to his name. He now abandoned his home, and took up his abode in the jungles: his friends tried in vain to dissuade him : many went out to talk him over, and among others his father-in-law, Muld, who was naturally very much annoyed at seeing his daugh- ter and her children deserted without any pro- vision. Nawab Daulat Khân was persuaded to send his commands to him to return, but in vain. Nának replied that he was the servant of God alone, and knew no earthly master. It may be remarked that all his replies are given by the narrator in the form of short pithy Vurdes : this may or may not have been the exact form in which they were delivered
The tendency of all Nának's remarks bad been that there was one God, one true faith, and that the divisions of religion and castes were but the work of man. This led the Nawab to persuade him one day to accompany him to the mosque at the hour of prayer. When all the Muhammadans knelt down to pray, Nanak alone stood up: when the Nawab remonstrated, he said "O Nawab,
you were not praying your thoughts were occupied in the purchase of a horse at Kandahår." The Nawab, who was an hou. 1st, truth-loving man, confessed that his thoughts had wandered. The Qazi was much enraged, and asked Nának why he did not pray with him. He replied, "You, O Qazi, were not praying: you were thinking of your daughter's illness, and wondering whether your colt had fallen into a well." The Qazi's countenance fell, and he was obliged to confess that the Guru had truly read his thoughts.
Nanak now finally abandoned the world, and adopted the life of a Faqir. His wife and children were sent to his father-in-law : he took leave of his sister Nånaki, who remained always warmly attached to him, and started on his travels from village to village and from country to country. His companions were Bâld, who had accompanied him from the earliest day, and is thence called "Bhai Bål," and Mardhan, a Muhammadan Rababi or musician, who voluntarily joined him, and who used to play to his master on his harp, while he was abstracted in thought and prayer.
Bhai Mardhânâ is described as a strange companion, who was always hungry, and getting into scrapes, from which Nanak had to extricate him. When be played on the harp it was always in the praise of the Creator :“Tuhi Narankár, Kirtar,-Nának Bandah tert."
Nána k used to be whole days rapt in meditation, with closed eyes, and thoughts fixed on God, and unconscious of what was going on, while Mardana suffered much exposure, hunger, thirst, and a desire to return to his family.
One day he went to A min & båd, then as now an important city in the Rechna Doah, in the district of Gujarênwâlå. He put up in the house of Lalu Thakar, whom he knew to be virtuous and honest, and refused to eat the food of Wazir Malak Bhagu, because he was an oppressor of the poor, and had collected his wealth as an unjust raler of the people. The name of Naushirvan still lives by justice after the lapse of many centuries. So does the name of Misr Rap Lal in the villages of Jhalandar Doab; while the memory of the evil ruler and of his family is cursed, and his ill-gotten wealth is the cause of strife among his descendants, and is soon squandered. The place where Nának slept at Aminábild is still venerated under the name of Rori-Sahob, from the circumstance of the Guru having spread gravel on the spot. While he was residing here, the great invasion of India took place under B&ber. Amináband was taken by storm and plundered, and the Guru and his companions were seized to carry bundles 18 Begårs : he submitted, and was carried to the Emperor's tents, accompanied by Mardhand playing on the rabdb.