A wise man once wrote about three rules of conduct, the iron rule, the silver rule and the golden rule. The ones who follow the iron rule always return evil towards anyone who does good to them. Followers of the silver rule do good to those who do good to them. The ones who are morally strong follow the golden rule and do good to others no matter what they do to them in return.
After Guru Har Gobind Sahib passed away Teg Bahadhur Jee went to Bakala village with his wife and mother. For many years he stayed in a basement and meditated there day and night. Before Guru Har Krishan Sahib Jee passed away they said the next guru would be from Baba Bakala.
Hearing this many fake sants and relatives of the guru set up their thrones at Bakala and claimed to be the true guru.
At the same time a merchant Sikh Makhan Shah Lubana from Gujrat was sailing in the ocean when he ran into a fierce storm. His crew was at the mercy of the great waves, their end seemed inevitable. He did ardass to the current Guru on Guru Nanak’s throne that he would offer 500 gold coins if his ship and crew survived the big storm. In a little while the ship had cleared the path of the storm and they were saved.
When he reached shore he headed straight to Bakala to offer the coins he had promised the guru. When he got there he was surprised to find so many gurus sitting on thrones. He decided to give each of them two coins each. As he put the money in front of them they each blessed him a long and prosperous life. After he was done with all of them he didn’t feel completely satisfied and asked if there was any other holy person in the village.
Someone told him of Teg Bahadhur who lived in a bhora (basement) Makhan Shah decided to pay him a visit too. When he put two gold coins in front of Guru Teg Bhadhur Jee he asked Makhan Shah “what happened to the 500 gold coins you promised? You only offered me two.” Guru Sahib showed him the fresh wound on his shoulder and told him it was with this shoulder that I moved your ship out of the path of the storm.
Hearing this Makhan Shah was overjoyed and started to shout: ਗੁਰ ਲਾਧੋ ਰੇ! ਗੁਰ ਲਾਧੋ ਰੇ! “I have found the guru, I have found the guru!”
Dhir Mal was a relative of the Guru and because Guru Teg Bhadhur Shaib was finally revealed to the Sikhs he became very jealous. He wanted Guru Sahib out of the picture and he plotted to kill the guru. Men were sent and they opened fire, even with a heavy hail of fire none of the bullets fatally struck the Guru. Amidst all the confusion most of the valuables were looted by Dhir Mal’s men.
Without the Guru’s permission, some Sikhs wanted revenge and they attacked Dhir Mal’s Dera captured everyone inside, tied their hands behind their back and brought them in front of Guru Sahib . They also recaptured all of Guru Sahib’s looted property and all of Dhir Mal’s possessions as well.
Even after all Dhir Mal had done Guru Sahib decided to let them go without punishment. All their property was returned to them as well. All the Sikhs were shocked when this happened. Guru Sahib told them “it’s better to forgive an enemy than to go on a pilgrimage.” Guru Sahib indeed followed the golden rule.
Bhagat Freed Jee writes:
ਫਰੀਦਾਜੋਤੈਮਾਰਨਿਮੁਕੀਆਂਤਿਨ੍ਾਨਮਾਰੇਘੁੰਮਿ॥
ਆਪਨੜੈਘਰਿਜਾਈਐਪੈਰਤਿਨ੍ਾਦੇਚੁੰਮਿ॥੭॥
and:
ਫਰੀਦਾਬੁਰੇਦਾਭਲਾਕਰਿਗੁਸਾਮਨਿਨਹਢਾਇ॥
ਦੇਹੀਰੋਗੁਨਲਗਈਪਲੈਸਭੁਕਿਛੁਪਾਇ॥੭੮॥
keep posting....I like when sakhi is followed by what Guru Sahib says is Gurbanee..
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