Page 31 - Lohgarh

Lohgarh : The Largest Fort of the World w 31

Lakhi Rai’s family (his father and grandfather and others) has been a
part of the Sikh faith since the time of Guru Nanak.
In 1508, when Guru Nanak and Bhai Mardana, during their first
udasi (missionary journey) were moving from place to place, they
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reached a place (now known as Tanda) where the traders were busy in
celebrating the birth of a baby boy in the family of one of its chiefs; the
Guru made a stopover there and began singing hymns; the Vanjaras
(traders) were so busy in celebrations that nobody even bothered to
listen to the hymns of the Guru; they did not even offer them food;
after some time, the Guru left the place and began his journey onwards.
As luck would have it, the new born child died amidst celebration;
everyone plunged into sorrow; the celebrations turned into wailings.
Then, suddenly, one of them said, ‘We did not bother for the two faqirs
who had been singing hymns near our place of celebrations; they might
have cursed us, or, it might be god’s curse that we did not attend to the
saintly person;’ this was seconded by some more persons. Now they
sent some horsemen to find them (the Guru and Bhai Mardana); they
had not gone very far when one of the horsemen found them and
begged pardon of the Guru and requested them to return to their place;
when they insisted, the Guru and Bhai Mardana joined them.
When the Guru reached there, the chief of the Vanjaras begged
pardon for not attending to them earlier and requested the Guru to
make prayers so that the dead child may come to life again. The Guru
told them that life and death are both in the hands of God; none has
power to change it; if God had given a few hours life to the baby why
should one pray to God to change his will; there is no occult power and
there are no miracles; if there are miracles or occult power then it would
mean that God’s command is not final. With this he sang a hymn: “We
are mortal beings with one breath (i.e. we don’t know about the next
breath; we do not know the date and time (of our death). Nanak prays,
“let us serve the One who owns our life and breath”
Now, the Vanjaras realized the truth and after this Guru made
prayers to God seeking peace of mind for the parents, relatives and
well-wishers of the baby. The Vanjaras requested him to spend some