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ਮੰਞ
ਪਿਆਰਾ
ਗੁਰੂ
ਨੂੰ
ਗੁਰ
ਮੰਞ
ਪਿਆਰਾ |
ਮੰਞ
ਗੁਰੂ
ਕਾ
ਬੋਹਥਾ
ਜਗੁ
ਲੰਘਣਹਾਰਾ
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Introduction
In the time of Guru Arjan Dev jee, there was a powerful and
rich Jat by the name of Teeratha. Teeratha was a follower of
the Muslim sect of Sakhee Sarvar. He was the local leader of
this sect and had hundreds of followers who all respected him.
Teeratha would regularly lead the members of this sect on a
pilgrimage to the main Sakhee Sarvar shrine now in Pakistan.
Meeting the Guru
Once when passing through Amritsar, Teeratha decided to visit
Guru Arjan. He had heard that there was a great Guru who had a
large following and this Guru was spiritually enlightened. He
was curious to know who this Guru was and what he would say.
He decided to stop off and see the Darbar of Guru Arjan Dev
jee. When he saw the Darbar, he saw that people of many
different backgrounds, and castes were all sitting together
and living in harmony. He also heard the keertan in the
darbaar and the keertan left a permanent mark on him. He heard
of the great gift of naam and the thirst to have this gift
rose within him. He was the leader of hundreds of Sakhee
Sarvar followers but he could no longer follow that path. He
realised that Sikhee was the path he must follow.
He came to Guru Arjan Dev jee and introduced himself. Guru jee
saw how rich and powerful Teeratha was and when Teeratha
begged for Naam and to be initiated into the Sikh faith, Guru
jee replied, "Being a Sikh is no easy thing. The path is finer
than a hair and sharper than the khanda. The primary principle
of Sikhee is humility." Teeratha again repeated his request.
Guru Arjan Dev jee then said, "Why do you want to be a Sikh?
You are a rich and powerful man with hundreds of followers.
You can continue on the easy path of Sakhee Sarvar, because
the Sikh path is very hard. If you become a Sikh, you will
lose your followers and all their respect and you will lose
your wealth as well. You may even have to pay for this
decision with your life. What use is there in becoming a Sikh
for you?" But Teeratha was insistent he begged that nothing
mattered. If he lost everything it would not matter, he needed
Naam. With tears in his eyes he begged for Naam. Guru Arjan
Dev jee accepted his request and initiated him into Sikhee and
gave him Naam.
Teeratha decided to not return home and took leave of his
followers. He decided to stay with the Guru Jee for some time.
The Sikhs knew that Teeratha was from the Manjh clan and began
to call him Bhai Manjh. Bhai Manjh did seva in the darbaar and
one day Guru Arjan Dev jee called him and asked him to return
to his village and preach Sikhee to his old followers.
Return to the Village and Disaster
Bhai Manjh returned to his village and began the work of
preaching Sikhee to the followers of Sakhee Sarvar. In his
home, there was a shrine to Sakhee Sarvar which was revered by
all the local followers. Bhai Manjh reached home and
immediately had it demolished. Many of his old followers who
had considered him a Guru heard Bhai Manjh's message that Guru
Arjan was the true Satguru and the source of all happiness.
They too decided to become Sikhs and began to recite baaNee.
Bhai Manjh and the new devotees of the Guru decided to build a
Dharamshaala (Sikh place of gathering) in the village where
they could daily meet and do sangat.
While the construction of the Dharamshala was still going on,
some Sakhee Sarvar leaders came to the village and saw that so
many followers had become Sikhs. They spoke to Bhai Manjh and
asked him to renounce Sikhee or face a terrible price. They
said that he was powerful and a high official in the Sakhee
Sarvar sect and he would lose all this if he did not come to
his senses. Bhai Manjh sent them away and was insistent that
he would remain a Sikh. The Sakhee Sarvar leaders left the
village but heaped countless curses on Bhai Manjh and vowed
that he would regret his decision.
Within a few days of this event, one night, all of Bhai
Manjh's cattle died. It was unexplainable how all cattle could
die in one night. In the following nights, cattle began to die
in neighbouring houses as well. The villagers began to believe
that perhaps the curse of Sakhee Sarvar was responsible and by
becoming Sikhs and destroying the shrine, they had made a
serious mistake. More and more cattle began to die each night
and the villagers decided to break off from Bhai Manjh. They
declared that they had nothing to do with Bhai Manjh and his
new religion. They removed him from his position as village
head. Bhai Manjh now began to lose his wealth as well and soon
poverty entered his home.
Poverty
Before, poor and needy people used to come to Bhai Manjh to
request for help and money. People would still come now but he
himself was living in abject poverty. Bhai Manjh had
absolutely no extra wealth to give to anybody. Bhai Manjh was
in a desperate situation and he decided to visit the new
village head. Bhai Manjh offered his home to be rented out for
some money so he could feed his family. The village head
agreed to the proposal but added the condition that Bhai
Manjh's wife would become his housemaid. His wife would be
paid for her labour as well.
Bhai Manjh returned home absolutely shattered. He was once the
most powerful man in the village and today he was being forced
to make his wife a maid. When Bhai Manjh's wife asked him what
the village head had said. Bhai Manjh haltingly explained the
offer he was given. Bhai Manjh's wife listened and then said
that in such hard times she too was willing to make sacrifices
and if they had to lower their dignity by doing a job such as
that of maid, then so be it. They had to marry off their young
daughter and needed money to raise their family. Bhai Manjh's
wife agreed to go work for the village head.
Bhai Manjh fell asleep that night in deep sadness. The next
morning his wife would leave to begin her new job. He thought
of Guru Arjan and wondered why the Guru would put his Sikh
through such pain. How could the Guru allow him to see such
days? Then understanding dawned: this must be the Guru's test.
The Guru had said that he would have to sacrifice his all for
Naam. Bhai Manjh was determined not to fail this test. He felt
shame that he had ever questioned the will of the Guru.
Serving the Guru
The next morning Bhai Manjh's wife gathered her clothes and
left for the village head's home. Bhai Manjh decided to also
leave the village. He left for Amritsar with his daughter and
decided to spend his time doing seva. Bhai Manjh began to take
the seva of bringing wood for the langar, cleaning the dishes,
serving the visiting sangat and any other seva he could find.
Guru Jee too heard of Bhai Manjh's sevaa. He called Bhai Manjh
to come see him.
Bhai Manjh and his daughter appeared before Guru Jee and
bowed. They stood before SatGuru Arjan Dev Jee and waited for
him to speak. Guru Arjan Dev Jee asked, "Bhai Manjh, where do
you eat?" Bhai Manjh replied, "Satguru, I eat from your langar…"
Guru Arjan jee then said, "well then, what you do is nothing
but wage-labour isn't it?"
The sangat was stunned. They knew Bhai Manjh had sacrificed
his entire wealth and prestige to become a Sikh and now did
more seva than anyone else in the Darbaar. How could Guru jee
have humiliated him like this in front of everyone? After all,
the Langar was open to everyone, why would Guru jee say such a
thing?
Bhai Manjh was once a powerful and proud aristocrat with
hundreds of followers. He now hung his head and then said, "Satguru,
you are wise. Please give me the wisdom to understand and
accept your Hukam."Guru jee did not reply. Bhai Manjh then
bowed and took his leave with his daughter.
Bhai Manjh now decided to no longer eat in the langar. He
decided to collect two bundles of wood from now on and he
would give one to the langar and sell the other to earn his
living and use it to purchase his food. Bhai Manjh's daughter
asked her father why the Guru was so merciless to him. Bhai
Manjh immediately replied, "No no! The Guru is merciful. He is
testing our faith. We can not fail."
The Final Test
Bhai Manjh would rise early and begin to collect wood for seva
and also to sell. After giving the first bundle and selling
the second, the two would return to the Darbaar and do seva
all day. He would put all his extra money into the Golak. Guru
jee once came to Bhai Manjh and asked why he still stayed
despite being so poor and having lost everything. Guru jee
said he should go home. Bhai Manjh replied, "Mahaaraaj, please
never speak of having to leave your feet. Sachay Patshah,
worldly wealth is a dream and so it comes and goes. Nothing is
lost. I have lost my worldly wealth and found your true
treasure of Naam. No thief will take this treasure from me and
no King will seize it. " Guru jee gave his blessings to Bhai
Manjh and moved on.
One day early in the morning when Bhai Manjh was going to the
langar to give wood, such a dust storm arose that he could see
nothing. Bhai Manjh stumbled and fell into a well. He kept the
bundle of wood that he had on his head so that it might not
get wet. He was not afraid and kept reciting Gurbanee. Day
broke and Bhai Manjh still had not returned and everyone
understood he must be in trouble. The Sikhs began to search
for him, they split up into different groups and searched in
every direction. Eventually one search party came near a well
and heard someone singing and reciting Gurbanee. When they
looked into the well they saw Bhai Manjh standing in the well,
keeping dry the wood on his head. One Sikh ran to Guru Arjan
Dev Jee to tell him what had happened and Guru jee immediately
dashed bare foot to the well. They threw a rope into the well
and asked Bhai Manjh to pull himself out. Bhai Manjh jee
called from the depth of the well, "Please, first pull the
wood out for the langar! If they become wet, they will be of
no use and not burn. If I am wet, nothing will happen." Bhai
jee tied the wood bundle to the rope and had it pulled out.
Only then did Bhai Manjh pull himself out.
When Bhai Manjh climbed out of the well, Guru Arjan was
standing before him. Bhai Manjh fell at Guru jee's feet. Guru
Arjan asked, "Bhai Manjh! What have you gained by following
me? You have lost your wealth, your status, and even your
wife. You have lost everything!"
Bhai Manjh held Guru jee's feet even tighter and with tears in
his eyes replied, "No Satguru! I have not lost anything. I
have only gained. Please don't push me away, this is my only
request of you…"
Guru Arjan Dev jee then said, "Bhai Manjh, your sevaa has
borne fruit. Ask for anything you want."
Bhai Manjh replied, "Guru jee, bless me that I may never want
anything. May I always be content"
Guru jee replied, "It will happen as you request. But still,
request something Bhai Manjh…"
Bhai Manjh then said, "If you are happy with me, then have
this mercy. It is Kaljug. Please do not scold and test so
harshly. May your Sikhs not have to bear such hardships."
Guru Maharaj again said, "This too will happen, but still
request something Bhai Manjh." Bhai Manjh finally replied,
"May my consciousness remain at your feet and may I never
forget the meditation of your Naam. If you wish to bless me,
then bless me with gift of limitless faith."
Guru Arjan heard these words and then said, “ਮੰਞ
ਪਿਆਰਾ
ਗੁਰੂ
ਨੂੰ
ਗੁਰ
ਮੰਞ
ਪਿਆਰਾ
I
ਮੰਞ
ਗੁਰੂ
ਕਾ
ਬੋਹਥਾ
ਜਗੁ
ਲੰਘਣਹਾਰਾ
I "Manjh is the beloved of the Guru and the Guru is beloved of
Manjh. Manjh is the ferry of the Guru who will ferry across
the world ocean."
Guru Arjan sent Bhai Manjh home and told him all had been
returned. Bhai Manjh did not understand how this would be
possible, but had complete faith in the Guru.
Everything Restored
Bhai Manjh's wife had been working in the house of the village
head and she made such an impression on him that he decided to
make her his sister. He requested that she take the
responsibility of raising his only son. He also gave back Bhai
Manjh's home where she could raise the boy. Bhai Manjh
returned home and was informed of all that had happened and
was stunned.
Bhai Manjh never left the support of the Guru. Even at the
darkest time he had faith it was all a test and if he stayed
firm in his faith, nothing would happen to him. Bhai Manjh was
appointed the entire Doaba area to preach Sikhee and he opened
a Dharamshaalaa in his home. The langar that Bhai Sahib jee
opened was famous all around. Many people became Sikhs because
of his parchaar. When Guru Arjan Dev jee came to visit the
Doaba area in 1596, he made a point of specially visiting Bhai
Manjh and praised him for his parchaar.
Bhai Manjh jee is the embodiment of faith and perseverance.
Nothing in life could turn him away from the Guru and in the
end, the Guru kept and protected his Sikh.
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