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Meeting With Baba Sri Chand

Guru Ram Das divided his time between supervising the construction of the holy sarovar at Amritsar, and looking after Guru Amar Das's work at Goindwal where he continued to serve the Sikh community with the same devotion as before. The Guru's message of humility, patience and simplicity had spread far and wide.

Even those people who had initially not approved of Guru Amar Das's choice, were won over by Guru Ram Das's humility. Even Baba Sri Chand, Guru Nanak's eldest son, had heard about Guru Ram Das. He had turned udasi or a recluse as a mark of protest, when his father did not appoint him the Guru. He had since then stayed out of the Sikh community in anger, and had refused to see or meet any of the Gurus after his father.

Baba Sri Chand had heard a lot about Guru Ram Das and his humble nature, and when he saw how devoted the people were to him he decided to meet the Guru out of sheer curiousity. At that time he was about ninety years old. Due to worship of God he was still very active and healthy. He was wearing a saffron coloured dress. But he had no affinity with the yogis and recluses.

When Guru Ram Das heard about the arrival of Baba Sri Chand, he rose and himself went to receive Baba on the way. When Baba Sri Chand first set his eyes on Guru Ram Das he was amazed at the strong resemblance that the Guru bore to his father. Guru Ram Das welcomed him heartily and invited him to his house, which Baba Sri Chand willingly accepted.

Benevolence, Generosity, And Humbleness

As they sat talking, Baba pointed towards Guru Ram Das's long beard and asked why he had a long, flowing beard. The Guru replied with all humility that his long beard was to wipe the feet of holy men like Baba Sri Chand. Hearing this, Baba was not embarrassed, but realised the greatness of the Guru. When the Guru actually got down to wipe Baba's feet with his beard he got up, and embraced the Guru. He then told Guru Ram Das that he now realised the wisdom of his father's choice, and admitted that humility and devotion had made him realise why he was overlooked by his father.

Baba Sri Chand said, "It is this humility and politeness which has made you worthy of Guruship. I have heard about your benevolence, generosity, and humbleness, but now I have seen with my own eyes. With your devoted service you have not achieved the Guruship but also won the hearts of people. Your praise can not be described in words. I have been very pleased to see the city of Amritsar which you have built with great hardship. The glory and grandeur of the amrit sarovar is matchless."

That day, Baba Sri Chand lost all his grievances against his father and became a better Sikh, thanks to the Guru. When Baba Sri Chand asked for leave, Guru Ram Das bade him farewell with great respect. Guru Ram Das offered five hundred rupees and an Arabian horse at the time of his departure. Guru Ram Das was careful to keep the identity of Sikhi intact. He did not allow udasis or yogis to join Sikh religion without changing their views or his Sikhs to join the udasis or yogis. Yet the udasis considered themselves a part of the Sikh religion. They held the same views as the Sikhs about God, Gurus, and their philosophy.


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