It took him a minute to get his bearings. He jumped up. Seeing me at the door in military regalia seemed to revive the spring in his step. The spark came back into his eyes. He looked like my lover again. He came up to me and took me by the shoulders. He gently pushed my shield to one side and the sword to the other, then took me into his arms. I melted into his embrace, snuggling into his raggedy, dusty, crusty, bony frame and murmured, "I missed you".
He stepped back, still holding onto me, "I love you, and I LOVE Guru Gobind Singh jee. And guess what, he still loves me!!"
He danced a little bit confiding, "I had a vision … or a wonderful dream. I lay on the floor in an extremely cold room next to a fireplace. Several other people with children huddled close to the fire warming themselves, while looking down upon me with pity in their eyes. One child cried out in pain when his hand got burnt by the fire. His father came running in from the outside. He first harshly scolded him, but then embraced him warmly. Then the father looked down at me and it was none other than Guru Gobind Singh jee! He recited
... his father teaches him,
and scolds him so many times,
but still, he hugs him close in his embrace.
(Guru Arjan Dev Ji, sggs 624)
"Yeah, it's true I have royally screwed up. But hey who doesn't once in a while?" This was more like my husband - he always took things in stride, nothing ever got him down for too long.
I asked him, "So what is your plan?"
"Well!" he replied quite importantly, "The first thing I have to do is retrieve my sword from a certain woman who stole it from me while I was sleeping in her bed!"
He took the sword from me and put it back on, "And then I am going to eat many delicious pranthas made by that same woman and then I am going to go kick some Moghul butt! Isn't that a great plan?"
I nodded with relief and happiness! Hearing this exchange Pita Jee knocked at the door and came into the room. My husband just flung himself at Pita Jee's feet. "Please forgive me, father. I am your most ignorant child!" Pita Jee, patted his head apologetically and replied, "I spoke harsh words out of despair, son! I hope you forgive a foolish, raving man!" They hugged each other for a long time.
We got moving quickly after that. While my husband bathed then stuffed himself with quite a few potato stuffed pranthas - a few too many perhaps, if you ask me, to load into a belly that had gone so long without food. The children woke and came sleepy-eyed into the room. Not at first recognizing their Father, they soon squealed delightedly climbing into his lap. They soon became quiet awestruck by tales about the great feats their father had accomplished in the company of the world's greatest warrior. As we rearranged his packs, stuffing in even more dry food in hopes he could slip back into the Fort, we heard a knock at the door.
The Jathedaar (group leader) who had presented the decree to the Guru stuck his head through and looked around. He was a charismatic man and I felt sure that he had played a big part in arranging the 40 men's "liberation". I cautiously greeted him, not wanting him to change my husband's mind.
He asked me, "Where is Bhai Sahib?"
Had his tone been less jovial, I would have sullenly kept quiet or given him a piece of my mind. Something in his demeanor imparted to me his change of heart. I could tell we all belonged to the same "side". I told him everything.
He smiled and announced, "All of the men are going back. I just wanted to let him know that we will be leaving in an hour!" He turned to go.
I called after him, "Wait! Jatehdaar jee, what changed their minds?"
"Oh," he replied, quite eager to talk, "One thing or the other. For me personally, Mai Bhago Jee came and inspired me. Well, actually …once I arrived I felt like the lowest and filthiest most-cowardly creature to ever walk on this Earth! Mai Bhago Jee scolded me reminding me that I am a Singh worth 125,000 ordinary men. I knew her to be a stalwart Sikh, but I never realized how deeply imbued with Naam she was - each of her words pierced straight like an arrow into my heart. And her punctuation, haha, my head barely missed her rolling pin," he laughed, "She told me,
"You sit here at home and take care of the children; and we women will go in your place. We will return with food for our brothers and weaponry to fight with and give our lives if necessary."
I realized that I could make a difference by returning. I couldn't talk her out of coming along too. I pity the Moghul who crosses her path!" he laughed again.
He turned a little serious, "To tell you the truth, even on the way "home", many of us already deeply regretted leaving. In fact, as soon as I handed over that… decree to the Great Guru, we all felt quite forlorn. The further we got away from the Guru, the emptier we felt. All our hopes for better days and lives just vanished. Once we lost it, we realized what the Guru has given us with Naam is life itself! After all this time with the Guru, we took Naam for granted. We only experienced the utter desolation of a life without Naam after we gave it up. Severing our connection with Guru severed our Naam and we became broken men depleted of Naam. I am sure you noticed your husband's empty state? … We felt miserable! Royally miserable! We realized halfway home that a desolate life starving for Naam is far worse than any death from hunger. To make things worse, we had hoped to be welcomed home by our womenfolk and families…"
He fell silent, and then added, "I am extremely sorry. I don't know what happened. I guess the lack of food, sleep and the relentless onslaught eroded our morale. I just don't know … we have gone without food and sleep for extended periods of time before, but nothing like this even cropped up in our minds before. I suppose we fell for the enemy's plan to divide and conquer by offering us a way out. However we will make this work to our advantage and go back fresh and renewed and much wiser to our Gurus Service. The first thing I'm going to do is the burn up that cursed paper that I wrote up!" he paused, "If the Guru has bothered to keep it. Perhaps he gave up on us?" he asked me as if I knew the answer.
This answer I did know, "No! He has not given up on you and never will!"
And so 40 Singhs, and several women who valued certain death beside their beloved Guru over an uncertain life without him mounted their horses. Led by Mai Bhago Jee and the Jathedaar, they rode out singing shabads about their love for their Guru and his inherent forgiving nature.
~~~~
At the back of my mind, I kept wondering (especially when the kids were acting up!) how it would have been if I had gone to battle. It would be such a great feeling to be doing something as noble as defending the Khalsa in it's hour of need.
I pictured myself first fighting bravely and then pleading to the Guru to remove my husband's name from that dreadful decree.
One day, after my chores were done, I sat down thinking how wonderful it would be if my husband could somehow make it back to describe what had happened after he rode away. Of course he had no chance of coming back, but the Guru is mysteriously great…
I felt my eyes drooping and I decided a nap would serve me well. I nodded off. After several minutes of dozing, I woke from my slumber, and discovered myself suspended a couple of feet above my body!
I thought this must be the dream that my husband often talked about finally happening to me. I looked at my floating self with wonder. My body seemed to have no physical substance. Instead a soft radiance gave it shape. I found my clothes most interesting. They seemed to be woven with threads of colored light. I wondered whether our village tailor could manage such a design!
I hovered idly musing for a few moments until a sudden chilling thought entered my mind. Could I be dead?!! I panicked! What about my children? They would be orphans. The instant I thought of them, I found myself looking down on them. I could see them sitting with other children for lessons. They listened drowsily, struggling to stay awake, as their teacher, while swatting absently at flies, droned on and on about some historically great, but boring, personage. I felt very confused. How had I gotten here? Had I truly died? Instantaneously my body appeared beneath me.
I looked closely and noticed it heaving up and down with each breath it took. Then I perceived a slender silver thread linking my transparent radiant body to my sleeping body. I relaxed - deciding that I still lived. I had no idea what to do though - I tried to remember if Pita Jee had ever mentioned anything like this before. Immediately I saw Pita Jee below taking his afternoon nap. He slept soundly as I watched.
Aha! Suddenly I dawned on me. I realized that I traveled by thought in this form. I remembered my husband had mentioned something like this happening to him but I had ignored him at the time. Some of the things he had told to me just had seemed too bizarre to believe. But perhaps in this place, where this form of myself existed, things were indeed peculiar!
Thoughts of my husband projected me over a field above some riders. Looking down I saw my husband riding along with others! I could not believe my luck - I had been wishing for just this.
~~~~~
The sun shone high. Not even a wisp of a cloud graced the sky. Though I couldn't feel it, by the looks of the horses panting tongues, it appeared to be scorching hot. It hadn't rained for weeks. With each step the ponies' hooves kicked up dust which stuck to sweat trickling down the faces of the riders. Sparse dry vegetation dotted the landscape. The Jathedaar signaled the riders to stop under a stand of scraggly parched looking trees. After they had rested for a little while, the Jathedaar and Mai Bhago Jee discussed something quietly and then I heard him say, "Khalsa jee! Time is against us! The Guru will soon be attacked by a large Moghul force. We are all veterans here and I will not lie to you about the dire situation we are in. By the time we get to the Guru, it will be too late. More than warriors, the Guru needs time. We must act now!"
He looked at Mai Bhago Jee. Her voice thundered as she spoke, "It is true that time is against us. It is true that there are 500 moghuls for each of us. But it is also true that the Guru has made each one of us capable of fighting 125,000 of them! Remember Khalsa jee, a single light destroys a roomful of darkness! Remember Khalsa jee, when we took amrit, we first laid down our heads! This head belongs to the Guru and it is time to present it to him!!"
So much Naam reverberated in her voice that the Singhs just stared at her with open-mouthed awe as though a Goddess had suddenly appeared before them! There was silence for a few moments and then a Singh came to his senses and let out a piercing Jaikara (Sikh war cry) that shook the tree leaves… "Jo Booooole Soooo Nihaaal!" The thunderous reply of "Saaaat Sri Akaaaaal" echoed through shivering tree branches across the plain leaving no doubt of the warrior's deadly intent!
Mai Bhago Jee continued, "We have come up with a plan to delay the enemy giving the Guru an opportunity to get into a position where he has a better chance to fight the enemy. Prepare yourselves for the other world!" Impressed with Mai Bhago Jee's Naam spirit, the Singhs would have done just about anything she would have asked and this sounded like a great plan!
After a short search, they found the perfect spot for an ambush, a large clear pass surrounded on either side by low hills dense with trees. They knew the enemy would have to come through this pass for the only other alternative, a route around the hills, would take at least half a day. So they hid themselves among the trees along the way and waited.
From my vintage point, I could see the enemy approaching. I could also see the Khalsa with the Guru up far ahead. They had spread white and blue sheets on the ground bordering a small lake bed. I guessed they did this to fool the enemy into thinking the Khalsa had camped there in yet another warfare trick to delay and confuse their adversaries. Driven by a prevailing thirst, the enemy rushed blindly towards the lake not realizing it had dried up in the summer heat. Not expecting that the Khalsa would camp around a dry lake, the enemy had thrown caution to the wind. They rode ferociously towards the water envisioning an easy victory, abundant water and much-needed rest.
Because of their confidence, the enemy didn't bother sending scouts out ahead to detect any possible ambushes. The summer heat seriously eroded their morale and ability to persevere. The ill-humored, battle weary men and their fatigued horses just wanted their ordeal to be at an end.
The hidden Singhs waited for a few men pass by before they made their move. At the Jathedaar's signal, a volley of arrows whistled through the trees hurtling into the oncoming forces. Stunned, the enemy froze gaping at their fallen comrades in surprise. As a second torrent came raining upon them, they turned to face it raising their shields against the onslaught, waiting for orders from the leaders. A volley of arrows whizzed in from the other side of the pass biting in to their unprotected backs, shoulders and bottoms.
The Moghuls troupes panicked scrambling chaotically trying to get out of range. Their leaders quickly converged to formulate a defense. From an entirely new direction, directly into their midst struck arrow after arrow in quick succession.
Rapidly taking the leaders down, gold-tipped arrows flew arcing from a high mound up ahead where the greatest Warrior ever to walk the Earth stood bow in hand.
The hidden Khalsa cheered enthusiastically, but silently, at this totally unexpected turn of events. The group's confident fighting spirit soared; overjoyed that the Great Guru had come back to help aid them. Only sharp orders against any jaikaras prevented any outbursts of elation. The enemy fell back rapidly fleeing in the only safe direction – behind them!
No comments:
Post a Comment