Be Truthful, Grateful & Empathise !

In the early 16^th century there lived a man called Bhumiyar in Dhaka which is now the capital of Bangaladesh.

Bhumiyar used to spend all his earnings in feeding the poor and the needy.  All traders used to have their food at his place, rest and move on.

Once a holy man visited Bhumiyar’s village.  He had an amazing glow around his face and people loved to be in his company and came from far and wide to hear him. Bhumiyar also went to meet him and requested him to visit his place and have food from his free kitchen.  The holy man too had heart a lot about the free kitchen which was run by the Bhumiyar. 

Before leaving for Bhumiyar’s place the holy man asked Bhumiyar, “It’s nice to know that you are feeding the poor and the needy every day and spending your full income in this charitable task.  But may I know the source of your income ?”

The question was asked so abruptly that Bhumiyar was taken aback.  Till date everyone had appreciated his noble endeavor of feeding the hungry and were in awe.  No one had dared to ask him about his source of income. 

As he was a hardcore dacoit he was in a fix regarding what to say.  The glow on the holy man’s face, who was in fact Guru Nanak himself, was of such high intensity that he couldn’t dare to speak a lie to him.  Hence, he said, “I’m a hardcore dacoit. I have been looting and even murdering the travellers since long.  Now a days of course I’m not doing this directly.  I have deployed various men to do the job for me.  However, I can assure you that 100% of the earnings is put into feeing the poor and the needy.”

Nanak said, “Bhumiyar, the food that you are providing in your house has been earned by looting and killing people.  Hence, it renders the food unsuitable for being eaten by me.”

Bhumiyar was highly aggrieved at this and still pleaded Nanak to visit his place and have food by assuring him once again that he spent all his earnings in running the free kitchen.

Nanak said, “It doesn’t matter how you spend your earnings. What matters is the process in which you have earned your wealth. Looting and killing in order to do charity is not acceptable.  Have you ever thought of the pain and anxiety that you have caused to the ones whom you and your men have looted ?  Have you ever thought of the grief that you and your men have caused to the kith and kin of those whom you and your men have killed ? In the Lord’s house charity done through hard earned money is only accepted.” Bhumiyar was pretty impressed with Nanak’s sermon and he requested him to guide him further.  He was in fact worried about the fact whether he will be forgiven by the Lord for all his wrong doings or not.

Nanak said, ”Look here Bhumiyar if you want to be forgiven by the Lord for your misdeeds and be rewarded for the charity that you are dong then try to adhere to three basic  tenets from now on :

1.     Always speak the truth.

2.     Be grateful to the one whose salt you eat and

3.     Empathise with the poor.

 After staying in Dhaka for few more days Nanak left the place. Bhumiyar went on with his charity as usual but had stopped looting and killing the poor people.  Soon he ran out of money.  In order to continue his charity he made a bold decision of robbing the king.  According to his thoughts king was rich and moreover his earnings were not entirely his own hence, he presumed God will also not mind it very much.

That evening Bhumiyar dressed himself in a royal manner and went towards the palace.

The gatekeeper asked Bhumiyar, “who are you and why do you want to go into the place ?”

By now Bhumiyar was trying his best to follow Nanak’s advice.  When the gatekeeper asked him the above question he remembered Nanak’s advice of always speaking the truth.  So he said, “I’m a thief and I want to go into the palace to steal.”

The gatekeeper was surprised to hear Bhumiyar’s reply.  He was confused as to whether he should raise alarm or allow him to go in.  The boldness with which bhumiyar had answered made him take it for granted that the man must be close to the king.  So instead of stopping him he allowed him to go inside with a sweet smile on his face.

Bhumiyar spent the whole night inside the palace.  He could make a good collection of precious gems, ornaments and other artifacts which would surely fetch him great wealth for his future charitable tasks.  He was very happy with himself. Before leaving the palace with all his loot he saw a bottle of ‘churan’ (dry mixture of various minerals and salt).  He knew the taste of the churan and couldn’t resist himself from eating it and pocketed the bottle.  But soon after having eaten churan and tasting the presence of ‘salt’ in it he realized his mistake of having eaten king’s salt.  He remembered Nanak’s second tenet, “Always be grateful to the one whose ‘salt’ you eat.” He felt all that he had so painstakingly collected in the palace itself and reached his home safely.

Next morning when the king came to know that a thief had made an unsuccessful attempt to steal the precious gems, ornaments and other artifacts of the palace he became very upset.  His men started questioning the guards.  While doing so they were intrigued to hear from the guard who narrated about Bhumiyar’s entry.  The guard was immediately put behind bars for being executed soon.  Various poor men and other peasants were arrested and beaten mercilessly by kings men in order to catch the culprit.

On hearing about the guard and other poor men and peasants sad plight Bhumiyar’s heart cried out in real pain for the first time.  He was reminded of the third tenet of Nanak, “Empathise with the poor.”  He couldn’t stop himself from confessing to the king about his attempt to steal from the palace. He immediately rushed to the palace and pleaded guilty and requested the king to spare the guard and other poor men and peasants.

Everyone was surprised at what Bhumiyar had one for this would surely have led to his execution.  The king asked Bhumiyar, “Are you not scared of confessing your crime ?  For this would lead to your death for sure.” Bhumiyar narrated about his background in detail and told the king and others about Nanak’s blessings and his teachings.  The king was highly impressed with his story and in order to set a good example he set Bhumiyar free and made proper arrangements to ensure that he would be able to run his charitable task of feeding the poor and the needy without any hindrance. Bhumiyar alongwith his friends and relatives became a true follower of Nanak and used to congregate everyday and recite Nanak’s hymns which he had taught them during his stay over there. Bhumiyar’s house was converted into a Gurudwara in Dhaka.

Sukhwant Singh Thaper

09.06.2015 1:25 pm