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| Bhai Kanhaiya, the water carrier |
This story was first published in Parabola, New York, in 2000, and then in The Sun, Chicago, in 2011.
The Water Carrier
Guru Gobind Singh’s small fort in
Anandpur Sahib was besieged by the mighty forces of Emperor Aurungzeb. The
Emperor, who believed Islam was the only valid, true, and right religion, was
forcibly converting Hindus, Sikhs and Christians. Guru Gobind Singh, however,
believed that all humans worshiped in their own unique ways and that all
religions, practiced with love and heart, lead to God. He openly proclaimed his
belief, and when Aurungzeb began to persecute him and his small band of loyal
Sikhs, he fearlessly took up the sword.
Though he was a poet, a philosopher, a man of words, he became a man of action to defend his passionate belief in the fundamental right of all people to worship their own version of God in their own way. He did not shun violence, and he was not afraid to spill blood, his own or the enemy’s, to defend his conviction.
Though he was a poet, a philosopher, a man of words, he became a man of action to defend his passionate belief in the fundamental right of all people to worship their own version of God in their own way. He did not shun violence, and he was not afraid to spill blood, his own or the enemy’s, to defend his conviction.
The siege lasted for weeks. Their water and food supplies were
rapidly dwindling. One evening the Guru’s soldiers came into his presence with
a man in chains.
“Guru Jee,” they said. “We have found a traitor amongst us.”
Guru Gobind Singh looked at the traitor. It was Bhai Kanhaiya, his
faithful servant, his voluntary slave who followed him around, anticipated his
every need, fetched and carried for him, stayed at the foot of his bed night
after night, right there by his feet, meditating on them, praying, trying to
stay awake all night, waiting for his Guru to awaken, so he could behold him
again. No, not a jot of separation could he bear from his master, whom he had
seemed to adore.
“A traitor?” asked Guru Gobind Singh. “How so? I always thought he
was the most devoted of my Sikhs.”
“Wait till you hear what the best of your Sikhs was doing,”
Jarnail Singh, one of the soldiers, replied angrily, bristling at the praise
bestowed on Kanhaiya.
Yes, Jarnail was angry, and he had every right to be. Wasn’t he the most devoted of the Guru’s Sikhs? Was he not a hero? Did he not obey all the Guru’s orders without questioning them? Did he not say all his prayers at the appointed hours? Did he not risk his own life for the Guru’s cause? Did he not fight the enemy tooth and nail? Why, just last night he had barely escaped with his life after cutting off the enemy’s supplies.
Not only that, but he had even killed three of them, disemboweling two with his sword, and decapitating the third. And even though he himself got hurt, did he not, gladly, suffer his wounds for his Guru’s sake?
Yet this Bhai Kanhaiya, this puny little Sikh with a scraggly beard, and a sloppily tied turban, who didn’t fight in any of the battles, got all the praise. Now, finally, the Guru would see the difference between the two. Now the Guru’s eyes would open to the truth.
Yes, Jarnail was angry, and he had every right to be. Wasn’t he the most devoted of the Guru’s Sikhs? Was he not a hero? Did he not obey all the Guru’s orders without questioning them? Did he not say all his prayers at the appointed hours? Did he not risk his own life for the Guru’s cause? Did he not fight the enemy tooth and nail? Why, just last night he had barely escaped with his life after cutting off the enemy’s supplies.
Not only that, but he had even killed three of them, disemboweling two with his sword, and decapitating the third. And even though he himself got hurt, did he not, gladly, suffer his wounds for his Guru’s sake?
Yet this Bhai Kanhaiya, this puny little Sikh with a scraggly beard, and a sloppily tied turban, who didn’t fight in any of the battles, got all the praise. Now, finally, the Guru would see the difference between the two. Now the Guru’s eyes would open to the truth.
“Guru Jee, you have assigned him the duty of giving water to the
wounded Sikhs, but this Bhai of yours, ” he said, producing a basket that Guru
Gobind Singh recognized as having been woven by Bhai Kanhaiya with reeds from
the nearby river, “has been giving our meager supplies to our enemies! We saw him giving water to Muslim soldiers
with our own eyes!”
“Is this true, Bhai Kanhaiya?” the Guru asked his servant.
“He can’t deny it. We caught him in the act,” the soldier said
triumphantly. “He was cradling the heads of the wounded and dying enemies in
his lap, stroking their heads, putting water in their mouths. Deny it if you
can.”
“It is true, Kalgidhar Padshah,” Bhai Kanhaiya replied. “What
should I do? I go into the battlefield when the battle is over, and when I look
at the faces of the enemy, I see only you. So I offer you water as you lie
wounded and dying on the battlefield. Tell me, what else can I do?”
Guru Gobind Singh looked at Bhai Kanhaiya. He was silent a long
time. He walked over to Kanhaiya, and to everyone’s surprise, took him in his
arms.
“This,” said the Guru looking at his soldiers, “is my hero. Jarnail
Singh, give him some balm and bandages, too. Kanhaiya is a true Sikh from whom
all of us, including me, have much to learn."
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