Bhoomi Daku's Promise to the Guru

     When Guru Nanak was traveling around, he came to a village where a robber lived. The robber’s name was Bhoomi Daku. No one liked him there because he was a thief. When he saw Guru Nanak, he respectfully pleaded, “Guru ji will you honor me by coming to my house so I can serve you?” Guru ji took mercy on the theif and said “OK, before I come to your house, you have to make four promises. The first promise is: YOU CAN’T STEAL FROM POOR PEOPLE. They don’t have much so that’s not fair. The second promise is from now on: YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO SPEAK THE TRUTH. The third promise is: IF YOU GO TO SOME ONE’S HOUSE AND EAT FROM THEIR HOUSE , YOU CAN NOT STEAL FROM THEM. The fourth promise is: YOU WILL NEVER PUT THE BLAME ON SOME ONE ELSE. If you make this promise with the others then I will go to your house.” Bhoomi Daku promised, “I swear I will keep all 4 of these promises.” So Guru Nanak went to his house and they enjoyed a nice evening together. Bhmi Daku felt very happy and blessed to have such a wise and spiritual soul grace his house.
        Later Bhoomi Daku went out as usual to go steal from people. Since he couldn’t steal from the poor he decided to go and steal from the king’s house. When he got to the kings house there were body guards blocking the way in. He tried to sneak in when they weren’t looking but a body guard caught him and said, “Who are you and why are you here.” Bhoomi Daku remembered his promise to tell the truth. So he told the body guard, “Well sir, my name is Bhoomi Daku and I have come here to steal from the king.” The body guard started laughing, “What a ridiculous joke! I bet you’re a friend of the king. Come on in sir.” What a surprise, it worked! He told the truth and got right in.
        Bhoomi Daku quickly walked in the king’s house. He thought to himself how great Guru Nanak is. Because he made these promises he is now near the most expensive riches! He saw all kinds of jewelry and goods he could take, which he put in his bags. As he kept stealing he smelt something very, very good. I smelt like chocolate cake! He opened the oven and there it was, a beautiful, delicious cake. He loved chocolate cake. So he reached his hand out and took some of the cake. It tasted so good-but wait! Right when he took the first bite he remembered his promise to the Guru. If he eats from someone's house, he can not steal from them. So he dropped the stuff and snuck out of the palace.
        In the morning time, the king noticed some of the cake missing, and the bag of goods laying on the ground. “Some one has been here! Find out who it is and bring him to me!” So the kings men went out to the town and started asking people about it, but no one knew anything. After a while the guards got annoyed and started beating people. The people cried out, “We have done nothing wrong!” but the guards kept beating the people, until Bhoomi Daku heard the peoples cries. He remembered his fourth promise to the Guru.
     So he ran out and said ,”Stop, don’t beat them, they are innocent. I was the robber, punish me instead.”  So they brought him to the king. Bhoomi Daku explained everything to the king, but the king was confused and asked,“I heard that no one suspected you. Why did you own up?” “Sir, the fourth promise I made to the Guru was that I wouldn’t put blame on others for what I do. These people were taking the blame for me, so I had to keep my promise.” The king was impressed. “You must have a great Guru to have kept all these promises. I’m so impressed with your Guru, I’m not going to punish you. You are free to go.” Then Bhoomi Daku asked the king, “But what about those poor people who were beaten for no reason?”
     The king decided to throw a street party that everyone would be invited to. During the party Bhoomi Daku stood up in front of everyone. He announced to everyone, “I don’t know where Guru Nanak is now but I kept the four promises I made to him. I now make a fifth promise: I WILL NEVER STEAL EVER AGAIN, AND I WILL FOLLOW THE TEACHINGS OF THE GURU.” Everyone was so happy to hear him say this. The king, Bhoomi Daku and all the people in the village lived on very happily.