Bibi Bhani and the Platform

     Bibi Bhani was married to Bhai Jetha Ji. As you may remember, Bhai Jetha Ji was to become Guru Ram Das Ji later in his life. She was also the daughter of the wise old Guru Amar Das, the third Guru. She was very spiritual and beautiful. She was always serving her father very sweetly. In those days a married woman was only supposed to serve her husband, not her father or anyone else. But she continued to devotedly serve her father anyway. When Guru Amar Das Ji would meditate he would go very, very deep. To anyone looking at him, it looked as if he were sleeping
 
     One day he settled down on the wooden meditation platform he liked and began slipping into his meditation. Then his daughter, Bibi Bhani, noticed something. The leg of the platform he was sitting on was breaking! She thought, “If he leans to that side, as he often does, the leg of the platform will break.” She immediately put her hand under the leg of the platform where the wood was going to break and she held it tightly. The pain was intense but she kept her hand there without making a sound. She didn’t want to disturb her father’s meditation. The pain got worse and worse. Her hand began to bleed. For a long time she kept her hand there just feeling her deep love for her father, “It is my blessing to serve him,” she thought. In her intense pain she thought, “I hope my divine father does not get disturbed in his meditation.”

     Finally the Guru came out of his meditation. When he saw what she had done, he was shocked. She had kept her hand under the sharp wood for a long time. Her hand was injured and bleeding. He said “My dear girl, you didn’t have to do that!!” He quickly went to treat her wound. All she said was “I couldn’t stand the thought of your meditation being disturbed.” He was so touched with her sweet devotion that he asked her to request a blessing.

     “I am already very blessed, what more can I ask for,” she replied. “Please, you must ask something, ask for a blessing and I will give it to you.” Ss she asked him, “Bless me that the Guruship should remain in our family line from now on.” “I bless you with what you ask,” the Guru said. “However, the creative flow of the Guruship has been changed and there will be some consequences. But the Sodhi family has the strength to carry the responsibility of the throne of Siri Guru Nanak.” He blessed her with what she asked. All the Gurus from that time on were directly related to Bibi Bhani and her husband who became Guru Ram Das Ji. From her devotion, she was given a blessing that altered the course of history. Such is the power of devotion, and such is the blessing of the Guru.