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“You are now the light of Nanak. You shall serve as the Guru. Go to Goindwal, there you shall shine the light of Nanak on everyone.” Before Guru Angad left his body he told Guru Amardas, “Shed no tears for my passing, I would have you celebrate my soul’s merger with God and rejoice at the coming of Guru Amardas.” Then Guru Angad left his physical body and merged into the light of God at the age of 48.

And so we come to the story of the 3rd Guru, Guru Amardas the guru of Equality. All the people rejoiced. They were so happy. Because Guru Amardas had always served Guru Angad for so many years, there were some that could not forget that he had been a servant in their eyes. They had only seen him as a servant. One of these people was Guru Angad’s son Dattu. And even though his mother said to him. “Dattu, Listen to your mother. You have to accept Amardas as the Guru. It was your father’s wish. Don’t cause any trouble!” Dattu just could not understand that. “My Time has Come! I will become the Guru!” he said.

So he set himself up as Guru, not at Goindwal but at the original place that Guru Angad taught. But very few people came and give him respect or even paid attention to him at all. Dattu thought to himself, “Why is no one bowing to me?!?! Why are they following my father's petty servant Amardas?! I should be the Guru, ME not HIM!! I am the Guru’s son! ” Finally he decided to go and confront Guru Amar Das. “I will go to Goindwal and dethrone this impostor!” So he went to Goindwal and found Guru Amardas with the Sangat, "Its a blessing to sit together as Sangat, The Guru’s Bani is true, and only the True Guru’s bani has the essence of...”

Dattu just stormed in and KICKED THE GURU AS HARD AS HE COULD. In his anger he kicked Guru ji off the Palki Sahib where he was sitting!! The people were totally shocked.“Oh my God! How could he do this!!?!” They were just amazed that someone would do such a terrible thing and they immediately turned on Dattu and screamed and yelled: “How dare you??” “This is an outrage!!!” The Guru's voice rang out: “Calm down everyone. Please everyone calm down.”

Dattu sat down on the palki where Guru Amardas had been sitting. The Guru gently took Dattu’s foot in his hand and said: "Are you ok? I hope my old bones did not hurt your foot." The Guru was 72 years old at this time. Then he just got up and walked out of the Sangatn. Everyone turned their backs on Dattu and would have nothing to do with him.

The Guru proceeded down the road. He came to a small place where there was a lady tending to some cows. He said: “Oh daughter, could you give me shelter, perhaps in that shed in the back? If you could bring me just a simple meal everyday, I may enjoy my meditation without interruption.” “Oh I would love to, please come, make yourself at home. I will bring you some chai.” She did not know who in the world he was, but she was happy. The Guru gave her some coins and then he went to the shed and began to meditate, “Sooooooohuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnngggggggg.........” Time passed and Guru Amaradass Ji was in bliss in his meditation. One day as she brought him his meal he told the lady, “Do not tell anyone that I am here.”

In the meantime no one paid any attention to Dattu and he finally got totally disgusted with everything, “I’m outta here" he said, "AND, I’m taking all the gold I can carry!!”  He gathered up everything he could carry. He had a few followers. They were greedy people who were happy to go with him. They headed out, got on their horses and left the area. As they went through the hills the bandits saw them, “Hey, look at them! Their bags look heavy.... with gold! Let’s get em... you go first.” And they came down on Dattu’s little group and in the course of trying to save their valuables Dattu’s foot was injured. It was the very same foot that he used to kick the Guru. That wound on his foot never healed. It was always there to remind him of how he had kicked the Guru.

Time went by and the people were longing for Guru Amardas. The people felt so abandoned and lost that they prayed and meditated for his return. They did everything they could think of, but they had no idea where he nor what he was doing. “Where is the Guru?!” they cried. Finally someone made the suggestion: “Oh I know! Let us go see Baba Buddha!!” He is very wise and he has served all three Gurus with great devotion. They went to Baba Bhudda and said, “The Guru is gone and we cannot live without him! Please help us!”

Baba Buddha thought that Guru Amardass knew exactly what he was doing, but on the other hand he had to listen to the Sangat and the people’s request. He thought, okay, enough is enough let us go find him, “A Sikh knows that God makes a way through any situation, so we know that there is always a way through.” Baba Buddha Ji went and got Guru Amardass’s horse. He brought the horse out onto the road and spoke into his ear: “GO! Go, Find Guru JI!” Immediately the horse started trotting down the road. The horse stopped at the house where the Guru was in meditation. “Waheguru!!” “The Guru must be here! We have found our beloved Guru!! Thank you Baba Buddha Ji!"

There on the door of the shed was a hand written sign that the Guru had put up. “Oh no look at this sign, it says”: 

“Anyone who comes through this door is no Sikh of mine.” 

Well, that totally upset everybody. You see, they knew that he was in there. “What shall we do? Should we just go home? Babba Buddha Ji what do we do?” Baba Buddha said “Come this way.” He went around to the side of the shed and he took out some tools. He gave them to the people and they made a hole in the wall. “Wow that was clever! there IS a way through every obstacle!” When he heard the sound of the tools and saw the hole, Guru Amardas looked up from his mediation and he laughed really hard.

He said, “Well you’ve done it. You have outsmarted me, hahaha!” “Oh my Guru we are reunited!” “Waheguru!” So the Guru got on his horse and returned to Gowindwal with everyone.

The Guru Granth Sahib says:

“The True Guru has posed a riddle, The Guru’s Sikhs have found the solution.”

(ang 645)
Today I want to tell you a story of Guru Amardas Ji. He was our 3rd guru . He was the Guru of equality. He saw everyone just the same and he served everyone just the same. He saw God in everyone. Guru Angad was Guru before Guru Amar Das. One day he blessed Amardas and said:
Storyteller:  Gurumeher Kaur
Age ranges:  1 - 6, 13 - 17, 18 and over, 7 - 12