The sixth Guru , Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji was not best pleased with this tone of thought and decided to test Bhai Gurdas Ji himself. Guru Ji gave Bhai Gurdas a bag of gold coins and sent him to Kabul to buy some horses. Having arrived safely, he completed the deal. Bhai Ji then asked two Afghans to come into his test to collect the money. Bhai Gurdas Ji went into the tent first and when he checked the bag of coins he found to his dismay that it was full of pebbles. Being at that time completely unable to face up to what he saw as disgrace, he made a run for it from the back of the tent. At the front of the tent the attendants waited, eventually they entered the tent and saw a bag of gold coins but not Bhai Gurdas Ji. The horse dealers were properly paid and in due course the horses arrived back at Amritsar where the whole sorry tale was told to Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji. In the meantime Bhai Gurdas Ji, now guilt ridden arrived at Benaras. There to earn a living he started giving the local people talks on Sikhism. He received a message from Guru Sahib Ji to return home, but still felt sick at heart and very repentant. He decided to re-write the verse that had displeased Guru Sahib Ji. This time he declared “ That no Sikh on his own can ever pass the Guru’s test unless firstly he has the Guru’s blessing.”
As a piece of paper when waxed, stands the test of time,
As a trimmed lamp will shed its light for longer hours,
As a person flying a kite in a wind swept sky controls it by a string,
And an appropriate antidote can cure a snake bite,
As a king traveling incognito best observes the state of his subjects,
It is by such relative supports that the Guru guards his Sikhs. (35.23)
Though Bhai Gurdas Ji remained celibate all his life, he very much appreciated the part played by women in both social and religious life. He had an enormous respect for them and in one composition refers to them as “ being a gateway to salvation “ (5.16)
At birth a Sikh girl is immediately “our darling” to her mother and father.
Later, she becomes admired by her brothers and sisters and favoured by her relatives.
On attaining to “ the bloom of youth” she is wedding with costly gifts and presents.
Now, respected by her husbands family and deemed lucky in her new household, she
regarded as the equal of her spouse in both virtue and wisdom.
She becomes as a doorway to salvation. Such is the verbal portrait of a Guru-inspired
And blessed, faithful Sikh woman. (5.16)
Bhai Gurdas Ji was mainly a religious poet. He wrote in Sanskrit, Brij-bhasa and Punjabi.
6 Chands of 8 verses each in Sanskrit.
672 Kabits and 3 swayyas in Brij0bhasa.
Varan Gian Ratnavali, 40 Vars containing 912 pauries in Punjabi.