The Source Book On Sikhism

The Ancestor of the Panjab Kalals

There came into the assembly a Kalal, or wine distiller of the Panjab, a member of the most-hated caste. (It is said that the punishment for merely stepping on the bone of a Kalal is seven generations in hell. The hatred was of the caste-hatred type; and not hatred for the wine he made, for the Kashatriyas and other castes consumed wine freely even in the Mahabharata times.) He stood at a little distance. The Master invited him to come and sit in the assembly. On which he hesitated and said that he was a Kalal. The Master immediately answered, “No, come in; you are not a Kalal, but Guru ka Lal,” a ruby of the Master. Such was Gobind’s attitude towards the low castes, and submerged humanity: he loved to lift them, and he did it by his looks. He raised them, to the dignity of his own children by his baptism of love. His transmuting touch was the secret.

The Master had called for a cup of water, which was brought to him by a Nobleman’s son, a handsome young man with clean white hands. The water was crystal clear, and the cup scrupulously clean; but the Master, after taking it in his hand, returned it to the young man without drinking and said, “My son, it seems your hands have not yet laboured in the service of the Saints.” “No sir, I have never worked with these hands yet,” said the boy. “Ah, My boy, go and make them pure first in the service of the Saints”.

Anandpur was the centre where all castes and creeds and colours met in one joyous crowd; as formerly were at Kartarpur, Goindwal and Amritsar. Hundreds of thousands jostled to catch a glimpse of the Master.

The Master pondered deeply on the destiny of these people; for this was the last incarnation of Guru Nanak, as he alone knew. What was to become of them.

Henceforth the disciple must be made the vehicle of the spirit of Guru Nanak, with the Word of the Master enshrined in his heart, as the Deity of this Temple. Henceforth they who would thirst for his Presence, must kiss his feet and his body by taking the Word into their souls.