“Eat it to your heart’s desire”
Translation of a short dialogue between Guru Gobind Singh and a Sikh who desires to eat buffalo meat from Malwa Des Ratan di Sakhi Pothi.
A short dialogue between Guru Gobind Singh and a Sikh who desires to eat buffalo meat:
ਅਗੇ ਚੜੇ ਬਾਜਕ ਸੁਖਾ ਚਕਿਆ |
Ahead, the Guru and the Sikhs stopped at Baajak village to consume sukha.
ਸਿਖ ਨਗਰੀਆਂ ਕੇ ਦੁਧਾਂ ਕੇ ਤਾਉੜੇ ਲਿਆਏ |
They prepared the cannabis.
ਸਿਖਾਂ ਨੇ ਛਕਿਆ; ਇਕ ਸਿਖ ਨੇ ਨਾ ਛਕਿਆ |
The Sikhs partook it; however, one Sikh abstained.
ਗੁਰੂ ਜੀ ਕਿਹਂਦੇ : 'ਕਿਉ ਨਾਂਹੀ ਛਕਦਾ?'
The Guru asked: ‘Why do you not take any?’
ਰਾਇ ਸਿੰਘ ਕਿਹਂਦਾ : ‘ਜੀ ਬਕ੍ਰ ਦਾ ਝਟਕਾ ਛਕਿਆ ਸੀ, ਬਕ੍ਰੀ ਕਾ, ਤਾਂ ਨਾਂਹੀ ਛਕਦਾ, ਗਊ ਕਾ ਨਾਹੀ ਛਕਦਾ, ਭੈਸ ਕਾ ਹੋਵੇ ਤਾਂ ਛਕਦਾ ਹਾਂ ਜੀ’ ।
Rai Singh replied to the Guru: ‘He has eaten a goat which has been slaughtered with one blow. He will not touch the flesh of a she-goat and cow killed the same way. But the meat of a buffalo, he will take.’
ਇਕੁ ਸਿੱਖ ਕਿਹਂਦਾ : ‘ਜੀ ਭੈਸ ਕਾ ਹੀ ਆਂਦਾ ਹੈ ।’
Another Sikh spoke up: ‘Yes, he wants to consume buffalo.’
ਗੁਰੂ ਜੀ ਕਿਹਂਦਾ : ‘ਰਜਕੇ ਛਕ ਲੈ ।’
The Guru then said: ‘Eat it to your heart’s desire.’
ਕਿਹਂਦਾ : ‘ਜੀ, ਸਤਿ ਵਚਨ ਜੀ ! ਸਤਿ ਚਵਨ’ ।। ੭੬
The Sikh replied in agreement.
(Malwa Des Ratan di Sakhi Pothi, Sakhi 73 ‘ਬਾਜਕ’)
Background
Malwa Des Ratan di Sakhi Pothi otherwise simply known as Sakhi Pothi is a collection of stories written in prose on the travels of Guru Tegh Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh in the Malwa region of Punjab. Composed in the Malwai dialect, the author of this Pothi neither provides a name nor a date of completion but it is commonly believed to have been written in the late 18th or early 19th century. A potential linkage to the Udasi sampardaya can be gauged from the manglacharan prior to the start of the second sakhi where the author pays homage to Baba Gurditta, the son of Guru Hargobind and successor to Baba Sri Chand. The influence of the Sakhi Pothi on later histories can be seen in Sri Guru Partap Suraj Granth where Kavi Singh Santokh utilizes many details found within this work for the writing of his own epic.
The Sakhi Pothi is limited to the post-Chamkaur period of Guru Gobind Singh’s life as he traveled westward into the modern day districts of Moga, Faridkot, Bathinda, and Muktsar. The brief sakhi translated above takes place as the Guru and his Khalsa stop at a village called Baajak right near Bathinda.