Baba Bulleh Shah gets up early, and goes to meditate on the banks of the river nearby. This routine had been in progress for many years, and the inner desire to become aware of God’s presence is very strong, but the great saint feels he is short of the mark.
One day, Baba Bulleh Shah had just finished his prayer, and as he got up to leave, he saw a lady selling carrots. People were coming to buy, but if they started picking and choosing the carrots, she would say, “I only sell carrots in volumes, there is no pick and choose”. So all her customers had to buy carrots in bulk.
Then there was this man, who also came to her to get carrots, but this time she herself picked the best carrots for him. Bulleh Shah was quite surprised looking at the incident, so after this man had left, he asked her why she had let only this man to hand pick the carrots. In fact, she picked and chose her finest carrots for him on her own.
She replied, “Bulleh Shah, he is my husband. There is no counting or accounts between lovers.”
Bulleh Shah was jolted with realization. He looked at his rosary, and understood he was only doing trade with God – trading prayer for heaven. He asked himself why he was creating accounts between himself and God? Bulleh Shah writes that from that day, he understood that the only way to know Him is to love Him. Guru Granth Sahib guides us that both the body and the rosary are given by Him, use everything to create the bond of love:
Make your mind the farmer, good deeds the farm, modesty the water, and your body the field.
Let the Lord’s Name be the seed, contentment the plow, and your humility the fence.
Doing deeds of love, the seed shall sprout, and you shall see your home flourish.
This first appeared on 23 April, 2017. The writer is not writing due to unavoidable circumstances.