A childhood at Kiratpur
The torn flowers
As a boy, Guru Ji damaged a flowering bush with a robe and wept over it, and the grandfather turned the moment into a lesson.
According to the story the Encyclopaedia takes from old texts, the young Sri Guru Har Rai Ji was riding home when he saw Sri Guru Hargobind Ji sitting in the garden. Eager to pay respect, Guru Ji jumped down and hurried across. The robe caught on a bush and snapped several flowers from their stems.
Guru Ji stopped on the spot and began to cry. Sri Guru Hargobind Ji came over with comfort and some advice: go on wearing the robe, but mind how you walk, because those who serve God should be tender towards everything. The tellers take this as a lesson in living fully in the world while keeping watch on oneself.
How do we know?
Several traditional accounts tell this story, without close independent support.
Both items are entries in one encyclopaedia passing on the same tradition, and neither names its old text. They do not count as independent witnesses.
- Later traditionReports from unnamed old texts that Guru Ji, as a young rider, broke some blooms while hurrying to greet the grandfather, wept, and was told to walk with care.[EoS]
- Later traditionSuggests the Naulakkha garden at Kiratpur as the likely setting and adds that Guru Ji later kept a small zoo there.[EoS]
