Sri Hargobindpur and the years of peace
Baba Atal Rai
The Gurbilas says a nine-year-old son revived a dead friend, was rebuked and passed away the same day.
The Gurbilas Chhevin Patshahi, as reported by the Encyclopaedia, says Atal Rai had been playing with a friend named Mohan. Mohan lost the game and was to pay a forfeit in the morning, but he was bitten by a snake in the night and passed away. When he did not turn up, Atal Rai went to the house, found the family mourning and walked up to the covered body. He told his friend that it was no time for sleep and that he owed them the forfeit, touched him with his stick, and the boy stood up.
When Guru Ji heard, he was not pleased, and said that making miracles was a form of violence against God's will. The nine-year-old took this to heart. He bathed in the pool, recited the Japji by the bank of Kaulsar, lay down with his stick beneath his head, and passed away, on 13 September 1628. The nine-storey tower called Baba Atal stands in Amritsar.
How do we know?
Only one account tells this story.
This reports what the Gurbilas says, without asserting or denying the miracle. The same shape of story is told about Baba Gurditta later.
- ScholarshipRetells the story from the Gurbilas with the date, the rebuke and the memorial tower.[EoS]
