Choosing Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji
The letters from Lahore
Sent to a family wedding, the youngest son writes longing verses that his brother intercepts.
As the Encyclopaedia tells it, a cousin named Sahari Mal came from Lahore in 1580 to invite Guru Ji to his son's wedding. Busy with the tank, Guru Ji asked each son in turn to go. Prithi Chand and Mahadev excused themselves. Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji went, and was told to stay in Lahore and care for the Sikhs until called.
After some time he wrote a verse to his father, full of the pain of separation. Prithi Chand intercepted it and hid it. A second letter met the same fate. The third reached Guru Ji directly, and because it was marked number three, the deception came to light.
He was recalled to Ramdaspur, where he added a joyful fourth stanza. Moved by the poem, Guru Ji chose him as the next Guru.
How do we know?
Several traditional accounts tell this story, without close independent support.
The Encyclopaedia treats the verses as a poem that survives, but they were not traced in the text for this page. The numbered letters read like later elaboration.
- ScholarshipGives the invitation, the three letters and the numbering that exposed Prithi Chand.[EoS]
- ScholarshipTells of the Lahore mission and the verse letters without the interception.[EoS]
- Later traditionTells of Sahari Mal's invitation and the reasons Guru Ji could not leave.[Macauliffe]
