INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

quotes the same scriptural hymn in the context of a similar episode, but makes Gopal
Shastri the patient-actor who is more inquisitive about the particular worship of Guru
Nanak rather than being confused about his religious identity. Guru Nanak gives a
fairly long and critical lecture on the futile gains of worshiping stones and plants
instead of conducting righteous deeds with sincere intentions. 212 The nature of the
Gopal Shastri in the modern narrative is comparable to the character portrayed in the
seventeenth century source: the pandit does not provoke Nanak in debates nor bear
signs of pride, but seems anxious to know about the Guru and his teaching. He personifies
a scholar questing for spiritual truth and hence unhesitatingly becomes a
disciple after listening to the Guru’s rewarding explanations. This disposition stands
in contrast to another conceited pandit who requires more than conversations to be
convinced.
The second and longer anecdote of emic history continues to narrate Guru
Nanak’s encounter with learned scholars in the garden. Pandit Chattur Das appears
in this section, but his character is attributed more arrogant features than the figure
with the same name in the janam-sakhi literature. He is described as the most learned
and reputed pandit of Varanasi, who has defeated most scholars in religious debates,
but is overconfident and proud because of his vast knowledge. Upon hearing about
Guru Nanak’s wisdom, celebrated in the city, Chattur Das becomes envious and
decides to challenge the Guru to a debate to recover his own reputation. The main
plot of this anecdote centers upon what Mcleod (1980) calls “wonder story”, that is, a
story whose distinctive feature is “signification of divine status by means of miraculous
deeds and supernatural phenomena.” 213 Instead of taking up the gauntlet of
Chattur Das, Guru Nanak orders the scholar to pose all his questions to a dog sitting
nearby and simultaneously works a miracle: by a mere look Guru Nanak transforms
the dog into a well-dressed pandit named Ganga Ram, 214 who will tell Chattur Das
about his curse of being reborn as a animal due to arrogant behaviour in his previous
life as a scholar. 215 Apparently the degree of Chattur Das’ vices demands a supernatural
deed to demonstrate the consequences of egotistical actions, rather than
just giving answers in plain words. The story lets the pandit via a dog-birth be the
spokesman of three testimonies which the miracle points towards: first, even the
person regarded most knowledgeable will not spiritually progress but face a bad
rebirth if his mind/heart is filled with selfishness and jealousy. Ganga Ram, cursed
by a saint because he was barking like a dog in his previous life, personifies an example
of the karmic result. Secondly, in the Dark Age (kaliyug) people will only gain
salvation through the grace of Guru Nanak. Before entering the dog-birth Ganga
212
Varanasi Dian Kuch Itihasik Yadan, p. 3.
213
McLeod 1980a: 90
214
According to Kirpal Singh the name and story of Ganga Ram’s meeting with Guru Nanak is a
local legend of Varanasi (Kirpal Singh 1990: 51).
215
A rebirth as a dog is generally considered to be the result of sins and bad karma from previous
life. One interlocutor communicated a slightly different interpretation of the miracle: Guru
Nanak transformed the dog to a scholar by sprinkling water-nectar (amrit) on it.
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Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008