Greatness of Waheguru ji’s Name.
One day, Bhagat Kabir ji had gone out of home . A sufferer – some Raja (king or ruler), whose entire body was afflicted with leprosy and was giving out foul smell, came to his house. The Raja stood at his door and begged alms, and what alms did he beg? That which the saints have and can bestow. He said: “I want to see Kabir Sahib.” Kabir Sahib’s wife Loi came out and said: “He is out of home.” The Raja said: “I am in great pain. I have come from afar. I am afflicted with leprosy. I cannot bear this pain. Kindly tell me where I can find Kabir Sahib.” Kabir Sahib’s wife said: “He is at a far off place. But since you are suffering, let me give you some medicine.”
He said: “Mother, I have already tried various cures and medicines. If I were to be cured with medicines, I would not have come to this door. Medicines have failed to cure me. No medicine is proving to be efficacious.” She said: “I shall give you the medicine which saints or holy men have.”
Just as with ‘amritdhara’ (a herbal medicine) 32 ailments can be cured, similarly, with the saints and holy men, there is only one medicine for all ailments and that is God’s Name
So mother Loi said, “O king, one should have faith in one’s heart. Then the medicine proves to be 100 percent effective. But the vessel, the capsule for the medicine should be of faith, because this medicine is going to be absorbed in your heart, and the moment it is absorbed, you will be cured.”
‘Pain comes not near him, within whose mind the Transcendent Lord abides.
He is affected not by hunger and thirst and Death’s minister comes not near him.’ Ang 1102
‘The Name Divine is the sovereign remedy for all ills.’ Ang 274
When somebody comes for the alleviation of his sufferings to holy men, many of them do not pay any attention and tell him , “Suffer the consequences of your deeds, brother.What for have you come to us? Meditate on God’s Name, otherwise you will have to suffer the consequences of your deeds in the next birth.” BUT Guru Nanak Sahib cured even lepers by bestowing the panacea of God’s Name and put them on the right path for the future.
The Raja (king) said, “I certainly have faith.” At this Mother Loi said, “Then the only medicine is God’s Name.” In this context, the Guru’s edict is:
‘I have abandoned all other efforts and have taken the medicine of the Name alone.
The fever, sin and all the evils have been eradicated and my soul has been rendered cool’ Ang 817
Mother Loi said: “Now I shall give you the medicine. Sit there. “She herself also sat there , concentrating her mind, she was fully inspired. The glow in her eyes was difficult to bear.
She said: “Utter ‘Raam'”. She made the king utter theword ‘Raam’. As soon as he uttered ‘Raam’, he felt a tingling sensation all over his body. She again made him utter the word ‘Raam’. His pain and suffering was gone. She made him utter the word ‘Raam’ for the third time. Then she said to him: “Go now, bathe yourself and continue reciting the word ‘Raam’, and sent him away. The king took bath. He was delighted and danced joyfully. His close companions, who were quite well-informed, said to him: “How did you get well?” He replied: “The holy man gave me medicine.” They asked: “Do holy men have some panacea?” The king said, “It is not a panacea; it has another name.”
“The saint has given me the medicine of God’s Name.” Ang 101
Disease does not touch or infest him even in a dream. ‘O brother, the medicine of Name is present in every heart.’ Ang 259
Guru Sahib says that when man partakes of the medicine of God’s Name, all his pains and sufferings are annulled.
So the Raja (king) and all others kept discussing that the holy personage gave the medicine, Mother Loi gave the medicine of Name – made him utter ‘Raam’ (omnipresenct God) only thrice, and cured him completely.
When Kabir Sahib was returning after some days, on the way, at one place he heard some one saying: ‘Blessed be Kabir, blessed be Kabir’ and ‘blessed be Mother Loi, blessed be Mother Loi.’ He was surprised and when he met some acquaintance, who knew things. Kabir Sahib said to him, “What is this talk about Mother Loi? Has she done something? Has she performed some miracle?” He replied: “Sir, a leper had come. He was the king of such and such place. He was made to utter the word
‘Rama’ (God) only thrice and was cured of his affliction.” Kabir Ji became silent; a wrinkle appeared on his brow; he remarked: “What! God’s Name! Thrice? She has been in the company of the holy for so long, and still she hasn’t realized that – ‘The Master’s Name is invaluable. None knows its worth.’ (Ang 81) Has she given it away so cheap?”
When he returned home, he did not talk with his wife. Mother Loi came forward and greeted him. But he did not respond and went past her. She came again and tried to take his apron, ‘chippi’ (oval shaped begging bowl), stick etc, but he placed all these things himself, and sat with this back towards her. She went on the other side, but he again turned his back. This was the first time that Kabir Sahib behaved as such with her. Never before had he become angry with her, although she said many things to him. He never bothered about what others said – neither mother, nor father, nor his wife, nor the people. If somebody pointed this out, he used to say:-
‘I am bad, and bad in mind as well. I have no partnership with anyone.
I am dishonoured.. I have lost my honour. Let no one follow in my footsteps.’ Ang 324
Saying these words, he would go away, but he never got annoyed with anyone. That day he had got angry for the first time. A holy man’s anger is not good; nobody knows the havoc it may cause. A holy man’s anger is something fearful. So tears started flowing from Mother Loi’s eyes. She said: “My master, you may kill me or destroy me. Even if you saw me into two, I won’t feel the slightes pain, but your back towards me, that is, your indifference, I cannot bear.” So she prayed:
What has happened? Has some tale-bearer come between us? You are my husband and I am your wife. Tell me, what is the matter? “The Guruwards’ anger is short- lived like a line on water and not permanent like a line on stone. Anger does come but it passes off soon. On this particular occasion, Kabir Sahib was a little annoyed because his wife had violated a basic principle. He said to her: ‘Do you wish to know the cause of my anger? Then listen: You have kept the company of holy men so much; you have heard so much about the greatness and glory of the Name from them, and still you did not have faith in their utterances and thought that God’s Name is so cheap. Even if you had made the afflicted one utter the word ‘Raam’ (God) just once, he would have been cured.
Such a precious commodity, and yet it was spent so cheap? At that time, with folded hands, she submitted: “Please listen to my plea. I did not spend the Name cheap. First time, I made him utter the word ‘Raam’ (God), so that all his sins, which afflicted him with leprosy, might be annulled. By doing so,I cut the roots of his affliction. Second time, I made him utter ‘Raam’ (God), so that he might be rid of his pain because he was in great agony. Then I was concerned lest after getting well, he should again get absorbed in sins. So, to make his mind inclined towards the ‘Name’, I made him utter ‘Raam’ (God) for the third time and gave him the ‘Gur-mantar’ (Guru’s holy word, or mystic formula) of God’s Name.” Kabir Sahib was happy and satisfied with the explanation given by Loi.
Acknowledgement: http://tuhitu.blogspot.com/