While at Caimbalpur, staying in the house of Bawas-Bhallas, congregation was regularly held in the morning as well as in the evening. One day, as per routine, the family of Bhallas requested the sangat, at the end of the program, to join for the langar.
There were some unreasonable persons in the sangat. One of them raised an issue and said, “Every day you serve Roti and Daal. In case you are serving something else, then only will we accept the food.”
A member of the Bhalla family said, “There is Daal and Parshadas in the langar. Please sit in the pangat (the row of devotees) so that we may serve you.”
“If there is meat, only then we will eat,” replied the person.
There was no reply to these words from the family of Bhallas. Those individuals left the house without partaking the langar.
Rest of the sangat was served with the langar but there was quite a bit of everything left. Bhalla ji came to Sant Baba ji and informed him of the event and also about the langar left unserved.
Sant Baba ji smiled and asked, “Bhalla ji! Did you pray before starting to prepare the langar?”
Bhalla ji replied, “Yes, Maharaj! Prayers were offered.”
Sant Baba ji asked, “Did you offer prayers before serving the langar and during the prayers, was the langar offered to Guru Sahib?”
Bhalla ji replied, “Yes Maharaj! Offering was made to Guru Sahib.”
Sant Baba ji said, “The langar is SEET PARSHAD of Guru Sahib. This PARSHAD was not meant for everybody. Only the fortunate ones could feast on it.”
Sant Baba ji then instructed Bhalla ji, “All the left over langar be served to the sadhus.”
At that time there were only three sadhus present and one of them was Sant Baba Gian Singh ji. Bhalla ji brought the langar and kept it before Sant Baba ji.
Sant Baba ji addressed the sadhus and said, “This is SEET PARSHAD of Guru Sahib. The Parshad has to be finished. Please see that nothing is left behind.”
The sadhus ate the entire left over langar. A tin full of pickles had also to be eaten. The sadhus ate the pickles also without any hesitation in their hearts. They were happily following the orders of their Gurudev.
There is a lot to be learnt from this incident.
(a) Langar should be prepared only after offering prayers to the Lord.
(b) Langar should be served only after offering prayers to the Lord.
(c) There should not be any left over langar in the plate of the person eating it. The
entire langar obtained by him or her has to be finished. The Holy food deserves
full respect and thus there cannot be any shortage no matter how many individuals
partake it.
(d) In case some langar is left after the distribution, then the same should be shared
by the sevadars among themselves. Even if they are not hungry, they will be able
to digest the langar as it is the Parshad of the Guru.