After celebrating the anniversary of Sant Baba Harnam Singh ji Maharaj in the month of December, Sant Baba Basant Singh ji Maharaj usually left his abode and toured different villages. He preached the ideals of Sikhism and showed the right path to the villagers. In addition to Sant Baba Gian Singh ji, Nambardar Didar Singh also accompanied Sant Baba ji on these trips. A musical band also joined the group. A religious congregation was held at every village wherever Sant Baba ji stopped. People were convinced to accept baptism and the ceremony for baptism was carried out there.
On one occasion the trip in December was towards the Tanda area. Passing through Jandu Singha, the sangat reached village SUGHWAAL. The people of this village hated sadhus. They were witness to such incidents that they had developed disrespect for sadhus. If they saw any sadhu moving around their area, they caught hold of him. The sadhu was forcibly tied to the yoke replacing the bullocks and forced to work the machine for cane crushing.
Sant Baba ji reached the outskirts of this village. A villager saw Sant Baba Basant Singh ji Maharaj with his sangat. He went inside the village and informed his friends, “Some pious soul has reached the outskirts of our village. I have seen him. It seems that God has Himself landed on earth.”
One of his friends asked him, “What are you talking about?”
The first villager informed, “I have just had the DARSHAN of a well built saint. He is wearing simple clothes and his shoes are full of dust conveying that he has traveled a long distance to reach here. His face has a typical glow that has had serious impact on me. Let us all go and request the saint respectfully to grace our village. I think the right moment has come when something good has to happen for our village through this pious soul. I am sure his Holy feet will make this village prosperous.”
Such inspiring words had a tremendous effect on the minds of the other villagers. All of them collected together and brought Sant Baba ji inside the village. Their head bowed on seeing Sant Baba ji’s face. Sant Baba ji was made to sit on a chair.
Sant Baba ji said to the villagers, “I do not want to sit here. First let me perform the hard work you have reserved for sadhus like me.”
The villagers were shocked to hear these words. How did this Holy man know about their deeds? They fell at the feet of Sant Baba ji. The request everyone made was the same, “Please excuse us for our past mistakes. We have had the DARSHAN of such a Holy person for the first time. Please excuse us for our wicked conduct.”
Sant Baba ji explained to them, “It is good that you feel sorry for your misdeeds. The time has come for you to follow the right spiritual path. You will be forgiven for your past deeds, if you begin all your works by uttering ‘WAHEGURU’, the Name of God. You should not disturb any sadhu who is involved in reciting and remembering the God’s Name. Try to find a way of serving these Holy men. Two things are necessary in a human being. The first is the recitation of the Name of God and the second is to serve others with an open heart.”
Kabeer, it is good to perform selfless service for two - the Saints and the Lord. The Lord is the Giver of liberation, and the Saint inspires us to chant the
Naam. ||164|| (Page 1373)
The villagers were really impressed by the inspiring words of Sant Baba ji. They did not repeat their actions with the sadhus again.
On the outskirts of village SUGHWAAL, there was a bohV - BOHARH (a Banyan) tree near a pond. Sant Baba ji stayed under the tree for seven days. Two Muslims of this village became the followers of Sant Baba ji. Both served Sant Baba ji. Later one of them was initiated as a baptized Sikh and sang praises of the Lord.