During the earlier days the abode of Sant Baba Basant Singh ji Maharaj at Nirmal Kutiya Johalan was in a small expanse. Cactus growth was present around the Kutiya. This growth was quite dense and served the purpose of a fence. Braham Giani Sant Baba Basant Singh ji Maharaj took small pieces of cloth and tied the cactus plants to strengthen the fence.
One of the landlords of village Johal had his agricultural fields next to one side of the cactus plantation. The landlord was jealous of Sant Baba ji without any rhyme or reason. He showed his offensiveness by pulling away the strips of cloth from the cactus plantation.
Sant Baba ji kept on tying the strips in the shape of ropes while the landlord plucked and threw them away.
Kabeer, the Lord is the tree, and disillusionment with the world is the fruit. The Holy man, who has abandoned useless arguments, is the shade of the tree. ||228|| (Page 1376)
This routine continued for a long time. One day Sant Baba Basant Singh ji Maharaj was in intense meditation, remembering the Lord with his eyes closed. He was sitting close to the cactus fence. The landlord on seeing Sant Baba ji sitting with his eyes closed, boiled with rage. He joined the yoke to his bullocks and ran them over Sant Baba ji. This outlandish and horrible assault however, had no effect on Sant Baba ji.
In spite of trying all his ways to trouble and disturb Sant Baba ji, he was not successful. Sant Baba ji was at peace. Sant Baba ji neither complained nor spoke ill of the landlord.
This led the landlord to introspect. He thought, “What kind of a God’s devotee is this Sadhu? He keeps on playing with the strips of cloth. He does not get annoyed at all my attacks and faces them smilingly. One thing is clear to me that my harassments have had no effect on him. This God’s devotee has not retaliated. I am the one who has lost the battle.”
Sant Baba ji did not have enmity with anyone. His work was meditative remembrance of God and to explain the righteous path to those who had gone astray.
One day the landlord was taking out SANN. It was winter season and the weather was quite cold in the open area. He collected the left over sticks of the SANN and lit a fire. He kept on taking out the SANN and threw the small sticks into the fire for it to remain burning. He was feeling cozy in the warmth of the fire. Once when he threw the sticks into the fire, the fire flared up suddenly and the red-hot sticks fell on his knees. His knees were badly burnt.
He tried many lotions to treat his knees but the wounds were not healed and became worse. A day came when his knees turned septic. The knees kept worsening and no amount of medicine or self-treatment of the wounds had any effect.
He went to village Patara to consult a well-known HAKIM (A Unani medicine practioner). The Hakim was considered very intelligent and his medicine always had a positive effect. It was known to the villagers that one dose of his medicine was enough to kill the infection. The Hakim poured a dose of crushed grounded medicine on the wounds to kill the germs. He gave another dose to the landlord to take along with him and use it only if there was no healing.
There was no change in the condition of the wounds even after the two doses. The landlord again went to the Hakim for consultation.
The Hakim saw his knees and was convinced that the medicine had no effect on the condition of the knees. He told the landlord, “Your wounds are not being healed with the strongest of my medicines. This is not possible. You seem to have insulted someone. You seem to have inconvenienced some saint. I do not have any medicine for the treatment of your knees.”
The landlord immediately recollected the ill treatment he had meted out to Sant Baba Basant Singh ji Maharaj. He felt ashamed of his actions. In spite of his pleadings, the Hakim refused to treat him further.
The landlord couldn’t do anything about his healing. He cried in pain when the wounds worsened. One day he shared his ailment with Bhai Chain Singh, a devotee of Sant Baba Basant Singh ji Maharaj.
Bhai Chain Singh said to him, “You have given so much trouble to Sant Baba ji that this condition of yours was bound to happen. You should thank Sant Baba ji that only your knees have spoiled and not your entire body. Your treatment now lies only with Sant Baba ji.”
The landlord said, “I am ashamed of my deeds. I am really sorry for troubling Sant Baba ji. Please somehow get me a reprieve from Sant Baba ji.”
The landlord was related to Bhai Chain Singh. So Bhai ji agreed to plead his case before Sant Baba ji. Bhai Chain Singh took four other Sikhs with him to Sant Baba ji and prayed, “Maharaj ji! The knees of the neighbouring landlord have spoiled to such an extent that there is no medicine available to heal them. Please excuse him for his past deeds and bless him with good health once again.”
The benevolent Sant Baba ji immediately responded by asking Sant Baba Gian Singh ji, “Santa! Go and get a piece of coal from the hearth.”
When Sant Baba Gian Singh ji brought the piece of coal, Sant Baba ji said to Bhai Chain Singh, “Grind the piece of coal into a fine powder and sprinkle the powder on the wounds.”
Such benevolence and forgiveness can come only from a true and great saint, who did not take a second to respond to the request of his devotees who had come to ameliorate the suffering of a person who had enmity with the great saint.
Kabeer, the Lord is the tree, and disillusionment with the world is the fruit. The Holy man, who has abandoned useless arguments, is the shade of the tree. ||228|| (Page 1376)
The landlord accepted the coal with all humility and love. He took it to his residence. He grinded it into fine powder and sprinkled it on his wounds.
The infection was cured with the powdered coal and his wounds were healed.
Bhai Chain Singh advised the landlord, “We human beings should always be of service to a great saint like Sant Baba Basant Singh ji Maharaj. It will always be for our own benefit. A Holy saint helps us not only in this world but will also hold our hand in the next world. These saints are in fact the manifestations of God. Even if someone is angry with them or abuses them or attacks them, there is no retaliation. Instead they respond with compassion and benevolence.”