The divine singer

[1]

J.S. Neki [1]

It was a quiet, motionless afternoon in early spring. A young woman sat on the bank of a brook under a big tree. It appeared as if she was trying to concentrate intensely on something. She was tapping her knee with her hand to what could be a musical rhythm. If you were attentive, you could faintly hear someone singing some distance away. She herself was a popular singer of folk songs in her village, but the song she was hearing was well beyond her ken.

It had evoked in her a queer mixture of love, joy and awe and she felt impelled to seek the wonderful singer. Soon she spied a man sitting under a tree while his instrument then lay beside him, for the music had ended. She approached him and after some initial hesitation and asked, “Brother! Were you playing the music and singing a song that I heard from some distance?”
Musician: “Yes sister, my Master and I were singing together.”
Woman: “Where is your Master now?”
Musician: “He must be somewhere around and should be back shortly.”
Woman: “Forgive me, I have been hearing this exquisite music for the last three days from that distance, but I have not seen any fire burning here. That signifies that you have not eaten anything over the past three days. Are you of this world or have you alighted from above?” Musician: “I am just a human being like you. I can stay without food for only a few days, but my Master can do that for any length of time.” Woman: “I wasn’t curious for nothing; you are heavenly people. May I get you some milk?”
Musician: “The divine songs my Master and I sing enable us to go without food for quite a few days. Yet, I would appreciate if you get us some milk.”
Woman: “I should hasten away to get you milk; but let me express my feelings: I am simply bewitched by your divine songs.”
Can you guess who the singers were and who that woman? The singers were Guru Nanak and Mardana, and the woman was Dodo Rani, resident of a neighbouring village. When the woman returned, the Master was there too. She poured milk into earthen tumblers for them, which they gratefully accepted. The woman then requested them to sing another song for her. Guru Nanak nodded to Mardana who picked up his rebec and both began to sing:
“If you know the Lord’s will, you will not talk of your ego…”

J.S. Neki, a psychiatrist of international repute, was director of PGIMER, Chandigarh. Currently, he is Professor of Eminence in Religious Studies at Punjabi University, Patiala.