The son of the Guru is to be worshipped like the Guru

Nanak’s successor was a very good spiritual Master, although he was not as great as Nanak. The successor of this Master was also very good. They were all good Masters.

Nanak’s successor had two sons. They thought that when their father left the body, one of them would become the new Master. But the father knew well that neither of his sons was spiritual, so he did not appoint either of them to be his representative. Before he died, he appointed one of his disciples to become the Guru in his physical absence. This made the two sons very angry with their father as well as with his successor. They became very jealous of the new Master, and always they used to speak ill of him. In every way they tried to hurt him.

This new Master was compassion incarnate. He used to say that the Guru’s sons have to be worshipped like the Guru himself, because the Indian system is like that. It is said that the son of the Guru is to be revered exactly like the father. But it has happened that the father has been a God-realised soul and the son nothing but a donkey.

One day this particular spiritual Master was giving a wonderful discourse. Many disciples were around him, listening with rapt attention.

Then the Master and the disciples meditated for some time with utmost sincerity. O God! All of a sudden the younger son of the previous Master came right up to the new Master and started beating him mercilessly. Finally he kicked the Master off his throne.

The disciples were shocked and horrified and ran up to save their Master. They wanted to kill the son of the previous Master then and there. But this Master said, “If you are my true disciples, then you must not touch him. I won’t allow you even to touch him, let alone strike him!” So they all had to prove that they were their Master’s loyal disciples.

The Master then said, “He is my Master’s son. Therefore, I have to treat him as my own son. This is our tradition. God will take care of him, so I am asking you not to take revenge. If somebody does something wrong to me, I will remain silent. Let him do it a second time and a third time, and I will still remain silent. But if the culprit does something wrong, something really undivine more than three times, then God will have special Concern for the victim. If the victim is repeatedly harassed or mistreated, then God Himself will take care of the aggressor. In some way God will punish him.

“I assure you, I have forgiven this fellow. He is my Master’s son. But if he goes on doing this kind of thing a few times more, then God Himself will punish him. As a matter of fact, he has done many undivine things. This is not the first incident. Soon he will start reaping the fruits of his misconduct. He will be severely punished in the very near future.” The Master’s prophecy proved to be true. This rogue did something very undivine to somebody else and that person punished the culprit so mercilessly that he was bedridden for months. Even then the spiritual Master said, “I feel really sorry for him. Although God Himself has punished him and he deserved this punishment, I feel sorry that my Master’s son had to be punished so badly.”

Look at the faith and love this Master had for his own Master! The previous Master’s son was undivine, to say the least, but he was always ready to forgive him, just because he was his own Master’s son.