During the early sixteenth century, Babur set out of Afghanistan to conquer Hindustan. On his way he sacked the mercantile city of Multan in the Province of Sind. It so happened that Guru Nanak, on the third of his preaching tours, had reached Multan by foot shortly before it was sacked. During the conquest of the city he was captured and brought to the tent of Babur.
The conversation between the two became folklore. Babur and his generals were celebrating the victory with wine and seeing Guru Nanak he said:
Hamari bazme mehfil main jo le aaya Khuda baba,
To bismillah bade razaye ahmer chadha baba.
Surahi kholti hai raz-a-dil jab bag kal kal se,
Falak se hain pukar uthte malayak marhaba baba.
(Translation:
Now that God has brought you to our gathering o holy man,
Taking it as a sign from Him you should join us and start drinking.
As the bottle opens the heart's secrets flow like the wine,
And even angels from heaven call out in praise of the gathering.)
To this Guru Nanak replied:
Hum bhi maykhar hain lekin,
Wo may apni hai jisko bin piye makhmoor rehte hain.
Khayale chashme saki ke nashe main choor rehte hain.
(Translation:
I too am a drinker, however,
The wine which I drink is always inside me, and even without drinking,
In the thoughts of the one and only wine provider (God) I am always drunk.)
Babur very much affected, granted Guru Nanak his liberty.
Courtesy: Dr Sudha Sinha (Professor of History, Ranchi University)
