The Story of Baba Budha Ji

Meeting Guru Nanak Dev Ji

The boy who spoke like an old man

When Bura was about twelve years old, Guru Nanak Dev Ji passed near his village. The boy brought the Guru milk and asked for his blessing, so that he might be freed from the cycle of birth and death.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji asked why someone so young was thinking about death. Bura explained that he had watched his mother light the fire at home. The small twigs always caught first, before the large logs. Death, he said, does not wait for old age.

From that day Baba Budha Ji gave his life to the Guru's house.

A lifetime of seva

Serving six Gurus

Baba Budha Ji stayed close to Guru Nanak Dev Ji at Kartarpur, and served every Guru who followed. When the guruship passed to Guru Angad Dev Ji, it was Baba Budha Ji who applied the tilak. He did the same for Guru Amar Das Ji, Guru Ram Das Ji, Guru Arjan Dev Ji and Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji.

He served in whatever way the Guru asked. He helped with the building of the baoli at Goindwal under Guru Amar Das Ji, and oversaw the digging of the sacred sarovar at Amritsar under Guru Ram Das Ji. The ber tree under which he sat while supervising the work still stands in the Harmandir Sahib complex, known as Ber Baba Budha Ji.

A blessing for Mata Ganga Ji

The promise of a warrior son

Guru Arjan Dev Ji and Mata Ganga Ji had no children. Mata Ganga Ji walked barefoot to the forest where Baba Budha Ji tended the Guru's herds, carrying a simple meal of missi roti and onions she had made with her own hands.

Baba Budha Ji blessed her. Crushing an onion in his fist, he said she would have a son who would be a great warrior and would crush the enemies of truth just as easily. In 1595 Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji was born.

That forest is now the site of Gurdwara Bir Baba Budha Ji Sahib, near Amritsar.

1604

The first Granthi of Harmandir Sahib

When Guru Arjan Dev Ji compiled the Adi Granth and installed it at Harmandir Sahib in 1604, he chose Baba Budha Ji to be its first Granthi. Baba Budha Ji opened the scripture and read the first Hukamnama in the newly completed Harmandir Sahib.

Teacher of a Guru

Shaping the young Hargobind

Baba Budha Ji was given the care and education of the young Hargobind. He taught him Gurbani, and also horse riding, archery and swordsmanship, preparing him to lead the Sikhs in both spirit and strength.

1606

Miri Piri: the two swords

In 1606 Guru Arjan Dev Ji was martyred in Lahore. At the gurgaddi of the young Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji, the Guru asked Baba Budha Ji to tie on not one sword but two.

One sword stood for Miri, worldly authority, duty and the protection of the weak. The other stood for Piri, spiritual authority and devotion to Waheguru. Together they set out the path of the saint-soldier: a Sikh lives in prayer, and stands up for truth and justice.

The same year, the Akal Takht was raised opposite Harmandir Sahib as the seat of Miri. Tradition holds that it was built by Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji with Baba Budha Ji and Bhai Gurdas Ji, by their own hands.

Holding the sangat together

Bandi Chhor

When Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji was held at Gwalior Fort by the Mughal emperor Jahangir, Baba Budha Ji kept the daily prayers at Harmandir Sahib going and held the sangat together in the Guru's absence.

When the Guru was freed, he refused to leave alone and secured the release of 52 imprisoned kings. On his return to Amritsar the city was lit with lamps in celebration, which Sikhs remember every year as Bandi Chhor Divas.

1631

Final days

In his last days, at Ramdas, Baba Budha Ji asked that the Guru be with him. Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji came to his side, and Baba Budha Ji passed away in the Guru's presence in 1631. The Guru performed his final rites himself.