51. Halt at Deena

Taking leave of Rai Kalla the Gurn travelled' from village to village in Malwa. When he arrived at Deena, Lakhmir, Samir and Takht Mal, grandsons of Rai Jodha who had helped Guru Har Govind in obtaining victory over the Moghal Generals, Lal Beg Khan and Karm Khan, at the battle of Gur sar, came to pay their respects to him. The brothers vied iris one another in serving the Gun and his attendants. Their love and devotion prolonged the Guru's stay there. From all parts of the country people flocked to the place to pay their respects to him. The greater part of his time he spent in preaching God's word to them and in inculcating the principles of fellow-feeling and sacrifice. His sermons, imbued with heavenly fervour, his account of the heroic deeds of the Sikhs during the siege of Anandpur, his reference to the martyrdom of princes Ajit Singh and Jujhar Singh and to the bold manner in which princes Sorawar Singh and Fateh Singh met death at Sirhind were listened to with the deepest attention. The very souls of the hearers were stirred. The large mustering of men at Deena alarmed Wazir Khan. A messenger brought a " Parwana " in which the Subah charged Lakhmir and Samir with sheltering an enemy of the Emperor and threatened them with condign punishment if they did not immediately deliver him to the authorities. Lakhmir. and Samir returned the messenger with the reply that they had done no wrong in serving their Guru and that instead of delivering him to his enemies they would sacrifice their homes and hearths, nay their very lives, for his sake, when time came. Finding that the time was arriving when another battle would have to be fought with his old foe, the Subah of Sirhind, the Guru issued a proclamation calling upon all fighting men among his disciples to come and enlist the army he was raising. In a few days a large number of brave Barars, a clan of Jats, offered themselves for service, and thus the Guru again had a regular force for service in time of emergency.