Guru Nanak and Bhai Mardana: Travelers in the Quest of Truth

Simrita Dhir
The friendship of Guru Nanak and Bhai Mardana was a one-of-a-kind friendship marked by
sustained camaraderie and a deep admiration for one another.
The guru and Bhai Mardana grew up in the village of Rai-Bhoi-Di-Talwandi in the Lahore
province of the Delhi Sultanate and became close friends. Their friendship transcended
social, cultural, economic and religious barriers to serve as a shining example of
selflessness and deep commitment.
The guru presented Bhai Mardana with the gift of music by giving him the rhubarb, an
instrument that has come to be associated forever with Bhai Mardana. As the divine word
flowed from the guru’s lips, Bhai Mardana sat next to the guru and lent tune to the Guru’s
sacred poetry by playing the rhubarb to the rhythm to the guru’s word, thereby giving birth to
the riveting classical music tradition that has come to be interlaced with the rendition of
gurbani. The guru’s holy words and the musical feats of his accompanist Bhai Mardana
form a timeless bond that is now integral to Sikhism, epitomizing the intense friendship
between the two men.
The guru undertook all of his Udasis, long journeys, from 1500 to 1524, with Bhai Mardana.
Their remarkable friendship, which was marked by trust and devotion, has been beautifully
depicted in the Janam Sakhis.
Bhai Mardana was a reluctant traveler; he would refuse to take the long journeys with the
guru by arguing that his children were very young and that his family did not have the
financial resources to survive in his absence. The guru would always resolve all his issues,
eventually leading Bhai Mardana to accompany the guru on his long journeys. The guru
could have asked another person to accompany him on his travels, but he always sought
the companionship of Bhai Mardana, revealing his deep love for Bhai Mardana.

The friendship between the two men has also been captured in the many enchanting
paintings depicting the two men walking along river banks, and through deserts and forests.
Bhai Mardana, who is seen walking behind the guru in the paintings, serves as a
representative for all of the guru’s pupils, who follow in the guru’s footsteps by heeding his
message. Just as a teacher and his students gain significance only in relationship to one
another, Guru Nanak and Bhai Mardana’s relationship assumed an irresistible agency in the
context of one another. Through his music, Bhai Mardana infused the guru’s message with
an everlasting, inextinguishable zeal.
During their travels, the two men travelled across the length of present day India, also
covering present day Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Nepal and
Ladakh. 
The many anecdotes from their travels are intriguing and informative, presenting a
commentary on their friendship as well as on the social, cultural, political and economic
aspects of the milleneau in which they lived. The two men never carried any food or money
with them on their travels. People would offer them food on their journeys and they would
rest at people’s homes during the nights before resuming their journeys in the mornings.
When the guru would meditate, Bhai Mardana made sure that no man or bird disturbed the
guru and when the guru recited his sacred poetry, Bhai Mardana would sit by the guru’s

side and passionately play the rhubarb to the guru’s hallowed word, attracting crowds of
admirers.
The guru had the tendency to walk for extended periods of time without seeking rest or
food. Bhai Mardana, however, would often complain of hunger and fatigue. Once on
suffering extreme pangs of hunger, he dwindled to the ground and the guru brought him
food and water, feeding him with his own hands. Another time a well-meaning host slipped a
gold coin in Bhai Mardana’s bag. Though he knew well that the guru had forbidden him from
carrying any money on the travels, he kept the truth from the guru. On reaching a dense
forest which was infamous for being the haunt of bandits, Bhai Mardana expressed his fear
of passing through that forest. The guru who knew all, turned towards Bhai Mardana and
asked him to toss away the entity that was making him fearful and Bhai Mardana flung away
the gold coin, promising the guru that never again would he make the mistake of carrying
money during their travels.
Another time when the guru and Bhai Mardana were passing through a town where a
wealthy man was hosting a lavish feast, Bhai Mardana was very tempted to partake of the
meal, but the guru refrained him from doing so, stating that the ways of the host were
objectionable. At this, Bhai Mardana insisted that he was hungry and that the food was
alluring.  The objectionable ways of the host could be assessed at a later time, he said. The
guru shook his head and revealed the truth about the treacherous ways of the host. Bhai
Mardana folded his hands and sought forgiveness from the guru for giving in to mundane
pleasures. Yet another time, as the two were traversing through a desert, Bhai Mardana
was overtaken by fatigue, hunger and homesickness. He said that if he saw a tree similar to
the ones that grew in his village, he would put his arms around that tree and cry his heart
out. So overwhelmed was he by nostalgia that he also went on to say that even if he saw a
dog from his village, he would embrace that dog and sob himself to death. In manifesting
his human frailties, Bhai Mardana serves as a metaphor for all of us as we struggle with the
everyday and the humdrum. In contrast, the guru emerges as a redemptive beacon light to
all of us, just as he had to Bhai Mardana during their long travels together.
During their final long journey, Bhai Mardana complained of breathlessness and the two
men stopped to rest under a tree. The guru sensed that Bhai Mardana was breathing his
last and he put his friend’s head in his lap. He asked Bhai Mardana to express his dying
wish. Bhai Mardana said that he wished to remain connected with the guru in the next world
just as he had had the privilege of being closely linked to the guru in this world. The guru
assured him that they would remain eternally bonded in life and after death.
Upon Bhai Mardana’s death, the guru gave him a Muslim burial before heading back home
to Rai-Bhoi-Di-Talwandi.
On reaching Rai-Bhoi-Di-Talwandi, the guru handed Bhai Mardana’s rhubarb to his eldest
son Bhai Shahzaad Khan, presenting him with the ethereal gift of music just as he had
bestowed rhythm and melody upon Bhai Mardana. That afternoon as the residents of the
village gathered by the village well to partake of the guru’s sacred word, Bhai Shahzaad
Khan played the rhubarb to the guru’s divine poetry just as his late father had done in the
past. The villagers drank in the guru’s sacred word and the accompanying melody, basking
in otherworldly joy till the late hours of the evening, praising the guru and blessing his
fantastic accompanist, the young and amazing Bhai Shahzaad Khan.
The Udasis, the long travels of the guru, began and ended with Bhai Mardana. The guru did
not take any long journey after the death of his dear companion, going on thereafter to

become a farmer in Kartarpur. Bhai Mardana’s son, Bhai Shahzaad Khan accompanied the
guru to Kartarpur and carried forward the musical legacy of his late father by lending melody
to the guru’s divine poetry by playing his rhubarb to the sacred words of the guru.
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(Simrita Dhir lectures at the University of California, San Diego, and is the author of
acclaimed novels ‘The Rainbow Acres’ and ‘The Song of Distant Bulbuls’.)