Page:The Sikh Religion, its gurus, sacred writings and authors Vol 2.djvu/44

34 One day a man called Gobind came to make a complaint to Guru Angad. He had been involved in a lawsuit with his relations, and vowed that if ever he were victorious, he would found a city in honour of the Guru. Fortune having favoured him, he began to found the city on an open plot of land on the bank of the Bias, of which he had obtained a lease from the Emperor. Having received from astrologers an auspicious time for the inception of the work, he laid out the boundaries, employed masons, and began to build; but what was done by day was in some mysterious manner undone by night. It was supposed that this was the work of demons, but probably the enmity of Gobind's relations has not been taken sufficiently into consideration. Gobind prayed the Guru to have the village completed and called after himself. The Guru then read him a homily on the futility of fame. ‘Why trouble about miserable human affairs? There ought to be naught dearer to man than the True Name.’ Gobind then prayed him to grant his desires, even if he had no ambition to have the city founded in his honour.

Upon this Guru Angad sent Amar Das his walking-stick and commissioned him to remove whatever obstructed the construction of the city. Amar Das prayed to God for His assistance, and everything succeeded according to the Guru's wishes. Gobind founded without further molestation a beautiful city, which Amar Das called Gobindwal in honour of him. The city is now known as Goindwal. Gobind did not forget to build a palace in it for his benefactor Amar Das. When everything was completed, Gobind went again to Khadur to offer his thanks to the Guru for sending with him such a potent envoy as Amar Das, and also to beg the Guru to go and live in the newly-founded city. The Guru did not wish to leave his old town and residence, so he ordered Amar Das to go and live in Goindwal by night, and