Sant Nityanand’s childhood name was Nandlal. He was born in a
Brahmin family. He was contemporary to Sant Garibdas ji (Village
Chhudani, district Jhajjar) for some time. Sant Garibdas ji’s life span
was from 1717-1778. At that time, Brahmins were given special re
spect. It was considered to be the highest caste. As a result of which,
it was natural to be egotistic. Nandlal’s parents had died. At that
time, he was 7-8 years old. His grandfather was working at a high
position in the office of the Nawab of Narnaul. He was brought up
by his maternal grandparents. After education, the grandfather got
his grandson Nandlal appointed as a sub-collector in Narnaul. On
one hand Brahmin caste, and on the other designation of a sub-col
lector; due to which, it was normal for him to be arrogant. The ma
ternal grandparents had even married the sub-collector off. At a
short distance from the mansion of the sub-collector, a Vaishnav
Saint Shri Gumani Das ji was doing Satsang at one of his devotee’s
house. He was a devotee of Shri Vishnu ji. All the saints always used
to make use of the nectar-speech of God Kabir ji in their (satsangs)
sermons. It was explained in the satsang that why a human life is
attained, but because of not listening to satsang, a person destroys
his/her precious human life in the worldly turmoils. Because of igno
rance, a person has pride of wealth, position and caste. A person,
who does not do bhakti, suffers in the body of a donkey, dog, ox etc.
animals or birds in the next birth. Therefore, relinquishing pride,
one should take initiation from a Complete Saint and get one’s wel
fare done. Otherwise, one will have to bear suffering heavier than a
mountain.
Swami Gumani Das ji’s ashram was approximately one and a
half kilometre away from Narnaul city. On hearing the sound of the
satsang, the sub-collector took a chair and sat down on the roof of
his house. He listened to the entire satsang. An intense desire to
take intiation arose, but the pride of caste and position was disturb
ing him – “How much respect Brahmins have! Then I am a sub
collector. Ordinary people go to satsang. I will feel ashamed. How
will I go in the ashram?” Finally, he decided one day that – “I will go
to the ashram early in the morning. By the time other people will go,
I would have returned after taking initiation.” After finishing the
satsang, the Saint returned to his ashram. On getting up in the morn
ing, he used to go for a walk for some time. One day, Nandlal ji
mounted on a horse was going towards the ashram in the morning.
Gumani Das ji was going for a walk on that same path. The saint
had shaven his head. There was no cloth on his head. Nandlal ji
being a Brahmin used to believe in superstitions. If while he was
going for some auspicious work, a person with completely shaven
head used to come in front of him, then Nandlal ji used to cancel his
program. He was going to that ashram to take initiation. It was the
best day of his life. He saw a man with completely shaven head
ahead. Nandlal ji had a sense of foreboding and felt angry. He con
templated that I will not leave the opportunity of initiation today, but
he had to also make the superstition ineffective. Therefore, he him
self derived a solution that I will knock with my knuckles on this
jinx’s head; the bad omen will automatically end. With this motive,
he stopped his horse next to that person (Saint Gumani Das ji) and
said, “Unfortunate person! Today alone you had to come before me
with a completely shaven head. I was going to an ashram for the
most supreme task of my life.” Saying this, he knocked with his
knuckles on Gumani Das ji’s head and made his horse move to
wards the ashram. It is common for saints to experience such inci
dents. They do not pay a lot of attention. Saint Gumani Das ji did
think that the person looked civilised and was appearing to be a
high official and well-born, but acted like a cowboy. Nandlal went to
the ashram. There he met disciples of the saint. Greetings were
exchanged. He told the motive of his visit. He tied the horse to a
tree and sat down on a sack laid near the seat of the saint. When
Saint Gumani Das ji after his walk and taking a bath, came and sat
down on his seat, he saw the horse. It did not take him long to under
stand. When Nandlal ji saw him, he hung his head in shame. The
devotees of the ashram had told Gumani Das that the sub-collector
has come to take initiation. Nandlal ji fell at the feet of the saint,
and told the reason behind his hitting with his knuckles. Saint Gumani
Das ji said, “O Devotee! When we go to buy a pitcher worth an
anna from a potter, we repeatedly knock it to check if it is broken
from anywhere. You have come to do a deal of your life, so if you
have checked the Guru ji by knocking him, there is no sin in it.”
Nandlal ji was even more impressed by the calm nature of the saint.
He took initiation. Saint Gumani Das ji changed his name to
Nityanand. When Nitanand ji found a way of living from the satsang,
he uttered the following speech:
Brahman kul mein janam tha, main karta bahut marod |
Guru Gumani Das ne, diya kubuddhi gad tod || (1)
Then how subservient he became is evident from this speech :
Sir saunpa Gurudev ko, safal hua ye sheesh |
Nityanand is sheesh par, aap basae Jagdish || (2)
Meaning: – Until one gets to hear the words of Satsang, a human
being out of ignorance keeps rotting in arrogance. When one gains
knowledge, one realises that today I am a king, and after death I
will become a donkey or a dog, then what will happen to the arro
gance? Therefore, devotees tread on the path of bhakti by clearing
that hindrance with knowledge, and achieve success. King Ravan of
Sri Lanka did a lot of bhakti, but did not lose his arrogance. As a
result of which, he got destroyed. Ravan was also a Brahmin.
Nityanand ji was also a Brahmin. He became pure after listening to
the satsang. Ravan did not get to listen to the satsang. Due to which,
he wasted his life and also received an indelible stigma. Nityanand
ji said, “Because I was born in a Brahmin family, I used to be fully
arrogant about my caste. When I heard the satsang words of Guru ji
Gumani Das ji, the fortress of ignorance of arrogance was decimated.
My life became successful.” (1)
Meaning of Speech no. 2: – After listening to the satsang,
Nityanand ji became very humble. He relinquished arrogance. He
said that I have donated my head to my Guru ji, that is, I will remain
as my Guru ji will keep me. My head has become successful; other
wise, I might have lost my life in some disease. Now God resides on
my head. God protects me. I do not have any tension
