NANAK RETURNS

Early one morning, Nanak went to bathe in the River Beas with his companion, Mardana. Mardana came out of the river to wash his clothes. He saw Nanak bathing in the river.

When he saw that Nanak was going towards the middle of the river, he shouted out, "Be careful! The river is deep there!"

Mardana saw Nanak take a dip, but he did not come out of the river water. He got very scared and worried when Nanak did not come out for a long time. He started looking for him.

At home, Sulakhni was waiting for Nanak to come back home, but he didn't return. Nanki went to Sulakhni and found out that Nanak had not returned.

Everyone was worried. They sent out a search party. They searched everywhere, but Nanak was not to be found.

People said, "Nanak must have drowned in the river." The whole family was in tears. Even the people in the city and the court came running to find out about Nanak.

When Nanak did not return for two days, everyone thought that probably Nanak was dead. But Nanki cried, "My brother is a holy soul. He cannot die like this.

Every day Mardana would go to the place where Nanak had drowned. On the third day, Mardana was shocked to see Nanak sitting under the tree, where they had often sat singing hymns.

Mardana fell at his feet and cried with joy. Then he ran all over the city shouting, "Nanak is alive! He has come back!"

Everyone in his family was overjoyed to see him safe and alive. Nanak had become so popular that nearly everyone in the city started running towards him when they heard that he was alive.

They felt very happy to see him sitting alive and safe under the tree, just as he sat before.