THE SNAKE HOOD

One day when Nanak took his cattle for grazing, he sat thinking about God Sat Kartar and fell asleep.

On seeing Nanak sleeping, Mardana drove the cattle into another field because he did not want Nanak to disturbed. Nanak was now alone while he was sleeping The rays of the sun were falling right on his face.

Suddenly a white serpent appeared. The ruler Rai Bular was passing from that way, and he saw the serpent near Nanak.

He thought he should go and prevent the serpent from biting Nanak. But then he saw that the serpent went and spread his hood.

The serpent lay near the Nanak’s head and held its huge hood in such a way that there was shade on Nanak’s face.

The serpent was shielding Nanak from the harsh sunlight. Rai Bular was amazed to see that the serpent was giving shade to Nanak instead of biting him.

When he went home, he told his servant, “Go quickly and find out who that boy was. That boy will either grow up to be a great king or a great saint. What I have seen today is the most unusual thing to happen.

Rai Bular could not stop himself from telling the people at his court about what he had .seen. He said, “Today I’ll tell you of a very strange thing I saw.

The courtiers were amazed to hear of a serpent protecting a sleeping boy from the harsh ray of the sun, as this was something unheard of.

Most of them agreed that this could only happen to a special person; a person of high spiritual status. Now, along with Rai Bular, the courtiers were also eager to know who that boy was.

The servant returned and told Rai Bular, “My lord, that boy is called Nanak. He is the son of Mehta Kalu, who works for you as a chief Patwari. Today when you saw him in the field, he had come there for grazing his cattle.

The servant further said that Nanak was a wise boy who believed in Sat Kartar. The king then expressed his wish to meet Nanak some day.