Queen Victoria, was a British queen who used to rule both England and India. This was a long time after the Gurus were alive physically in their human bodies. One day she heard stories about the Sikhs and about Guru Gobind Singh. She thought, “These Sikhs seem to have special powers. I want to know more about them. I’m afraid they might take away my power over India.” She heard of a book written about the travels of Guru Gobind Singh. She wanted to learn more so she had it translated into English. From this book, called the ‘Sakhi Pothi’ (which means ‘book of stories’) she read a very interesting story
Once during Guru Gobind Singh’s travels, he and his Khalsa set up camp in a desert area. Guru Ji told one of his Sikhs, “Go and find me a Pipal tree. A Pipal tree is a fig tree. Now it was the desert and there were no Pipal trees in the desert. One of the Guru’s brave Singhs went out to search for one. After a while he came back and told the Guru he could not find any Pipal tree. The Guru chuckled and said, “There is one here. Go look again.” The Singh decide to climb up into a very large Jand tree which was growing nearby to see if he could see more from up high. Even from up in the big tree he could not see any Pipal tree, so he climbed back down. When he got to the bottom he noticed a tiny, baby Pipal tree growing in between the roots of the larger tree. So he ran back to the Guru and said, “Maharaj Ji, there is a baby Pipal tree near the bottom of that big tree I climbed, is that the plant you wanted to know about?” Guru Ji smiled, and started to explain. He told the Sikh that this little baby tree would grow to be a large tree too. “When it grows to the same height as the Jand tree, that is when my Khalsa will spread to all the four corners of the world and will rise to power. When it grows bigger than the Jand tree, by the Will of God, the Khalsa will become a global community which will last for 5,000 years. They will be very beautiful, they will take care of each other, they will have peace and prosperity.” The Guru had told the future of the Khalsa and how we will will rise in our power to protect everyone and prosper for many, many years.
As Queen Victoria read this story, she became concerned. She thought, “What if it’s true!? What if that happens right now? Then I will no longer rule India!” So, after reading the words of the Guru, Queen Victoria sent an officer to the very village where this tree was supposed to be growing. When the officer got there he found that the story told of a real place, called Saheva, and he found the trees just as they were described in the story. There was a large Jand tree and there was a Pipal tree growing right next to it.
He reported what he had seen back to the Queen. He said, “I found two trees in that village that match exactly what the story describes.” “Well, how high is the Pipal tree compared to the other tree?” she interrupted with royal impatience. “It is about 3 metres shorter than the Jand tree,” he told her. She thought, “Well I must find out immediately how fast a Pipal tree grows. If it grows too fast, I may have to find another job!” So she asked a very wise man who knew everything about plants and trees. “How long will it take for a Pipal tree to grow 3 metres in height?” He told her, “It will take at least 100 years for it to grow as large as the other one.” She relaxed and felt more comfortable that there would be no threats to her ruling India. If India became ruled by someone else it surely wouldn’t happen in her lifetime.
Today it is even hard to see the Jand tree. Do you know why? It’s because the Pipal tree has almost completely taken it over. Now is the time of the Khalsa! “The Khalsa will spread to all four corners of the world and will protect everyone for 5,000 years. The Khalsa family will take care of each other and will live in peace and prosperity.” Let purity, love and service spread! May the Khalsa rise, and may everyone be blessed to live in peace and prosperity!