The Warrior: Part 5 - The Word

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Without any sense of direction, I walked on. My eyes were barely open. My face was completely frozen - I was toying with the idea of simply giving up when suddenly I went into an opening and into warmth. I could not believe my fate - I had walked right into a cave!

Thankfully, I sat on the ground. My hands felt some kind of a frame on the ground. With joy, I realized it was actually a fireplace. There was even dry wood neatly stacked up. Quickly, I built a small fire by the entrance. It was quite obvious that someone had lived in this cave a long time ago. A wooden shelf ran along one wall. I saw a big bag on the shelf. I opened it up and there were nuts and dried fruits in it! How they had survived for so long, I do not know. Nor did I care - I quickly devoured some of them.

 

Quite warm and content, I lay down in a little area which apparently had served as a sleeping place. Immediately, my eyes fell upon two sentences written on the cave roof. The first sentence read,

 

" The five can be defeated by the Guru's Word " .

 

This surprised me so much that with a jolt, I sat up. Vividly my memory went back to the " mad " man at the tavern: he too had mentioned something about a Guru.

A question arose within me, " What is the guru's Word? "

The second sentence answered me,

 

" WaheGuru WaheGuru WaheGuru Wahe jeeo " .

 

I instantaneously fell in love with this Word. My mouth uttered it, " WaheGuru. " My tongue savored it, " WaheGuru. " My heart sang it, " WaheGuru. " I could neither believe not understand this Word but I did not really care - it was such a bliss just uttering it that all I wanted to do was to sing it over and over.

 

Like a crazy man, I shouted the Word over and over again: " WaheGuru WaheGuru WaheGuru ...

 

I spent the whole night celebrating with the Word. I would sing the Word for a while and would then keep quiet. The falling snow, the whistling wind and the swaying trees would echo back the Word. It would get softer and softer. Then I would sing it loudly again, then listen again. This Word was indeed magic. Even though I had had nothing to eat except the few nuts, I felt strong and fulfilled.

By next morning, I had enough strength to fight a hundred men. I could have gone back and defeated the creatures but a strange thing happened - I no longer cared about my castle or my treasures or my brother – even the hidden city faded away from my desires. The only thing that mattered was the Word.

I followed the same pattern on that day too - I would say the Word a few times, and then listen to it. Slowly the saying got shorter and shorter while the listening got longer and longer. After a few days, I no longer had to say the Word - I would listen to it ringing from everywhere. I would sleep whenever I felt tired. I would eat some of the fruit whenever I got hungry. There were just enough food and firewood for me to pass the winter.

 

to be continued...