Ram Rai and the Altered Line

Guru Har Rai sent his elder son Ram Rai to Aurangzeb’s court. The emperor objected to a line in Guru Nanak’s Asa di Var, which says that the clay of a Muslim’s grave goes into the potter’s clay. Ram Rai, to keep the emperor’s favor, said the line was a scribal error and that the original read “faithless” (beiman) in place of “Muslim” (musalman). Aurangzeb was satisfied.

When Sikhs told Guru Har Rai, he judged that his son had altered the word of the Guru out of fear. He barred Ram Rai from his presence, and the succession passed to Ram Rai’s younger brother, Har Krishan. In tradition, Aurangzeb gave Ram Rai land in Garhwal, where a community grew around him.

Counsel

Flattery runs in two directions. The courtier flatters the king, and the king’s favor tempts the courtier to edit the truth to keep it. The most expensive flattery is the quiet edit: one word, changed to keep a patron comfortable. The minister’s counsel is never to revise the truth to keep a patron.

Verification

The verse 'miTee musalamaan kee peRai piee kumi(h)aar' is at Ang 466 of the Guru Granth Sahib (Asa di Var, Guru Nanak), checked against the BaniDB database. The incident is the traditional narrative, told in the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism and by Fenech and McLeod's Historical Dictionary; we did not find the earliest source. Accounts agree that Ram Rai said a scribal error had changed 'beiman' (faithless) to 'musalman'. Versions that add a miracle are unverified.