Queen Jhali Becomes Ravidas Disciple

Dadi**: Guddu beta, what would you do if you found a great teacher, but everyone told you he was "too low" for you to learn from?

Guddu**: I don't understand - how can a teacher be too low?

Dadi**: In the old days, people judged each other by caste and birth. Tonight's story is about a queen who refused to accept such judgments. This is Queen Jhali and Guru Ravidas.

Guddu**: Who was Guru Ravidas?

Dadi**: One of the greatest saints of India! But he came from the chamar community - leather workers, considered the lowest of the low by caste rules. He worked as a cobbler, making and mending shoes.

Guddu**: A shoemaker became a guru?

Dadi**: The greatest guru! His devotional songs are still sung today. But many high-caste people refused to accept that someone from a "low" caste could be enlightened.

Guddu**: That's so unfair!

Dadi**: Queen Jhali of Chittorgarh was on a pilgrimage to Benaras when she heard about Guru Ravidas's wisdom. She went to listen to his teachings and was completely transformed.

Guddu**: What did her advisors say?

Dadi**: The Brahmins accompanying her were shocked! "But he is a chamar!" they pointed out. "You cannot learn from a leather worker!"

Guddu**: What did the queen say?

Dadi**: She said simply, "So what? A guru is a guru." She asked Ravidas to accept her as his disciple.

Guddu**: Did he say yes?

Dadi**: Actually, he hesitated! He told her to find a high-caste saint instead. "It will cause problems for you if you take a chamar as your teacher," he said.

Guddu**: He was trying to protect her!

Dadi**: But the queen was determined. She insisted again and again. Finally, seeing her sincere desire for truth, Ravidas accepted her as his disciple.

Guddu**: What happened when she went back to her kingdom?

Dadi**: She organized a great feast in honor of her guru. She invited all the Brahmins of Chittorgarh. But when they found out they would be eating with a "low-caste" guru, they refused!

Guddu**: They boycotted the queen's feast?

Dadi**: They said they would not share vessels or sit in the same row as a cobbler. So the queen said, "Fine. Take raw provisions and cook for yourselves separately."

Guddu**: Did they do that?

Dadi**: They did. They cooked their own food and sat in their own row, far from Ravidas. But when they began to eat, something miraculous happened.

Guddu**: What?

Dadi**: They saw Guru Ravidas sitting between every pair of Brahmins! Wherever they looked, there he was - eating with them, among them, multiplied miraculously!

Guddu**: He was everywhere?!

Dadi**: They challenged him. "You have no right to sit here! You're not a Brahmin!" And Guru Ravidas did something extraordinary. He pulled back the skin on his chest and revealed a golden sacred thread underneath - the janeu that only Brahmins wear.

Guddu**: He had a golden thread inside him?!

Dadi**: The true Brahmin is not made by birth, but by inner purity. Ravidas was showing that he was a Brahmin in the only way that matters - in his soul.

Guddu**: The Brahmins must have been so embarrassed!

Dadi**: They were put to shame. Their pride in caste was exposed as empty. Meanwhile, Queen Jhali's faith was proven right - she had recognized a true saint where others saw only a cobbler.

Guddu**: So the queen was wiser than all the priests?

Dadi**: Because she judged by the right measure. She asked: "Is this person wise? Is this person good? Is this person close to God?" Those are the only questions that matter.

Guddu**: I'll remember that, Dadi. Judge people by their hearts, not their birth.

Dadi**: That's the lesson of Guru Ravidas - and Queen Jhali's courage in living it. Goodnight, beta!

Guddu**: Goodnight, Dadi!