Mai Bhago and the Chali Mukte

Dadi**: "Guddu, what do you think is braver - fighting in a battle, or making others brave enough to fight?"

Guddu**: "I don't know, Dadi. Both sound brave!"

Dadi**: "Tonight I'll tell you about Mai Bhago - a woman who did both. She shamed cowards into becoming heroes, and then she fought alongside them."

Guddu**: "A woman warrior?"

Dadi**: "One of the greatest in Sikh history! During a terrible siege of Anandpur in 1704, forty Sikhs abandoned their Guru. A million soldiers had surrounded them, and these forty men were exhausted, starving. They lost hope."

Guddu**: "They ran away?"

Dadi**: "They did more than run. They signed a letter saying 'We are no longer your Sikhs.' They formally disowned their Guru! Then they went home to their villages in the Majha region."

Guddu**: "That's terrible!"

Dadi**: "That's what Mai Bhago thought. She was a brave woman from the village of Jhabal who had great faith in the Guru. When she saw these deserters coming home, her blood boiled!"

Guddu**: "What did she do?"

Dadi**: "She stood in the village and criticized them openly. She told their wives what their husbands had done. And the wives? They refused to let the men come home! They said they would rather be widows than the wives of cowards."

Guddu**: "The wives turned them away?"

Dadi**: "Imagine the shame! And Mai Bhago didn't stop. She dressed in warrior's clothes, took up weapons, and said, 'If you won't fight for your Guru, I will!' She shamed them so thoroughly that the forty men picked up their arms and followed her."

Guddu**: "They went back to fight?"

Dadi**: "On December 29, 1705, at a place called Khidrana, near a lake, they faced ten thousand Mughal soldiers! Mai Bhago and her men attacked with such fury that they forced the huge army to retreat."

Guddu**: "Forty against ten thousand!"

Dadi**: "Mai Bhago fought so fiercely that she killed many enemies with her own hands. But the battle took its toll. When Guru Gobind Singh came to the battlefield afterward, all the men were dead or dying - including their former leader Mahan Singh."

Guddu**: "All of them died?"

Dadi**: "Mahan Singh was still alive, but barely. With his last breath, he begged the Guru for forgiveness. He asked that the letter of disownment be destroyed. The Guru, with tears in his eyes, tore up the document."

Guddu**: "He forgave them!"

Dadi**: "He did more than forgive. He blessed them as 'Chali Mukte' - the Forty Liberated Ones. They had redeemed their dishonor with their blood. Today, the place is called Muktsar - the Pool of Liberation."

Guddu**: "And Mai Bhago?"

Dadi**: "She survived! Though she lost her brothers and husband in that battle, she was the only warrior left standing besides the Guru's forces on the hillside. The Guru was so moved by her courage that she stayed in his service until he passed away."

Guddu**: "She continued serving?"

Dadi**: "She spent her later years in Karnataka, teaching and meditating. Her weapons are still kept at Hazur Sahib Gurudwara. And every day, Sikhs remember the Chali Mukte in their prayers."

Guddu**: "Dadi, she turned cowards into heroes!"

Dadi**: "That's her greatest achievement. Yes, she was a warrior. But her real power was in inspiring others. Sometimes the bravest thing is to remind people of who they really are - and to walk with them when they rediscover their courage."

Guddu**: "I want to be like Mai Bhago - brave and inspiring!"

Dadi**: "Then remember her story. When you see friends doing wrong, have the courage to speak up. And when they want to make things right, stand with them. That's the spirit of Mai Bhago. Now sleep, warrior child!"