According to tradition, young Nanak’s heart was devoted to service and prayer from childhood. His father Mehta Kalu wanted his son to learn trade, so one day he gave him twenty rupees and told him to go and make a profitable bargain.
Nanak set out with his companion Bala. On the way they saw some sadhus who had been hungry for days. Nanak thought, what bargain could be truer than feeding the hungry?
With the twenty rupees he arranged grain and food and fed the sadhus to their fill. Then he returned home empty-handed.
When his father asked what had become of the bargain, Nanak calmly said, “I have made a true bargain.” His father was angry, but later Nanak’s spirit of service was respected again and again in his life.
This spirit later connects with the tradition of langar, where everyone sits together and eats without discrimination.