Bhakt Ghatam Das, a unique poet-saint from the Jaipur princely state, later came to be known as “Mahatma Ghatam Das.” His incredible story, recorded in the “Bhaktamal” reveals how feelings of guilt led him to seek guidance from a wise saint. Struggling to walk long distances, Ghatam Das made a bold choice—he stole a black horse from the royal stables to meet the saint.
In an astonishing twist, the horse miraculously changed from black to white right before the eyes of the king’s soldiers. This act of faith not only astonished onlookers but also earned Ghatam Das the king’s respect and a dedicated ashram, now known as “Ghatam Ghat.” Join us in exploring how Ghatam Das went from a life of crime to becoming a devoted follower of Thakur Ji(Krishna), reminding us all of the power of redemption and faith.
Life of Ghatam Das: Theft a family profession
Ghatam Das ji, a famous thief of Meena caste, lived in Khedi village near Jaipur. Stealing, looting and robbing was his family profession. His ancestors had been doing this for generations, and Ghatam ji also used to steal following the path of his ancestors.
His father called his sons while dying and gave his last advice. “Son, listen. Listen to one thing of mine and always remember it. If you follow it, your life will be happy.”
The sons folded their hands and said, “Father, tell me, we will definitely listen to your last advice.” The father said, “Look, never listen to a story even by mistake. Wherever there is a satsang, sadhus-mahatmas are doing kirtan, or any story is going on, do not go there.”
The sons asked in surprise, “What will happen by listening to the story, father?” Father said seriously, “If you listen to the story, you will not be able to steal. The profession of our family is theft, if you start listening to the story, then stealing will stop. And if you do not steal, then how will we get food in the house? Therefore, stay away from the story.”
He had also asked father, “If ever such a situation arises that the police is after us and there is no way to escape, then what should we do?” To this father had said, “In that situation, put your finger in your ear, so that not a single word reaches your ear.” This advice of the father got embedded in the hearts of his children. They used to listen to their father and did not even go near the satsang or story. Ghatam ji also used to do the same.
When a thorn pricked on the way of theft and a story was heard
Time passed, and Ghatam Das ji kept committing thefts and robberies with his gang of robbers. One day, when Ghatam ji was running away after a big theft, the police was after him. He reached near a village while running, where a saint Vyas ji was telling a story under a tree and hundreds of people were listening to the story attentively.
Ghatam ji thought, “If I stay here, the police will catch me, and there is no other way. This is the only way to escape.” But then he remembered his father’s words – “Never listen to a story.”
He immediately put his fingers in his ears and said in his mind, “I will not listen to the story, I will not listen to the story.” Saying this, he started running. But in haste, a thorn pricked his foot, and he groaned in pain. The thorn was so deep that it became difficult to walk without removing it. Helplessly, he took out his finger from his ears and started removing the thorn.
Meanwhile, a sentence from the story came to his ears. Vyasa was telling, “Gods do not have shadows, and they do not sweat.” Ghatam heard this, but he immediately ran away from there. On returning home, he realized that he had heard some words of the story. He became a little worried about this, but he did not pay much attention.
How a story saved Ghatam Das’ life
After some time, the king made a plan to catch these bandits. The king’s minister suggested that since these bandits were devotees of Kali Mata, a fake Kali should be created to deceive them. According to the plan, a person was given the form of Kali and sent to the temple in the forest, where the bandits often came to worship.
When Ghatam ji and his companions reached there, they saw that Kali Maa had appeared in person. All the bandits were happy and started worshiping her. But Ghatam ji looked closely and thought, “She is casting a shadow and is also sweating. We had heard in the story that gods do not have shadows and they do not sweat. This cannot be the real Kali Maa.” Ghatam ji suspected that this was a trick. He quietly left from there.
After a while, the king’s army attacked and caught all the bandits. They were sentenced to death, but Ghatam ji was saved. Returning home, Ghatam ji thought, “If I had not listened to those few words of the story, I would have been caught and hanged today. The story saved my life. Now I understand that my father was wrong. Listening to the story is the greatest welfare of life.
Ghatam ji got four rules from the saint
Once upon a time, Ghatam ji was going from Jaipur to Amer. The Kanak valley situated between Amer and Jaipur was covered in the darkness of the night. Ghatam ji was planning to steal, but he did not find any rich person that night. He had not stolen anything for two days, so he was feeling restless.
During this time, he saw a saint who was going with matted hair and a bag in his hand. Ghatam ji thought, “He is a saint, what would he have to steal?” Then he thought, “I do not steal, I just go and bow down to him.” Ghatam ji came in the way of the saint and bowed down to him in the dense darkness of midnight.
The saint stopped and said, “Be happy son. What is your name?” Ghatam ji told the truth, “My name is Ghatam, and I steal.” The saint asked laughingly, “Why do you steal? This is not a good work.” Ghatam Ji replied, “Maharaj, I know this is not a good job, but this is the profession of my ancestors. Everyone in my family does this work.”
The saint thought for a while and then said, “Look, stealing is wrong, but if you cannot give up stealing, then I teach you four things. Following these will bring a change in your life.” Ghatam Ji agreed.
The saint said, “First thing, always speak the truth. Second thing, respect the saints. Third thing, whatever you bring, whether by stealing or hard work, first offer it to Thakur Ji and then eat it yourself. Fourth thing, whenever you see a temple, monastery or saint, no matter how much hurry you are in, stop and bow down.” Ghatam Ji bowed down to the saint and promised to follow those four things throughout his life.
A thief’s love and devotion towards saints
Ghatam ji used to steal and rob money, and first of all he used that money to serve sages and saints. Whatever money was left, he used to take care of his family. After some time, Ghatam ji saw that a group of saints was passing through his village. He rushed to call the saints to his house. But when he reached home, his wife said, “We don’t even have food for ourselves, what will we feed the saints?” Ghatam ji thought, “It is the order of the Guru, we have to serve the saints.”
Ghatam ji reached the market and started asking for money on credit from the shopkeepers, but no one helped him. Then his eyes fell on the nearby fields, where wheat was being harvested and the farmers were sleeping. He took advantage of the opportunity and brought wheat from the field with a big sheet. He arranged for food for the saints, but due to his heavy footsteps, footprints were left in the field.
While Ghatam Ji was serving food to the saints, he was worried that the next morning the farmers would identify who had stolen the wheat from those footprints. But as the saints were taking the prasad, the weather suddenly changed. A strong storm blew and it started raining, which erased all the footprints. Seeing this miracle, Ghatam Ji became convinced that Thakur Ji was protecting them.
Theft of the black horse: Ghatam ji’s last theft
Time passed by. Once on the occasion of Guru Purnima, Ghatam Ji thought, “I should do something big to serve the Guru. I will offer the money I get by stealing a big horse for the last time as Guru Dakshina.” He planned to steal the horse of the King of Amer.
The king had a rare black horse, which was very expensive. Ghatam Ji reached the palace. He wore the attire of a soldier and entered the king’s stable, where the prized horses were tied.
At night, the guard called out, “Who is it?” Remembering the Guru’s command to always speak the truth, Ghatam Ji replied, “I am a thief.” The guard was surprised to hear this, as he thought why would a thief call himself a thief. He thought that this might be someone special to the king who is saying this in jest. That is why he let them go ahead, without any doubt.
Ghatam Ji stole the black horse and set out with it. Since he was in the disguise of a soldier, the other guards also did not stop him. Ghatam ji thought that by selling this horse, he would raise some money for the service of Gurudev.
Miracle of Thakur Ji: Change in Colour of Horse
On the way, it was morning, and Mangala Aarti of Thakur Ji was being performed. He remembered the command of Gurudev that whenever a monastery, temple or ashram is seen, one should immediately stop and bow down. Ghatam Ji stopped the horse, tied it to a tree and went to the temple and started performing Aarti and Parikrama.
Meanwhile, the guards got the idea that if this was really the king’s man, everyone would have known about him. They realized that Ghatam Ji was really a thief. The king’s soldiers followed him and reached the place where Ghatam Ji had tied the horse. But when the soldiers reached there, they saw that the horse was there, but its colour had completely changed.
Just then Ghatam Ji came out after performing the Aarti. The soldiers asked him, “Is this the same horse that you stole last night?” As per the Guru’s command to speak the truth, Ghatam Ji said, “Yes, I am the same thief.” The soldiers again asked, “But the horse was black, how did it become white?”
Ghatam ji smiled and said, “I don’t know. When I tied it, it was black. But I think I dedicated it to Thakurji, and perhaps he did not like the black color, so he made it white.”
Guru Kripa: How Ghatam Ji became a true devotee from a thief
The soldiers were surprised to hear this and took Ghatam Ji along with the horse to the king. The king saw the horse and said, “This is my horse, but how did its colour become white?” Ghatam Ji then told the truth. The king did not believe it, but when he saw the mole near the horse’s cheek, which was there earlier also, he was surprised.
The king said, “You are a thief, but you speak the truth and follow the saint’s orders, that is why the horse’s colour changed.” The king further said, “The Lord who can do this for his devotee, his grace will definitely be on us too. Therefore it is our duty to respect you.” After this the king gifted a lot of wealth to Ghatam Ji.
Ghatam Ji, carrying the wealth, went straight to his Guru. His devotion had increased further in his mind-he was thinking that despite being a thief, where he should have been punished, he got respect and honour. Reaching the Guru’s feet, he offered everything and joined the celebration.
He said to his Guru, “Guruji, when you first forbade me from stealing, I did not understand. But from today I pledge that I will never steal again. By your grace I have realized that I was on the wrong path.” With this resolution, Ghatam ji left the path of stealing forever.
Ghatam Ji’s meeting with Thakur Ji
Time passed, and Ghatam Ji now started spending his days in satsang and sadhu seva. But he had a curiosity in his mind—he wanted to have darshan of Thakur Ji. He did not have darshan of Thakur Ji for many days, so gradually he started getting angry. He got angry with Thakur Ji and said, “Earlier I used to eat without bathing, now I eat after bathing for you and eat after offering it to you. Earlier I never used to wear Kanthi Mala or apply Tilak, but now I do all this also for you. Prabhu, I am doing so much for you, and what are you doing for me? Will you give me darshan?”
On hearing this, Thakur Ji immediately appeared. When Ghatam Ji had darshan of Thakur Ji, his mind became calm and he realized that true devotion and following the orders of the Guru is the greatest wealth.
