When Gulrukh matured to the then marriageable age of fifteen, her parents broached the topic. They were astonished at their daughter's staunch refusal to marry. For a Pathan princess to remain single was unheard of — especially one as lovely as Gulrukh. Her parents then tried to force her into wedlock, not knowing that she had already chosen her Beloved. The maiden had fallen in love with One who had captured her heart long, long ago. No prince or handsome groom could take His place. Gulrukh's heart was intoxicated in divine rapture, and she wept in longing to unite with her Beloved.
As the months passed, Gulrukh's parents became even more insistent and made plans to celebrate her wedding on a certain date to a certain prince. Gulrukh was informed that she had no choice; all arrangements had been finalized. Although she loved her parents, their plans were unbearable to her. Her eagerness to find her true Beloved overcame all obstacles and hardships, and she escaped from home and Baluchistan — never to return to her parents.
Gulrukh journeyed to the northeast, first to Peshawar, and then to Rawalpindi. At the time, for a young maiden to run away from home and travel alone across the mountainous regions of India was an incredible undertaking. But Beloved God was watching over her, so on the rough mountain roads she was neither recognized nor captured.
While traveling, Gulrukh wore the traditional Muslim veil. But for how long would her Beloved keep his loved one veiled? The Beloved was preparing to remove the veil of duality and transform this worthy bride into the All-existing One.
Gulrukh's heart was burning with the fire of divine love, suffering the terrible pangs of separation from God. Her state of restlessness made her oblivious to hunger, thirst and sleep. Day and night, she roamed the streets of Rawalpindi absorbed in divine madness for her Beloved. The former princess was a wayfarer now, and this constant restlessness was her only rest. Who knows how many lifetimes of severe penance and austerities had created this spiritual longing in her?1 Her only wish was to gaze upon the Beloved's face, and her heart cried out, "Come, my Beloved, to meet me! Come soon or I shall die!"
Years passed like this, but Gulrukh's tears of longing never ceased. Only after her tears had "emptied" her bodily container did she meet a Hindu Sadguru.2 Under his perfect guidance, Gulrukh climbed a mountain in the wilderness in a region of what is now Pakistan and lived in a secluded cave.
Footnotes
- 1.Meher Baba once revealed that in a previous incarnation Babajan had been the revered saint Rabia of Basra.
- 2.The Sadguru's name is not known.