DUNI CHAND is described in Puratan Janam Sakhi as a Dhuppar Khatri of Lahore who held in the parganah the revenue rank of karori (lit. the holder of a karor or ten million). He was performing sraddha or anniversary feast for his deceased father when he learnt that the holy saint Guru Nanak had arrived in the city. He invited him to his house which displayed seven flags fastened upon the door top. Asked what these flags signified, Duni Chand proudly explained that they indicated the degree of his opulence, each flag denoting wealth worth a lac or a hundred thousand.
The Guru, continues the Puratan Janam Sakhi, gave him a needle and said, “Keep it as a deposit of mine. We shall take it from you in the next world.” Puzzled to hear this strange request, Duni Chand took the needle to his wife and told her what the Guru had said. “What is to be done now?” he asked her. “Go and give the needle back to the Guru,” replied his wife. “Who can take anything with him from here to the hereafter?” Duni Chand came and bowed at the Guru`s feet.
He knew that his wealth would not go with him, nor would the victuals ritually offered to the Brahmans on the sraddha day avail his father. The Guru, says the Janam Sakhi, spoke to him, “Give in the name of the Lord. Put food in the mouth of the needy. Thus wilt thou have something to go with thee.”
References :
1. Vir Singh, Bhai, ed., PuratanJanam Sakhi. Amritsar, 1971
2. Santokh Singh, Bhai, Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth. Amritsar, 1926-37
3. Harbans Singh, Guru Nanak and Origins of the Sikh Faith. Bombay, 1969
