T. V. Kapali Sastry provides an overview of Sri Krishna Chaitanya, Guru Nanak and Guru Govind Singh
SRI KRISHNA CHAITANYA
“THE one ever ancient who has taken form as Krishna Chaitanya for the purpose of teaching the knowledge and practice of non-attachment, Vairagya Vidya, and his own method of devotion, Bhaktiyoga, his shelter I seek, the ocean of mercy; may my mind like a bee cling closer to his lotus feet, who is born to restore Bhaktiyoga, destroyed by time!”
With these words of the veteran Vedantist, Vasudeva Sarvabhauma, uttered on his conversion to the cult of Bhakti, we shall begin this account of Sri Krishna Chaitanya with a glimpse into the spirit of his age, into the soul of his teachings. For, these works sum up the spiritual principles that found concrete expression in the life of Lord Gouranga, incidentally throwing light on what he was understood and accepted to be when he was just out of his teens, as well as on the mystic influence of Love of which he was possessed and which exacted the homage and devotion of the proud pandit and his royal patron, Raja Pratap Rudra of Orissa.
Sri Chaitanya was born at a time commonly called the dark period in the history of Bengal. The degeneracy of her people, evidenced in the social and religious practices, was their legacy from Buddhism at its worst with its counter-part in Tantric Hinduism designated ’Left-hand worship’ Vamachara. The social organisation peculiar to India that is at once her pride and shame as well as strength and weakness contributed its quota to the political subjection of her people in their airtight compartments yielding to the yoke of the medieval barbarism of the Pathan-alien in outlook, race and religion. When Chaitanya was born, Bengal had gone through well-nigh three centuries of Muhammadan rule. The manner of the first Moslem conquest of Bengal is a fine illustration of the low ebb of life in that province at the close of the twelfth century. For, when Muhammad Khilji, a general of Kutb-ud-din with an advance party of eighteen troopers whom the people mistook for horse dealers, went straight to the palace of the Hindu Raja Lakshman Sen at Nadea and attacked the door-keepers, the king escaped through a back door and retired to the neighbourhood of Dacca, where his descendants ruled as local chiefs for centuries. Upon the success of this audacity, the Moslem general secured the approval of his master at Delhi to establish a purely Muhammadan provincial administration, practically independent. This cheap conquest was also final and Bengal never escaped Muhammadan rule for any considerable period until the treachery at Plassey (1757 A.D.) transferred it to the British.
The chaotic condition of the social order left by the disintegrating influence of Buddhism had, however, been counteracted to some extent by the Sen kings who came from the south and introduced kulinism into Bengal society, seeking to ensure stability by laying the caste foundations solid and strong. The effort reached its climax in the 15th century as is evidenced in Raghunandan’s Smriti or code of rules compiled from ancient law books for governing social usage within caste. The religion of the kulins (i.c., Brahmans, Baidyas, Kayasthas) therefore lay in the observance of socio-religious usages as prescribed in the Smriti according to which no social fact can fall outside the province of religion. But higher Hinduism, the Vedanta, was the professed faith of the scholars and that was the non-dualism the advaita of Shankara which was in Bengal, as elsewhere in India, rather a philosophic intellectualism teeming with academic interest for the learned few, than a religion that could satisfy the yearning of ardent souls for a personal experience of religion, for some kind of contact or communion with the Divine Being in whom the world lives, moves and has its being. Nevertheless, there were some, very few in number who could not rest satisfied with the scholars’ skill in debate or display of learning and love of arguments. They were attracted by the cult of Krishnabhakti with its devotional exercises which though looked upon with indifferent scorn by the learned and their lay following were destined to play a notable part in the history of Bengal Vaishnavism, of which Chaitanya became the soul and his life is a concrete presentation of its exalted ideals.
Chaitanya was born in 1486 A.D. (Feb. 18) at Navadvip (Nadea), famous for Sanskrit learning and respected by all parts of India as the home of Nyaya, Indian Logic. His ancestors originally belonged to Orissa and had settled at Dhakadakshin, a village in the Sylhet district. In the middle of the 15th century his father Jagannatha Misra came to Nadea to complete his education and win academic laurels. Poverty and political conditions in the Sylhet district did not encourage his return to his village. So, after becoming a scholar of renown, he stayed on and married Sachi Devi, the daughter of Nilambara Chakravarty, a venerable scholar, who like himself had come to Sylhet and settled at Nadea. Chaitanya was the ninth (according to some eighth) child of this Brahmin couple. He was born in the evening on the full moon day of Phalgun, when the moon just came out free from an eclipse. There was everywhere jubilation and from the very beginning there was a special charm about the child which was his title to be called Gouranga, ’he of the fair body’. Though Vishwambhar was the classical name given to the child, they named him Nimai since a humble name was thought fit to ward off evil influences so that the boy might not share the fate of his seven shortlived sisters before him. Some say that the baby got fever and was by advice kept under a Nim tree (margosa) for cure and hence he came to be so called. Nimai, the child, was full of fun and mischief, possessed of vigour and energy that kept his mother busy. His boyhood was that of a real boy, buoyant with an exuberance of childish pranks. After a few years in the primary school he was admitted, when he was 8 years, into the Sanskrit Tol of a famous professor, Gangadas Pandit. His intelligence and intellectual keenness was easily above the average. And the super-abundant energy of the young lad often found went in the childish pranks flung on the old and the young, as well as on boys and girls. He would enter the temple in the evening, put out the lights and irritate the priests. He would then go to the Brahmin sitting with closed eyes on the banks of the Ganga, sprinkle water on his face, disappear as suddenly as he came. If he saw a Brahmin meditating with eyes shut and a holy text in his hand, the urchin would come from behind, snatch the book, fly away. Again if someone stood in knee-deep water in the Ganges, muttering his prayers, Nimai would plunge into the water, forcibly carry him by one of his legs. Nor were boys and girls spared.
Chaitanya was born in 1486 A.D. (Feb. 18) at Navadvip (Nadea), famous for Sanskrit learning and respected by all parts of India as the home of Nyaya, Indian Logic. His ancestors originally belonged to Orissa and had settled at Dhakadakshin, a village in the Sylhet district. In the middle of the 15th century his father Jagannatha Misra came to Nadea to complete his education and win academic laurels. Poverty and political conditions in the Sylhet district did not encourage his return to his village. So, after becoming a scholar of renown, he stayed on and married Sachi Devi, the daughter of Nilambara Chakravarty, a venerable scholar, who like himself had come to Sylhet and settled at Nadea.
Chaitanya was the ninth (according to some eighth) child of this Brahmin couple. He was born in the evening on the full moon day of Phalgun, when the moon just came out free from an eclipse. There was everywhere jubilation and from the very beginning there was a special charm about the child which was his title to be called Gouranga, ’he of the fair body’. Though Vishwambhar was the classical name given to the child, they named him Nimai since a humble name was thought fit to ward off evil influences so that the boy might not share the fate of his seven shortlived sisters before him. Some say that the baby got fever and was by advice kept under a Nim tree (margosa) for cure and hence he came to be so called.
Nimai, the child, was full of fun and mischief, possessed of vigour and energy that kept his mother busy. His boyhood was that of a real boy, buoyant with an exuberance of childish pranks. After a few years in the primary school he was admitted, when he was 8 years, into the Sanskrit Tol of a famous professor, Gangadas Pandit. His intelligence and intellectual keenness was easily above the average. And the super-abundant energy of the young lad often found went in the childish pranks flung on the old and the young, as well as on boys and girls. He would enter the temple in the evening, put out the lights and irritate the priests. He would then go to the Brahmin sitting with closed eyes on the banks of the Ganga, sprinkle water on his face, disappear as suddenly as he came. If he saw a Brahmin meditating with eyes shut and a holy text in his hand, the urchin would come from behind, snatch the book, fly away. Again if someone stood in knee-deep water in the Ganges, muttering his prayers, Nimai would plunge into the water, forcibly carry him by one of his legs. Nor were boys and girls spared.
These boyish excesses did not cease even when he grew to be a fine scholar. He kept a dog constantly with him and named him after his professor "Gangadas,’ and called him aloud much to the embarrassment of his namesake, the Pandit. Nevertheless, his nature, though wild in excessive energy, was transparent and pure and had some restraint. True, he had teased little girls when he was five years, but when he came of age avoided all contact with women, would not even glance at them. As a student, he was absorbed in his studies. "He always reads," says his biographer, "even when going to bathe or sleep or to dine, one would see a book in his hands. He writes commentaries on Grammar himself. What he reads he so thoroughly masters that no one can hold his own when arguing with him. He treats his opponent and establishes a logical proposition with great cleverness, and then, to the wonder of his fellow students, upsets it himself and establishes the quite opposite theory formerly held by his rival.” His special province was Grammar and Rhetoric as well as Logic for which Nadea had become famous. Proud of his learning, he was foremost in debate. Here is an instance showing him as he was when he was still in his teens. Murari Gupta, who afterwards became one of his biographers, was an old and venerable scholar and physician and his renown had reached its zenith when Nimai commenced his study of Sanskrit Grammar. He would often join issue with the great scholar and on one occasion at the close of a debate told him: "It would be far better if you would mind your herbs and plants to cure cough and indigestion and not trouble yourself with Sanskrit Grammar which is too difficult a subject to suit you." On another occasion, when the great apostle and saint Ishwara Puri was reading out a verse from his work to an eager listener, Nimai said to the saint point-blank, “Sir, the verb you use is not Atmanepadi” and pointed out many grammatical flaws. When he completed his education, the title of Vidya Sagara, ocean of learning, was conferred on him.
These boyish excesses did not cease even when he grew to be a fine scholar. He kept a dog constantly with him and named him after his professor "Gangadas,’ and called him aloud much to the embarrassment of his namesake, the Pandit. Nevertheless, his nature, though wild in excessive energy, was transparent and pure and had some restraint. True, he had teased little girls when he was five years, but when he came of age avoided all contact with women, would not even glance at them. As a student, he was absorbed in his studies. "He always reads," says his biographer, "even when going to bathe or sleep or to dine, one would see a book in his hands. He writes commentaries on Grammar himself. What he reads he so thoroughly masters that no one can hold his own when arguing with him. He treats his opponent and establishes a logical proposition with great cleverness, and then, to the wonder of his fellow students, upsets it himself and establishes the quite opposite theory formerly held by his rival.” His special province was Grammar and Rhetoric as well as Logic for which Nadea had become famous. Proud of his learning, he was foremost in debate. Here is an instance showing him as he was when he was still in his teens. Murari Gupta, who afterwards became one of his biographers, was an old and venerable scholar and physician and his renown had reached its zenith when Nimai commenced his study of Sanskrit Grammar. He would often join issue with the great scholar and on one occasion at the close of a debate told him: "It would be far better if you would mind your herbs and plants to cure cough and indigestion and not trouble yourself with Sanskrit Grammar which is too difficult a subject to suit you."
On another occasion, when the great apostle and saint Ishwara Puri was reading out a verse from his work to an eager listener, Nimai said to the saint point-blank, “Sir, the verb you use is not Atmanepadi” and pointed out many grammatical flaws.
When he completed his education, the title of Vidya Sagara, ocean of learning, was conferred on him.
Even before he had finished the course of his studies, his father died, leaving the only son as the hope and consolation of his mother: for, the eldest son, a boy of sixteen, had long ago renounced the world becoming a Sanyasin, just on the day fixed for his marriage. So, soon after the prosecution of his studies he founded a Tol of his own, receiving pupils in his own house, when he was just twenty years. Yet the liveliness and frivolities of his boyhood developed in the young man into a lighthearted, volatile temperament, mainly concerned with the things of the world. The spirit of the scholastic circles of Navadvip possessed him; pride of learning seemed his dominant trait. But humility—the quality which later so signally marked the ascetic Chaitanya, was not at all in evidence in the young scholar, Nimai Pandit. Nor was there evidence to show, at least outwardly, that he had interest in things which claimed his brother at so tender an age for the ascetic life. And this was so in spite of the fact that he was born and brought up in a pious Vaishnava family and had known no other than a religious atmosphere. His delight was in disputation, his reputation great as a formidable antagonist; his name adorned the dialectic lists against all comers. The people of Nadea delighted in Nimai Pandit. But they said: “God has given this handsome lad attractive looks and great scholarship, but what is the use of all these as he is irreligious ?” He wrote a commentary on Sanskrit grammar and named it ‘Vidyasagar after his own title. When later he was on tour in East Bengal, he found students reading it. He wrote a work on Logic, but is said to have destroyed the book to save the reputation of the rival who was a boyhood friend, thus revealing the deeper side of his nature inspired by self-sacrifice (that was hidden from people because of his sceptical boyish jests) despite his fondness for display and desire to defeat scholars in polemics.
Even before he had finished the course of his studies, his father died, leaving the only son as the hope and consolation of his mother: for, the eldest son, a boy of sixteen, had long ago renounced the world becoming a Sanyasin, just on the day fixed for his marriage. So, soon after the prosecution of his studies he founded a Tol of his own, receiving pupils in his own house, when he was just twenty years. Yet the liveliness and frivolities of his boyhood developed in the young man into a lighthearted, volatile temperament, mainly concerned with the things of the world. The spirit of the scholastic circles of Navadvip possessed him; pride of learning seemed his dominant trait. But humility—the quality which later so signally marked the ascetic Chaitanya, was not at all in evidence in the young scholar, Nimai Pandit. Nor was there evidence to show, at least outwardly, that he had interest in things which claimed his brother at so tender an age for the ascetic life. And this was so in spite of the fact that he was born and brought up in a pious Vaishnava family and had known no other than a religious atmosphere. His delight was in disputation, his reputation great as a formidable antagonist; his name adorned the dialectic lists against all comers.
The people of Nadea delighted in Nimai Pandit. But they said: “God has given this handsome lad attractive looks and great scholarship, but what is the use of all these as he is irreligious ?” He wrote a commentary on Sanskrit grammar and named it ‘Vidyasagar after his own title. When later he was on tour in East Bengal, he found students reading it. He wrote a work on Logic, but is said to have destroyed the book to save the reputation of the rival who was a boyhood friend, thus revealing the deeper side of his nature inspired by self-sacrifice (that was hidden from people because of his sceptical boyish jests) despite his fondness for display and desire to defeat scholars in polemics.
About this time an event happened which got him renown as the most prominent in all Nadea. Keshava Kashmiri, a great scholar, who had vanquished scholars of different schools of learning in Tibet, Delhi, Guzerat, Darbhanga, Kanchi, and the Telugu countries, came to Nadea and his superiority was acknowledged everywhere. Dressed like a prince, he came riding on an elephant with a large following. The grey-haired veterans of Nadea pointed out to the new-comer young Nimai Pandit whose notoriety for challenging everyone to a free debate got him the title to conduct it with Keshava Kashmiri. Courteously welcomed and questioned, the latter composed a verse on the spot which Nimai dissected and disposed of, showing rhetorical flaws in every line. The great scholar could not hold his own, and humiliated, he fled away. The scholars assembled on this occasion gave Nimai the title of Vadisimha ’Lion in Debate’. So respectfully was he thereafter looked upon that even millionaires who passed by him got down from their palanquins and paid him their respects before resuming their journey. Before founding his Tol, he had married Lakshmi, the beautiful daughter of Vallabhacharya of Nadea. As his earnings were considerable, he lived with his wife and mother a happy life, in moderate affluence. Like the Brahmin youths of well-off families, he ’wore the Krishnakeli cloth with fine black borders, had golden rings on his ears. His memoirs praise the beauty of his long curling hair scented with oil and washed with Amalaki. A golden locket tied to a string of the same metal hanged on his breast’ and he wore floral wreaths as was the custom of the age. This is the picture of Nimai Pandit immortalised by Nadea potters in their clay images of him. They would not recognise the monk that he afterwards became as that would imply his severance of connection with Nadea.
About this time an event happened which got him renown as the most prominent in all Nadea. Keshava Kashmiri, a great scholar, who had vanquished scholars of different schools of learning in Tibet, Delhi, Guzerat, Darbhanga, Kanchi, and the Telugu countries, came to Nadea and his superiority was acknowledged everywhere. Dressed like a prince, he came riding on an elephant with a large following. The grey-haired veterans of Nadea pointed out to the new-comer young Nimai Pandit whose notoriety for challenging everyone to a free debate got him the title to conduct it with Keshava Kashmiri. Courteously welcomed and questioned, the latter composed a verse on the spot which Nimai dissected and disposed of, showing rhetorical flaws in every line. The great scholar could not hold his own, and humiliated, he fled away. The scholars assembled on this occasion gave Nimai the title of Vadisimha ’Lion in Debate’.
So respectfully was he thereafter looked upon that even millionaires who passed by him got down from their palanquins and paid him their respects before resuming their journey.
Before founding his Tol, he had married Lakshmi, the beautiful daughter of Vallabhacharya of Nadea. As his earnings were considerable, he lived with his wife and mother a happy life, in moderate affluence. Like the Brahmin youths of well-off families, he ’wore the Krishnakeli cloth with fine black borders, had golden rings on his ears. His memoirs praise the beauty of his long curling hair scented with oil and washed with Amalaki. A golden locket tied to a string of the same metal hanged on his breast’ and he wore floral wreaths as was the custom of the age. This is the picture of Nimai Pandit immortalised by Nadea potters in their clay images of him. They would not recognise the monk that he afterwards became as that would imply his severance of connection with Nadea.
He next undertook an extensive scholastic tour in Eastern Bengal, holding disputations and teaching from town to town. He went as far as Dhakadakshin where his uncles and grandfather were still living. During his absence on the tour, his beloved wife died of snake bite on a toe of her right foot. Before her death the sacred thread of Nimai was put on her breast at her wish; herself a good painter she had drawn a picture of her husband on a canvas framed with wood, and with her eyes fixed on it she breathed her last. Nimai returned in a jovial spirit with considerable money which he had received as honorarium. When he found his mother weeping and learnt the sad news, he showed remarkable calmness and advised his mother not to regret what was irretrievable. But from that moment no one saw him indulging in his wonted frivolities. He now sought his mother’s permission to visit Gaya —to offer Pinda to the spirit of his father according to the convention of pious Hindu families. Sachi Devi got him married again—to Vishnupriya, the beautiful daughter of a Nadea Pandit, and then granted him permission. Soon after this marriage, he joined a few pious pilgrims bound for Gaya. On the way he did not speak much. A change was fast coming upon him though he was only 22 years (1508 A.D.) The prolific speaker had now become a quiet boy which was very striking to his companions. Entering Gaya, he saw Ishwara Puri, the great apostle of Vaishnavism whom he had criticised and even looked upon with scoffing spirit at Nadea. He longed for a sight of him now. In trembling emotion he said: “My visit to Gaya is a great success. I have seen you, Master, you are the holiest of shrines. If offering pindas to the spirit of my forefathers would save their souls, a mere sight of you would do so a hundred times more." The haughty youth of Nadea no longer existed. He heard the priests and devotees singing the praise of Hari and was overpowered with emotion. He saw, as it were, the whole world bending low before the Lotus-feet of Vishnu from which flowed the Ganga to save humanity from sin. He wept and fell senseless. On recovering he cried: “O Krishna, my father, where art Thou? I thought I had found Thee, but Thou art not now with me.” He cried aloud, recited some moving verses, and asked his fellow-pilgrims to return home saying: “Think of me as one lost. I have no other home than the Brinda-groves."
He next undertook an extensive scholastic tour in Eastern Bengal, holding disputations and teaching from town to town. He went as far as Dhakadakshin where his uncles and grandfather were still living. During his absence on the tour, his beloved wife died of snake bite on a toe of her right foot. Before her death the sacred thread of Nimai was put on her breast at her wish; herself a good painter she had drawn a picture of her husband on a canvas framed with wood, and with her eyes fixed on it she breathed her last. Nimai returned in a jovial spirit with considerable money which he had received as honorarium. When he found his mother weeping and learnt the sad news, he showed remarkable calmness and advised his mother not to regret what was irretrievable. But from that moment no one saw him indulging in his wonted frivolities. He now sought his mother’s permission to visit Gaya —to offer Pinda to the spirit of his father according to the convention of pious Hindu families. Sachi Devi got him married again—to Vishnupriya, the beautiful daughter of a Nadea Pandit, and then granted him permission. Soon after this marriage, he joined a few pious pilgrims bound for Gaya. On the way he did not speak much. A change was fast coming upon him though he was only 22 years (1508 A.D.) The prolific speaker had now become a quiet boy which was very striking to his companions. Entering Gaya, he saw Ishwara Puri, the great apostle of Vaishnavism whom he had criticised and even looked upon with scoffing spirit at Nadea. He longed for a sight of him now. In trembling emotion he said: “My visit to Gaya is a great success. I have seen you, Master, you are the holiest of shrines. If offering pindas to the spirit of my forefathers would save their souls, a mere sight of you would do so a hundred times more."
The haughty youth of Nadea no longer existed. He heard the priests and devotees singing the praise of Hari and was overpowered with emotion. He saw, as it were, the whole world bending low before the Lotus-feet of Vishnu from which flowed the Ganga to save humanity from sin. He wept and fell senseless. On recovering he cried: “O Krishna, my father, where art Thou? I thought I had found Thee, but Thou art not now with me.” He cried aloud, recited some moving verses, and asked his fellow-pilgrims to return home saying: “Think of me as one lost. I have no other home than the Brinda-groves."
On his way back he halted at the native village of Ishwara Puri. Nimai partook of the food prepared by the saint, wept and said that he was blessed. Before leaving, he took a handful of dust from the ground and tied it on the edge of his dhoti. "This dust is sacred," he said, “because Ishwara Puri was born here. This dust is dear to me as all my wealth, as my life itself.” He again wept and fainted. Nadea sent her proudest and haughtiest young scholar as a pilgrim to Gaya; he returned a mad man, his handsome figure was besmeared with dust, his eyes stared in a strange manner shedding incessant tears. To the dismay of his mother and others, the physicians confirmed that they were all symptoms of lunacy. Repeatedly questioned, he said to a friend or two; “Hear my friends, I have seen a sight at Gaya—the most wonderful thing that human eyes ever beheld. Stop, I shall tell you what I saw.” So saying, he quivered and fell into a swoon. Recovering his senses, he cried, "O Krishna, where art Thou?"
At this time, there were a few Vaishnava devotees at Nadea. They were headed by Advaita and formed into a Kirtan (singing in chorus) party, meeting often in the courtyard of Srivas, another ardent soul. Though Vishnu Bhakti was known in Bengal even in the 11th and 12th centuries and received a certain impetus through the Gita Govinda of Jayadev and later through the songs of Vidyapati and Chandidas, as a cult it was still in a fluid or nebulous condition. The real founder of the cult was the notable saint and apostle Madhavendra Puri, a worthy follower of the teacher of the Dvaita school, the famous Madhvacharya of South India. Ishwara Puri, Nimai’s Guru, Advaita, the head of the Vaishnava group of devotees at Nadea, Keshava Bharati from whom Nimai later received formal Sannyasa and the name Sri Krishna Chaitanya, Nityananda, who afterwards became the evangelist of Chaitanya-cult, were all direct disciples of Madhavendra Puri and therefore followers of Madhvacharya. Naturally the best atmosphere for Nimai was the company of this small group of devotees. Srivas, in whom Sachi Devi had great confidence, was consulted about the so-called lunacy of Nimai. He saw the latter privately and after a long time came out to say: "Nimai is a second Sukhadev or Prahlad. He has seen the Unseen, he cannot for a moment forget what he has seen. It is a bliss to behold his great love!” The mother was a little satisfied, though she had the fear that the boy might become an ascetic.
At this time, there were a few Vaishnava devotees at Nadea. They were headed by Advaita and formed into a Kirtan (singing in chorus) party, meeting often in the courtyard of Srivas, another ardent soul. Though Vishnu Bhakti was known in Bengal even in the 11th and 12th centuries and received a certain impetus through the Gita Govinda of Jayadev and later through the songs of Vidyapati and Chandidas, as a cult it was still in a fluid or nebulous condition. The real founder of the cult was the notable saint and apostle Madhavendra Puri, a worthy follower of the teacher of the Dvaita school, the famous Madhvacharya of South India. Ishwara Puri, Nimai’s Guru, Advaita, the head of the Vaishnava group of devotees at Nadea, Keshava Bharati from whom Nimai later received formal Sannyasa and the name Sri Krishna Chaitanya, Nityananda, who afterwards became the evangelist of Chaitanya-cult, were all direct disciples of Madhavendra Puri and therefore followers of Madhvacharya.
Naturally the best atmosphere for Nimai was the company of this small group of devotees. Srivas, in whom Sachi Devi had great confidence, was consulted about the so-called lunacy of Nimai. He saw the latter privately and after a long time came out to say: "Nimai is a second Sukhadev or Prahlad. He has seen the Unseen, he cannot for a moment forget what he has seen. It is a bliss to behold his great love!” The mother was a little satisfied, though she had the fear that the boy might become an ascetic.
As Nimai Pandit could not hereafter continue his duties properly, he closed the Tol and joined the devotees who welcomed him with hope and joy. Soon he became the soul of the group. His magnetic presence, personal charm, real Divine love, his own invention of a new method and improvement of the tune (Manoharshai) for singing the glorious names of Hari in the Sankirtan party, his humility and service to others—all these wrought a great transformation in the coterie of devotees. Daily they met and conducted the Kirtan in the courtyard of Srivas, which is shown to the pilgrims even to this day, though the exact spot was long ago washed away by the Ganges. Day by day new devotees were joining the group and the number was swelling. These Vaishnavas gradually became a power which drew the wrath of the scholars who made many attempts to suppress the movement. The hostility of the scholars went so far as to approach the Kazi to stop the nuisance caused by the noise of the Kirtan party throughout nights. In answer to this, Nimai arranged for nagarkirtan, a procession of kirtan party through the streets, in spite of the prohibitory order of the Moslem Magistrate. It was on that memorable night that the whole city, despite the opposition of the scholars, openly admired and was moved to tears of joy and love of their beloved Nimai; and as the procession passed by the gate of the Kazi, the sight of Nimai filled his mind with admiring love as it happened in hundreds of cases. ’Happy am I to see you today, so devoted to Allah,’ said the Kazi. Nimai often did menial service to others; he washed the clothes of bathers in the Ganges, carried a part of the load to help others. When he was prevented from doing such menial services, he said: “Forbear, my friends, these little services make my vision of Krishna clearer.” It was at this time that Nityananda, the Madhva devotee, after travelling all over India came to Nadea and found his Sri Krishna in Nimai. Haridas, originally a Muhammadan, also belonged to this sect of Vaishnavas! Once, while singing and preaching in the streets Nityananda was set upon by two young aristocrats, Jagai and Madhai who were ruffians and profligates. Nityananda received a wound in his face, blood was flowing down upon his clothes; but he still urged the drunken men to sing the name of Hari, Haribole, when Nimai came and gently reproving them asked why they had not attacked him instead of his beloved friend. The youthful ruffians were deeply touched with the absence of anger and the loving spirit of the two Vaishnava leaders; overcome by remorse, they became devout followers of the new faith. But as the opposition of the scholars did not abate, Nimai decided to assume Sannyasa, for he said “then, considering me a Sanyasi, they (the fellow-pandits whose conversion to the devotional faith he had at heart) will bow down to me, and in bowing, their guilt will be removed and I shall rouse faith in their purified hearts. Then will these godless men be saved.” But obviously, there must have been a deeper, more spiritual reason.
As Nimai Pandit could not hereafter continue his duties properly, he closed the Tol and joined the devotees who welcomed him with hope and joy. Soon he became the soul of the group. His magnetic presence, personal charm, real Divine love, his own invention of a new method and improvement of the tune (Manoharshai) for singing the glorious names of Hari in the Sankirtan party, his humility and service to others—all these wrought a great transformation in the coterie of devotees. Daily they met and conducted the Kirtan in the courtyard of Srivas, which is shown to the pilgrims even to this day, though the exact spot was long ago washed away by the Ganges. Day by day new devotees were joining the group and the number was swelling. These Vaishnavas gradually became a power which drew the wrath of the scholars who made many attempts to suppress the movement. The hostility of the scholars went so far as to approach the Kazi to stop the nuisance caused by the noise of the Kirtan party throughout nights. In answer to this, Nimai arranged for nagarkirtan, a procession of kirtan party through the streets, in spite of the prohibitory order of the Moslem Magistrate. It was on that memorable night that the whole city, despite the opposition of the scholars, openly admired and was moved to tears of joy and love of their beloved Nimai; and as the procession passed by the gate of the Kazi, the sight of Nimai filled his mind with admiring love as it happened in hundreds of cases. ’Happy am I to see you today, so devoted to Allah,’ said the Kazi.
Nimai often did menial service to others; he washed the clothes of bathers in the Ganges, carried a part of the load to help others. When he was prevented from doing such menial services, he said: “Forbear, my friends, these little services make my vision of Krishna clearer.” It was at this time that Nityananda, the Madhva devotee, after travelling all over India came to Nadea and found his Sri Krishna in Nimai. Haridas, originally a Muhammadan, also belonged to this sect of Vaishnavas! Once, while singing and preaching in the streets Nityananda was set upon by two young aristocrats, Jagai and Madhai who were ruffians and profligates. Nityananda received a wound in his face, blood was flowing down upon his clothes; but he still urged the drunken men to sing the name of Hari, Haribole, when Nimai came and gently reproving them asked why they had not attacked him instead of his beloved friend. The youthful ruffians were deeply touched with the absence of anger and the loving spirit of the two Vaishnava leaders; overcome by remorse, they became devout followers of the new faith. But as the opposition of the scholars did not abate, Nimai decided to assume Sannyasa, for he said “then, considering me a Sanyasi, they (the fellow-pandits whose conversion to the devotional faith he had at heart) will bow down to me, and in bowing, their guilt will be removed and I shall rouse faith in their purified hearts. Then will these godless men be saved.” But obviously, there must have been a deeper, more spiritual reason.
With great difficulty, he convinced his mother of the necessity of this final step and sought her permission. It was in 1510 A.D. when he was 24 years of age that he secretly came to Katwa and received the formal initiation and the name Krishna Chaitanya from Keshava Bharati. His intention was to retire to Brindavan, but by some trick of his friends, he came to Shantipur where some of his companions and his mother came and pleaded for his return to Nadea. As a result, Chaitanya gave his word to Sachi Devi that he would stay at Puri and that she could be hearing news of him often. He forbade Nityananda to accompany him and allotted him the task of propagating the new faith and organising the sect on a wide basis and catholic principles. When he went to Puri, at the sight of the tower of Jagannath temple, he was choked up with emotion developing into devotional swoons. Here the great Vedantin, Vasudeva Sarvabhauma who had little regard for Bhakti cult learned that the young Sanyasin came from Nadea, pitied him for his misguided life and took him to his house. He gave discourses of Advaita for many days, while Chaitanya kept silent without a word. “Tell me what you have learnt from my discourse,” asked the Pandit. Chaitanya said: “Sir, your learning is vast, but your views do not appeal to me." The veteran scholar wonderingly asked: "What are your views, child, that do not agree with mine?” Then the discussion began. If Vasudeva interpreted a famous verse in Bhagavat Purana in nine different ways, Chaitanya gave eighteen interpretations. The great scholar who for sometime had admired Chaitanya for his brilliance was now surprised to find in him sparks of Divinity and bowed to him as his spiritual guide. This was a signal success for Chaitanya and the Bhakti cult. For, the news of Vasudev’s conversion spread like wild fire. Raja Pratap Rudra and the people of Puri paid homage to the young monk.
With great difficulty, he convinced his mother of the necessity of this final step and sought her permission. It was in 1510 A.D. when he was 24 years of age that he secretly came to Katwa and received the formal initiation and the name Krishna Chaitanya from Keshava Bharati. His intention was to retire to Brindavan, but by some trick of his friends, he came to Shantipur where some of his companions and his mother came and pleaded for his return to Nadea. As a result, Chaitanya gave his word to Sachi Devi that he would stay at Puri and that she could be hearing news of him often. He forbade Nityananda to accompany him and allotted him the task of propagating the new faith and organising the sect on a wide basis and catholic principles.
When he went to Puri, at the sight of the tower of Jagannath temple, he was choked up with emotion developing into devotional swoons. Here the great Vedantin, Vasudeva Sarvabhauma who had little regard for Bhakti cult learned that the young Sanyasin came from Nadea, pitied him for his misguided life and took him to his house. He gave discourses of Advaita for many days, while Chaitanya kept silent without a word. “Tell me what you have learnt from my discourse,” asked the Pandit. Chaitanya said: “Sir, your learning is vast, but your views do not appeal to me." The veteran scholar wonderingly asked: "What are your views, child, that do not agree with mine?” Then the discussion began. If Vasudeva interpreted a famous verse in Bhagavat Purana in nine different ways, Chaitanya gave eighteen interpretations. The great scholar who for sometime had admired Chaitanya for his brilliance was now surprised to find in him sparks of Divinity and bowed to him as his spiritual guide. This was a signal success for Chaitanya and the Bhakti cult. For, the news of Vasudev’s conversion spread like wild fire. Raja Pratap Rudra and the people of Puri paid homage to the young monk.
Chaitanya next went on a tour in the South, visiting all the famous shrines as far as Rameshwaram. At Srirangam he stayed four months. Through Travancore and Malabar he made his way up the west coast, visited Sringeri Math founded by Shankaracharya. Through the Canarese country he came to Udipi, famous as the home of Madhvacharya. He proceeded to Kolhapur, thence to Pandharpur, went northwards beyond Bombay as far as the Narmada river; then turned and struck directly across Central India following the Godavari, came to Rajahmundry where he renewed his converse with the governor, Ramanand Roy, a pious man with whom he had first come in contact on his way to the South. Finally he returned to Puri amid general rejoicing of his disciples after nearly two years of wande Of the two Vaishnava works which he found in his travels and highly valued and got copied, one was the very popular Krishnakarnamrita of Lilasuka Bilvamangal which he obtained at Pandharpur. He had once before set out for pilgrimage to Brindavan but had to return after travelling a short distance. This time he succeeded in reaching Brindavan. His biographies recount his experiences on the way and his encounters with notable scholars which would fill a volume. But one notable convert to the Chaitanya cult we must note. Prakashananda Saraswati, the leading Vedantic scholar of Benares, had for long scoffed at Chaitanya. He had even said: “I have heard of a Sanyasi in the country of Gaur (Bengal), a sentimentalist, Chaitanya is his name-a deceiver, a magician. His bewitching art is such that all are charmed at sight of him. The great scholar Vasudeva Sarvabhauma has gone mad after him, I hear! His sentimentality will not sell at Kashi. Listen to the Vedanta, don’t go to him.” That self-same man now surrendered to the sentimentality when Chaitanya was returning from Brindavan! He was a recruit worthy to rank with Saryabhauma.
Chaitanya next went on a tour in the South, visiting all the famous shrines as far as Rameshwaram. At Srirangam he stayed four months. Through Travancore and Malabar he made his way up the west coast, visited Sringeri Math founded by Shankaracharya. Through the Canarese country he came to Udipi, famous as the home of Madhvacharya. He proceeded to Kolhapur, thence to Pandharpur, went northwards beyond Bombay as far as the Narmada river; then turned and struck directly across Central India following the Godavari, came to Rajahmundry where he renewed his converse with the governor, Ramanand Roy, a pious man with whom he had first come in contact on his way to the South. Finally he returned to Puri amid general rejoicing of his disciples after nearly two years of wande Of the two Vaishnava works which he found in his travels and highly valued and got copied, one was the very popular Krishnakarnamrita of Lilasuka Bilvamangal which he obtained at Pandharpur.
He had once before set out for pilgrimage to Brindavan but had to return after travelling a short distance. This time he succeeded in reaching Brindavan. His biographies recount his experiences on the way and his encounters with notable scholars which would fill a volume. But one notable convert to the Chaitanya cult we must note. Prakashananda Saraswati, the leading Vedantic scholar of Benares, had for long scoffed at Chaitanya. He had even said: “I have heard of a Sanyasi in the country of Gaur (Bengal), a sentimentalist, Chaitanya is his name-a deceiver, a magician. His bewitching art is such that all are charmed at sight of him. The great scholar Vasudeva Sarvabhauma has gone mad after him, I hear! His sentimentality will not sell at Kashi. Listen to the Vedanta, don’t go to him.” That self-same man now surrendered to the sentimentality when Chaitanya was returning from Brindavan! He was a recruit worthy to rank with Saryabhauma.
Having once visited the sacred sites, he settled himself at Puri for the rest of his life leaving his disciples to do the work he had in view. The resuscitation of Brindavan was entrusted to Rupa and Sanatana, two Brahmins who had adopted the Muhammadan faith and life as state officials under Hussain Shah ’the best and famous ruler of Bengal and later sought the refuge of Chaitanya to wash off their sins. To these two goswamis (followed later by a few ardent devotees from Bengal) is due the flourishing pilgrim centre of modern Brindavan with its 1000 and more temples and 32 ghats. It soon became the centre of Radhakrishna cult and the abode of the teachers of theology of the Chaitanya faith. Incidents in Chaitanya’s last 18 years of life at Puri have not been sufficiently recorded in his biographies. They have yet to be discovered in the Oriya manuscripts and when available in the State papers of the Raja Pratap Rudra, his humble devotee. Every year he received a contingent of devotees from Bengal who stayed there for a few months and received something of the Divine Love of Radha and Krishna in their mutual relation, to illustrate which in earthly life Sri Krishna the Vaishnava scriptures say, incarnated as Sri Krishna Chaitanya. He did little teach or preach or write, but by a contagion of Divine Love brought about a true conversion of the hearts of those ready, with whom he came in contact. His Bhakti is conceived of as an experience of Divine Love in an ascending scale, of the last stage of which, “the supreme-emotion,” Radha is the embodiment. Indeed, nobody who saw him in this Love-absorbed condition mistook him for an ordinary ascetic. No human organism could stand the strain put upon it by Chaitanya’s experiences of spontaneous Godward emotions leading up to ecstatic trances. His life adorned the earth for 47 years, and Vaishnava tradition has it that he disappeared in the image of Jagannath at Puri in 1533 A.D. Vaishnavism in Bengal received a distinct stamp from the life of Lord Gouranga which embodied and manifested the Radha spirit, the living symbol of mystic love at its highest, discovered in the moved delights of a divine efflorescence and fulfilled in possessing and being possessed by the Divine the all blissful Sri Krishna. If, according to later Vaishnava tradition, it is impossible for any one to be blessed with a vision of Sri Krishna without first obtaining the grace of Sri Radha, it is because in the Brindavan episode Radha’s love for Krishna had no parallel even among the marvellously selfless gopis of the Brinda groves. In the recent example of Sri Ramakrishna, we find his unexampled many-sided experience including in it this Chaitanya experience, this Vaishnava realisation of Radha-Krishna union, the spiritual fact of Love lost in the Supreme Bliss. Referring to this side of this Sadhana, Ramakrishna says: “the manifestation, in the same individual, of nineteen different kinds of emotion for God is designated in the books on Bhakti as Maha Bhava. An ordinary man takes a whole lifetime to express even a single one of these. But in this body (meaning himself) there has been a perfect manifestation of all nineteen." And this is no wonder to a close student of Paramahamsa’s life; for, in his own lifetime, there was the belief among his disciples, confirmed by himself, that he was Sri Chaitanya in a previous incarnation. In our own days we get a sublime conception of Radha from the writings of Sri Aurobindo. "Radha” he says, "is the personification of the absolute love for the Divine, total and integral in all parts of the being from the highest spiritual to the physical, bringing the absolute self-giving and total consecration of all the being and calling down into the body and the most material nature the supreme Ananda." The influence of Chaitanya’s Bhakti on society in Bengal may be summed up in the beautiful words of Vivekananda. “His Bhakti”, says the great Vedantin, "ruled over the whole land of Bengal, bringing solace to everyone. His love knew no bounds. The saint or the sinner, the Hindu or the Muhammadan, the pure or the impure, the prostitute, the street-walker-all had a share in his love, all had a share in his mercy, and even to the present day, although greatly degenerated, as everything does become in time, his seat is the refuge of the poor, of the downtrodden, of the outcast, of the weak, of those who have been rejected by society." Indeed the wonderful liberalism of the Seat was the inevitable result of Chaitanya’s central realisation of Divine love that found vent in the godly element of real humility and spirit of service; and his life presents a striking illustration of the truth of the poet’s lines: Thou who pervadest all the worlds below, Yet sitst above, Master of all who work and rule and know, Servant of Love! Thou who disdainest not the worm to be Nor even the clod, Therefore we know by that humility That thou art God.106
Having once visited the sacred sites, he settled himself at Puri for the rest of his life leaving his disciples to do the work he had in view. The resuscitation of Brindavan was entrusted to Rupa and Sanatana, two Brahmins who had adopted the Muhammadan faith and life as state officials under Hussain Shah ’the best and famous ruler of Bengal and later sought the refuge of Chaitanya to wash off their sins. To these two goswamis (followed later by a few ardent devotees from Bengal) is due the flourishing pilgrim centre of modern Brindavan with its 1000 and more temples and 32 ghats. It soon became the centre of Radhakrishna cult and the abode of the teachers of theology of the Chaitanya faith.
Incidents in Chaitanya’s last 18 years of life at Puri have not been sufficiently recorded in his biographies. They have yet to be discovered in the Oriya manuscripts and when available in the State papers of the Raja Pratap Rudra, his humble devotee. Every year he received a contingent of devotees from Bengal who stayed there for a few months and received something of the Divine Love of Radha and Krishna in their mutual relation, to illustrate which in earthly life Sri Krishna the Vaishnava scriptures say, incarnated as Sri Krishna Chaitanya. He did little teach or preach or write, but by a contagion of Divine Love brought about a true conversion of the hearts of those ready, with whom he came in contact. His Bhakti is conceived of as an experience of Divine Love in an ascending scale, of the last stage of which, “the supreme-emotion,” Radha is the embodiment. Indeed, nobody who saw him in this Love-absorbed condition mistook him for an ordinary ascetic. No human organism could stand the strain put upon it by Chaitanya’s experiences of spontaneous Godward emotions leading up to ecstatic trances. His life adorned the earth for 47 years, and Vaishnava tradition has it that he disappeared in the image of Jagannath at Puri in 1533 A.D.
Vaishnavism in Bengal received a distinct stamp from the life of Lord Gouranga which embodied and manifested the Radha spirit, the living symbol of mystic love at its highest, discovered in the moved delights of a divine efflorescence and fulfilled in possessing and being possessed by the Divine the all blissful Sri Krishna. If, according to later Vaishnava tradition, it is impossible for any one to be blessed with a vision of Sri Krishna without first obtaining the grace of Sri Radha, it is because in the Brindavan episode Radha’s love for Krishna had no parallel even among the marvellously selfless gopis of the Brinda groves. In the recent example of Sri Ramakrishna, we find his unexampled many-sided experience including in it this Chaitanya experience, this Vaishnava realisation of Radha-Krishna union, the spiritual fact of Love lost in the Supreme Bliss. Referring to this side of this Sadhana, Ramakrishna says: “the manifestation, in the same individual, of nineteen different kinds of emotion for God is designated in the books on Bhakti as Maha Bhava. An ordinary man takes a whole lifetime to express even a single one of these. But in this body (meaning himself) there has been a perfect manifestation of all nineteen." And this is no wonder to a close student of Paramahamsa’s life; for, in his own lifetime, there was the belief among his disciples, confirmed by himself, that he was Sri Chaitanya in a previous incarnation. In our own days we get a sublime conception of Radha from the writings of Sri Aurobindo. "Radha” he says, "is the personification of the absolute love for the Divine, total and integral in all parts of the being from the highest spiritual to the physical, bringing the absolute self-giving and total consecration of all the being and calling down into the body and the most material nature the supreme Ananda."
The influence of Chaitanya’s Bhakti on society in Bengal may be summed up in the beautiful words of Vivekananda. “His Bhakti”, says the great Vedantin, "ruled over the whole land of Bengal, bringing solace to everyone. His love knew no bounds. The saint or the sinner, the Hindu or the Muhammadan, the pure or the impure, the prostitute, the street-walker-all had a share in his love, all had a share in his mercy, and even to the present day, although greatly degenerated, as everything does become in time, his seat is the refuge of the poor, of the downtrodden, of the outcast, of the weak, of those who have been rejected by society."
Indeed the wonderful liberalism of the Seat was the inevitable result of Chaitanya’s central realisation of Divine love that found vent in the godly element of real humility and spirit of service; and his life presents a striking illustration of the truth of the poet’s lines:
Thou who pervadest all the worlds below, Yet sitst above, Master of all who work and rule and know, Servant of Love! Thou who disdainest not the worm to be Nor even the clod, Therefore we know by that humility That thou art God.106
On the borders of the modern districts of Montgomery and Gujranwala and at a distance of about fifteen leagues south-west of Lahore, stands the little old town of Talwandi, the birth place of Baba Nanak. A Hindu king is said to have originally built it, but the Mussalman invaders of those mediaeval times subjected it to pillage and plunder, and it remained in ruins until it was rebuilt by a Mussalman chief, Rai Bular, concerning whom a few words are necessary here, since they throw light on the social and political conditions in the country at the time when Nanak was born and brought up, and carried his mission to the world and founded the sect of ’Sikhs’ (Sishyas disciples) who were destined to become Singhs (Sinhas, lions) in the course of the next century and a half.
When Taimur left India, after spreading anarchy and devastation over a considerable part of Northern India, there came to rule in Delhi a dynasty of Sayyids, the last of whom, Alal-ul-din, dissatisfied with the smallness of his domain, repaired to distant Badaon to pass the rest of his days in peace, and left Delhi and the empire’s fortunes to Bahlol Khan Lodi whose ancestors had made immense fortunes by trade. On the accession of Bahlol Khan to the throne (1450-1488), his kinsman, Daulat Khan, became the Governor of the Punjab with Sultanpur as his capital; but the province seems to have been distributed among many Mussalman chiefs who functioned as the retainers of the sovereigns at Delhi. One of them was Rai Bhoi, the Proprietor or Zemindar of Talwandi and, on his death, his estate was inherited by his son, Rai Bular who, like his father was a converted Hindu, a Mussalman-Rajput and he rebuilt the town perhaps out of sympathy for the suffering people to whose religion until lately he himself belonged. He was perhaps one of those recruits to Islam that had been secured through "a hasty circumcision and an enforced utterance of Arabic words”, whose meaning was beyond his comprehension, but whose chief value lay in the secular advantages of conversion or in the boon of preservation of life itself. Rai Bular lived with his family in a fort built on the summit of a mound, while the villagers lived in the plain. Talwandi was, as it is even now, surrounded by a wide expanse strewn with gardens of bowers and trees and thickets wearing a cheerful appearance throughout the seasons of the year, except when the winds of the sandy desert are furious—thus making it a fine retreat, free from the excitements of the outer political world, for those who desired to pass their time in meditation.
Here Nanak was born in 1469 A.D. His father, Kalu, was the village accountant, a Khatri by caste, with a modest means of livelihood. Tripta, his wife, bore him a son and a daughter, Nanak and Nanaki. The astrologer, when informed of the birth of Kalu’s son, is said to have adored the child with folded hands, and predicted that Nanak would wear on his person the symbols of dignity appropriate for princes and prophets. When Nanak was five years, say the Sikh chroniclers, he had great attraction for spiritual matters, and manifested a rare capacity to understand and discourse upon divine subjects. Rai Bular, the Zemindar himself, had a mysterious attraction for the young boy and in later years when the Guru’s name spread far and wide he, in loving remembrance of Nanak’s childhood, had a tank constructed on the spot where the child used to play and it was later enlarged by a high official, a Mussalman admirer of the Guru. The tank is called Balakrida or the child’s play-ground. Every spot associated with Nanak’s younger days has become sacred, and Talwandi is itself now known as Nankana Sahib. At the age of seven he was admitted to the school. The master, as usual, wrote the alphabets of the language for the boy, and was astounded the next day when Nanak not merely copied the letters from memory, but took them successively for metrical expression of his Godward ideas and aspirations. Thus he composed 35 stanzas for the 35 letters and each of them began with a word whose initial letter was in the alphabetical order. Here is the first stanza: “The one Lord who created the world is the Lord of all; Fortunate is their advent into the world, whose hearts remain attached to God’s service; O foolish man, why hast thou forgotten Him? When thou last adjusted thine account, my friend, thou shalt be deemed educated." And the closing verse of this acrostic is : “What God who made the world hath to do, He continueth to do; He acteth and causeth others to act; He knoweth everything; thus sayeth the poet Nanak."
Here Nanak was born in 1469 A.D. His father, Kalu, was the village accountant, a Khatri by caste, with a modest means of livelihood. Tripta, his wife, bore him a son and a daughter, Nanak and Nanaki. The astrologer, when informed of the birth of Kalu’s son, is said to have adored the child with folded hands, and predicted that Nanak would wear on his person the symbols of dignity appropriate for princes and prophets. When Nanak was five years, say the Sikh chroniclers, he had great attraction for spiritual matters, and manifested a rare capacity to understand and discourse upon divine subjects. Rai Bular, the Zemindar himself, had a mysterious attraction for the young boy and in later years when the Guru’s name spread far and wide he, in loving remembrance of Nanak’s childhood, had a tank constructed on the spot where the child used to play and it was later enlarged by a high official, a Mussalman admirer of the Guru. The tank is called Balakrida or the child’s play-ground. Every spot associated with Nanak’s younger days has become sacred, and Talwandi is itself now known as Nankana Sahib.
At the age of seven he was admitted to the school. The master, as usual, wrote the alphabets of the language for the boy, and was astounded the next day when Nanak not merely copied the letters from memory, but took them successively for metrical expression of his Godward ideas and aspirations. Thus he composed 35 stanzas for the 35 letters and each of them began with a word whose initial letter was in the alphabetical order. Here is the first stanza:
“The one Lord who created the world is the Lord of all;
Fortunate is their advent into the world, whose hearts remain attached to God’s service;
O foolish man, why hast thou forgotten Him?
When thou last adjusted thine account, my friend, thou shalt be deemed educated."
And the closing verse of this acrostic is :
“What God who made the world hath to do, He continueth to do;
He acteth and causeth others to act; He knoweth everything; thus sayeth the poet Nanak."
Nanak attended the school until one day he was observed to remain silent without applying himself to his studies. When the teacher asked him to explain himself the boy challenged his very competency to teach him. "Sir, to all your learning, the Vedas and Shastras,” Nanak said, "I prefer Divine knowledge" and composed the hymn that begins with "Burn wordly love.” The schoolmaster was spellbound and paid homage to the saintly youngster. On leaving the school, Nanak devoted himself to private study and meditation. He frequently retired into the forest, freely moved in the company of yogis and spiritual thinkers and devotees and thus got the cream of religious culture, the fruit of higher learning which he could not have obtained from the humble village school had he remained there longer. From now, the name of the formless Creator became the object of his worship and meditation, and the Sat Nam or True Name is indeed a special feature of his creed. “The body which is not filled with the True Name is of no account,” says Nanak. All this education did not, however, satisfy Kalu who felt that it could not advance his worldly position, and so got Nanak to study Persian, the language of the Rulers. But soon the Persian, like the Hindu teacher before him, was astonished at his marvellous compositions—the acrostic on the letters of the Persian alphabet. Nanak easily became a fair Persian scholar. But Kalu was not yet satisfied. He even feared that his son was becoming insane and so asked him to herd the buffaloes in the forest. One day he fell asleep and a neighbour’s field was trespassed by the cattle in his charge. When the owner complained, Nanak said that God would bless the field. The aggrieved owner took the matter before Rai Bular who called for Kalu to settle the quarrel. But on Nanak stating that the field was really blessed by God and that no injury befell the field, the Zemindar sent his own messengers to inspect the field and to their astonishment they saw not a single blade eaten or trampled upon and conveyed this report! The field which was the scene of this miracle is now known as Kiara Sahib.
Nanak attended the school until one day he was observed to remain silent without applying himself to his studies. When the teacher asked him to explain himself the boy challenged his very competency to teach him. "Sir, to all your learning, the Vedas and Shastras,” Nanak said, "I prefer Divine knowledge" and composed the hymn that begins with "Burn wordly love.” The schoolmaster was spellbound and paid homage to the saintly youngster.
On leaving the school, Nanak devoted himself to private study and meditation. He frequently retired into the forest, freely moved in the company of yogis and spiritual thinkers and devotees and thus got the cream of religious culture, the fruit of higher learning which he could not have obtained from the humble village school had he remained there longer.
From now, the name of the formless Creator became the object of his worship and meditation, and the Sat Nam or True Name is indeed a special feature of his creed. “The body which is not filled with the True Name is of no account,” says Nanak.
All this education did not, however, satisfy Kalu who felt that it could not advance his worldly position, and so got Nanak to study Persian, the language of the Rulers. But soon the Persian, like the Hindu teacher before him, was astonished at his marvellous compositions—the acrostic on the letters of the Persian alphabet. Nanak easily became a fair Persian scholar. But Kalu was not yet satisfied. He even feared that his son was becoming insane and so asked him to herd the buffaloes in the forest. One day he fell asleep and a neighbour’s field was trespassed by the cattle in his charge. When the owner complained, Nanak said that God would bless the field. The aggrieved owner took the matter before Rai Bular who called for Kalu to settle the quarrel. But on Nanak stating that the field was really blessed by God and that no injury befell the field, the Zemindar sent his own messengers to inspect the field and to their astonishment they saw not a single blade eaten or trampled upon and conveyed this report! The field which was the scene of this miracle is now known as Kiara Sahib.
Kalu next made arrangements for the Upanayan of his son. When the Brahmin priest, after performing the preliminary ceremony, took the sacred thread to put on Nanak’s neck, the boy snatched it away, questioned its value and disposed of the priest after sermonising upon true Upanayan in his usual way. What is to be done with such a boy? To Kalu, he was becoming a problem and this time he thought of a new corrective. Soon after his daughter Nanaki’s marriage to Jai Ram, an Amil employed to collect land revenue, he arranged for the marriage of Nanak with Sulakhani though he was only 14 years old and again entrusted him with herding the cattle. It was on this occasion that Rai Bular saw him while on his duty asleep but watched over by a cobra. Though the ruler was thus impressed by the strange powers of the boy, Kalu was not. On the other hand, he became more and more pessimistic about the worldly reformation of his son. He tried to make him a husbandman. But the boy said: “The body is the field, good works the seeds, heart the cultivator.. God’s name irrigates.” To another question Nanak answered: “I have sown my field and the harvest is ready. All relations, friends, beggars and the poor will be benefitted.” Then the fond father tried another artifice. He gave the boy money and a horse and a servant to go to Gujranwala to purchase articles of trade and become a tradesman. But on the way in spite of the servant’s protestations he spent the money in clothing a sect of holy men. Cattle-grazing, tillage, trade, none of these succeeded. When all hopes were given up, his mother pleaded that for the sake of family prestige they must put up the show that Nanak had some occupation. But he would do nothing; he sat silent, lay down, ate nothing, drank nothing. Some were certain, but all suspected that Nanak was mad: there was something serious. The physician was called for consultation. To a question from him, Nanak broke silence, laughed and said in this vein: "The body is weeping, the soul crieth, physician, give none of thy medicines. I first feel the pain of separation from God, then a pang of hunger for contemplation on Him..” The physician withdrew, but not before paying homage to the great patient.
Kalu next made arrangements for the Upanayan of his son. When the Brahmin priest, after performing the preliminary ceremony, took the sacred thread to put on Nanak’s neck, the boy snatched it away, questioned its value and disposed of the priest after sermonising upon true Upanayan in his usual way.
What is to be done with such a boy? To Kalu, he was becoming a problem and this time he thought of a new corrective. Soon after his daughter Nanaki’s marriage to Jai Ram, an Amil employed to collect land revenue, he arranged for the marriage of Nanak with Sulakhani though he was only 14 years old and again entrusted him with herding the cattle. It was on this occasion that Rai Bular saw him while on his duty asleep but watched over by a cobra. Though the ruler was thus impressed by the strange powers of the boy, Kalu was not. On the other hand, he became more and more pessimistic about the worldly reformation of his son. He tried to make him a husbandman. But the boy said: “The body is the field, good works the seeds, heart the cultivator.. God’s name irrigates.” To another question Nanak answered: “I have sown my field and the harvest is ready. All relations, friends, beggars and the poor will be benefitted.” Then the fond father tried another artifice. He gave the boy money and a horse and a servant to go to Gujranwala to purchase articles of trade and become a tradesman. But on the way in spite of the servant’s protestations he spent the money in clothing a sect of holy men. Cattle-grazing, tillage, trade, none of these succeeded. When all hopes were given up, his mother pleaded that for the sake of family prestige they must put up the show that Nanak had some occupation. But he would do nothing; he sat silent, lay down, ate nothing, drank nothing. Some were certain, but all suspected that Nanak was mad: there was something serious. The physician was called for consultation. To a question from him, Nanak broke silence, laughed and said in this vein: "The body is weeping, the soul crieth, physician, give none of thy medicines. I first feel the pain of separation from God, then a pang of hunger for contemplation on Him..” The physician withdrew, but not before paying homage to the great patient.
At last Jai Ram, Nanak’s brother-in-law after consultation with Rai Bular, offered to take Nanak, the youth with him to Sultanpur, where he could find him appointment under Daulat Khan’s Government. Nanak agreed. While all were glad at his departure, his wife was an exception. She remonstrated: "My life, even here thou hast not loved me. When thou goest to a foreign country, how shalt thou return?” “Simple woman, what have I been doing here?” “When thou satest down at home," she again entreated him, "’I possessed in my estimation the sovereignty of the whole earth; now this world is of no avail to me." He became compassionate. "Be not anxious,” he said, "thy sovereignty shall ever abide." “My life, I will not remain behind; take me with thee." "I am now going away; if I can earn my living I will send for thee. Obey my order." Very little is known of Nanak’s married life beyond the fact that he begot two sons, Srichand and Lakshmidas. When Nanak went to take Rai Bular’s permission to leave for Sultanpur, the latter gave a farewell dinner and requested him to give him any order, i.e., to state what favour he might grant him. Nanak’s characteristic reply was: “I give thee one order if thou wilt comply with it. When thine own might availeth not, clasp thy hands and worship God." At Sultanpur, introduced by his brother-in-law as an educated man to Daulat Khan, the Governor, Nanak received a dress of honour and the post of a storekeeper. He applied himself to his duties so well that he was congratulated by everybody. He used a very small portion of the provisions allowed to him to maintain himself, the rest he disposed of to the poor. In weighing out the provisions, when he came to number thirteen (Tera), he repeated it many times, as it also means "Thine-.e., "I am thine, O Lord.” He would spend the nights in singing hymns to the Creator. Then he would go to the neighbouring river for bath and return as day dawned to discharge his official duties. Mardana, a hereditary minstrel from Talwandi joined him now. Many other friends came; Nanak introduced them all to the Khan and got them a living. They all sat together at dinner, sang together during nights; and Mardana accompanied him on the rabob or rebeek, a musical instrument of Arabian origin which was then in use in Northern India.
At last Jai Ram, Nanak’s brother-in-law after consultation with Rai Bular, offered to take Nanak, the youth with him to Sultanpur, where he could find him appointment under Daulat Khan’s Government. Nanak agreed. While all were glad at his departure, his wife was an exception. She remonstrated: "My life, even here thou hast not loved me. When thou goest to a foreign country, how shalt thou return?”
“Simple woman, what have I been doing here?”
“When thou satest down at home," she again entreated him, "’I possessed in my estimation the sovereignty of the whole earth; now this world is of no avail to me."
He became compassionate. "Be not anxious,” he said, "thy sovereignty shall ever abide."
“My life, I will not remain behind; take me with thee."
"I am now going away; if I can earn my living I will send for thee. Obey my order."
Very little is known of Nanak’s married life beyond the fact that he begot two sons, Srichand and Lakshmidas.
When Nanak went to take Rai Bular’s permission to leave for Sultanpur, the latter gave a farewell dinner and requested him to give him any order, i.e., to state what favour he might grant him. Nanak’s characteristic reply was:
“I give thee one order if thou wilt comply with it. When thine own might availeth not, clasp thy hands and worship God."
At Sultanpur, introduced by his brother-in-law as an educated man to Daulat Khan, the Governor, Nanak received a dress of honour and the post of a storekeeper. He applied himself to his duties so well that he was congratulated by everybody. He used a very small portion of the provisions allowed to him to maintain himself, the rest he disposed of to the poor. In weighing out the provisions, when he came to number thirteen (Tera), he repeated it many times, as it also means "Thine-.e., "I am thine, O Lord.” He would spend the nights in singing hymns to the Creator. Then he would go to the neighbouring river for bath and return as day dawned to discharge his official duties. Mardana, a hereditary minstrel from Talwandi joined him now. Many other friends came; Nanak introduced them all to the Khan and got them a living. They all sat together at dinner, sang together during nights; and Mardana accompanied him on the rabob or rebeek, a musical instrument of Arabian origin which was then in use in Northern India.
One morning as Nanak did not return after his bath it was thought he was drowned. But he had been to a forest where, in vision, he was in God’s presence for three days. What actually transpired is necessarily a Divine secret. But it is certain that it was on this great occasion that Nanak had his first radical Divine realisation which formed the basis and authority of his mission. In the blunt language of our human mind, God said to Nanak: “I am with thee..Go and repeat My name and cause others to do likewise. Abide uncontaminated by the world. Practise charity, worship, meditation. I have given thee this cup of nectar, a pledge of My regard." Nanak sang many verses in gratitude. On this a voice was heard: “O Nanak, Thou has seen My sovereignty..I am the primal Brahm, thou art the divine Guru.” It was here that he uttered the preamble for Japji or Divine service which every Sikh is expected to get by heart and sing every day. When Nanak returned to Sultanpur, he gave his belongings to the poor, donned a religious costume, remained silent a day and then uttered this pregnant sentence: "There is no Hindu and no Mussalman.” The Qazi complained and Guru Nanak was summoned to see the Governor. When he appeared, the Governor addressed him: "Nanak, it is my misfortune that an officer of your calibre should become a Fakir.” Then, seating him by his side, he requested the Guru to explain his statement in the presence of the Qazi. He confined himself to the latter part of it since no Hindu was present there to dispute his utterance. He discoursed upon the true ideals of the Shariat, the deeper elements in the teachings of the Prophet and answered convincingly all the questions of the Qazi who was astonished at the lecture. The time for afternoon prayer came, and all including Nanak went to the mosque. As the Qazi began his service, he observed the Guru laughing in his face and so again complained to the Nawab of his conduct. The Guru said that the Qazi’s prayer was unacceptable to God and gave the reason that while the Qazi was ostensibly performing Divine service, his mind was filled with the fear that his babe might fall into the well in the enclosure. The Nawab was also told that behind his own pretensions of prayer, there was the thought of purchasing horses in Kabul. Both the Nawab and the Qazi admitted the truth. All the Mussalmans present were amazed. Many questions were put to him and were answered. Nanak next addressed a sublime hymn. Daulat Khan fell at his feet and in loving admiration offered his estate, and his authority which were of course declined. Both Hindus and Mussalmans came to pay their respects and take leave of the Guru when they came to know that he was leaving on his God-appointed mission. There were complaints of his extravagance as storekeeper but on investigation the stores were found to be full, the accounts correct and money due to the Guru himself from the State. He requested the Nawab to spend that money in giving relief to the poor.
One morning as Nanak did not return after his bath it was thought he was drowned. But he had been to a forest where, in vision, he was in God’s presence for three days. What actually transpired is necessarily a Divine secret. But it is certain that it was on this great occasion that Nanak had his first radical Divine realisation which formed the basis and authority of his mission. In the blunt language of our human mind, God said to Nanak: “I am with thee..Go and repeat My name and cause others to do likewise. Abide uncontaminated by the world. Practise charity, worship, meditation. I have given thee this cup of nectar, a pledge of My regard."
Nanak sang many verses in gratitude. On this a voice was heard: “O Nanak, Thou has seen My sovereignty..I am the primal Brahm, thou art the divine Guru.” It was here that he uttered the preamble for Japji or Divine service which every Sikh is expected to get by heart and sing every day.
When Nanak returned to Sultanpur, he gave his belongings to the poor, donned a religious costume, remained silent a day and then uttered this pregnant sentence: "There is no Hindu and no Mussalman.” The Qazi complained and Guru Nanak was summoned to see the Governor. When he appeared, the Governor addressed him: "Nanak, it is my misfortune that an officer of your calibre should become a Fakir.” Then, seating him by his side, he requested the Guru to explain his statement in the presence of the Qazi. He confined himself to the latter part of it since no Hindu was present there to dispute his utterance. He discoursed upon the true ideals of the Shariat, the deeper elements in the teachings of the Prophet and answered convincingly all the questions of the Qazi who was astonished at the lecture. The time for afternoon prayer came, and all including Nanak went to the mosque. As the Qazi began his service, he observed the Guru laughing in his face and so again complained to the Nawab of his conduct. The Guru said that the Qazi’s prayer was unacceptable to God and gave the reason that while the Qazi was ostensibly performing Divine service, his mind was filled with the fear that his babe might fall into the well in the enclosure. The Nawab was also told that behind his own pretensions of prayer, there was the thought of purchasing horses in Kabul. Both the Nawab and the Qazi admitted the truth. All the Mussalmans present were amazed. Many questions were put to him and were answered. Nanak next addressed a sublime hymn. Daulat Khan fell at his feet and in loving admiration offered his estate, and his authority which were of course declined. Both Hindus and Mussalmans came to pay their respects and take leave of the Guru when they came to know that he was leaving on his God-appointed mission.
There were complaints of his extravagance as storekeeper but on investigation the stores were found to be full, the accounts correct and money due to the Guru himself from the State. He requested the Nawab to spend that money in giving relief to the poor.
After a short stay with the Sadhus and Fakirs, with whom he had been lately in close touch, accompanied by his minstrel Mardana he embarked on his life-work. He first proceeded to Sayyidpur, stayed with Mardana in the house of Lalu, a carpenter, for two days and prolonged his stay at his request. He cared not to observe the caste rules and dined not within the sacred lines. When questioned he said: “The whole earth is my sacred lines and he is pure who loves truth.” Thence he and Mardana proceeded to many villages in the Punjab. Once when Mardana, at the Guru’s bidding, went to a village for food, he returned with large offerings of presents. The Guru asked him to throw them away and explained the disastrous effects of offerings on laymen. "These are poison hard to digest.” He once accepted the false hospitality of Sheikh Sajjan, a notorious robber, who used to consign his guests into a well to perish. When after dinner, the Guru sang a hymn with the robber’s permission, it went home to him and so changed his heart that he fell at the Guru’s feet, confessed and received the God’s name. At Kurukshetra, Nanak attended a religious fair. He cooked a deer for food which was indeed a horror to the Brahmins who called him a heretic. He brought home to the Pandits and the people there how they had forgotten the essentials, the noble ideals of the forefathers and confined themselves to the externals. He was unsparing in his treatment of superstition and outspoken in his condemnation of hypocrisy. He said: "The Hindus are going to hell. Death will seize and mercilessly punish them.” A Brahmin in his pharisaical pride challenged him. The Guru retorted: "Yes, you do Jap, repeat God’s name. It is true that if you do it with true love, you will not be damned. But your hands take the rosaries and count the beads. Your minds are bound to worldly objects. One is thinking of trade in Multan, another of his gain in Kabul. Is this not sham, rank hypocrisy? Can you deceive God ?"
After a short stay with the Sadhus and Fakirs, with whom he had been lately in close touch, accompanied by his minstrel Mardana he embarked on his life-work.
He first proceeded to Sayyidpur, stayed with Mardana in the house of Lalu, a carpenter, for two days and prolonged his stay at his request. He cared not to observe the caste rules and dined not within the sacred lines. When questioned he said: “The whole earth is my sacred lines and he is pure who loves truth.” Thence he and Mardana proceeded to many villages in the Punjab.
Once when Mardana, at the Guru’s bidding, went to a village for food, he returned with large offerings of presents. The Guru asked him to throw them away and explained the disastrous effects of offerings on laymen. "These are poison hard to digest.” He once accepted the false hospitality of Sheikh Sajjan, a notorious robber, who used to consign his guests into a well to perish. When after dinner, the Guru sang a hymn with the robber’s permission, it went home to him and so changed his heart that he fell at the Guru’s feet, confessed and received the God’s name.
At Kurukshetra, Nanak attended a religious fair. He cooked a deer for food which was indeed a horror to the Brahmins who called him a heretic. He brought home to the Pandits and the people there how they had forgotten the essentials, the noble ideals of the forefathers and confined themselves to the externals. He was unsparing in his treatment of superstition and outspoken in his condemnation of hypocrisy.
He said: "The Hindus are going to hell. Death will seize and mercilessly punish them.” A Brahmin in his pharisaical pride challenged him. The Guru retorted: "Yes, you do Jap, repeat God’s name. It is true that if you do it with true love, you will not be damned. But your hands take the rosaries and count the beads. Your minds are bound to worldly objects. One is thinking of trade in Multan, another of his gain in Kabul. Is this not sham, rank hypocrisy? Can you deceive God ?"
At Hardwar the Brahmins, impressed by his hymns and his true greatness, pressed the Guru in vain to return to his allegiance to the Hindu religion. At Panipat he had a long discussion with a Sheikh, a priest of a shrine. who in the end shook hands with the Guru, kissed his feet and said to those around: "He bears witness to God. To behold him is sufficient." The Guru was not a miracle-monger, an itinerant showman. On arriving at Delhi, he heard that an elephant of the ruler Ibrahim Lodi had died. He said to the keepers: "No, it is not dead, go and rub the forehead of the animal with your hands and say ’Wah Guru.’ (i.e., hail to the Guru).” They did accordingly; the animal rose up. The Emperor was astonished and asked the Guru if he could do the miracle again if the animal died. Nanak replied: "God is the sole destroyer or re-animator. Prayers are for Fakirs." The animal then actually died. When the Emperor commanded the Guru to restore it to life, he said: “Red hot iron cannot be held for a moment in the hand. Fakirs become red in the heat of God’s love and cannot be constrained." Though thus rebuffed, the Emperor was pleased. The Guru then set out towards the east, visited the temple of Gorakh, met the Siddhas who were pleased with his inspired utterances and hymns. At Benares, the Chief Pandit, Chatur Das had a long discussion with the Guru and at its close, fell at his feet, became a Sikh and possessor of God’s name. At Kamarup (Assam), Nur-Shah, the queen, tempted him, but was at last taught true wisdom and means of salvation. On leaving Kamarup, he is said to have met Kalipurusha (the personification of the iron age) and to have been tempted by him. To Mardana he explained who Kali was. “When true men speak the truth and suffer for it; when penitents fail to do penance in their homes; when he who repeateth God’s name meeteth obloquy — these are the signs of Kaliyug." He then made a coastal voyage on the Bay of Bengal, to Puri and returned to the Punjab, visiting on the way the shrine of Sheikh Farid, a great Muslim saint. Sheikh Brahm, (Ibrahim) its pious chief had long discussions with the Guru.
At Hardwar the Brahmins, impressed by his hymns and his true greatness, pressed the Guru in vain to return to his allegiance to the Hindu religion. At Panipat he had a long discussion with a Sheikh, a priest of a shrine. who in the end shook hands with the Guru, kissed his feet and said to those around: "He bears witness to God. To behold him is sufficient."
The Guru was not a miracle-monger, an itinerant showman. On arriving at Delhi, he heard that an elephant of the ruler Ibrahim Lodi had died. He said to the keepers: "No, it is not dead, go and rub the forehead of the animal with your hands and say ’Wah Guru.’ (i.e., hail to the Guru).” They did accordingly; the animal rose up. The Emperor was astonished and asked the Guru if he could do the miracle again if the animal died. Nanak replied: "God is the sole destroyer or re-animator. Prayers are for Fakirs."
The animal then actually died. When the Emperor commanded the Guru to restore it to life, he said: “Red hot iron cannot be held for a moment in the hand. Fakirs become red in the heat of God’s love and cannot be constrained." Though thus rebuffed, the Emperor was pleased.
The Guru then set out towards the east, visited the temple of Gorakh, met the Siddhas who were pleased with his inspired utterances and hymns. At Benares, the Chief Pandit, Chatur Das had a long discussion with the Guru and at its close, fell at his feet, became a Sikh and possessor of God’s name. At Kamarup (Assam), Nur-Shah, the queen, tempted him, but was at last taught true wisdom and means of salvation. On leaving Kamarup, he is said to have met Kalipurusha (the personification of the iron age) and to have been tempted by him. To Mardana he explained who Kali was. “When true men speak the truth and suffer for it; when penitents fail to do penance in their homes; when he who repeateth God’s name meeteth obloquy — these are the signs of Kaliyug."
He then made a coastal voyage on the Bay of Bengal, to Puri and returned to the Punjab, visiting on the way the shrine of Sheikh Farid, a great Muslim saint. Sheikh Brahm, (Ibrahim) its pious chief had long discussions with the Guru.
Thus after 12 years of wandering, at Mardana’s request, he turned towards Talwandi. The Guru stayed at a few miles’ distance sending the minstrel ahead. Kalu and Tripta came and wept and remonstrated with the Guru and implored him to return. There was a long scene and the Guru closed it, saying: “Mother, agree to what I say: consolation shall come to thee." Nanak resumed his wanderings, again visited the pious Sheikh Brahm and again saw Lalu at Sayyidpur who complained of the Pathan oppression. The Guru Said: "The Pathan rule is ending; Babar is coming.’ So it happened. And when Babar captured the city, there was a general massacre of people, Pathans and Hindus; but the lives of the Guru and Mardana were spared since they were strangers. They were, however, ordered to be taken as slaves. The Guru was condemned to carry loads on his head. One day Babar heard that the load on his head was one cubit over his head without support. Immediately he sent for the Guru and when he heard his inspired hymns the Emperor grew penitent. It is said Babar fell at the Guru’s feet and offered him presents. The Guru only wanted the release of the captives. To a prayer of Babar, the Guru said that he could not embrace Islam or any other faith and to the Emperor’s request for the Guru’s blessing, he said: “Thine empire shall remain for a time" .... and to his request for instruction the Guru said, "deliver just judgments, reverence holy men, forswear wine and gambling. The monarch who indulges in these vices shall, if he survives, bewail his misdeeds. Be merciful to the vanquished and worship God in spirit and in truth.”
Thus after 12 years of wandering, at Mardana’s request, he turned towards Talwandi. The Guru stayed at a few miles’ distance sending the minstrel ahead. Kalu and Tripta came and wept and remonstrated with the Guru and implored him to return. There was a long scene and the Guru closed it, saying: “Mother, agree to what I say: consolation shall come to thee."
Nanak resumed his wanderings, again visited the pious Sheikh Brahm and again saw Lalu at Sayyidpur who complained of the Pathan oppression. The Guru Said: "The Pathan rule is ending; Babar is coming.’
So it happened. And when Babar captured the city, there was a general massacre of people, Pathans and Hindus; but the lives of the Guru and Mardana were spared since they were strangers. They were, however, ordered to be taken as slaves. The Guru was condemned to carry loads on his head. One day Babar heard that the load on his head was one cubit over his head without support. Immediately he sent for the Guru and when he heard his inspired hymns the Emperor grew penitent. It is said Babar fell at the Guru’s feet and offered him presents. The Guru only wanted the release of the captives. To a prayer of Babar, the Guru said that he could not embrace Islam or any other faith and to the Emperor’s request for the Guru’s blessing, he said: “Thine empire shall remain for a time" .... and to his request for instruction the Guru said, "deliver just judgments, reverence holy men, forswear wine and gambling. The monarch who indulges in these vices shall, if he survives, bewail his misdeeds. Be merciful to the vanquished and worship God in spirit and in truth.”
The Guru then proceeded to Sialkot and visited many places in the Punjab. By this time he was universally held to be a man of God. Every verse he composed was published abroad. He next went in a north-western direction and stayed on the banks of the Ravi. A millionaire official who was at first sceptical, became a devout disciple, built a Sikh temple and founded a village on the Ravi named Kartarpur and he dedicated both to the Guru and thereafter Kartarpur became the Guru’s fixed abode. He took off his extraordinary costume and adopted a more conventional dress. Here his parents and relatives came and were admitted since the Guru’s creed is not to shun, but to live in the world, not worldminded but God-minded. Here he initiated the practice of singing hymns at the close of night. Once he questioned a boy of seven why he attended regularly the prayer. The boy said that one day at his mother’s bidding he lit the fire and put on the wood and observed that little sticks burnt first and then the bigger ones. Hence afraid of early death, he attended the religious gatherings. The Guru was pleased and called him Budha (wise) and he came to be known as Bhai Budha. He was held in such high esteem that he was commissioned to confer the tilak (patch of Guruship) on the first five successors of Guru Nanak and he lived for 107 years ( ?) The Guru then proceeded on a tour to the south, the Dravidian country and on return went to Kashmir. Ceyłon was his next objective and there king Shivanabha paid homage to him. Success upon success greeted him everywhere on his return journey to the north. The most eminent of Kashmir Pandits, Brahma Das was convinced of his greatness and fell at his feet, Thence Nanak climbed up the Himalayas where he took rest for a while in the company of Siddhas, who were pleased with his holy mission.
The Guru then proceeded to Sialkot and visited many places in the Punjab. By this time he was universally held to be a man of God. Every verse he composed was published abroad. He next went in a north-western direction and stayed on the banks of the Ravi. A millionaire official who was at first sceptical, became a devout disciple, built a Sikh temple and founded a village on the Ravi named Kartarpur and he dedicated both to the Guru and thereafter Kartarpur became the Guru’s fixed abode. He took off his extraordinary costume and adopted a more conventional dress. Here his parents and relatives came and were admitted since the Guru’s creed is not to shun, but to live in the world, not worldminded but God-minded. Here he initiated the practice of singing hymns at the close of night.
Once he questioned a boy of seven why he attended regularly the prayer. The boy said that one day at his mother’s bidding he lit the fire and put on the wood and observed that little sticks burnt first and then the bigger ones. Hence afraid of early death, he attended the religious gatherings. The Guru was pleased and called him Budha (wise) and he came to be known as Bhai Budha. He was held in such high esteem that he was commissioned to confer the tilak (patch of Guruship) on the first five successors of Guru Nanak and he lived for 107 years ( ?)
The Guru then proceeded on a tour to the south, the Dravidian country and on return went to Kashmir. Ceyłon was his next objective and there king Shivanabha paid homage to him. Success upon success greeted him everywhere on his return journey to the north. The most eminent of Kashmir Pandits, Brahma Das was convinced of his greatness and fell at his feet, Thence Nanak climbed up the Himalayas where he took rest for a while in the company of Siddhas, who were pleased with his holy mission.
Nanak next turned his steps to Mecca. Both the journey and his stay there are associated with remarkable incidents. On the way he met a Fakir who became frightened on seeing a cloud accompanying him overhead, and interpreting it as the outcome of a Hindu’s resolve to visit Mecca, asked the Guru to go before or after him. “Then go ahead," said Nanak and when the Fakir turred round, he could see neither the Guru nor the cloud. The Fakir began to wring his hands and said: “It was God who was with me but I could not endure the sight of Him." On reaching Mecca, his disregard of Moslem customs immediately attracted attention. When he lay down to sleep with his feet turned towards the Kaaba, an Arab priest kicked the "infidel sinner”. The Guru’s reply was: “Then turn my feet in the direction in which God is not.” The priest dragged him to another side and was bewildered to find the temple turn round following the revolution of Nanak’s body. Those who witnessed the miracle saluted him as a supernatural being. On his return, Lahina, a priest of a sect of Durga worshippers was convinced of the Guru’s greatness and became his disciple. He chose to do menial service to the Guru, It is said that on one occasion when the Guru, at the instance of a Yogi proposed to test the steadfast loyalty of the Sikhs, every one failed, he alone triumphed and the Guru taught him how to utter the True Name with a pure heart and said that by constant practice, God’s light would dawn in his heart. The Yogi who was present then said: "Nanak, he who is produced from the body anga shall be the Guru.” Upon this, the Guru embraced Lahina and calling him Angad decreed that he shall be his successor.
Nanak next turned his steps to Mecca. Both the journey and his stay there are associated with remarkable incidents. On the way he met a Fakir who became frightened on seeing a cloud accompanying him overhead, and interpreting it as the outcome of a Hindu’s resolve to visit Mecca, asked the Guru to go before or after him.
“Then go ahead," said Nanak and when the Fakir turred round, he could see neither the Guru nor the cloud. The Fakir began to wring his hands and said: “It was God who was with me but I could not endure the sight of Him."
On reaching Mecca, his disregard of Moslem customs immediately attracted attention. When he lay down to sleep with his feet turned towards the Kaaba, an Arab priest kicked the "infidel sinner”. The Guru’s reply was: “Then turn my feet in the direction in which God is not.” The priest dragged him to another side and was bewildered to find the temple turn round following the revolution of Nanak’s body. Those who witnessed the miracle saluted him as a supernatural being.
On his return, Lahina, a priest of a sect of Durga worshippers was convinced of the Guru’s greatness and became his disciple. He chose to do menial service to the Guru, It is said that on one occasion when the Guru, at the instance of a Yogi proposed to test the steadfast loyalty of the Sikhs, every one failed, he alone triumphed and the Guru taught him how to utter the True Name with a pure heart and said that by constant practice, God’s light would dawn in his heart. The Yogi who was present then said: "Nanak, he who is produced from the body anga shall be the Guru.” Upon this, the Guru embraced Lahina and calling him Angad decreed that he shall be his successor.
Nanak’s last days were spent at Kartarpur and when in 1538, at the age of 70, the Guru knew his end was approaching, he appointed Angad as his successor. When this information spread, Sikhs, Hindus and Moselms came to bid farewell. There were some Sikhs who had seceded from the Guru. Angad begged of him to pardon them. “I have forgiven them all for thy sake”, said the Guru. To his sons who had also rebelled, he said: “My sons, God giveth to his creatures. You shall have food and clothing in abundance, and if you repeat God’s name, you shall be saved at last." When he heard of the dissension between his Hindu and Moslem followers regarding the disposal of his body after death, he decided: “Let the Hindus place flowers on my right, and the Moslems on my left. They, whose flowers are found fresh in the morning may dispose of the body.” When the solemn moment came, the last sloka of the Japji was sung. The Guru drew a sheet over him, uttered ’Wah Guru’, made obeisance to God and blended his light with Guru Angad’s. Next morning when the sheet was removed, it is said that nothing was to be seen-a supreme miracle! The flowers on both the sides were in full bloom. The Sikhs erected a shrine and the Moslems a tomb on the Ravi; but both were later washed away. After the Guru passed away, his successor, Guru Angad collected his compositions and reduced them to writing in Gurumukhi characters which he invented, and they are called the Adigranth occupying the first ward (Mohalla) of the "Granth Sahib," the sacred book of the Sikhs.
Nanak’s last days were spent at Kartarpur and when in 1538, at the age of 70, the Guru knew his end was approaching, he appointed Angad as his successor. When this information spread, Sikhs, Hindus and Moselms came to bid farewell. There were some Sikhs who had seceded from the Guru. Angad begged of him to pardon them. “I have forgiven them all for thy sake”, said the Guru.
To his sons who had also rebelled, he said: “My sons, God giveth to his creatures. You shall have food and clothing in abundance, and if you repeat God’s name, you shall be saved at last."
When he heard of the dissension between his Hindu and Moslem followers regarding the disposal of his body after death, he decided: “Let the Hindus place flowers on my right, and the Moslems on my left. They, whose flowers are found fresh in the morning may dispose of the body.” When the solemn moment came, the last sloka of the Japji was sung. The Guru drew a sheet over him, uttered ’Wah Guru’, made obeisance to God and blended his light with Guru Angad’s. Next morning when the sheet was removed, it is said that nothing was to be seen-a supreme miracle! The flowers on both the sides were in full bloom.
The Sikhs erected a shrine and the Moslems a tomb on the Ravi; but both were later washed away.
After the Guru passed away, his successor, Guru Angad collected his compositions and reduced them to writing in Gurumukhi characters which he invented, and they are called the Adigranth occupying the first ward (Mohalla) of the "Granth Sahib," the sacred book of the Sikhs.
The Guru had in his travels as well as at Kartarpur often fallen into devotional trance, and sung under the compelling necessity of Divine inspiration several hymns to the Divine Father. These spontaneous compositions of poetry make references of admiration to Kabir, Nam Dev, Jaidev, Tribehan and many other devotee-saints that went before him. But unlike them, he taught by example and precept that the world must be faced and not renounced as nothing. He adopted the age-old Hindu theory of reincarnation and preached that the goal of the human soul’s journey was ‘Nirvan’, i.e., the individual consciousness merging into the Absolute or one God and taught that the main means of attaining Nirvan or Sachkhand (the land of the Real) — according to some Sikhs both are identical, according to others, not—is the singing of the Sat Nam or True Name, that the grace of the Guru was absolutely essential to possess the True Name, that true Guru was God Himself, and that since God’s light dawned in his heart Nanak was the divine Guru. Whether Guru Nanak was King Janaka107
The Guru had in his travels as well as at Kartarpur often fallen into devotional trance, and sung under the compelling necessity of Divine inspiration several hymns to the Divine Father. These spontaneous compositions of poetry make references of admiration to Kabir, Nam Dev, Jaidev, Tribehan and many other devotee-saints that went before him. But unlike them, he taught by example and precept that the world must be faced and not renounced as nothing. He adopted the age-old Hindu theory of reincarnation and preached that the goal of the human soul’s journey was ‘Nirvan’, i.e., the individual consciousness merging into the Absolute or one God and taught that the main means of attaining Nirvan or Sachkhand (the land of the Real) — according to some Sikhs both are identical, according to others, not—is the singing of the Sat Nam or True Name, that the grace of the Guru was absolutely essential to possess the True Name, that true Guru was God Himself, and that since God’s light dawned in his heart Nanak was the divine Guru.
Whether Guru Nanak was King Janaka107
It will be interesting to note what Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa said referring to the ten Gurus of the Sikhs. “They are all incarnations of the saintly King Janaka. I have heard it said by the Sikhs that just before attaining liberation he was possessed with the idea of doing good to the world. So he was born successively as the ten Gurus of the Sikhs, and after founding the Sikh religion was united for ever with the Supreme Brahman. There is no reason to disbelieve this.” or not according to the Sikhs, the fact remains that his Divine communion and personal spiritual experiences were the basis of his positive teachings and they were the mainspring of all his activities in propagating his faith. But he had to contend against both Hindus and Mussalmans. While his heart bled at the sight of the oppression by the Muhammadan rulers, he became almost desperate when he saw around him everywhere the unspeakable ignorance in which were steeped the classes as well as the masses of Hindus. For, while the Brahmins—themselves fallen and ritual-ridden-lived upon the credulity of the other castes, the Rajputs prided upon their privilege to marry their daughters to the Moslem ruling classes; the masses were content with their caste usages and crude worship; while the few truly religious retired to the forests convinced of the unreality or ephemeralness of the world. The Guru saw that the inelastic caste-divisions had no relation whatever to the economic or spiritual needs of the people and attacked it as the main cause of the social, religious and political degradation in the country; and in inducing a larger spiritual vision of the Godhead, he deprecated idolatry and all lower forms of worship. But India is an impossible country; the continental magnitude of the land is perhaps an excuse; and the Guru in his attempt to bring the divergent peoples under a single spiritual banner was indeed many centuries ahead of the times. And he bewails: This age is a knife, kings are butchers, justice hath taken wings and fled; In this completely dark night of falsehood the moon of truth is never seen to rise; I have become perplexed in my search; In the darkness I find no way. Devoted to pride, I weep in sorrow; How shall deliverance be obtained ? Yet the Guru stopped not. He provided the steel which was forged into the holy sword, the Khalsa, that astonishingly novel creation of Guru Govind, as will be seen in the next chapter.
It will be interesting to note what Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa said referring to the ten Gurus of the Sikhs. “They are all incarnations of the saintly King Janaka. I have heard it said by the Sikhs that just before attaining liberation he was possessed with the idea of doing good to the world. So he was born successively as the ten Gurus of the Sikhs, and after founding the Sikh religion was united for ever with the Supreme Brahman. There is no reason to disbelieve this.” or not according to the Sikhs, the fact remains that his Divine communion and personal spiritual experiences were the basis of his positive teachings and they were the mainspring of all his activities in propagating his faith. But he had to contend against both Hindus and Mussalmans. While his heart bled at the sight of the oppression by the Muhammadan rulers, he became almost desperate when he saw around him everywhere the unspeakable ignorance in which were steeped the classes as well as the masses of Hindus. For, while the Brahmins—themselves fallen and ritual-ridden-lived upon the credulity of the other castes, the Rajputs prided upon their privilege to marry their daughters to the Moslem ruling classes; the masses were content with their caste usages and crude worship; while the few truly religious retired to the forests convinced of the unreality or ephemeralness of the world. The Guru saw that the inelastic caste-divisions had no relation whatever to the economic or spiritual needs of the people and attacked it as the main cause of the social, religious and political degradation in the country; and in inducing a larger spiritual vision of the Godhead, he deprecated idolatry and all lower forms of worship.
But India is an impossible country; the continental magnitude of the land is perhaps an excuse; and the Guru in his attempt to bring the divergent peoples under a single spiritual banner was indeed many centuries ahead of the times.
And he bewails:
This age is a knife, kings are butchers, justice hath taken wings and fled;
In this completely dark night of falsehood the moon of truth is never seen to rise;
I have become perplexed in my search;
In the darkness I find no way.
Devoted to pride, I weep in sorrow;
How shall deliverance be obtained ?
Yet the Guru stopped not. He provided the steel which was forged into the holy sword, the Khalsa, that astonishingly novel creation of Guru Govind, as will be seen in the next chapter.
When Guru Nanak passed away, he left the heritage to Angad, who as the second Guru, faithfully carried out the mission of his master devoting his time to organising the Sikhs as a sect. His successor, Amar Das, the third Guru, on finding it necessary to distinguish the Sikhs from the Hindus, substituted the Anand-marriage ceremony for the Brahmanical form of marriage and made it a rule that whoever came to see him must first dine in his langar or free kitchen and thus disregard caste restrictions and get freed from the prejudices and superstitions of the Hindu millions. Ram Das, the fourth Guru, felt the need for a central place for the Sikhs to assemble from time to time and the liberal-minded Akbar granted to him in 1577 A.D. the site of the tank and the Golden Temple at Amritsar, which the Guru established as the headquarters of the Sikhs.
The work of the first four Gurus bore fruit in the formation of a distinct community of Sikhs, with a common source of divine knowledge, the Guru, and with a common object of meditation and worship, the True Name, God. Things took a different turn, when Arjun became the fifth Guru. He was a born poet with a remarkable capacity for organisation. His practical philosophy and statesmanship were visible in all that he did and died for. He compiled the Sacred Book, installed it in the Golden Temple at Amritsar and introduced the system of collecting money offerings from the Sikhs, assumed the temporal and spiritual control of the sect, and formulated rules to regulate their social and political life.
“The rapid development of the Sikhs at this time and the growing influence of their Guru,” says Payne, "soon led to trouble with the Moghals and the persecution of their sect at the hands of the Moghals dates back from Arjun’s ministry.” It is noteworthy that up to the time of the great Akbar, the Moghal emperors did not much interfere with the peaceful organisation of the Sikhs and their Gurus had gone on converting to their faith whole villages with their hundreds of Hindus as well as Mussalmans. The phenomenal success of Guru Arjun invited the wrath of Jehangir who was restoring the forms and tenets of the Muhammadan faith that had been neglected and discouraged during Akbar’s regime.
Jehangir’s attitude towards Arjun can be understood from his own memoirs. “There was a Hindu, named Arjun,” he wrote, “in the garments of sainthood and sanctity, so much so, that he captured many of simple-hearted of the Hindus and even of the ignorant and foolish followers of Islam, by his ways and manners, and they had loudly sounded the drum of his holiness. They called him Guru, and from all sides stupid people crowded to worship and manifest complete faith in him. For three or four generations (of spiritual successors) they had kept this shop warm. Many times it occurred to me to put a stop to this vain affair or to bring him into the assembly of the people of Islam.” In 1606 A.D. Guru Arjun was charged with sedition for having assisted Khuzru in his rebellion, summoned to Lahore, put into prison and, through the usual process of torture, put to death. Before Arjun’s departure, he had installed his son, Har Gobind on the gadi and left him with his last injunction that he was to sit fully armed on the throne and maintain the largest military force he could muster since it was impossible to protect his followers without the aid of arms. Such an order admirably agreed with the temperament of Har Gobind; and ofcourse, it brought its own trials, He was imprisoned for 12 years by Jehangir. But after the latter’s death, he thrice led the army of his own creation and whetted its martial spirit by the taste of victory on each occasion. Hari Rai, the seventh Guru, devoted his attention to peaceful organisation, but retained with him 2,200 soldiers though no battles were fought. Hari Kishan, the eighth Guru, died on his accession when quite young. When Tej Bahadur, the ninth Guru, succeeded to the gadi, the country had seen six years of Aurangzeb’s rule. It is wellknown how after firmly establishing himself as the Emperor of India by adopting methods which were certainly sinful in the eye of the Koran and denounced by liberal-minded and pious Moslems including Shah Abbas of Persia and the Sheriff of Mecca, he reversed the policy of the great Akbar and began his campaign of Jehad or "exertion in the path of God” which involved the extermination of the idolatrous Hindus. These subject people groaned under the weight of disabilities hurled upon them. Jazaya or polltax as compensation for permitting the Kafirs to breathe in the Mussalman State, Khuraj or land-tax, humble dress and behaviour befiting a subject race, ban on riding and carrying arms, prohibition of religious gatherings or processions, exclusion from State service these correctives were prescribed by the Emperor for Kafirs and he completed the list by the crowning order (given on 9th April 1669 A.D.) “to demolish all the schools and temples of the infidels and put down their religious teachings and practices.”
Jehangir’s attitude towards Arjun can be understood from his own memoirs. “There was a Hindu, named Arjun,” he wrote, “in the garments of sainthood and sanctity, so much so, that he captured many of simple-hearted of the Hindus and even of the ignorant and foolish followers of Islam, by his ways and manners, and they had loudly sounded the drum of his holiness. They called him Guru, and from all sides stupid people crowded to worship and manifest complete faith in him. For three or four generations (of spiritual successors) they had kept this shop warm. Many times it occurred to me to put a stop to this vain affair or to bring him into the assembly of the people of Islam.”
In 1606 A.D. Guru Arjun was charged with sedition for having assisted Khuzru in his rebellion, summoned to Lahore, put into prison and, through the usual process of torture, put to death.
Before Arjun’s departure, he had installed his son, Har Gobind on the gadi and left him with his last injunction that he was to sit fully armed on the throne and maintain the largest military force he could muster since it was impossible to protect his followers without the aid of arms. Such an order admirably agreed with the temperament of Har Gobind; and ofcourse, it brought its own trials, He was imprisoned for 12 years by Jehangir. But after the latter’s death, he thrice led the army of his own creation and whetted its martial spirit by the taste of victory on each occasion. Hari Rai, the seventh Guru, devoted his attention to peaceful organisation, but retained with him 2,200 soldiers though no battles were fought. Hari Kishan, the eighth Guru, died on his accession when quite young.
When Tej Bahadur, the ninth Guru, succeeded to the gadi, the country had seen six years of Aurangzeb’s rule. It is wellknown how after firmly establishing himself as the Emperor of India by adopting methods which were certainly sinful in the eye of the Koran and denounced by liberal-minded and pious Moslems including Shah Abbas of Persia and the Sheriff of Mecca, he reversed the policy of the great Akbar and began his campaign of Jehad or "exertion in the path of God” which involved the extermination of the idolatrous Hindus. These subject people groaned under the weight of disabilities hurled upon them. Jazaya or polltax as compensation for permitting the Kafirs to breathe in the Mussalman State, Khuraj or land-tax, humble dress and behaviour befiting a subject race, ban on riding and carrying arms, prohibition of religious gatherings or processions, exclusion from State service these correctives were prescribed by the Emperor for Kafirs and he completed the list by the crowning order (given on 9th April 1669 A.D.) “to demolish all the schools and temples of the infidels and put down their religious teachings and practices.”
Such were the days when Guru Tej Bahadur had to take up in 1664 A.D. the task of training his Sikhs for their mission. He left Kiretpur, the city of his father, on account of the bitter jealousy of his near relatives and founded a new city named Anandpur. After a short stay here, he started on a tour and visited the holy places of the Hindus, as the first Guru did, to propagate the principles and teachings of his faith. On the way he left his family to stay at Patna, while he proceeded further to Assam. Here Govind Raj, the future Guru Govind was born in 1666 A.D. On his return Guru Tej Bahadur halted with his family for a time and returned to the Punjab leaving the family at Patna, since it was thought advisible for the family not to undertake the return journey until the baby grew into a child. It is not possible here to mention all the recorded episodes of Govind Rai’s childhood at Patna where the family stayed until the child was five or six years of age. His chief game was to divide his companion children into two contesting parties to try their skill, endurance and strength. He was obeyed and recognised by all the children as their leader. It is said that when the chief officer of Patna was one day passing along the site where the child was playing with his mates, the servants of the officer called upon the boys to salute the Nawab to which the children responded at the bidding of their child leader by ’making mouths at the officer’— thus giving a foretaste of the flaming force which was to found the Khalsa in the face of tremendous odds hemming him in from all sides.
Such were the days when Guru Tej Bahadur had to take up in 1664 A.D. the task of training his Sikhs for their mission. He left Kiretpur, the city of his father, on account of the bitter jealousy of his near relatives and founded a new city named Anandpur. After a short stay here, he started on a tour and visited the holy places of the Hindus, as the first Guru did, to propagate the principles and teachings of his faith. On the way he left his family to stay at Patna, while he proceeded further to Assam. Here Govind Raj, the future Guru Govind was born in 1666 A.D. On his return Guru Tej Bahadur halted with his family for a time and returned to the Punjab leaving the family at Patna, since it was thought advisible for the family not to undertake the return journey until the baby grew into a child.
It is not possible here to mention all the recorded episodes of Govind Rai’s childhood at Patna where the family stayed until the child was five or six years of age. His chief game was to divide his companion children into two contesting parties to try their skill, endurance and strength. He was obeyed and recognised by all the children as their leader. It is said that when the chief officer of Patna was one day passing along the site where the child was playing with his mates, the servants of the officer called upon the boys to salute the Nawab to which the children responded at the bidding of their child leader by ’making mouths at the officer’— thus giving a foretaste of the flaming force which was to found the Khalsa in the face of tremendous odds hemming him in from all sides.
It is said that there was something mysterious about the child. His attractive features had a marvellous effect upon all who beheld him. Many of the Hindus and Moslems of Patna, the learned and the ignorant, young and old, rich and poor were drawn to him by the bewitching radiance of his personality. Among his most well-known admirers were two Nawabs, Rahim Baksh and Karim Baksh, whose offerings, a village and a garden, belong to this day to the Gurdwara at Patna. Bikhian Shah, a Fakir well-known for his spiritual powers found his Lord in this child. Shivadat Pandit a holy man on the banks of the Ganges, was once roused from his deep concentration by a whisper in his ears from the child and saw in him the supreme object of his worship: from that moment Govind Rai became the Child Beloved of the Pandit his Sri Ram, his Sri Krishna. At the instance of the Pandit, Raja Fatechand Maini and his wife became devoted to the Child Beloved and were blessed with a divine love for the child. They converted their house into a dharmasala, a place of worship and charity and treasured the child’s gifts in a place of honour in the house-temple and when long after, Guru Govind was 23 years, they with the Pandit went to Anandpur to see their Child Beloved. While the Pandit closed his earthly life at Anandpur, the Raja and Rani returned to their home with the Guru’s gifts of the "Sacred Book” which they installed in the temple where they had long ago enthroned the arms and dress of the Child Beloved. The temple exists even to-day. The names of the Raja and Rani are kept alive by the sangat of Maine which they established in their house.
We can imagine the great sorrow of the people when Govind, now six years of age, left Patna at the Guru’s order to proceed to Anandpur. A good many of them accompanied the family, intending to go as far as they could. On reaching Danapur, the whole party were served with food by an old woman who had been longing to have darshan of the Guru and his family. Govind Rai was pleased with the simple food offered with so much love and devotion and blessed the old lady and the Handi ’the earthen pot in which the food was cooked. After the departure of the party, she converted her house into a Dharmasala and passed her days in accordance with the instructions she received from the Child. The Handi is preserved as a sacred souvenir and has lent its name to the place ’Handi Sahib’. At this stage the family took leave of the very large crowd from Patna and visiting the holy places on the way or nearby, including Benares, Allahabad, Ayodhya, Lucknow, Cawnpur, Mathra, Brindavan--reached in a period of five months Lakhnaur in the Ambala district. Here Govind Rai’s spirits were damped a little by his father’s orders that he should stay there until he was sent for. He had not yet seen his father even once; but with his inborn wisdom and discipline and natural love for his father, he soon recovered his burning enthusiasm and made excellent use of this enforced stay. Thousands of Sikhs from far and near poured in for darsham of their future Lord and for his blessing. It is said that on one occasion when Pir Araf Din, well-known for his godliness and powers of vision passed by the place where Govind Rai was playing with his mates, he stepped out of his planquin on seeing the child, bowed to him and again bowed and then departed. Such obeisances to a Kafir were taken as an insult by his followers. To their protest the Pir’s words were: "Shall I stand rudely erect before the Lord, simply because He has chosen to illumine the person of a non-Moslem? No, friends, give up this narrow mentality. Bow to him wherever you meet him. At least I would do that, come what may."
We can imagine the great sorrow of the people when Govind, now six years of age, left Patna at the Guru’s order to proceed to Anandpur. A good many of them accompanied the family, intending to go as far as they could. On reaching Danapur, the whole party were served with food by an old woman who had been longing to have darshan of the Guru and his family. Govind Rai was pleased with the simple food offered with so much love and devotion and blessed the old lady and the Handi ’the earthen pot in which the food was cooked. After the departure of the party, she converted her house into a Dharmasala and passed her days in accordance with the instructions she received from the Child. The Handi is preserved as a sacred souvenir and has lent its name to the place ’Handi Sahib’.
At this stage the family took leave of the very large crowd from Patna and visiting the holy places on the way or nearby, including Benares, Allahabad, Ayodhya, Lucknow, Cawnpur, Mathra, Brindavan--reached in a period of five months Lakhnaur in the Ambala district. Here Govind Rai’s spirits were damped a little by his father’s orders that he should stay there until he was sent for. He had not yet seen his father even once; but with his inborn wisdom and discipline and natural love for his father, he soon recovered his burning enthusiasm and made excellent use of this enforced stay. Thousands of Sikhs from far and near poured in for darsham of their future Lord and for his blessing. It is said that on one occasion when Pir Araf Din, well-known for his godliness and powers of vision passed by the place where Govind Rai was playing with his mates, he stepped out of his planquin on seeing the child, bowed to him and again bowed and then departed. Such obeisances to a Kafir were taken as an insult by his followers. To their protest the Pir’s words were: "Shall I stand rudely erect before the Lord, simply because He has chosen to illumine the person of a non-Moslem? No, friends, give up this narrow mentality. Bow to him wherever you meet him. At least I would do that, come what may."
Sayyid Bhikkun, the well-known Fakir, also came to see Govind Rai at Lakhnaur. His followers too raised a protest against his saluting a Kafir. He explained to them that he was right; he ordered for two baskets of sweets, one from a Moslem and another from a Hindu and placed them before the young Govind who placed a hand on each and sent for a third on which he placed both his hands. This act of young Govind was clearly symbolic of both Hindus and Moslems being held dear to him and of a new order distinct from both which he would perfect. Such was the outlook of the lad even before he completed his seventh year. After a seven months’ stay at Lakhnaur, he and the party received his father’s orders to proceed to Anandpur. There was rejoicing everywhere in the city; people poured out in thousands to see the son of Guru Tej Bahadur. For days together, there was a regular mela. Everyone was delighted to hear him talk and regarded his speech as charming and novel since he brought with him the peculiar accent and dialect of Patna. He knew the Gurumukhi characters and could recite many of the sacred poems of Guru Nanak. And in a few days, his regular education began. Arrangements were made for a thorough study of the "Sacred Book”, for the learning of Sanskrit and Persian, and for special training in the use of arms and horsemanship.
Sayyid Bhikkun, the well-known Fakir, also came to see Govind Rai at Lakhnaur. His followers too raised a protest against his saluting a Kafir. He explained to them that he was right; he ordered for two baskets of sweets, one from a Moslem and another from a Hindu and placed them before the young Govind who placed a hand on each and sent for a third on which he placed both his hands. This act of young Govind was clearly symbolic of both Hindus and Moslems being held dear to him and of a new order distinct from both which he would perfect. Such was the outlook of the lad even before he completed his seventh year.
After a seven months’ stay at Lakhnaur, he and the party received his father’s orders to proceed to Anandpur. There was rejoicing everywhere in the city; people poured out in thousands to see the son of Guru Tej Bahadur. For days together, there was a regular mela. Everyone was delighted to hear him talk and regarded his speech as charming and novel since he brought with him the peculiar accent and dialect of Patna. He knew the Gurumukhi characters and could recite many of the sacred poems of Guru Nanak. And in a few days, his regular education began. Arrangements were made for a thorough study of the "Sacred Book”, for the learning of Sanskrit and Persian, and for special training in the use of arms and horsemanship.
hese were perhaps the happiest years of his life under the fostering care of his father, mother, uncle, grandmother and other Sikhs who held him in loving adoration. But, alas! those days were soon to pass; for, Guru Tej Bahadur was well-known for his piety, holiness and heart-a heart which would not refuse help to any people in distress. He was now approached for advice by the Pandits of Kashmir who had been asked by their Viceroy to choose between Islam and death. It was a perplexing problem for the Guru and he thought that if a pure and holy person laid down his life in his endeavours to illuminate the darkened soul of the bigoted Emperor, it may awaken at least the sleeping soul of the people and have an ennobling effect on them. The Guru naturally thought that there were holier men than he, and that it is the holiest man that must offer himself for the sacrifice. His face betrayed care and anxiety to the smart intelligence of Govind. On learning the nature of his father’s problem, the young son solved it saying; "Father, who is holier in the land than you ?” This astonishing willingness of the son to sacrifice his father confirmed the Guru’s belief in the singular greatness of Govind Rai. He immediately addressed the Pandits assembled there: “Go and tell your Governor that you would embrace Islam, if I would do it.” The Pandits soon prepared a petition to that effect which was sent to the Emperor along with the report of the Viceroy of Kashmir. The Guru’s presence was now desired in the Imperial Court at Delhi. He thought of reforming the oppressor by peaceful persuasion if possible, but was determined to lay down his life for the sake of the elementary human right of religious freedom that was being denied to the weak and oppressed people of the country. He started at once and reached Delhi after seeing his Sikhs on or near the way and infusing into them the spirit of suffering and sacrifice for the sake of justice and truth, freedom and God. The Great Moghul saw him: heard his counsels, remained firm, and offered the alternative, which in the words of Sri J.N. Sarkar, all Muslim theologians, except the great and liberal-minded Imam Hanifa laid down for the Hindus, namely, Islam or death. The Guru gave not his faith and resolve; he gave his head. We need not go into the details of this horror; suffice it to say that a daring Sikh took the body that was exposed in the street as an object lesson for the infidels and cremated it by setting fire to his house. The head was taken to Anandpur where Govind Rai cremated it. (1675 A.D.) What words can describe the thoughts that revolved in his mind, the fire that was burning in his heart, when at the tender age of ten, Guru Govind was called upon to undertake the heroic mission of remedying the wrongs of the oppressive Emperor and the holy mission of loyally carrying out the social and religious reforms of the Gurus! He first spent some years in seclusion, devoted his time to poetry and literature and gathered round him an army of poets and scholars some of whom were employed to render into Hindi poetry from Sanskrit the inspiring stories of the ancient Hindus—especially of Sri Rama, Sri Krishna and Arjuna. He himself wrote and developed a style of Hindi poetry that remains unsurpassed to this day. Poetry was indeed a heritage from his fore-fathers. People assembled in his Durbar to listen to the recital of these poetic compositions that were attuned to martial music.
hese were perhaps the happiest years of his life under the fostering care of his father, mother, uncle, grandmother and other Sikhs who held him in loving adoration. But, alas! those days were soon to pass; for, Guru Tej Bahadur was well-known for his piety, holiness and heart-a heart which would not refuse help to any people in distress. He was now approached for advice by the Pandits of Kashmir who had been asked by their Viceroy to choose between Islam and death. It was a perplexing problem for the Guru and he thought that if a pure and holy person laid down his life in his endeavours to illuminate the darkened soul of the bigoted Emperor, it may awaken at least the sleeping soul of the people and have an ennobling effect on them. The Guru naturally thought that there were holier men than he, and that it is the holiest man that must offer himself for the sacrifice. His face betrayed care and anxiety to the smart intelligence of Govind. On learning the nature of his father’s problem, the young son solved it saying; "Father, who is holier in the land than you ?” This astonishing willingness of the son to sacrifice his father confirmed the Guru’s belief in the singular greatness of Govind Rai. He immediately addressed the Pandits assembled there: “Go and tell your Governor that you would embrace Islam, if I would do it.” The Pandits soon prepared a petition to that effect which was sent to the Emperor along with the report of the Viceroy of Kashmir.
The Guru’s presence was now desired in the Imperial Court at Delhi. He thought of reforming the oppressor by peaceful persuasion if possible, but was determined to lay down his life for the sake of the elementary human right of religious freedom that was being denied to the weak and oppressed people of the country. He started at once and reached Delhi after seeing his Sikhs on or near the way and infusing into them the spirit of suffering and sacrifice for the sake of justice and truth, freedom and God. The Great Moghul saw him: heard his counsels, remained firm, and offered the alternative, which in the words of Sri J.N. Sarkar, all Muslim theologians, except the great and liberal-minded Imam Hanifa laid down for the Hindus, namely, Islam or death. The Guru gave not his faith and resolve; he gave his head. We need not go into the details of this horror; suffice it to say that a daring Sikh took the body that was exposed in the street as an object lesson for the infidels and cremated it by setting fire to his house. The head was taken to Anandpur where Govind Rai cremated it. (1675 A.D.)
What words can describe the thoughts that revolved in his mind, the fire that was burning in his heart, when at the tender age of ten, Guru Govind was called upon to undertake the heroic mission of remedying the wrongs of the oppressive Emperor and the holy mission of loyally carrying out the social and religious reforms of the Gurus! He first spent some years in seclusion, devoted his time to poetry and literature and gathered round him an army of poets and scholars some of whom were employed to render into Hindi poetry from Sanskrit the inspiring stories of the ancient Hindus—especially of Sri Rama, Sri Krishna and Arjuna. He himself wrote and developed a style of Hindi poetry that remains unsurpassed to this day. Poetry was indeed a heritage from his fore-fathers. People assembled in his Durbar to listen to the recital of these poetic compositions that were attuned to martial music.
These soul-stirring songs of the glorious deeds of the Hindu heroes in the past sung by the bards in the Guru’s Durbar formed part of the daily programme and they lifted from the lowly depths to a sublime and heroic eminence the spirit of the hearers who were mostly from the lower strata of society-washermen and barbers, sweepers and confectioners who had never seen a sword or handled a gun. When music and art were banished from the Delhi Court since the personal religion of Aurangzeb could not brook such luxuries, many artists and men of talent took service with the Guru. Offerings to the Guru poured from loyal Sikh devotees even from distant places and some of these presents were unique and magnified the glory of the Guru’s Durbar at Anandpur. One or two of them may be mentioned here. A Sikh from Kabul offered a tent on which scenes of beauty and objects of marvel were embroidered in gold and silver and its magnificence is said to have surpassed that of the Emperor’s tent. Raja Rattan Rai of Assam with his mother came to pay his respects to the Guru. Among his offerings were five horses with splendid trappings; a singular weapon (specially prepared knowing the Guru’s fondness for weapons) out of which five sorts of arms could be turned out: club, lance, sword, dagger and pistol; and a wonderful elephant which "waved a fan or chauri over the Guru, held a jug of water in its trunk while the Guru’s feet were being washed, wiped his feet with a towel, placed his shoes in order, fetched the arrows shot by him and did many other things that astonished the spectators." The glory of the Guru was increasing; he brought about by quiet and steady attempt the transformation of his followers into saint-soldiers; he introduced a new form of drill for them and took his food after personally supervising the langar or free kitcher distributing food to all his men who were treated as equals without caste distinction. A new war-drum was introduced and beaten at appropriate hours. Every day new recruits were enlisted in his army and the whole atmosphere of Anandpur breathed the spirit of heroism fed by religious fervour.
These soul-stirring songs of the glorious deeds of the Hindu heroes in the past sung by the bards in the Guru’s Durbar formed part of the daily programme and they lifted from the lowly depths to a sublime and heroic eminence the spirit of the hearers who were mostly from the lower strata of society-washermen and barbers, sweepers and confectioners who had never seen a sword or handled a gun. When music and art were banished from the Delhi Court since the personal religion of Aurangzeb could not brook such luxuries, many artists and men of talent took service with the Guru. Offerings to the Guru poured from loyal Sikh devotees even from distant places and some of these presents were unique and magnified the glory of the Guru’s Durbar at Anandpur. One or two of them may be mentioned here. A Sikh from Kabul offered a tent on which scenes of beauty and objects of marvel were embroidered in gold and silver and its magnificence is said to have surpassed that of the Emperor’s tent. Raja Rattan Rai of Assam with his mother came to pay his respects to the Guru. Among his offerings were five horses with splendid trappings; a singular weapon (specially prepared knowing the Guru’s fondness for weapons) out of which five sorts of arms could be turned out: club, lance, sword, dagger and pistol; and a wonderful elephant which "waved a fan or chauri over the Guru, held a jug of water in its trunk while the Guru’s feet were being washed, wiped his feet with a towel, placed his shoes in order, fetched the arrows shot by him and did many other things that astonished the spectators."
The glory of the Guru was increasing; he brought about by quiet and steady attempt the transformation of his followers into saint-soldiers; he introduced a new form of drill for them and took his food after personally supervising the langar or free kitcher distributing food to all his men who were treated as equals without caste distinction. A new war-drum was introduced and beaten at appropriate hours. Every day new recruits were enlisted in his army and the whole atmosphere of Anandpur breathed the spirit of heroism fed by religious fervour.
The hill-chiefs were watching the growing and prospering condition of the Guru’s Durbar. The chief among them, Rajah Bhimchand himself, had once seen and coveted the curious elephant and made many treacherous but unsuccessful attempts to get possession of it. He now considered the beating of the Guru’s war-drum a challenge to his authority and objected to it. But the Guru did not stop the drum in spite of the nervousness of his men and his mother’s persuasion. He said to the Raja: “I live in a city which my father purchased with gold and not in your territory. I am not your subject. As for your threat of war, you will find me always ready. I cannot let go the pershadi elephant to anybody’s service, since the wishes of my Sikhs are dearer to me than life.” Meanwhile the Guru built a fortress on the Jumna and named it Paunta. Here he lived for three years devoting his time to literary work. One day when the Guru was engaged in conversing with two hill-chiefs, tidings came of the havoc of a fierce tiger; some say it was a white lion. The Guru and the party immediately started and were led into the forest where the animal had his lair. The Guru called upon anyone in the party who considered himself brave to engage the animal with sword and shield without discharging a single bullet or arrow. No one ventured. At last Guru Govind took the sword and shield and challenged the tiger. He rose with a roar and sprang on the Guru who received him on the shield and striking him with the sword on the flank cut him in twain. "The tiger has died like a hero and obtains deliverance,” said Guru Govind. “It is cowards who suffer transmigration. If a man dies in battle, it should be with his face to the foe.” Such was the bravery of Guru Govind.
The hill-chiefs were watching the growing and prospering condition of the Guru’s Durbar. The chief among them, Rajah Bhimchand himself, had once seen and coveted the curious elephant and made many treacherous but unsuccessful attempts to get possession of it. He now considered the beating of the Guru’s war-drum a challenge to his authority and objected to it. But the Guru did not stop the drum in spite of the nervousness of his men and his mother’s persuasion. He said to the Raja: “I live in a city which my father purchased with gold and not in your territory. I am not your subject. As for your threat of war, you will find me always ready. I cannot let go the pershadi elephant to anybody’s service, since the wishes of my Sikhs are dearer to me than life.”
Meanwhile the Guru built a fortress on the Jumna and named it Paunta. Here he lived for three years devoting his time to literary work. One day when the Guru was engaged in conversing with two hill-chiefs, tidings came of the havoc of a fierce tiger; some say it was a white lion. The Guru and the party immediately started and were led into the forest where the animal had his lair. The Guru called upon anyone in the party who considered himself brave to engage the animal with sword and shield without discharging a single bullet or arrow. No one ventured. At last Guru Govind took the sword and shield and challenged the tiger. He rose with a roar and sprang on the Guru who received him on the shield and striking him with the sword on the flank cut him in twain. "The tiger has died like a hero and obtains deliverance,” said Guru Govind. “It is cowards who suffer transmigration. If a man dies in battle, it should be with his face to the foe.” Such was the bravery of Guru Govind.
A few miles from Paunta lived Sayyid Budhu Shah held in high esteem for godliness and religious learning. With his followers he came to see the Guru. The dignity of his position prevented him from bowing to the Guru who welcomed and seated him by his side. He wanted to know how union with God could be obtained. The Guru said: “God dwells in every heart. In our ignorance we get entangled in love of our own world. ... Thus it is our self, the ego that conceals the Lord from our view... ... When we learn to bear ourselves to conformity with the Divine Will, attune ourselves to the Infinite, the screen is torn asunder and what we had vainly searched for in mountains and forests, is revealed enthroned in our hearts. We lose ourselves in Him, and find Him in ourselves. Then we are His and He is ours for ever.” These words of deep spiritual wisdom went straight into Budhu Shah’s heart, and he fell at the Guru’s feet. A few years later, when his two sons joined the Guru’s forces and fought in the Battle of Bhangani, he rejoiced that his sons were blessed with a glorious death in the cause of the Guru. The Guru was then pleased and blessed him with Nam Dan or the gift of His Name, a gift considered more precious than the most valuable worldly gift. He gave him also a robe of honour, a sword, a turban, a Hukumnama, and an order to the Sikhs that the Sayyid and his offspring should be treated with respect. Sayyid Budhu Shah begged the Guru who was combing his hair at the time to give him the comb with his loose hair as a sacred souvenir. The Guru readily granted them and the Guru’s comb, hair and sword are even now preserved in the present Sikh State of Nabha.
The hill-chiefs, in spite of their mutual dissensions and quarrels among themselves, waited for some pretext or opportunity to attack the forces of the Guru and Bhimchand was the chief among them. On the occasion of the daughter’s marriage of a hill-chief, the Guru was invited and he sent his finance minister with marriage presents and 500 soldiers as a safeguard against the treacherous chiefs. The minister had to return (without giving the marriage presents) and on the way the Guru’s forces were attacked by Bhimchand’s army. The Guru stationed his troops a few miles from Paunta near the village Bhangani where a fierce battle was fought. Many died on both the sides. The chiefs fled. The Guru’s army returned victorious. The Guru stayed at Anandpur for the next four or five years and retired to Naini Devi Hill where he remained for one year in complete seclusion deeply absorbed in thought. Nobody was allowed to approach him; his time was divided between divine meditation and literary work. This was about the year 1699 A.D. His body and mind appeared changed to a great degree. He was so unlike what he usually was, that some of his friends were even anxious about his mental equilibrium. Before his return to Anandpur he had sent orders to his Sikhs that they should allow their hair to grow to their natural length. Now he invited them to muster stronger than usual for that year’s Baishakhi festival. To them he had to deliver, he said, his Lord’s message, the fruit of his recent long meditation in seclusion. A few days before the Baishakhi day, he had great festival and contrary to custom he did not invite the Brahmans to form the first batch of feasters, but sent for them after his Sikhs’ dinner was over. By this he invited the impotent wrath of the Brahmans. At the same time he made it clear to them and through them to the other castes that no caste was by birth superior to the other and that the Guru’s principle was to judge men by their quality and action and treat them accordingly.
The hill-chiefs, in spite of their mutual dissensions and quarrels among themselves, waited for some pretext or opportunity to attack the forces of the Guru and Bhimchand was the chief among them. On the occasion of the daughter’s marriage of a hill-chief, the Guru was invited and he sent his finance minister with marriage presents and 500 soldiers as a safeguard against the treacherous chiefs. The minister had to return (without giving the marriage presents) and on the way the Guru’s forces were attacked by Bhimchand’s army. The Guru stationed his troops a few miles from Paunta near the village Bhangani where a fierce battle was fought. Many died on both the sides. The chiefs fled. The Guru’s army returned victorious.
The Guru stayed at Anandpur for the next four or five years and retired to Naini Devi Hill where he remained for one year in complete seclusion deeply absorbed in thought. Nobody was allowed to approach him; his time was divided between divine meditation and literary work. This was about the year 1699 A.D. His body and mind appeared changed to a great degree. He was so unlike what he usually was, that some of his friends were even anxious about his mental equilibrium. Before his return to Anandpur he had sent orders to his Sikhs that they should allow their hair to grow to their natural length. Now he invited them to muster stronger than usual for that year’s Baishakhi festival. To them he had to deliver, he said, his Lord’s message, the fruit of his recent long meditation in seclusion. A few days before the Baishakhi day, he had great festival and contrary to custom he did not invite the Brahmans to form the first batch of feasters, but sent for them after his Sikhs’ dinner was over. By this he invited the impotent wrath of the Brahmans. At the same time he made it clear to them and through them to the other castes that no caste was by birth superior to the other and that the Guru’s principle was to judge men by their quality and action and treat them accordingly.
The day before the first Baishakhi (April, 1699 A.D.) a great gathering was held in a beautiful and spacious tent. Divine music roused the soul of the gathering to the highest pitch. When the chanting of the sacred hymns was finished the Guru went inside the tent; when he came out after a time, his face manifested his mighty resolve; his eyes beamed with rich and ruddy lustres, the naked sword glistened in his uplifted arm. Brandishing his sword, in a voice of thunder, he addressed the assembly: "My devoted friends, this Goddess is daily clamouring for the head of a dear Sikh. Is there any one among you all ready to lay down his life at a call from me?" What an amazing call! People were bewildered; some thought him insane, but all trembled. There was dead silence. Who would agree to be killed by a mad man or by one-a religious head—who was expected to protect his followers? The Guru wondered whether his Sikhs would act up to his teachings. A third time he asked for a true follower who would lay down his life at a call from him. Bhai Daya Rama, a Lahore Khatri aged 30 stood up and said: “O True King my head is at thy service......!” The Guru took him by the arm to the tent with hurry and violence. A blow and a thud were heard; a stream of blood rushed out; and the Guru, his sword dripping with fresh-drawn blood, called for another head. People now thought that he was in earnest and were convinced that he had killed Bhai Daya Ram. Bhai Dharm Singh, a Jat of Delhi offered his head. The Guru repeated the process-inside the tent, a blow, a thud, a fresh stream of blood. In this manner three more Sikhs one by one offered themselves; they were Bhai Mukham Chand, washerman, Bhai Sahib Chand, a barber and Bhai Himmat Rai, a potter of Puri. The last time, the Guru stayed longer in the tent. He came out, with cheerful eyes and face beaming with joy. He was followed by five who looked strangely like him. They were the Panch Pajare, the beloved five who had offered to lay down their lives. The Guru’s sword was falling upon goats secretly placed in the tent. People who hesitated to respond to the Guru’s call were now sorry. But the Guru consoled them: ’My dear ones, prompt response is not given to all. Some who were weak and self-willed fled from my presence and thought me mad; they are Manmukhs. You did not desert me, though you had not the courage to respond to my call; therefore you are Sammukhs, dear to me. But these five, who resigned themselves to the Guru’s will are Gurumukhs. Be of good cheer. This is yet the beginning. I tested and am satisfied with the fidelity and courage of my Sikhs.” The Guru’s mother heard it all from him with delight and blessed him.
The day before the first Baishakhi (April, 1699 A.D.) a great gathering was held in a beautiful and spacious tent. Divine music roused the soul of the gathering to the highest pitch. When the chanting of the sacred hymns was finished the Guru went inside the tent; when he came out after a time, his face manifested his mighty resolve; his eyes beamed with rich and ruddy lustres, the naked sword glistened in his uplifted arm. Brandishing his sword, in a voice of thunder, he addressed the assembly: "My devoted friends, this Goddess is daily clamouring for the head of a dear Sikh. Is there any one among you all ready to lay down his life at a call from me?"
What an amazing call! People were bewildered; some thought him insane, but all trembled. There was dead silence. Who would agree to be killed by a mad man or by one-a religious head—who was expected to protect his followers? The Guru wondered whether his Sikhs would act up to his teachings. A third time he asked for a true follower who would lay down his life at a call from him. Bhai Daya Rama, a Lahore Khatri aged 30 stood up and said: “O True King my head is at thy service......!”
The Guru took him by the arm to the tent with hurry and violence. A blow and a thud were heard; a stream of blood rushed out; and the Guru, his sword dripping with fresh-drawn blood, called for another head. People now thought that he was in earnest and were convinced that he had killed Bhai Daya Ram. Bhai Dharm Singh, a Jat of Delhi offered his head. The Guru repeated the process-inside the tent, a blow, a thud, a fresh stream of blood. In this manner three more Sikhs one by one offered themselves; they were Bhai Mukham Chand, washerman, Bhai Sahib Chand, a barber and Bhai Himmat Rai, a potter of Puri. The last time, the Guru stayed longer in the tent. He came out, with cheerful eyes and face beaming with joy. He was followed by five who looked strangely like him. They were the Panch Pajare, the beloved five who had offered to lay down their lives. The Guru’s sword was falling upon goats secretly placed in the tent. People who hesitated to respond to the Guru’s call were now sorry. But the Guru consoled them: ’My dear ones, prompt response is not given to all. Some who were weak and self-willed fled from my presence and thought me mad; they are Manmukhs. You did not desert me, though you had not the courage to respond to my call; therefore you are Sammukhs, dear to me. But these five, who resigned themselves to the Guru’s will are Gurumukhs. Be of good cheer. This is yet the beginning. I tested and am satisfied with the fidelity and courage of my Sikhs.” The Guru’s mother heard it all from him with delight and blessed him.
Next day was the great festival day. The Sangat again met on the same spot. The Guru in white robes sat on the throne and in his address explained the significance of the new initiation ceremony. The Sikh baptism in the past was for the disciple to drink the water touched with the Guru’s toe called charan pahoul. Now, the Guru substituted it with Khande Ka Amrit, baptism by water, stirred with a two edged sword. “This Nectar, the Divine sword and my spirit, dissolved in it,” said he, "shall work a miracle in those who take it. The Sikhs or disciples will be brave like Singhs lions. All castes are equally welcome.” After preparing the Nectar, into which were poured sweets brought by the mother of the Khalsa to temper its potency with the sweetness of the soul, the Guru baptized the beloved five one by one and said: “This is the ’Khalsa’ the pure band of selfless servants belonging to the wonderful Lord.” Next the Guru himself got baptized by the beloved five! Then many Sikhs came forward to receive the new baptism. Every Sikh who got baptized became a Singh and was called upon to wear five symbols, called Panch Kahara, each beginning with the letter K-viz. Kesh (unshorn hair), Kripan (sword), Kachch (breeches), Kankana or Kara (iron ring worn on the turban or iron bangle worn on the wrist) and Kangha (comb for dressing the hair).
The incentive to increase the Khalsa came from the combined forces of the hill-chiefs who attacked it many a time at Anandpur and during the Guru’s absence on occasions. The Guru advised them to receive the Nectar and fight the Moslem foes, and this was the response they gave. When they were repulsed and tasted the mighty steel of the master, they petitioned to the great Moghul and Wazir Khan, the Governor of Sarhind was authorised to besiege Anandpur and bring the Guru to the Emperor’s Court. Many of the Sikhs deserted the Guru who fought the imperial forces with the help of the few faithful left with him. At last he left Anandpur and on his way to Chamkaur he was again attacked. The first two of his young sons died the hero’s death. His last two sons with their grandmother had escaped. But they were betrayed by a Brahman mercenary and put to a cruel death when they refused to embrace Islam. The Guru with three Sikhs went alone, halting at many places. Some of the deserters repented and joined him again; he defended himself against far larger forces sent to capture him. The Battle of Muktasar was fought by forty Sikhs against thousands of the Emperor’s forces. A woman, Mai Bhago, played a marvellous part in this battle. The Guru then received a letter from Aurangzeb giving his assurances and asking for a personal meeting. The Guru’s Zafarnama or the epistle to the Emperor is a notable document showing how in weal and woe he was the same undaunted hero. In that letter, the Guru accused him of treachery and said that he could not believe in his professions of religion, and that he was very ungodly in all his religious practices and policy. It is said that Aurangzeb was touched by that letter, and soon after he died. By the help of the Guru, Bahadur Shah became Aurangzeb’s successor and after his installation, the Guru travelled to the South and at Nander in the Nizam’s State) he established himself reproducing another Anandpur. Here a Bairagi became the Guru’s devotee and "Banda”, slave. He received the Guru’s commission to avenge the wrongdoers in the North and he did his work splendidly as the temporal head of the Khalsa.
The incentive to increase the Khalsa came from the combined forces of the hill-chiefs who attacked it many a time at Anandpur and during the Guru’s absence on occasions. The Guru advised them to receive the Nectar and fight the Moslem foes, and this was the response they gave. When they were repulsed and tasted the mighty steel of the master, they petitioned to the great Moghul and Wazir Khan, the Governor of Sarhind was authorised to besiege Anandpur and bring the Guru to the Emperor’s Court. Many of the Sikhs deserted the Guru who fought the imperial forces with the help of the few faithful left with him. At last he left Anandpur and on his way to Chamkaur he was again attacked. The first two of his young sons died the hero’s death. His last two sons with their grandmother had escaped. But they were betrayed by a Brahman mercenary and put to a cruel death when they refused to embrace Islam. The Guru with three Sikhs went alone, halting at many places. Some of the deserters repented and joined him again; he defended himself against far larger forces sent to capture him. The Battle of Muktasar was fought by forty Sikhs against thousands of the Emperor’s forces. A woman, Mai Bhago, played a marvellous part in this battle. The Guru then received a letter from Aurangzeb giving his assurances and asking for a personal meeting. The Guru’s Zafarnama or the epistle to the Emperor is a notable document showing how in weal and woe he was the same undaunted hero. In that letter, the Guru accused him of treachery and said that he could not believe in his professions of religion, and that he was very ungodly in all his religious practices and policy. It is said that Aurangzeb was touched by that letter, and soon after he died.
By the help of the Guru, Bahadur Shah became Aurangzeb’s successor and after his installation, the Guru travelled to the South and at Nander in the Nizam’s State) he established himself reproducing another Anandpur. Here a Bairagi became the Guru’s devotee and "Banda”, slave. He received the Guru’s commission to avenge the wrongdoers in the North and he did his work splendidly as the temporal head of the Khalsa.
At Nander, the Guru was one day stabbed by an Afghan whom, immediately after receiving the stab, he killed with sword, but he himself succumbed after a few days. Previous to his coming to Nander, he had dictated and Bhai Mani Singh had taken down the Guru Granth Sahib embodying the light of the teaching of the ten Gurus. He had already appointed his successor, the Khalsa, which was to take the leadership of the community. Before his final departure, he came to the Durbar and counselled calm and quiet devotion to his Sikhs. “Grieve not over my departure. I shall ever be in the midst of my Khalsa. Whenever you need guidance, gather in the presence of the Guru Granth Sahib, discuss and decide matters in the light of the Granth Sahib. I return to the city where there is no sorrow.... Let none weep after me or build any shrine in my honour.” The Guru then performed a formal ceremony and placed five pice before the sacred book and said: The Panth, the Khalsa, I formed and helped it grow. For the Eternal Father had ordained it so. Hear yea all my Sikhs the Father’s behests for the future! From to-day, the Granth, the Divine word is the Master! The Guru Granth is the embodiment in visible form of all the Gurus, With a heart, pure and clean, with a faith, unbounded and serene, Let the Khalsa seek the Master in his word; For the word, the Granth, is the Guru, the Master from to-day.
At Nander, the Guru was one day stabbed by an Afghan whom, immediately after receiving the stab, he killed with sword, but he himself succumbed after a few days.
Previous to his coming to Nander, he had dictated and Bhai Mani Singh had taken down the Guru Granth Sahib embodying the light of the teaching of the ten Gurus. He had already appointed his successor, the Khalsa, which was to take the leadership of the community. Before his final departure, he came to the Durbar and counselled calm and quiet devotion to his Sikhs. “Grieve not over my departure. I shall ever be in the midst of my Khalsa. Whenever you need guidance, gather in the presence of the Guru Granth Sahib, discuss and decide matters in the light of the Granth Sahib. I return to the city where there is no sorrow.... Let none weep after me or build any shrine in my honour.”
The Guru then performed a formal ceremony and placed five pice before the sacred book and said:
The Panth, the Khalsa, I formed and helped it grow.
For the Eternal Father had ordained it so.
Hear yea all my Sikhs the Father’s behests for the future!
From to-day, the Granth, the Divine word is the Master!
The Guru Granth is the embodiment in visible form of all the Gurus,
With a heart, pure and clean, with a faith, unbounded and serene,
Let the Khalsa seek the Master in his word;
For the word, the Granth, is the Guru, the Master from to-day.
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