(c) Copyright of Prabuddha Biswas
1. NANAK DEV WAS AT PAR WITH OTHER GREAT INDIAN SAINTS, RAMANAND, KABIR AND CHAITANYA, WHO DENOUNCED PRIEST-CRAFT, HYPOCRISY AND IDOLATRY OF THE CONTEMPORARY HINDU RELIGION
2. NANAK DEV TRAVELLED FAR AND WIDE FROM MECCA TO JAGANNATH PURI
3. THE PLACES IN BIHAR, VISITED BY GURU NANAK, INCLUDE GAYA, BODH GAYA, RAJGIR, RAJAULI, PATNA, BAIDYANATH DHAM, MUNGER, BHAGALPUR, KAHALGAON, SAHEBGANJ AND RAJMAHAL
4. SOJOURN OF GURU NANAK DEV IN BIHAR
SIGNIFICANCE OF 15TH CENTURY
At a time when Martin Luther King and Calvin were striking hard in Europe at the errors that had crept into Christianity; in India, Saints, such as RAMANAND and KABIR, CHAITANYA and NANAK, were denouncing with considerable success priestcraft, hypocrisy and idolatory.
1. We can trace the contact of Sikhism with Bihar as early as the close of the 15th Century, when its founder, Guru Nanak, visited this province. He went on long tours with his companion Mardana, the rebeck-player.
2. The main source of our information about the travels of Guru Nanak are his old biographies, known as JANAM SAKHIS, and “the accounts of the journeys, as embodied in them, are a mass of myth and marvel, with here and there a stray fact peeping forth helpless and feeble, from that same heap of fairy tales pressing and choking it on all sides,” according to Chajju Singh Bawa (THE TEN MASTERS AND THEIR TEACHINGS, Lahore, 1903, page 97).
3. GAYA
i. The first place visited by the Guru Nanak was Gaya. It is said that the Guru was urged upon by Brahmans in Gaya to perform the ceremony of PITRI DAN (i.e. to give some offerings to the Pandits in the name of his fore-fathers).
ii. The Guru Nanak refused to do so and took Brahmans to task. Nanak took the Brahmans to task for their ignorance and explained them which are contained in the GRANTH SAHIB (Rag Asa, Mahla 1, Page 358).
iii. After some argumentation, the Brahmans realized the truth of what the Guru Nanak had said. They fell at Guru Nanak’s feet and sought his blessings.
4. BODH GAYA
i. The Guru is said to have stayed at Gaya for some time and next paid his visit to Bodh Gaya, associated with the name of Lord Buddha.
ii. The Mahanth of this place was Devgir.
iii. He was so much influenced by the teachings and towering personality of the Guru that he became his disciple.
5. RAJGIR
i. Rajgir, the old capital of Magadh and once part of the kingdom of Jarasand of Mahabharat, is also included by Sikh writers among the places visited by Guru Nanak.
ii. The place is famous for hot springs of several Rishis and Guru Nanak’s name is associated with cold spring or reservoir, where he is said to have taken bath.
iii. The said reservoir, a very small one and having little water in it, is just opposite the hot springs and at the bottom of VIPULA or BIPULACHAL as Buchanan calls it.
iv. There is no mention of Guru Nanak’s Kund in the old records, with the exception of the one reference made by Broadely who is of the opinion that SURAJ KUND or NANAK KUND was one and the same thing.
v. “A fair was being held their (Rajgir) when the Guru (Nanak) visited Rajgir,” according to Khazan Singh (HISTORY AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE SIKH RELIGION, Part I, Lahore, 1914, Page 83).
vi. Even today, the MALMAS FAIR is held at Rajgir, every year in the month of BHADRAPADA.
6. PATNA
i. The Guru then proceeded on his journey and all later biographers mention PATNA as his next place of halt.
ii. Guru Nanak is said to have stayed and preached at Patna for a long time and his preaching had profound impact on the citizens of Patna.
iii. The first one to feel the impulse was a jeweller, Salis Rai, whose mansion stood at the very place , which represents the site of the present sacred HARMANDIR SAHEB.
iv. He was not only converted to Sikhism but also appointed as a missionary of that religion in these regions.
7. BAIDYANATH DHAM
i. After staying in Patna for a good deal of time, the Guru continued his journey and visited BAIDYANATH.
ii. It is said there is MANJI SAHIB towards the east of the Baidyanath Temple where he preached Brahma Gyan.
8. OTHER PLACES OF EASTERN BIHAR
i. From Baidyanath, passing through MUNGER, BHAGALPUR, KAHALGAON, SAHEBGANJ and RAJMAHAL, the Guru Nanak reached MALDA (now in West Bengal).
ii. The memory of Guru Nanak’s visit to Kahalgaon is still fresh in the minds of the people.
iii. Just near the town of Kahalgaon, there are three rocky islets in the bed of the Ganges. One of them called GURU NANAK SHAH KA PAHAR, was found inhabited by UDASHI SADHU, named Shanti Baba, in 1940s; who was always engaged in meditation and prayer according to Dr. Ved Prakash, former HOD, Guru Govind Singh College, Patna (Comprehensive History of Bihar, Volume II, Part II)
9. A later publication also includes RAJAULI (Nawada District) among the places visited by the Guru Nanak.
PICTURES
1. Guru Nanak
2. Guru Nanak with Bhai Bala and Bhai Mardana and Sikh Gurus
At a time when Martin Luther King and Calvin were striking hard in Europe at the errors that had crept into Christianity; in India, Saints, such as RAMANAND and KABIR, CHAITANYA and NANAK, were denouncing with considerable success priestcraft, hypocrisy and idolatory.
1. We can trace the contact of Sikhism with Bihar as early as the close of the 15th Century, when its founder, Guru Nanak, visited this province. He went on long tours with his companion Mardana, the rebeck-player.
2. The main source of our information about the travels of Guru Nanak are his old biographies, known as JANAM SAKHIS, and “the accounts of the journeys, as embodied in them, are a mass of myth and marvel, with here and there a stray fact peeping forth helpless and feeble, from that same heap of fairy tales pressing and choking it on all sides,” according to Chajju Singh Bawa (THE TEN MASTERS AND THEIR TEACHINGS, Lahore, 1903, page 97).
3. GAYA
i. The first place visited by the Guru Nanak was Gaya. It is said that the Guru was urged upon by Brahmans in Gaya to perform the ceremony of PITRI DAN (i.e. to give some offerings to the Pandits in the name of his fore-fathers).
ii. The Guru Nanak refused to do so and took Brahmans to task. Nanak took the Brahmans to task for their ignorance and explained them which are contained in the GRANTH SAHIB (Rag Asa, Mahla 1, Page 358).
iii. After some argumentation, the Brahmans realized the truth of what the Guru Nanak had said. They fell at Guru Nanak’s feet and sought his blessings.
i. The first place visited by the Guru Nanak was Gaya. It is said that the Guru was urged upon by Brahmans in Gaya to perform the ceremony of PITRI DAN (i.e. to give some offerings to the Pandits in the name of his fore-fathers).
ii. The Guru Nanak refused to do so and took Brahmans to task. Nanak took the Brahmans to task for their ignorance and explained them which are contained in the GRANTH SAHIB (Rag Asa, Mahla 1, Page 358).
iii. After some argumentation, the Brahmans realized the truth of what the Guru Nanak had said. They fell at Guru Nanak’s feet and sought his blessings.
4. BODH GAYA
i. The Guru is said to have stayed at Gaya for some time and next paid his visit to Bodh Gaya, associated with the name of Lord Buddha.
ii. The Mahanth of this place was Devgir.
iii. He was so much influenced by the teachings and towering personality of the Guru that he became his disciple.
i. The Guru is said to have stayed at Gaya for some time and next paid his visit to Bodh Gaya, associated with the name of Lord Buddha.
ii. The Mahanth of this place was Devgir.
iii. He was so much influenced by the teachings and towering personality of the Guru that he became his disciple.
5. RAJGIR
i. Rajgir, the old capital of Magadh and once part of the kingdom of Jarasand of Mahabharat, is also included by Sikh writers among the places visited by Guru Nanak.
ii. The place is famous for hot springs of several Rishis and Guru Nanak’s name is associated with cold spring or reservoir, where he is said to have taken bath.
iii. The said reservoir, a very small one and having little water in it, is just opposite the hot springs and at the bottom of VIPULA or BIPULACHAL as Buchanan calls it.
iv. There is no mention of Guru Nanak’s Kund in the old records, with the exception of the one reference made by Broadely who is of the opinion that SURAJ KUND or NANAK KUND was one and the same thing.
v. “A fair was being held their (Rajgir) when the Guru (Nanak) visited Rajgir,” according to Khazan Singh (HISTORY AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE SIKH RELIGION, Part I, Lahore, 1914, Page 83).
vi. Even today, the MALMAS FAIR is held at Rajgir, every year in the month of BHADRAPADA.
i. Rajgir, the old capital of Magadh and once part of the kingdom of Jarasand of Mahabharat, is also included by Sikh writers among the places visited by Guru Nanak.
ii. The place is famous for hot springs of several Rishis and Guru Nanak’s name is associated with cold spring or reservoir, where he is said to have taken bath.
iii. The said reservoir, a very small one and having little water in it, is just opposite the hot springs and at the bottom of VIPULA or BIPULACHAL as Buchanan calls it.
iv. There is no mention of Guru Nanak’s Kund in the old records, with the exception of the one reference made by Broadely who is of the opinion that SURAJ KUND or NANAK KUND was one and the same thing.
v. “A fair was being held their (Rajgir) when the Guru (Nanak) visited Rajgir,” according to Khazan Singh (HISTORY AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE SIKH RELIGION, Part I, Lahore, 1914, Page 83).
vi. Even today, the MALMAS FAIR is held at Rajgir, every year in the month of BHADRAPADA.
6. PATNA
i. The Guru then proceeded on his journey and all later biographers mention PATNA as his next place of halt.
ii. Guru Nanak is said to have stayed and preached at Patna for a long time and his preaching had profound impact on the citizens of Patna.
iii. The first one to feel the impulse was a jeweller, Salis Rai, whose mansion stood at the very place , which represents the site of the present sacred HARMANDIR SAHEB.
iv. He was not only converted to Sikhism but also appointed as a missionary of that religion in these regions.
i. The Guru then proceeded on his journey and all later biographers mention PATNA as his next place of halt.
ii. Guru Nanak is said to have stayed and preached at Patna for a long time and his preaching had profound impact on the citizens of Patna.
iii. The first one to feel the impulse was a jeweller, Salis Rai, whose mansion stood at the very place , which represents the site of the present sacred HARMANDIR SAHEB.
iv. He was not only converted to Sikhism but also appointed as a missionary of that religion in these regions.
7. BAIDYANATH DHAM
i. After staying in Patna for a good deal of time, the Guru continued his journey and visited BAIDYANATH.
ii. It is said there is MANJI SAHIB towards the east of the Baidyanath Temple where he preached Brahma Gyan.
i. After staying in Patna for a good deal of time, the Guru continued his journey and visited BAIDYANATH.
ii. It is said there is MANJI SAHIB towards the east of the Baidyanath Temple where he preached Brahma Gyan.
8. OTHER PLACES OF EASTERN BIHAR
i. From Baidyanath, passing through MUNGER, BHAGALPUR, KAHALGAON, SAHEBGANJ and RAJMAHAL, the Guru Nanak reached MALDA (now in West Bengal).
ii. The memory of Guru Nanak’s visit to Kahalgaon is still fresh in the minds of the people.
iii. Just near the town of Kahalgaon, there are three rocky islets in the bed of the Ganges. One of them called GURU NANAK SHAH KA PAHAR, was found inhabited by UDASHI SADHU, named Shanti Baba, in 1940s; who was always engaged in meditation and prayer according to Dr. Ved Prakash, former HOD, Guru Govind Singh College, Patna (Comprehensive History of Bihar, Volume II, Part II)
9. A later publication also includes RAJAULI (Nawada District) among the places visited by the Guru Nanak.
ii. The memory of Guru Nanak’s visit to Kahalgaon is still fresh in the minds of the people.
iii. Just near the town of Kahalgaon, there are three rocky islets in the bed of the Ganges. One of them called GURU NANAK SHAH KA PAHAR, was found inhabited by UDASHI SADHU, named Shanti Baba, in 1940s; who was always engaged in meditation and prayer according to Dr. Ved Prakash, former HOD, Guru Govind Singh College, Patna (Comprehensive History of Bihar, Volume II, Part II)
9. A later publication also includes RAJAULI (Nawada District) among the places visited by the Guru Nanak.
PICTURES
1. Guru Nanak
2. Guru Nanak with Bhai Bala and Bhai Mardana and Sikh Gurus
1. Guru Nanak
2. Guru Nanak with Bhai Bala and Bhai Mardana and Sikh Gurus
No comments:
Post a Comment