ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>BHAGAT (BHAKTA) B&#256&#7750&#298</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="BHAGAT,BHAKTA,BF*"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279BHAGAT (BHAKTA) B&#256&#7750&#298, The Sikh Holy Book, Sr&#299 Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib, comprises writings coming from two sources-the sayings of the Gur&#363s and those of the <i>Bhagats</i> (Bhaktas). The term Bhagat here broadly covers, besides some of the saints of medieval India whose compositions occur in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib, those outside of the Gur&#363 line whose compositions were entered in the holy book by Gur&#363 Arjan (1563-1606) who compiled the Granth. All these contributors are in common parlance collectively called Bhagats. Under this rubric <i>Bhagat</i> is also included Shai<u>kh</u> Far&#299d, the S&#363f&#299. Sometimes, the Bha&#7789&#7789s, i. e. bards, who kept the Gur&#363s company and who recited panegyrics in their honour, Satt&#257 and Balva&#7751&#7693 who sang <i>k&#299rtan</i> or devotional songs in their presence, and Mard&#257n&#257, Gur&#363 N&#257nak's life-long Muslim companion who kept him company during his extensive travels, are loosely lumped with them. Strictly speaking, the <i>Bhagat</i> contributors to the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib are : Kab&#299r, Trilochan, Be&#7751&#299, Ravid&#257s, N&#257mdev, Dhann&#257, Jaideva, Bh&#299khan, Sai&#7751u, P&#299p&#257, Sadhan&#257, R&#257m&#257nand, Parm&#257nand, S&#363r D&#257s and Shai<u>kh</u> Far&#299d, the S&#363f&#299.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;These two streams mingle together completely and no distinctions are ever made among the writings emanating from them. They all, the writings of the Gur&#363s as well as those of the Bhagats, constitute one single text. On any point of precept and doctrine both will have equal validity. Both enjoy equal esteem and reverence. In fact, the notion of "two" does not exist. Both signal one single metaphysical truth. The Sikhs have believed through the centuries that they embody one single moral and spiritual maxim.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;That they are the product of the same inspiration is also borne out by the way the incorporation of Bhagat B&#257&#7751&#299 into the Sikh writ is comprehended by subsequent Sikh authorities. T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh Narotam (1822-1891) makes an unnatural deduction. According to his <i>Granth Sr&#299 Gurmat Nir&#7751aya S&#257gar</i>, Gur&#363 Arjan composed the entire Bhagat B&#257&#7751&#299 keeping in mind "the thoughts of each individual Bhagat. " This was a way of saying that those writings were like the Gur&#363s' very own. And for that reason no less binding on Sikhs than those by the Gur&#363s. The author of <i>Gurbil&#257s P&#257tsh&#257h&#299 Chhev&#299&#7749</i> had said that the <i>bhaktas</i> had their compositions recorded themselves. They - their souls - appeared in person and Bh&#257&#299 Gurd&#257s, who was writing, saw them with his own eyes. This was the account also given by the author of <i>Sr&#299 Gur Prat&#257p S&#363r&#257j Granth</i>, a very influential text of the mid-nineteenth century. This was another way of stressing the identity of the message communicated.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The title <i>Bhagt&#257&#7749 k&#299 B&#257&#7751&#299</i> appears in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib for the first time on page 323 to designate the compositions of Kab&#299r, N&#257mdev and Ravid&#257s in R&#257ga Gau&#7771&#299. Before that Kab&#299r's hymns in R&#257ga Sir&#299 appear under the title Sir&#299 R&#257ga Kab&#299r J&#299 K&#257 (GG, 91). Likewise, for the verses of Bhagat Trilochan, the title used is Sir&#299 R&#257gu Trilochan K&#257 (GG, 92) and for those of Be&#7751&#299, Sir&#299 R&#257ga B&#257&#7751&#299 Bhagat Be&#7751&#299 Jeo K&#299 (GG, 93). A verse of Ravid&#257s appears at the end of the page. Generally, throughout the text the compositions of the Bhagats have been credited individually by their names and those of the Gur&#363s individually by the number in their order of succession - for instance, Mahal&#257 (<i>mahal&#257</i>= Gur&#363-person) I will register the writings of the First Gur&#363, Gur&#363 N&#257nak, Mahal&#257 II, the writings of the Second Gur&#363, Gur&#363 A&#7749gad and so on until Mahal&#257 V which means the Fifth Gur&#363, Gur&#363 Arjan who compiled the Holy Book. The only other Gur&#363 whose compositions figure in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib is Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur, N&#257nak IX.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;How did this corpus designated Bhagat B&#257&#7751&#299 enter the Holy Book? Bh&#257&#299 Gurd&#257s in his <i>V&#257r&#257&#7749</i>, I. 32, suggests that Gur&#363 N&#257nak during his travels carried under his arm a book, which evidently comprised his own writings. It might have also contained his record of some of the hymns of the saint poets whom he met during his extensive travels across the country or who had preceded him. According to the <i>Pur&#257tan Janam S&#257kh&#299</i> he handed over such a manuscript to Gur&#363 A&#7749gad as he passed on the spiritual office to him. Two of the collections of hymns or <i>poth&#299s</i> prior to Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib are still extant. They are in the possession of the descendants of Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s, N&#257nak III. Besides the compositions of the Gur&#363s, these <i>poth&#299s</i> contain compositions of some of the saints as well - among them Kab&#299r, N&#257mdev, Ravid&#257s and Bh&#299khan. Gur&#363 Arjan had access to these <i>poth&#299s</i> and presumably to some other materials as well accumulating over the years. Among them may well have been some writings of the Bhagats as well.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Views differ on whether Gur&#363 Arjan included the sayings of the Bhagats exactly as received or whether he used his discretion in choosing his contributors and in bringing their contributions to conform, in general at least, to the tenets of Sikhism. One thing is certain. Bhagats in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib are represented by their hymns, lauding Nirguna Brahm, i. e. God without attributes. Worshippers of Sarguna Brahm, of His R&#257ma and K&#7771&#7779&#7751a incarnations, were excluded. Vai&#7779&#7751ava <i>bhaktas</i> such as Chaitanya and M&#299r&#257 B&#257&#299 are examples. At places in the text, the Gur&#363 commented upon, even contradicted, the sayings of the Bhagats and both versions appear in the text. The purpose of such comments was to bring the sayings of the Bhagats in harmony with the Sikh teaching, which was uncompromisingly monotheistic, with a strong belief in a formless deity and which rejected caste and formal ritualism.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Gur&#363 Arjan had the hymns transcribed with extraordinary exactness. He arranged the hymns in thirty different <i>r&#257gas</i> or musical patterns. A precise method was followed in setting down the compositions. First came <i>&#347abdas</i> by the Gur&#363s in the order of their succession. Then came <i>a&#7779&#7789pad&#299s, chhants</i> and <i>v&#257rs</i> in a set order. The compositions of the Gur&#363s in each r&#257ga were followed by those of the Bhagats in the same format. A very subtle system of numbering the hymns was evolved. Gurmukh&#299 was the script used for the transcription.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;From among the Bhagats, Kab&#299r's contribution is the largest. Besides two long compositions, <i>B&#257van Akhar&#299</i> and <i>Thit&#299&#7749</i>, 296 of his hymns in different <i>r&#257gas</i> and 239 <i>&#347lokas</i> are included in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib, whereas Dhann&#257 has only two hymns, one in R&#257ga &#256s&#257 and the other in Dhan&#257sar&#299; Sai&#7751u has only one hymn and there is only one line of a hymn from S&#363r D&#257s.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Kab&#299r (1440-1518), according to a modern Sikh scholar and researcher was born, near V&#257r&#257&#7751as&#299, to a poor Muslim couple. With a deep urge for a life of devotion from the very beginning, Kab&#299r became a major figure in medieval Indian <i>bhakt&#299</i>. Besides loving devotion which is his principal theme, his verses in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib contain a trenchant criticism of caste, idolatry and empty ritualism.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The main thrust of the compositions of Far&#299d (1173-1266) is that man, overcoming worldly temptation, remain attached to God, the creator of all. Fear of death and the need to live according to the Islamic code figure in his verse, but special stress is laid on following the universally accepted humanitarian values.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;N&#257mdev (1270-1350), a washerman of Mah&#257r&#257sh&#7789ra, has 60 of his hymns recorded in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib in seventeen different <i>r&#257gas</i>. They represent the work of his later years, for in his younger years he tended more towards idolatry.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Ravid&#257s, as we learn from his own verses, belonged to a family of shoe-makers, but he enjoyed considerable esteem among the people of V&#257r&#257&#7751as&#299 where he lived. Forty of his hymns figure in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib, in sixteen different <i>r&#257gas</i>. He has dealt in his verses with the themes of the Godhead, Nature, Soul, <i>n&#257m</i>, Gur&#363, transmigration and liberation. According to him, realization of the divine is possible only through loving devotion, all else being mere pretension.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The contribution of remaining eleven Bhagats is numerically very small -18 hymns and one line in all. Their hymns, too, generally celebrate unicity and love of God. They reject ritualism and formalism, and lay stress on the remembrance of God's Name, which does not mean mere mechanical repetition of any attributive name of God, but implies the continuous feeling and realization of His presence at every place and in every being.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"><i>Gurbil&#257s P&#257tsh&#257h&#299 Chhev&#299&#7749</i>. Patiala, 1970<BR> <li class="C1"> Bhall&#257, Sar&#363p D&#257s, <i>Mahim&#257 Prak&#257sh</i>. Patiala, 1971<BR> <li class="C1"> Santokh Si&#7749gh, Bh&#257&#299, <i>Sr&#299 Gur Prat&#257p S&#363raj Granth</i>, Amritsar, 1926-37<BR> <li class="C1"> Gurdit Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Itih&#257s Sr&#299 Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib (Bhagat B&#257&#7751&#299 Bh&#257g) </i>. Chandigarh, 1990<BR> <li class="C1"> S&#257hib Si&#7749gh, <i>Bhagat B&#257&#7751&#299 Sa&#7789&#299k</i>. Amritsar, 1959-60<BR> <li class="C1"> Jodh Si&#7749gh, Bh&#257&#299, <i>Bhagat Kab&#299r J&#299 - J&#299van&#299 te Sikhi&#257</i>, Patiala, 1971<BR> <li class="C1"> Chaturved&#299, Parshu R&#257m, <i>Uttar&#299 Bh&#257rat k&#299 Sant-Prampar&#257</i>, Allahabad, 1964<BR> <li class="C1"> Macauliffe, M. A. , <i>The Sikh Religion</i>. Oxford, 1909<BR> <li class="C1"> Kohli, Surindar Singh, <i>A Critical Study of Adi Granth</i>. Delhi, 1961<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Harn&#257m Si&#7749gh <br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>