ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>BHA&#7788&#7788 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="BHAll,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">&#65279BHA&#7788&#7788 B&#256&#7750&#298, recorded under the title<i>Savaiyye</i>, is the name popularly given to the compositions of the Bha&#7789&#7789s as included in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib (pp. 1389-1409). Bha&#7789&#7789s were bards or panegyrists who recited poetry lauding the grandeur of a ruler or the gallantry of a warrior. Bha&#7789&#7789 was also used as an epithet for a learned Br&#257hma&#7751. In the Sikh tradition, Bha&#7789&#7789s are poets with the personal experience and vision of the spirituality of the Gur&#363s whom they celebrate in their verse. According to Bh&#257&#299 Santokh Si&#7749gh, <i>Sr&#299 Gur Prat&#257p S&#363raj Granth</i>, "They were the Vedas incarnate" (p. 2121). The Bha&#7789&#7789s are said to have originally lived on the bank of the River Sarasvat&#299 which is also the name of the Indian mythological goddess of knowledge. They were thus called S&#257rasvat, i. e. the learned Br&#257hma&#7751s. Those living on the other side of the Sarasvat&#299 were called Gau&#7771. They showed little interest in learning and contended themselves with alms given them by their patrons whose Ba&#7749s&#257val&#299n&#257m&#257s or genealogies they recorded in their scrolls called <i>vah&#299s</i>. They are still found on the bank of the Sarasvat&#299 in the Talau&#7693&#257 (J&#299nd), Bh&#257dso&#7749 (L&#257&#7693v&#257) and Karsindh&#363 (Saf&#299do&#7749) villages in Hary&#257&#7751&#257. Some of these families shifted over to Sult&#257npur Lodh&#299, now in Kap&#363rthal&#257 district of the Punjab, and settled there. Bhikh&#257 and &#7788o&#7693&#257 of these families embraced the Sikh faith during the time of Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s. Bh&#257&#299 Gurd&#257s also gives in his <i>V&#257r&#257&#7749</i>, XI. 21, a brief account of these Bha&#7789&#7789s. What was the number of Bha&#7789&#7789s whose compositions are included is a question not yet firmly answered. According to a tradition, Kalb, a leading Bha&#7789&#7789 poet, took it upon himself to note down some of the verse of the Bha&#7789&#7789s from the <i>vah&#299s</i> and passed it on to Gur&#363 Arjan at the time of the compilation of the Holy Book. As for the number of Bha&#7789&#7789 contributors to the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib, S&#257hib Si&#7749gh, Tej&#257 Si&#7749gh, T&#257ran Si&#7749gh and other modern scholars count 11 of them, whereas Santokh Si&#7749gh (<i>Sr&#299 Gur Prat&#257p S&#363raj Granth</i>), Bh&#257&#299 V&#299r Si&#7749gh (<i>Gur&#363 Granth Kosh</i>) and some others among the traditional scholars count 17, and Pa&#7751&#7693it Kart&#257r Si&#7749gh D&#257kh&#257 puts the figure at 19. This variation in numbers is owed to the fact that the Bha&#7789&#7789s used to sing in chorus and sometimes the chorus sung by a group went in the name of the leader and at other times individually in the names of the members of the group.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;From among the 17 Bha&#7789&#7789s whose compositions figure in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib, Bhikh&#257, son of Rayy&#257, was a resident of Sult&#257npur Lodh&#299 and had been a follower of Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s. Of the total 123 <i>savaiyye</i> in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib two are of his composition, both in praise of Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s. Of the remaining sixteen Bha&#7789&#7789 contributors, four are his sons; Kalh, also called Kalsah&#257r or Kal &#7788h&#257kur, who is reckoned to be the most learned of all the Bha&#7789&#7789s, has 53 <i>savaiyye</i>, 10 in praise of Gur&#363 N&#257nak, 9 each in praise of Gur&#363 A&#7749gad and Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s, 13 in praise of Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s and 12 in praise of Gur&#363 Arjan; J&#257lap who had migrated to Goindv&#257l with his father has four <i>savaiyye</i>, to his name all of which are in praise of Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s; K&#299rat (d. 1634) has eight <i>savaiyye</i> four each in praise of Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s and Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s; and Mathur&#257 12, all in praise of Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s. Salh who has three <i>savaiyye</i> extolling the pre-eminence of Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s (1) and Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s (2), and Bhalh who has one <i>savaiyy&#257</i> in praise of Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s were the sons of Sekh&#257, a brother of Rayy&#257. Balh who has five <i>savaiyye</i> stressing the spiritual oneness of the Gur&#363s was the son of Tokh&#257, another brother of Rayy&#257. Hariba&#7749s, the eldest son of Gokh&#257, a brother of Rayy&#257, has two <i>savaiyye</i> both in praise of Gur&#363 Arjan. Nalh has five <i>savaiyye</i> all in praise of Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s. D&#257s, also spelt as D&#257su or D&#257si, has composed ten <i>savaiyye</i> including one written conjointly with Sevak who, in addition to this one, has four <i>savaiyye</i> of his own. Parm&#257nand's five <i>savaiyye</i> are in praise of Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s, &#7788al's single one in praise of Gur&#363 A&#7749gad. Jalan has two <i>savaiyye</i>, both in praise of Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s, Jalh one in praise of Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s and Gayand five which glorify Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s. Of the total 123, ten each pay homage to Gur&#363 N&#257nak and Gur&#363 A&#7749gad, 22 to Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s, 60 to Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s and 21 to Gur&#363 Arjan.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The main purpose of these <i>savaiyy&#257s</i> is to acclaim the Gur&#363s, not as individuals but as the revelation they embodied. The Bha&#7789&#7789s see the Gur&#363s as one light, as one spirit passing from one body to the other. Bha&#7789&#7789 K&#299rat, for instance : &#8220Just as (Gur&#363) A&#7749gad was ever the part of Gur&#363 N&#257nak's being so is Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s of (Gur&#363) Amar D&#257s's" (GG, 1405). Again, Bha&#7789&#7789 Kalh: "From Gur&#363 N&#257nak was A&#7749gad; from A&#7749gad, Amar D&#257s received the sublime rank. From Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s descended Gur&#363 Arjan, the great devotee of God" (GG, 1407). This concept of all the Gur&#363s being one light, one voice has informed all along the Sikh belief and development and constitutes today a fundamental principle of the faith.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> T&#257ran Si&#7749gh, <i>Sr&#299 Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib J&#299 d&#257 S&#257hitik Itih&#257s</i>. Amritsar, n. d.<BR> <li class="C1"> S&#257hib Si&#7749gh, <i>Bha&#7789&#7789&#257&#7749 de Savaiyye Sa&#7789&#299k</i>. Amritsar, 1972<BR> <li class="C1"> Gurdit Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Itih&#257s Sr&#299 Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib</i>, Delhi, 1990<BR> <li class="C1"> Kohli, Surindar Singh, <i>A Critical Study of Adi Granth</i>. Delhi, 1961<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Gurdev Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>