ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>BU&#7692&#7692H&#256 B&#256B&#256 (1506-1631)</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="BU  H,BB,Person,Person"> <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">&#65279BU&#7692&#7692H&#256, B&#256B&#256 (1506-1631), a most venerated primal figure of early Sikhism, was born on 6 October 1506 at the village of Katth&#363 Na&#7749gal, 18 km northeast of Amritsar (31º-36'N, 74º-50'E). B&#363&#7771&#257, as he was originally named, was the only son of Bh&#257&#299 Suggh&#257, a Ja&#7789&#7789 of Randh&#257v&#257 clan, and M&#257&#299 G&#257ur&#257&#7749, born into a Sandh&#363 family. As a small boy, he was one day grazing cattle outside the village when Gur&#363 N&#257nak happened to pass by. According to Bh&#257&#299 Man&#299 Si&#7749gh, <i>Sikh&#257&#7749 d&#299 Bhagat M&#257l&#257</i>, B&#363&#7771&#257 went up to him and, making obeisance with a bowl of milk as his offering, prayed to him in this manner : "O sustainer of the poor! I am fortunate to have had a sight of you today. Absolve me now from the circuit of birth and death. " The Gur&#363 said, "You are only a child yet. But you talk so wisely. " "Once some soldiers set up camp by our village, " replied B&#363&#7771&#257, "and they mowed down all our crops-ripe as well as unripe. Then it occurred to me that, when no one could check these indiscriminating soldiers, who would restrain Death from laying his hand upon us, young or old. " At this Gur&#363 N&#257nak pronounced the words : "You are not a child; you possess the wisdom of an old man. " From that day, B&#363&#7771&#257, came to be known as Bh&#257&#299 Bu&#7693&#7693h&#257, <i>bu&#7693&#7693h&#257</i> in Punjabi meaning an old man, and later, when advanced in years, as B&#257b&#257 Bu&#7693&#7693h&#257. Bh&#257&#299 Bu&#7693&#7693h&#257 became a devoted disciple. His marriage at the age of seventeen at Achal, 6 km south of Ba&#7789&#257l&#257 (31º 49'N, 75º 12'E), did not distract him from his chosen path and he spent more time at Kart&#257rpur where Gur&#363 N&#257nak had taken up his abode than at Katth&#363 Na&#7749gal. Such was the eminence he had attained in Sikh piety that, at the time of installation of Bh&#257&#299 Lahi&#7751&#257 as Gur&#363 A&#7749gad, i. e. N&#257nak II, Gur&#363 N&#257nak asked Bh&#257&#299 Bu&#7693&#7693h&#257 to apply the ceremonial <i>tilak</i> on his forehead. Bh&#257&#299 Bu&#7693&#7693h&#257 lived up to a ripe old age and had the unique honour of anointing all of the four following Gur&#363s. He continued to serve the Gur&#363s with complete dedication and remained an example of holy living for the growing body of disciples. He devoted himself zealously to tasks such as the digging of the <i>b&#257ol&#299</i> at Goindv&#257l under the instruction of Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s and the excavation of the sacred tank at Amritsar under Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s and Gur&#363 Arjan. The <i>ber&#299</i> tree under which he used to sit supervising the excavation of the Amritsar pool still stands in the precincts of the Golden Temple. He subsequently retired to a <i>b&#299&#7771</i> or forest, where he tended the livestock of the Gur&#363 k&#257 La&#7749gar. What is left of that forest is still known, after him, as B&#299&#7771 B&#257b&#257 Bu&#7693&#7693h&#257 S&#257hib. Gur&#363 Arjan placed his young son, Hargobind, under Bh&#257&#299 Bu&#7693&#7693h&#257's instruction and training. When the &#256di Granth (Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib) was installed in the Harimandar on 16 August 1604, Bh&#257&#299 Bu&#7693&#7693h&#257 was appointed <i>granth&#299</i> by Gur&#363 Arjan. He thus became the first high priest of the sacred shrine, now known as the Golden Temple. Following the martyrdom of Gur&#363 Arjan on 30 May 1606, Gur&#363 Hargobind raised opposite the Harimandar a platform called the Ak&#257l Ta<u>kh</u>t, the Timeless Throne or the Throne of the Timeless, the construction of which was entrusted to B&#257b&#257 Bu&#7693&#7693h&#257 and Bh&#257&#299 Gurd&#257s, no third person being allowed to take part in it. On this Ta<u>kh</u>t Bh&#257&#299 Bu&#7693&#7693h&#257 performed, on 24 June 1606, the investiture ceremony at which Gur&#363 Hargobind put on two swords, one on each side, symbolizing <i>m&#299r&#299</i> and <i>p&#299r&#299</i> sovereignty and spiritual eminence, respectively.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;B&#257b&#257 Bu&#7693&#7693h&#257 passed his last days in meditation at Jha&#7751&#7693&#257 Ramd&#257s, or simply called Ramd&#257s, a village founded by his son, Bh&#257&#299 Bh&#257n&#257, where the family had since shifted from its native Katth&#363 Na&#7749gal. As the end came, on 16 November 1631, Gur&#363 Hargobind was at his bedside. The Gur&#363, as says the <i>Gurbil&#257s Chhev&#299&#7749 P&#257tsh&#257h&#299</i>, gave his shoulder to the bier and performed the last rites, Bh&#257&#299 Gurd&#257s, further to quote the <i>Gurbil&#257s</i>, started a reading of the <i>&#256di Granth</i> in memory of the deceased. The obsequies concluded with Bh&#257&#299 Gurd&#257s completing the recital and Gur&#363 Hargobind presenting a turban to Bh&#257&#299 Bu&#7693&#7693h&#257's son, Bh&#257n&#257. Two shrines stand in Ramd&#257s commemorating B&#257b&#257 Bu&#7693&#7693h&#257, Gurdw&#257r&#257 Tap Asth&#257n B&#257b&#257 Bu&#7693&#7693h&#257 J&#299, where the family lived on the southern edge of the village, and Gurdw&#257r&#257 Sam&#257dh&#257&#7749, where he was cremated.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"><i>Gurbil&#257s Chhev&#299&#7749 P&#257tsh&#257h&#299</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"> Padam, Pi&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh, and Gi&#257n&#299 Garj&#257 Si&#7749gh, eds. , <i>Gur&#363 k&#299&#257&#7749 S&#257kh&#299&#257&#7749</i>. Patiala, 1986<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Gurd&#299p Si&#7749gh Randh&#257w&#257<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>