ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>MARD&#256N&#256 BH&#256&#298 (1459-1534)</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="MARDN,BH*,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">&#65279MARD&#256N&#256, BH&#256&#298 (1459-1534), Gur&#363 N&#257nak's long-time Muslim companion throughout his extensive journeys across the country and abroad, was born the son of a Mir&#257s&#299 (a caste of hereditary minstrels and genealogists) couple, Badr&#257 and Lakkho, of Talva&#7751d&#299 R&#257i Bhoe, now Nank&#257&#7751&#257 S&#257hib, in Shei<u>kh</u>&#363pur&#257 district of Pakistan. Gur&#363 N&#257nak and Mard&#257n&#257 grew up in the same village. The <i>Miharb&#257n Janam S&#257kh&#299</i> describes the latter, who was ten years senior in age, as the Gur&#363's companion since his childhood days and as one who sang to him songs from Kab&#299r , Trilochan, Ravid&#257s, Dhann&#257 and Be&#7751&#299. According to Ratan Si&#7749gh Bha&#7749g&#363, <i>Pr&#257ch&#299n Panth Prak&#257sh</i>, Gur&#363 N&#257nak as a small boy gave Mard&#257n&#257 a string instrument improvised from reeds to play on while he sang the hymns.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; As Gur&#363 N&#257nak was employed to take charge of the granaries and stores of the Naw&#257b of Sult&#257npur Lodh&#299, the stories of his generosity and hospitality spread far and wide. Mard&#257n&#257, already a married man and father of two sons and a daughter, wanted to visit Sult&#257npur and seek his bounty. Meanwhile, he was charged by Gur&#363 N&#257nak's father Mahit&#257 K&#257l&#363, to go to Sult&#257npur and bring news of the welfare of his son. Mard&#257n&#257 went to Sult&#257npur, never to part company with Gur&#363 N&#257nak again. His occupation was playing the <i>rab&#257b</i> or rebeck as Gur&#363 N&#257nak recited God's glory.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; When Gur&#363 N&#257nak prepared to go forth into the world to preach his message, he invited Mard&#257n&#257 to accompany him. Mard&#257n&#257 hesitated, for he did not wish to leave his family until his daughter had been married off and for this he did not have sufficient means. One of Gur&#363 N&#257nak's disciples, Bh&#257&#299 Bhag&#299rath, bought the needed provisions and Mard&#257n&#257 was able to give away his daughter in marriage. He was then ready to accompany Gur&#363 N&#257nak on his travels.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; To relieve the rigour of the journeys, the biographers describe several humorous situations in which Mard&#257n&#257 involved himself by his amiable <i>faux pas</i>. Weak in respect to fleshly wants, he became panicky when prospects of getting the next meal seemed less than certain. He was not easily convinced when Gur&#363 N&#257nak told him to be patient and have trust in something turning up, and wished always to be prepared beforehand with the rations. As the <i>Pur&#257tan Janam S&#257kh&#299</i> narrates, Gur&#363 N&#257nak and Mard&#257n&#257 had not come out very far from Sult&#257npur when the latter complained that he felt hungry and needed something to eat immediately. The Gur&#363 pointed to the village they had passed and said that, if he went there, he would be well entertained by Khatr&#299s of the Uppal caste who lived in that village. Mard&#257n&#257 turned his foot-steps in that direction and, arriving in the village, he found everyone more than hospitable. He was fed sumptuously and given ample alms. As he saw him return loaded with a bundle, .Gur&#363 N&#257nak, says the <i>Janam S&#257kh&#299</i>, rolled on the ground laughing. Mard&#257n&#257 realized the oddity of what he had done and did not know how to get rid of what he had collected. He threw the bundle when the Gur&#363 pointed out to him that those articles would be more of a burden to him.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The <i>janam s&#257kh&#299s</i> also contain many anecdotes picturing Mard&#257n&#257 in despair out of agonizing hunger or petrifying fear and Gur&#363 N&#257nak or Nature coming to succour him somewhat miraculously. Once the two were passing through a remote wilderness when suddenly a violent storm overtook them. So severe was the tempest that the trees of the jungle began to fly about. Mard&#257n&#257, trembling with fear, thus spoke to the Gur&#363, "True sovereign, thou hast brought me to my death in this forest. I shall not here get a shroud nor a grave." The Gur&#363 asked him to remain calm, but Mard&#257n&#257 moaned, "I have not faced a calamity like this in my life. What is going to befall my poor soul today?" Then fire broke out. Smoke was all over and the blaze on all four sides. Mard&#257n&#257 covered up his face and laid himself down on the ground saying, "Farewell, life." Then came water. Thick clouds gathered and poured water in torrents. "Raise thy head, Mard&#257n&#257, " spoke the Gur&#363, "and take thy rebeck." Mard&#257n&#257 tuned the strings and Gur&#363 N&#257nak sang: "If the fear of God is in the heart, all other fear is dispelled..."</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; According to <i>Pur&#257tan Janam S&#257kh&#299</i>, Mard&#257n&#257 and his Master were taken prisoner by the Mu<u>gh</u>als at Saidpur. The Gur&#363 was given a load to carry on his head and Mard&#257n&#257 to lead a horse holding its rein. M&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n, the Mu<u>gh</u>al commander, saw that the Gur&#363's bundle was floating a cubit above his head and Mard&#257n&#257's horse was following him without the reins. He reported the miracle to Sult&#257n B&#257bar, who remarked, "Had there been such faq&#299rs here, the town should not have been struck." M&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n asked him to see for himself.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In 1534, at Kart&#257rpur, Mard&#257n&#257 fell ill. He grew weak and hope of recovery was lost. Born of a Muslim family, he had attached himself to Gur&#363 N&#257nak. The Gur&#363 asked him how he wished his body to be disposed of. Mard&#257n&#257 replied that by the Gur&#363's instruction he had overcome his pride of the body. What remained of him after death, he said, be disposed of as the Gur&#363 wished. Then the Gur&#363 said. "Shall I make thee a tomb to render thee famous in the world?" "When the Gur&#363 is releasing me from the bodily sepulchre, why should he entomb me in stone?" answered Mard&#257n&#257. The Gur&#363 asked him to fix his mind on the Creator. The following morning, at a watch before day, Mard&#257n&#257 passed away. The Gur&#363 consigned his body to the River R&#257v&#299, and caused hymns sung and <i>ka&#7771&#257hpras&#257d</i>, the sacrament, distributed among the Sikhs. He consoled Mard&#257n&#257's son Shahz&#257d&#257, and other members of his family and asked them not to weep for him who had returned to his heavenly home.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Mard&#257n&#257 was a poet of some merit. One of his <i>&#347lokas</i> appears in Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib in <i>Bihaga&#7771e k&#299 V&#257r</i> along with two others of Gur&#363 N&#257nak's addressed to Mard&#257n&#257. He is convinced that an evil body may be cleansed of sin in <i>sa&#7749gat</i> (GG, 553).</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"><i>&#346abad&#257rth Sr&#299 Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib</i>. Amritsar, 1969<BR> <li class="C1"> V&#299r Si&#7749gh, Bh&#257&#299, ed., <i>Pur&#257tan Janam S&#257kh&#299</i>. Amritsar, 1982<BR> <li class="C1"> Kirp&#257l Si&#7749gh, ed., <i>Janam S&#257kh&#299 Parampar&#257</i>. Patiala, 1969<BR> <li class="C1"> Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Panth Prak&#257sh</i> [Reprint]. Patiala, 1970<BR> <li class="C1"> Satb&#299r Si&#7749gh, <i>Pur&#257tan Itih&#257sik J&#299van&#299&#257&#7749</i>.Jalandhar, 1969<BR> <li class="C1"> Harbans Singh, <i>Gur&#363 Nanak and Origins of the Sikh Faith</i>. Bombay, 1969<BR> <li class="C1"> McLeod, W.H., <i>Guru Nanak and the Sikh</i>. Religion Oxford, 1968<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Satb&#299r Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>