ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>MATHO MUR&#256R&#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="MATHO,MURR*"> <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">&#65279MATHO MUR&#256R&#298, joint name of a couple Matho and her husband, Mur&#257r&#299, both blessed by Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s. Mur&#257r&#299's real name was Prem&#257. He was a native of the village of Kh&#257&#299, now in Lahore district of West Punjab (Pakistan). Orphaned in early childhood and afflicted by leprosy, Prem&#257 had to beg to make a living. Once, having heard about the compassionate nature and spiritual eminence of Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s, he made his way to Goindv&#257l and reached the Gur&#363's door. The Sikhs gave him food from Gur&#363 k&#257 La&#7749gar, but would not allow him, a leper, to go in and see the Gur&#363. Yet the Gur&#363 had Prem&#257 brought to him and took him under his care. He nursed him back to health. Prem&#257 was now an attractive-looking young man, and the Gur&#363 renamed him Mur&#257r&#299. Bh&#257&#299 S&#299h&#257&#7749, an Uppal Khatr&#299, gave, at the Gur&#363's suggestion but without the knowledge of his own wife, his daughter, Matho, in marriage to Mur&#257r&#299. When the girl's mother learnt about it, she came complaining to the Gur&#363 that her daughter had been married to a nameless person whose parents and caste were not known. Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s, in the words of Sar&#363p D&#257s Bhall&#257, <i>Mahim&#257 Prak&#257sh</i>, replied: "Mur&#257r&#299, to whom your daughter has been married, is my son and Sikh. They shall be jointly known as Matho Mur&#257r&#299, your daughter's name preceding that of her husband." The mother was reconciled. The Gur&#363 blessed the couple and appointed them to head a <i>mañj&#299</i> around Mur&#257r&#299's native Kh&#257&#299.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><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, 1927-35<BR> <li class="C1"> Macauliffe, M.A., <i>The Sikh Religion</i>. Oxford, 1909<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Balb&#299r Si&#7749gh Dil<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>