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<p class="C1">&#65279SA&#7748GAT SI&#7748GH, SANT (1882-1950), a Sikh saint revered for his piety as well as for his learning, was born in 1882, at Kam&#257l&#299&#257, a small town in Lyallpur district, now in Pakistan. His father, Bh&#257&#299 S&#299tal D&#257s, a Sahajdh&#257r&#299 Sikh, was a descendant of Bh&#257&#299 Sh&#257m&#363 Sachi&#257r, one of the recipients of a <i>ba<u>kh</u>sh&#299sh</i>, i.e. a missionary seat, from Gur&#363 Har R&#257i. Young Sa&#7749gat D&#257s, as he was originally named, was brought up in an atmosphere of religious devotion and discipline. He was imparted such education as was available at home in those days -- reading and writing in Gurmukh&#299 and some knowledge of Sikh sacred texts. Sa&#7749gat D&#257s proved a precocious child possessing a phenomenal memory. At the age of 9 he started participating in <i>akha&#7751&#7693 p&#257&#7789hs</i>, or continuous ceremonial readings of the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib. His recitation was marked by ease, accuracy and fluency. Soon he joined the monastery of an eminent Sev&#257panth&#299 saint, Bh&#257&#299 Fateh Chand, who lived in Sh&#257h J&#299va&#7751&#257, a village in Jha&#7749g district, and studied with him the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib. In 1901, he came in contact with Pa&#7751&#7693it K&#257l&#257 Si&#7749gh from whom he learnt Sanskrit. For the Vedas, he served his apprenticeship with Pa&#7751&#7693it R&#257m Saran. To take to a life of seclusion and meditation, Sa&#7749gat D&#257s improvised a thatched hut for him-self a few miles away from the town of Shuj&#257b&#257d, in Mult&#257n district. The period of uninterrupted concentration on the Gur&#363's word spent there aroused in him a longing to have himself initiated a Sikh and he was from now onwards in search of a holy man who should admit him to the fold. He at last met the poet and savant Bh&#257&#299 V&#299r Si&#7749gh whose <i>R&#257&#7751&#257 S&#363rat Si&#7749gh</i> had deeply moved him and at whose hands he now received the rites of initiation. At the ceremony Sa&#7749gat D&#257s was renamed Sa&#7749gat Si&#7749gh.</p>
<p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sant Sa&#7749gat Si&#7749gh got married and led the life of a householder, but he spent most of his time preaching the gospel of Gur&#363 N&#257nak. Thousands thronged the <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s</i> to hear him expound the holy writ in his gentle and persuasive manner and with a wealth of quotation from classical sources. His style of platform exposition of Sikh lore and thought became the most popular and authentic. Through his preaching, many were converted to the Sikh faith in the regions of Sindh, Mult&#257n, North-West Frontier, Po&#7789hoh&#257r, Sargodh&#257 and Jha&#7749g. After the partition of the Punjab, Sant Sa&#7749gat Si&#7749gh shifted to Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 (January 1948). He wrote a number of tracts published by the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 Tract Society, Amritsar. His discourses on the, <i>Japu</i> delivered during 1949-50 at Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 were first published in January 1959 under the title <i>Shr&#299 Japuj&#299 Kath&#257</i>.</p>
<p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sant Sa&#7749gat Si&#7749gh died at Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 on 24 October 1950, bequeathing to his son and successor Sant Kart&#257r Si&#7749gh the family heritage--- the <i>ba<u>kh</u>shish</i> from Gur&#363 Har R&#257i.</p>
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BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Kart&#257r Si&#7749gh, Sant, <i>Katha&#7771&#299&#257&#7749 Santah</i>. Patiala, n.d.<BR>
<li class="C1"> Vis&#257kh&#257 Si&#7749gh, <i>M&#257lv&#257 ltih&#257s</i>. Kishanpura, 1954<BR>
</ol><p class="CONT">Gurdev Si&#7749gh Deol<br></p><BR>
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