ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>SAROVAR</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="SAROVAR"> <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">&#65279SAROVAR, a tank, pool or lake, especially at a sacred place or by a holy shrine used for sacramental ablutions and other religious ceremonies. Sanskrit synonyms are <i>sar, sarvar, ta&#7771&#257g</i> and <i>v&#257p&#299</i>. Another word is <i>pu&#7779kar</i> or <i>pu&#7779karin&#299</i> which usually means a pond full of lotus flowers. The lotus is a symbol of purity; water symbolizes fertility as well as purity. The primary association of <i>sarovar</i> is with the purificatory aspects of its water. In the Sikh sacred literature we find <i>sarvar, sar, sarovar</i>, and <i>m&#257nsar</i> used in the sense of a lake or pool. The word <i>s&#257gar</i> is used in the sense of sea or ocean as a figure of speech to represent the circuit of transmigration <i>(bhav-s&#257gar, bhav-jal). M&#257nsar</i> as a nominative singular is a shortened form of <i>M&#257nsarovar</i>, a famous natural lake, believed to be the haunt of swans (<i>ha&#7749sa</i>) on the mountain Kail&#257s in the Himalayas. It is a holy lake, a <i>t&#299rtha</i>, and <i>ha&#7749sa</i> is a type of bird associated with enlightenment and purity, which stays in and around the holy waters of <i>M&#257nsarovar</i>.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The sanctity of <i>sarovar</i> often related to that of the place where it exists. It is a bathing place where bathing has a religious significance. The word <i>sarovar</i> sums up a great deal of water symbolism documented in the religious history of India from the time of the <i> &#7770gveda</i> to that of the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib. Although the term <i>sarovar</i> generally means a holy tank situated at a sacred place where sacramental ablutions (<i>sn&#257na</i>) and initiatory rituals (<i>d&#299k&#7779&#257</i>), are performed, in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib it is quite often employed in a symbolic sense also -- meaning the teacher (<i>gur&#363</i>) or the society of sages (<i>s&#257dh-sa&#7749gat</i>), as for example, Gur&#363 N&#257nak&#8217s line, <i>gur&#363 sarvaru ham ha&#7749sa pi&#257re</i>-- Gur&#363 is sacred lake and we are his dear swans (GG. 1027), or Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s' <i>guru sarvaru m&#257nsarovaru hai va&#7693bh&#257g&#299 purakh lahanni</i>-- Gur&#363 is the M&#257nsarovar Lake, but only the fortunate ones have access to it (GG. 757); and, further, Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s', <i>a&#7789hsa&#7789hi t&#299rath majanu k&#299&#257 satsa&#7749gati pag n&#257e dh&#363ri</i>-- by bathing in the dust of the feet of <i>s&#257dh-sa&#7749gat</i> is as good as bathing at the sixty-eight sacred bathing places (GG,1198).</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Great Bath, 39' x 23' x 8', excavated around BC 2500 at the site of the prehistoric city of Mohenjo-daro, now in Pakistan, may be one of the most ancient tanks in human civilization. Since then the tradition of digging tanks at pilgrim centres and sacred spots has been carried on, and so has been the belief that a dip in a sacred <i>sarovar</i>, particularly on certain auspicious occasions, washes away one' sins. Traditionally, in India, there are sixty-eight bathing spots, some of them being near river-banks, some by the sea and many inland tanks or pools. A tank close to a temple is a common phenomenon all over India. The Sikhs have a number of sacred tanks or pools, mostly situated in the Punjab. The first bathing spot sacred to the Sikhs was the <i>b&#257ol&#299</i> a well with eighty-four steps leading down to water level, got dug by Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s (1479-1574) at Goindv&#257l where the Sikhs gathered annually on the Bais&#257<u>kh</u>&#299 day. Bathing here is believed to annul transmigration. There are numerous other <i>sarovars</i>, sacred to the memory of Sikh Gur&#363s, including the one at Amritsar which is considered the holiest of the holy Sikh places. The <i>sarovar</i> at Amritsar (the city itself received its name from the <i>sarovar</i> which was <i>amrit-sar</i>, the pool of ambrosia) was excavated by Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s (1534-1581) and the Harimandar, the Temple of God, built in the middle of it by Gur&#363 Arjan (1563-1606).</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; So important is the element of a sacred tank and a purificatory bath in the Sikh tradition that in the Sikh morning and evening prayer (<i>ard&#257s</i>) one of the benedictions sought and injunctions laid on the faithful is <i>Sr&#299 amritsar j&#299o ke darsan isn&#257n</i>-- may we be blessed with a glimpse of and a bath in the holy Amritsar <i>sarovar</i>. Bhai Gurd&#257s includes purificatory bath in his list of three jewels of Sikhism----<i>n&#257m</i> (meditating on His name), <i>d&#257n</i> (giving charity to the needy) and <i>isn&#257n</i> (bath in a sacred tank).</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The <i>sarovars</i> are no doubt a part of the Sikh religious heritage and bathing in them an acknowledged religious practice, but the real <i>sarovar</i> in Sikhism is the Gur&#363's word (<i>&#347abda</i>) which alone can wash away one's sins. Contemplating God through Gur&#363's <i>&#347abda</i>, millions may have their sins burnt up (GG, 1175). At many places in Sikh scripture, the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib, the teacher and the disciple are likened to the pool (<i>sarovar</i>) and the swan (<i>ha&#7749sa</i>) referring to the swan's search for food of gems and pearls in the pool-- the gems and pearls being the attributes of God. The pool is full of pearls but he alone reaches it who is so blest (GG, 685). The seeker seeks ever to arrive at the Gur&#363's <i>sarovar</i> to satisfy the thirst of his soul. He is pleased on seeing the Gur&#363 just as the lotus in a pool blossoms touched by the ray of the sun. Around the Gur&#363's pool is the embankment of truth : those who are truthful and free from ego find this pool out and having bathed in it stand washed of all stain. It is the crows, i.e. the <i>manmukhs</i>, who cannot reach the pool.</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, 1959<BR> <li class="C1"> Gurd&#257s Bh&#257&#299, <i>V&#257r&#257&#7749</i>. Amritsar, 1962<BR> <li class="C1"> Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Tw&#257r&#299<u>kh</u> Sr&#299 Amritsar</i>, [Reprint]. Amritsar, 1977<BR> <li class="C1"> Datta, V.N., <i>Amritsar Past and Present</i>. Amritsar, 1967<BR> <li class="C1"> Monier Williams, <i>Sanskrit-English Dictionary</i> [Reprint]. Delhi, 1979<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">L. M. Joshi<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>