Saint Kabir : One of the Greatest Saint-Poet of India

Saint Kabir is considered to be one of the greatest poets as well as mystics ever born in India. He believed that human beings are equal and being one with God is the ultimate aim of every individual. His love and devotion to the Supreme One clearly reflects in his poetry. The Holy Guru Granth Saheb contains over 500 verses by the great Saint, Kabir. The verses or dohas of Guru Kabir are still read by people with awe and administration.

Saint Kabir was born in 1300 AD. It is said that he was found floating on a lotus leaf in a tank in Benaras by Muslim weaver. The weaver took the vulnerable child under his care and following the traditional manner, gave him the name of Kabir, meaning the great one. Even at young age, Kabir displayed enormous spiritual talent

Kabir always wanted to become a disciple of Ramanand. However since he was Muslim, it was next to impossible for him to get initiation from a Hindu. So he took recourse to a trick. Ramanand daily went to the bathing ghat for his pre-dawn ritual ablutions. Kabir lay on the steps of the ghat in such a way that Ramanand stepped on him. Shocked at this incident, he chanted “Rama, Rama”. Kabir said that he has received teachings from him, in the form of the words “Rama, Rama”, he was Ramanand disciple. Impressed with the intelligence of Kabir, Ramanand took him as his disciple. After some time, by his Guru’s grace, Kabir was able to have the divine darshan of Sri Rama. This divine experience inspired him to write poetic verses. One of his most famous poetic verses is:

Guru Govind dono khade kisko lago pay

Balihari Guru apne, jine Govind diyo batay

The hallmark of Kabir’s work consists of his two line couplets, known as the Kabir ke Dohe. The dohas reflect the deep philosophical thinking of saint Kabir.Saint Kabir always advocated the Impersonal Aspect Of God (Nirguna) and therefore, was against idol worship. As per his view, all human beings are equal and the societal caste system that is so widely prevalent in our country is fallacious. He said that the true Guru is the one who can be attained through direct experience. The common ways of realizing God, like chanting, austerities, etc., are worthless. Through his poetry and thoughtful words of wisdom, Kabir talked about piety, generosity, humility and tolerance. His poems appealed not only to Hindus, but also appealed to devotees of all religions seeking a path to a God. Many Brahmins of Kashi objected to Kabir’s teachings because he was raised a Muslim, and many Sufi mystics opposed Kabir because he associated with Hindus Sadhus. Despite this, countless Hindus and Muslims alike found immense inspiration from Kabir’s insightful poems. Even today, we sing some of Kabir’s Bhajans in BAPS Mandirsworldwide.
A Portrait of Saint Kabir is made by me..

Saint Kabir : One of the Greatest Saint-Poet of India

Guru Arjan Dev Ji : A real Martyr

Guru Arjan Dev Ji was born in Amritsar, Punjab, India on 15 April, 1563. He was the 5^th Guru of the Sikhism and became Guru on 01 September, 1581 following in the footsteps of Guru Ram Das. He was born at Goindval, and was the youngest of the sons of Guru Ram Das and Bibi Bhani, the daughter of Guru Amardas. He appointed Bhai Buddha as the chief priest of the Golden Temple. He placed the Adi Granth on the seat reserved for him and himself sat among his disciples. Sukhmani Sahib Path was also composed by Him. Before his death, He nominated his son Har Gobind as the next Guru of the Sikhs.

On the 16^th June of every year since 1606; the Sikhs have commemorated the martyrdom of their first martyr, the fifth Guru, Guru Arjan Dev Ji. Sikh history until then had been peaceful and non-violent. All the Sikh Gurus taught the message of compassion, love, dedication, hard work, worship of one God and the commitment to peace and harmony for all the people of the world.

Relations between Akbar and Guru Ji were cordial but things changed after the accessions of Jahangir. In late May 1606, Guru Arjan Dev was arrested for His refusal to accept Islam and brought to Lahore where he was subject to severe torture. He was made to sit on a burning hot plate while hot sand was poured over His head and body. It is said that Mian Mir (a Muslim Sufi Saint and friend of Guru Sahib) tried to intercede on behalf of Guru Sahib. Guru Ji forbade him to interfere in the Will of Almighty. Guru Ji’s body was blistered and burnt. For several days, the Guru was subjected to this unrelenting torture. Subsequently, Guru Arjan Dev Ji was taken for a bath in the river, Ravi. As thousands watched, he entered the river never to see again. The martyrdom of Guru Sahib changed the entire character of Sikhism radically from a passive people to courageous saint soldiers.

Many reasons have been given for this tragedy. It is stated that Jahangir was annoyed because Guru Arjan Dev ji gave his blessings to his rebel son, Prince Khusrau Mirza.

There are also some Mughal accounts which state that Guru Arjan Dev ji blessed the rebel son of Emperor Jahangir which prompted the emperor to take action against him. But the memoirs of Jahangir make it clear that he in fact was looking for an excuse to, in his own words to bring him into the assembly of the people of Islam.

It is also stated in some sources that one of the courtiers of Jahangir who had first laughed at the suggested marriage between his daughter and the Gurus son, which was later rebuffed, could not put up with the insult and poisoned the ears of the Emperor. Consequently Jahangir imposed a fine of Rupees two Lac (two hundred thousand) on Guru Arjan Dev ji and also ordered him to remove certain passages from the Adi Granth, which were objectionable to Muslims. On the Guru's refusal to do so, he was tortured.

The manner in which Guru Arjan Dev ji was martyred "convinced the Sikhs that they must arm themselves and fight, if they wanted to live". It proved a turning point in the history of Sikhism.