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Extract from The Inevitable Occurred on Thursday Morning, The Fifth Moon of Magh, 1872 Bikrami. Very well known is the village Bhaini in Ludhiana district. On this village Ram Singh Descended like a God, Casting aside all the ills inhering in the 'Kal Jug'. Charged with Spreading The Idea of Godhood, He, Exuding Effulgence, Came to the childless household. His father Jassa, a carpenter by caste and mother Sada. Even while a Child, His Mind was Replete with Divine Presence. Dedicated to uplift of mankind, He, along with His playmates, was ever Absorbed in Him. And, When Grown-up He went to Lahore, Entered service in the Army, which He Thought was a Noble Vocation. He would Recite Gurbani, Sing Hymns, Feel Solitude and Share His Purse with the poor. |
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"I Maintain Friendship Only With Those
Who Devote Themselves, Whoever They May Be, To Worship And Prayer." In the above words can be traced the philosophy and the origin of the new movement initiated by Guru Ram Singh. After Guru Gobind Singh, Sikhism had passed through many storms and difficulties. All this gave it a maturity as well as a sense of struggle and permanency. It nevertheless affected its quality. Many changes had been introduced in Sikhism along with changing circumstances and political upheavals. The Sikhs had lost their character and had abandoned their original unity and purity. Their food and their dress had undergone a change due to the influence of Westernism. They did not possess those qualities which were associated with the word Khalsa. Their forthrightness, that striving for truth, goodwill towards others, and the reading of the holy verses, had completely waned. Those Sikhs whose ancestors used to get up early in the morning, washed themselves properly and read the Guru Granth before even taking a grain of food - were then so fallen that their life seemed to be entirely changed. They did not read Japji (The most fundamental prayer) and their whole attitude was one of contempt and ridicule towards religion. The Hindus were equally devoid of religious practices. They were suffering from the same social evils which existed in their society at the time of the rise of the Bhakti movement. Both the Hindus and the Sikhs practised rituals and sold their daughters. In such circumstances, it was absolutely essential that the work of religious revival should be undertaken so that the scattered limbs of a powerful society may be united into a compact nation for the cause of liberty. Guru Ram Singh was the benevolent leader Who launched a crusade for religious reform and revival. He discerned that political independence had disappeared fromt he Panjab and the rest of the country because true religion had become extinct in the hearts of the people. He had witnessed with His own eyes how moral and religious decline went hand in hand with political shame, defeat and enslavement in the land of the five rivers. He had seen how the so-called leaders had sold the liberty of Panjab and the honor of their people into the hands of the foreigners for the sake of their selfish and shortsighted ends. This is why he reached the crucial decision that he should reform the Sikh and Hindu society as an important pre-condition to freedom. The result of His decision can be seen in the Namdhari movement founded in the year 1857 which was launched by Him in the fluid atmosphere of the Panjab. For this purpose, His Holiness had already established a new centre at Sri Bhaini Sahib as the radiating point of His divine views. His Holiness wanted to be away from religious monopolists of Amritsar and other places, so that His Holiness could attract away true disciples towards entirely different directions. His Holiness abolished all distinctions of caste among Sikhs; advocated indiscriminate marriages of all classes; enjoined the marriage of widows, all which His Holiness performed Himself; His Holiness never took alms Himself and prohibited His followers from doing so; enjoined abstinence from liquors and drugs. His Holiness exhorted His disciples to be cleanly and truth-telling and it is well that every man carried his staff (Swords were outlawed by the British); and they all do; the Granth was and is their only accepted inspired volume. The brotherhood of the Namdhari may be known by the tie of their straight turban, by a watch-word, by a necklace of knots made in a white woollen cords called Mala, to repeat beads and which are worn by all the community. According to Major Perkins (1866), after a Namdhari was initiated, he was supposed to have forsworn all vices such as lying, stealing, drinking, adultery, etc. There was also the provisionof a Panchayat where the offenders could be punished or brought back to the path of religious purity. The converts were ordered to bathe the entire body and wash the hair of their heads every morning at 3 o'clock. After bathing they were to pray, read aloud and repeat the sacred verses from the Granth. The practice of Chandi-Path was also introduced because it promised physical strength for the sake of the defence of the religion. The assembly for Chandi-Path generally lasted for two to three days. Guru Ram Singh was conscious of the prevailing poverty in the land. He also knew how the Brahmanic influence had increased immensely since the days of Ranjit Singh. He decided to save his meek and simple disciples from costly marriage ceremonies, and other expenseive rituals. This was to save them from avoidable indebtedness, as well as from the over-powering sway of the Pundits. Accordingly, the Guru initiated the Anand Marriage ceremony which could be performed at a nominal cost. The Anand Marriages were not initiated by anybody except Guru Ram Singh. The marriages of almost all the Gurus including the one of the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, were performed according to Brahmanic rites. Infact even the marriage of Guru Ram Singh Himself, was performed by the family priest in the traditional way. Guru Ram Singh launched the programme of Anand Marriages in the first week of June 1863 in the village of Khote wehre a large number of Namdhari disciples collected under the inspiration of the Guru. The daughter and grand-daughter of Summund Singh was married in the simple form. The daughter of a carpenter was married in the family of the Arora caste so that the caste feeling may be eschewed. People felt greatly interested to see the performance of such marriages by the Guru. But the Brahmans who had been acting as the priests of village families for a long time raised a powerful cry of protest. They threatened to throw themselves into the burning pyre if the new system of marriages was not stopped. The Brahmanas were supported by such menials as barbers, washermen and street-singers, since their earning were equally affected. But who can stop the Satguru from doing what pleases Him? Nevertheless, a report was filed by the Brahmanas and their supporters with the authorities about the collection and activities of 500 i Sikhs in their village. The Governor ordered the Deputy Commissioner of Ferozepore to proceed to the village of Khote for proper investigations. As a result the Namdhari Sikhs were complelled to break their assembly, and they were sent back to their respective villages. Satguru Ram Singh Himself was interned in Bhainee Sahib. Inspite of the interference of the Government, the practice of Anand Marriage prevailed among the Namdhari Sikhs without exception. It was also revived amongst the other Sikhs.Side by side, the agitation for this reform went on and, in 1909, the Anand Marriage Act was passed by the Government of India due to the direct blessings of Sri Satguru Partap Singh and efforts of Tikka Sahib of Nabha and some others. This Act was passed on 2nd October 1909. It can be seen from the above account, that Guru Ram Singh introduced a simple social and religious change in the sordid atmosphere of the Panjab, which had been vitiated by the actions of the Khalsa nobles of the Lahore Darbar. He saved the Sikhs from the growing influence of the English. He taught them the ideals of clean living, honest earning, equality of human beings, simple dress, celibacy and tolerance. He finished, from the ranks of His disciples, the practices of Sati, infanticide, child marriage, trading in girls, borrowing, lies, adultery, stealing and drinking. It is said that once a drunkard and opium eater named Darbara Singh (of Kila Raipur Dist. Ludhiana) approached the Guru for wine and opium. The Guru said, He could intoxicate him with God's Name. He was directed to come after bathing. When he returned, the Guru put the sacred Gurmantra in his ears. The man was totally transformed. He broke his wine and opium jars at home and became on e of the most reliable disciples of Guru Ram Singh. Such transformations among the Sikhs were numerous. The Guru entrenched religious duties, early rising and bathing, meditation, charity and Langar (Free Kitchen), as the most important principles of His disciples. He denounced the dowry system, and in most of the marriages performed among His disciples, the expenditure on each was usually not more than Rs. 1-4. Lastly, it may be pointed out that the Guru Himself practised what He preached. He kept up His religious practices in the purest form even when His Holiness stayed as a prisoner of the English. He wrote to His brother (Satguru Hari Singh) from His exile: "Give Food, Drink And Clothing As Much As You Can To The Poor And The Hungry." In another letter His Holiness wrote: "Brother Hari Singh Do Not Have Any Ill-Feeling Against Anyone ... As The People Do, So Will They Be Rewarded ... Go On With Your Prayers And Continue To Feed The Hungry." Such is the Great Satguru Who reformed the Sikh society in the second half of the 19th century, giving them a moral basis which they had altogether lost; bestowing upon them a new life of purity, simplicity, fearlessness and love, which they needed badly; cured them of all their corroding maladies, and prepared them for a new crusade against the crushing evil of foreign rule. Source: Kukas - The Freedom Fighters of The Panjab by M.M. Ahluwalia |
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Sri
Satguru Ram Singh Ji Maharaj.
