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Bhai Randheer Singh
Bhai Randheer
Singh, whose original name before baptism and
initiation into the Khalsa fold was Basant Singh, was
born in the village of Narangwal in the Ludhiana
District of Punjab on July 7, 1878, to a family of a
very noble and devout heritage. His father, S. Natha
Singh, was a learned scholar of Punjabi, Urdu, Persian
and English, who initially worked as a District
Inspector of Schools but later rose to the rank of a
Judge in the High Court of the State of Nabha. As a
Judge, he became well known for combining justice with
mercy, compassion and humanity. His mother, Sardarni
Punjab Kaur, was a direct seventh-generation descendant
of a very devout, eminent, and saintly Gursikh, Bhai
Bhagtu, a very distinguished disciple of Sahib Sri Guru
Arjan Dcv Ji and Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib. Thus, Bhai
Randheer Singh inherited scholarship and strength of
mmd from his paternal side and qualities of piety and
devotion from his maternal side.
He had most of
his early schooling in Nabha and his higher education
at the prestigious Government and Foreman Christian
Colleges at Lahore (in 1896-1900 A.D.), which was, at
that time, the capital of the undivided Punjab State.
He was not only an intelligent and diligent student
with respect to his scholastic pursuits, but was also a
good sportsman, having once served as a Captain for the
College hockey team. He had a prodigious memory, a fact
clearly revealed from the way he has reproduced details
of the happenings during his prison life. In his
autobiographical letters from prison, he has narrated
his long conversations with the jail authorities
minutely and distinctly narrated. In his various books
on Sikh theology he quotes very appropriate verses from
the Gurbani freely and with apparent ease. He had a
deep insight and scholarly expertise in Punjabi, Brij
Bhasha of Sri Dasam Granth, Persian, Urdu and English.
He even distinguished himself as an Urdu and Punjabi
poet during his college days.
Even a cursory
look at his life, as revealed from his autobiographical
letters and related by his close prison and post-prison
comrades, clearly shows that he was one of the very few
Gursikhs of the century who had full and unfalterable
conviction of his faith in the teachings of the
Satguru, so much so that he staked his personal career,
the safety and welfare of his wife and young children,
his ancestral property and even his life in following
the true path of Gurmat. He was one of the very few
outstanding Sikhs of his time who, as one of the Panj
Pyaras, blessed the so-called lowest caste people with
the holy Amrit (Baptism of the Double Edged Sword). It
may be recalled that those were the times when the
Gurmat way of life had been almost completely
overshadowed by Hindu orthodoxy or Brahminism. The
Brahminic principle of untouchability regarding the low
caste Hindus and Muslims had become ingrained in the
minds of Sikhs to such an extent that the Sikhs would
not even consider taking part in the Amrit ceremony in
their company. Bhai Randheer Singh was one of the first
few Sikhs of the 2Oth century who had the courage to be
baptized along with a muslim, a well-known family of
Maulvi Karim Bahhsh1, whose Amrit Ceremony was arranged
on a large Panthic scale on June 14, 1903. As a result,
he was treated almost as an outcast by the Sikhs of his
own village and even by some of his relatives; the
priest of Sri Akal Takhat Sahib did not even let him
offer Karrah Prasad and do Kirtan there. However, he
remained steadfast in practicing whatever was ordained
at the Baptismal ceremony, as well as what he
understood from the Holy Sikh Scriptures and authentic
Sikh traditions. In fact, the practice and preaching of
the Sikh Code of Conduct strictly in accordance with
the true Gurmat became his passion in life. Though he
belonged to an aristocratic family, his simple way of
life, his devotion to Gurmat, and his determination to
live strictly in accordance with the Commandments of
the Satguru, have very few parallels in the
contemporary Sikh society. Throughout his life, he
stuck steadfastly to the Code of Conduct enunciated by
the Tenth Guru, even at the risk of losing his health
and life.
He had the
firm belief that initiation into the Khalsa fold was
not merely a ritual but meant a new birth into the
Spirit of the Guru, provided that the ceremony is
conducted strictly in accordance with the rules and
procedures laid down by Guru Sahib. At the time of his
own baptismal ceremony, a disturbing intrusion by an
outsider caused confusion in his mind regarding the
true Gurmantra. He felt that there was a Mystic Word
prescribed as Gurumantra for the Sikhs which also
formed the central theme of the Gurbani - a particular
NAAM - and it was possible to repeat it with every
breath. He firmly believed that only through constant
repetition of, and meditation on, this Mystic Word
could complete self realization and oneness with God be
attained.
HHe,
therefore, yearned ardently for getting the Gurmantra
directly from Sri Guru Granth Sahib and was also
confident that he would be blessed with it. He believed
Sri Guru Granth Sahib to be the real embodiment of the
Ten Gurus and, therefore, prayed only to Guru Sahib for
the Bliss of the Holy Naam. With this objective in
view, he made a prayerful vow to accept that holy word
as the True Gurmantra that was indicated in the first
hymn he read or heard in the Gurudwara on one
particular morning. If there was any indication of the
popularly known Divine Name of Waheguru through such
words as Wah or Guru, he would accept Waheguru as the
True Naam prescribed for the Sikhs as Gurmantra. How
his prayer was accepted, in what a glorious way Guru
Sahib blessed him with the Gurmantra, and the technique
of its constant repetition, is very beautifully
narrated in his autobiographical letters:
As soon as I
entered the Gurdwara and bowed before Guru Granth
Sahib,
these words were being recited:
Ve-muhtaja
Ve-parvah
Nanak Daas Kaho Gurvah. (Asa M. 5:376)
Carefree and
unconcerned is the Lord,
Sayeth Nanak Speak GUR VAH.
The words Kaho
Gurvah had such a magnetic effect on my mind that
immediately my every nerve and pore in the body became
imbued with the thrilled music of the Mystic Word
Waheguru. To my great surprise I saw some unseen hand
wave the chowri over Guru Granth Sahib and in between
the canopy and the Guru Granth Sahib, there flashed
forth a wave of light forming itself into the divine
word Waheguru and moving in space throughout the inside
of the temple without any visible support.2
After
attaining the true Gurmat Naam from Sri Guru Granth
Sahib, he became determined and anxious to attain the
Named One, the Lord God Himself. His desire turned into
a poignant thirst, and he took to repeating the Naam
continuously without any feeling of fatigue or wavering
of mind. After attaining the stage of self-realization
during which he saw his own soul to be quite distinct
from his body, his thirst for seeing the Light of God
Himself increased manifold. On the auspicious day of
Sahib Sri Guru Nanak Dcv ji's Prakash Utsav, in the
year 1905, God revealed himself in all His Perfect
Resplendence to him in the silence of the midnight
meditation which he describes in one of his
autobiographical letters as follows:
God was now
resplendently revealed within me. Ah! Blessed was my
search today. I could see a sea of Divine Light
flooding within me and outside me in shimmering
resplendence. The more I was absorbed in it, the more
wonderful and sublimely dazzling spiritual phenomena
were seen by my inner eyes which cannot be expressed in
the language of our physical and earthly world. I could
see right through the roof and walls of the room in
which I was sitting. Right through the sky I could see
space beyond space, all crystal clear and bathed in
purity. The whole of the universe was filled with
incomprehensible light which was penetrating me and
enfolding me. The music of His Divine Presence filled
my heart with Blissful joy. I could see all this
clearly and visibly in a wide awake condition.3
After these
highly spiritual, mystical, and blissful experiences he
resigned his Government job but did not become a
hermit. He continued to tread the path of true Gumat
which enjoins upon the Sikhs to continue to live in
this world without being engrossed in it. He continued
to perform his duties to his family and society. He
took the initiative in clearing the malpractices in the
various historical Gurdwaras. As a reformer, he was not
deterred by the strength of the vested interests
involved in their management. Once, at Gurdwara Fateh
Garh Sahib on a holy occasion, he did not allow the
recitation of Gurbani by an unholy and apostate Ragi
Jatha, without caring for danger to his life. Again at
Anandpur Sahib Gurdwara, on the occasion of Hola
Mohalla Celebration, he did not tolerate the
malpractices and immoral activities of the powerful
management. Risking his own life, he successfully
fought against the administration. It was for such
deeds of Gurdwara reform that he has been referred to
as the pioneer of the Gurdwara Reform Movement. A
reference to his services in this respect was also made
in the Hukam Namah bestowed upon him from Takht Sri
Kesh Garh Sahib in 1905 (Appendix A).
In 1914, when
the British rulers razed the wall of the historical
Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib in New Delhi to beautify the
surroundings of the then newly built Parliament House,
it was Bhai Sahib Randheer Singh who not only was the
first to protest publicly against this desecration of
the Holy Shrine, but also to announce his specific
plans to spearhead the agitation until the razed wall
was restored. He was also instrumental in organizing
two large Panthic Conferences in this connection, at
Patti in District Amritsar, and at Lahore, to pass the
Resolutions condemning the British action, and
demanding the restoration of the razed wall. These
conferences were the first of their kind after the
British occupation of Punjab. It may be mentioned here
that the Chief Khalsa Diwan, the only major Panthic
Organization at that time, had expressed its
willingness to side with the British Government.4
Although his
mind was never in politics, as a true Gursikh who
cannot accept slavery and repression, he, along with
the Ghadarite emigrants from USA and Canada, became an
active participant in the armed revolt against the
British Government for the country's freedom. In fact,
he was the only outstanding leader from Punjab who,
along with his companions, was a participant in this
revolt. It is worth noting here that the top Hindu
leader of the Indian National Congress, M. K. Gandhi,
opposed this revolt and declared his support to the
British Government in their First World War efforts,
saying, "Was it not the duty of the slave, seeking to
be free, to make the master's need his opportunity?.it
was our duty to win their help by standing them in
their need."5 Earlier the so-called Punjab Kesri, Lala
Iajpat Rai, called these Ghadarite emigrants fanatics
and dangerous to the national cause.6
BThe revolt
failed due to leakage of plans by traitors from within,
and he and his companions were arrested on May 9, 1915
and tried in what is commonly known as the Second
Lahore Conspiracy case. However, his love for the
country's freedom arose solely from the ideals of the
Sikh Dharma, and whatever he did for the country he did
primarily as a true Gursikh and not merely as a
political freedom fighter. He was sentenced to life
imprisonment in 1916 and his property confiscated. He
was only 38 years old with a wife and three young
children. The eldest ten year old daughter could not
bear this separation from her dear father and died
within a month of his imprisonment. His son Balbir
Singh was only six years old, and his daughter Daler
Kaur was just two.7
During his
prison term of over 15 years, he faced unprecedented
sufferings. This was not for any political or personal
reasons, but only for his determination to live
strictly in accordance with the Khalsa Code of Conduct
made known to him at the time of initiation into the
Khalsa fold. In Multan jail, one of the hottest places
in India (now in W. Pakistan) with temperatures going
up to 122°F in May and June, he remained without food
and water continuously for 40 days. This was because he
was not allowed to prepare his food himself according
to the Gurmat principles and he would not take food
prepared by non-Amritdharis. He was chained to iron
gates in the open for many days to face the scorching
heat of the sun and bear the brunt of hot winds. At
night he was put into a 6' x 4' cell without
ventilation. This is only one instance of the many
tortures inflicted upon him. He had to bear such
terrible sufferings in prison that twice he was given
up for dead even by members of his own family. Even
after suffering such inhuman tortures, he remained
steadfast in his beliefs and never once wavered from
following strictly the Khalsa Code of Conduct. When the
Khalsa Panth came to know of his tortuous sufferings,
the whole Panth observed February 1, 1923 as a special
day of prayer for him in particular and for other
suffering Sikh prisoners in general.
Prior to his
release from prison in Lahore, the well-known Shaheed
Bhagat Singh, who was waiting execution in the same
prison, expressed a desire to have Bhai Sahib's darshan
before his death. On being approached, Bhai Sahib
refused to see him saying ".he has violated the basic
tenets of Sikhism by shaving off his hair and hence I
do not want to see him." Bhagat Singh was quick to
express his repentance and also confessed that he, in
fact, was an atheist at heart. He further told Bhai
Sahib that even then, perhaps, he would have kept the
Sikh appearance, but if he had done that he would have
lost the friendship and sympathy of his Hindu comrades
and would not have received so much publicity in the
press. After a two hour meeting with Bhai Sahib, he
became a true Sikh at heart and later went to the
gallows as a true believer in Sikhism.
Soon after his
release in 1930, Bhai Sahib was honored by Sri Akal
Taldit Sahib with a Hukumnamah and a robe of honor,
recognizing his steadfastness in faith and selfless
sacrifices (Appendix A). He is the second person to
have been honored by Sri Akal Takht Sahib during this
century, the other person being Baba Kharak Singh, the
renowned Panthic leader of the late twenties.
Afterwards, the other three Takhts also honored him in
the same way, thus making him the only single person to
have been honored from all the original four Takhts in
the last hundred years of Sikh history. (Damdama Sahib
was declared the fifth Takhat later). Robes of honor
and a gold medallion were also sent to him by the Sikhs
of U.S.A. and Canada. He was selected as one of the
Panj Pyaras to inaugurate the Kar Seva of the sarover
of Gurdwara Tarn Taran Sahib, and to lay the foundation
stones of the new buildings of the Gurdwaras at Panja
Sahib and Shahidganj Nankana Sahib, besides those of
the Bungas at Patna Sahib and Kavi Darbar Asthan at
Paonta Sahib.
After his
release from prison, he lived for over thirty years
during which time he travelled throughout the country
and propagated the true Gursikh way of life through
Gurbani Kirtan and Paath. A large number of ardent
seekers of the true path of Sikhism were drawn to him
magnetically, and he directed them to and brought them
in direct touch with the infinite wealth of Gurbani. In
this way, the Akhand Kirtani Jatha came to be formed.
According to him, the principles of life pointed out in
Gurbani and prescribed in the Khalsa Code of Conduct
are not merely ideals but downright practical. He
himself conformed to and lived in accordance with these
principles in letter and spirit, even in the midst of
the most unfavorable and tortuous circumstances of jail
life. It is now a fact of history that his bold stand
and endurance of untold sufferings for retaining the
Sikh symbols in jail resulted in the amendment of the
Jail Manual, which permits all the Sikh prisoners to
wear Turban, Kachhehra and Karra in jail. Prior to that
time, they were forced to wear caps and Longoties and
were deprived of the Karra.
He wrote about
two dozen books on Sikh theology, philosophy and the
true Sikh way of life (Appendix B). Of these, the most
well-known is his AUTOBIOGRAPHY, a collection of his
letters written from prison during his sixteen years of
imprisonment. This book reveals his personal spiritual
experiences of the highest state of divine
illumination. According to Bhai Sahib Vir Singh, these
experiences ".will give convincing testimony of the
fact that our faith, the contemplation and remembrance
of the divine Name has now been tested by an experiment
in the crucible of his own self by a scholar educated
and trained in Western lore."8 It also reveals that his
whole life has been a saga of suffering in which he
never for a moment left his deep faith and devotion to
God and His Word.
With regard to
his other books, it may safely be said that during the
current century, he is perhaps the only writer on Sikh
theology who has written comprehensively, and with the
confidence arising out of first-hand personal
experiences of the highest state of Divine
illumination, on such subjects as Anhad Shabad (Unstruck
Limitless Music), Gurmat Karam Philosophy (Law of
Karma), Sach Khand Darshan (Vision of the Realm of the
Truth), Jyot-Vigas (The Revelation of Light), Andithi
Dunya (The Unseen World), etc. Dr. Tarlochan Singh
rightly says that ".In his writings we find the glow of
his mystic experiences, his intellectual certainty and
the metaphysical clarity of his theology."
The
steadfastness of his character, conviction of his
faith, and firmness in his allegiance to the high Sikh
traditions are revealed from another remarkable
incident in his life. Before his imprisonment, he was
an intimate friend of Babu Teja Singh of Bhasaur and
was also instrumental in establishing Panch Khalsa
Diwan at Bhasaur in association with him. Babu Teja
Singh was then quite a dynamic personality amongst the
Sikhs and was a leading figure in the Singh Sabha
resurgence. The Panthic Conference, where Bhai Sahib
had taken Amrit along with Maulvi Karim Baksh and his
family, was also organized by Babu Teja Singh. Hence
both of them had become close friends. However, as Babu
Teja Singh became a British Government loyalist, Bhai
Sahib stopped working in association with him. During
the period of Bhai Sahib's internment, Babu Teja Singh
had been excommunicated from the Panth.
After Bhai
Sahib's release, Babu Teja Singh tried to meet his old
friend after twenty years and came to his house to
resurrect their old friendship. Bhai Sahib was not
there at that moment. When he came to know later of
Babu Ji's visit, Bhai Sahib wrote him a letter politely
declining to meet him. The contents of the letter are
very moving and reveal the true personality of Bhai
Sahib and his unshakable and abiding faith in the Sikh
tenets, values and traditions. It is therefore
considered worthwhile to reproduce the English
translation of the same below:
"Babu Teja
Singh ji, Waheguru ji ki Fateh. You, dear Sir, have
come to see this humble servant of the Panth after one
fifth of a century, i.e., 20 years. I was no less eager
to have the chance of meeting with you and talking
together. But I was deeply pained when I learnt that
you have been excommunicated from the Panth by a
congregation at Sri Akal Takht. What is even more
distressing, you continue to disregard the authority of
the Panth. It is now my request that you should be
obedient to the Command of the Guru Panth and return to
its shelter. Then we shall meet like brothers. It is my
hope that you will accede to my request and thereby
please the hearts of all of us. I am confident that you
will not defy the Guru Panth and will abide by the
tradition coming down through generations. Your sincere
well wisher (s) Randheer Singh"9
Thus, no personal relationship would deflect Bhai Sahib
from obeying in letter and spirit the edicts of the
Guru Panth issued from Sri Akal Takht Sahib.
This very
brief sketch of his life given above brings out clearly
that he lived the life of the highest concept of man
evolved in about two and a half centuries by Sahib Sri
Guru Nanak Dcv Ji in his ten manifestations. In spite
of all these high spiritual achievements, he always
remained humble and full of humility. He made
stupendous sacrifices but never publicized them. He
never felt hatred against even his adversaries who
inflicted on him all types of tortures as he took all
this as the Will of the Guru. He had a sizable group of
associates attending and performing Kirtan at the
Akhand Kirtan Samagams, but he did not organize them
into a separate sect nor establish a separate Dera or
Ashram as done by many other saints. He even refused to
nominate anyone to head the Jatha as his successor and
instructed that all the matters of importance and
urgency be decided by the Panj Pyaras selected by the
Sangat for that purpose.
He never even
requested the Government of the Independent India to
release his land, which had been confiscated by the
British Government at the time of his arrest, and held
in possesion by the Indian Government until 1950. No
pension or benefit as a freedom fighter was given to
him or his family. This was because he would not
personally seek any favour from anyone, not even the
Government of free India, as a reward for his
sacrifices in the freedom struggle.
Right from
1900 A.D., Bhai Sahib Randheer Singh had been a very
well-known personality among the luminaries of the Sikh
Panth. During the days of Baba Kharak Singh's
leadership, he was always at the center of all
religious and political activities of the Sikhs.
However, after 1947, Akali Dal leaders started
sidetracking him as well as Baba Kharak Singh, treating
both as un-persons. This was mainly because, in their
company, the Akali and other leaders could not afford
to fulfill their own selfish ends. Bhal Sahib, noting
decadence in the Panthic leadership, had himself
remarked a few years before his death:
".This is the
beginning of the end of all these decadent parties and
religious organizations. New blood and newly inspired
political organizations alone will deliver goods in the
future."10
His life story thus explicitly brings out that, as Dr.
Tarlochan Singh puts it:
".He was a
God-intoxicated man, consumed with religious enthusiasm
in the literal sense of the word and 'holding God
within' as one would say; yet he was a practical leader
capable of dedicated service to humanity and his
country. His faith and virtues were near allied and
mutually indispensable.With astounding faith and
stoicism he suffered all his life for the ideals which
form the cornerstone of Sikhism such as Freedom,
Justice, Equality and Truth."11
Throughout his life, everything he did reveals his
integrity of character and faith, absolute lack of ego,
and extremely disciplined and spiritually enlightened
life based on the Code of Conduct enunciated by the
Satguru.
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