AJAT SAGAR, by Surjan Das Ajat, is the religious book of the Ajatpanthi sect of the Udasis. Written in AD 1851, the only known manuscript of the work was available in the Sikh Reference Library, Amritsar, until it perished during the Blue Star action in the holy premises in 1984. The author Surjan Das (father: Bagh Singh, mother: Gulab Devi, a disciple of Sant Tahil Das who was in the Bhagat Bhagvanie sect of the Udasis, established his gaddi at Ajneval, in Gujrariwala district, now in Pakistan. Surjan Das preached the ideal of a casteless (a = without; Jat = caste) society and thus came to be called Ajat and his followers Ajatpanthi.
Another of his works was Surjan Bodh which is held in the Panjab University Library, Chandigarh, under MS. No. 111. The poetry of Surjan Das is uneven, though he tries to keep close to the gurbani idiom. Transience of the world, man`s forgetfulness of God and the importance of nam are the principal themes of Ajat Sagar. Guru Nanak has been depicted in this work as “the destroyer of evil.”
References :
1. Randhir Singh, Bhai, Udasi Sikhan di Vithia. Chandigarh, 1972
