SADH, BHAI

SADH, BHAI, devoted disciple of Guru Hargobind (1595-1644), who lived near the ancient city of Balkh in central Asia. Zulfiqar Ardastani, the author of DabistanI Mazahib, a contemporary work in Persian, records, two anecdotes which show that Bhai Sadh was a devoted Sikh who, unaffected by joys and sorrows of life, rejoiced in serving the will of the Guru. “Once he,” says Zulfiqar Ardastani, “set out upon the Guru`s order from Balkh to Iraq to buy horses. He had a grownup son who fell sick.” People said, “you are still in the city of Balkh, only a stage away from home. Go back and see your son.”

He replied, “If he dies, there is plenty of firewood in the house. You may cremate him. I have left home in the service of the Guru. I will not go back.” The boy passed away but the father did not return. On another occasion, Ardastani travelling with Bhai Sadh from Kabul to the Punjab, discovered that the belt of his sheepskin had Snapped.

“Sadh instantly took off his zannar, the sacred thread,” he writes, “and made a joint there.” “What have you done?” said I. He replied, “The wearing of the sacred thread is an undertaking of service. Whenever I neglect the service of my guests and friends, I become a non wearer of it.” And he quoted a verse: “This knotless relation, though slender as a single strand, is rosary in a cloister and a zannar in a temple.”

References :

1. Ganda Singh, “Nanak Pan this” in The Pan jab Past and Present. Patiala, April 1967