MIHARBAN

MIHARBAN, (1581-1640), the popular name of Manohar Das, who was the grandson of Guru Ram Das, fourth in spiritual descent from Guru Nanak, and son of Prithi Chand, the elder brother of Guru Arjan, Nanak V. Born on 9 January 1581, Miharban spent his early years in the company of his uncle, Guru Arjan, and imbibed from him scholarly inclination as well as literary taste. He was a man of ascetic temperament. To wean him from his solitary ways, his parents got him married in 1595.

He had three sons Karan Mall or Krishan Mall, Chaturbhuj and Harji. In 1618, his father, Prithi Chand, who had set up his own rival seat protesting against the installation of his younger brother, Arjan, as the Guru of the Sikhs, nominated him his successor. This was a difficult position for Miharban, but by his knowledge of the sacred lore and his ability to compose religious verse, he attracted some following. He went out preaching and spent several years in the hill district around Karigra. Then he came to the Malva and sojourned in the area for about five years. He passed the last years of his life at Muhammadipur, in the Kasur subdivision of Lahore district, now in Pakistan, which he had made his headquarters and where he died on 18 January 1640.

Miharban wrote in Punjabi prose ajanam sakhi or life story of Guru Nanak entitled Pothi Sachkhand. The biographical detail is scanty and the main purpose of the author seems to be to provide interpretations of some of Guru Nanak`s hymns in a framework of gosts or discourses. On the Japu, the opening 6am of the Guru Granth Sahib, the book contains a full scale commentary. This may well be the first recorded exposition of the fapu. Among the other works attributed to Miharban are Sukhmani Sahansamdmd, Vdr Pirdh Ki, Cost Kabirfio Ki, and Gostdn Bhagtdh Kiah.

References :

1. Kirpal Singh, Manohar Das Miharban: Jivan ate Rachna. Patiala, 1974