BHAGAT

BHAGAT– Bhagat has roots in the word Bhaj or Bhakt, which means divided (into self and the \’other\’; this \’other\’ may be a god or the Almighty) or sacrificed (into pieces for some god or for the Almighty); hence, Bhagat is one who is devoted to some god or the Almighty. The word Bhagt has also been traced to the word Bhaj (to adore, honour, love, revere etc.). It has another root: Bhagvata (devotee of Bhagwan). According to Sikhism, a Bhagat is one who is devoted to the Almighty.

A Sikh is a Bhagat (devotee) of the Almighty only. In Guru Granth Sahib the non-Guru poets have been mentioned as Bhagat (e.g. Kabir, Ravidas, Ramanand, Namdev, Tirlochan, Parmanand, and Jaidev etc. Some of these Bhagats were, in the beginning, the devotees of some Hindu gods but later, they became devotees of the Almighty only. Sikhism accepted the Bhagti of the Almighty as the real Bhagti and the rest as illusion). The Muslim poet Farid is mentioned as Sheikh and the bards of the court of Guru Sahib are known as Bhatt.