guru

TAKHT, Persian word meaning a throne or royal seat, has, besides its common literal use, other connotations in the Sikh tradition. In Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh Scripture, phrases such as sachcha takht (true throne) and pura takht (perfect throne) have been used to signify God`s seat of divine justice. Guru Nanak in Var Malar KI alludes to the created universe as His sacha takht (GG, 907), but also qualifies that "His is the sacha or everlasting takht while all else comes and goes" (GG, 1279). God in Sikh metaphysics is described as Formless but to make Him intelligible to the lay man He is sometimes personified and referred to as sacha sah, sultan, patsah meaning the true king or sovereign.

TARGA, village 6 km north of Kasurm Lahore district of Pakistan, had historical Sikh shrine, Gurdwara TIsri Patshahi Jhari Sahib, on the western outskirts marking the site where Guru Amar Das, Nanak III, travelling in these parts at the request of devotees living in the nearby Kadivind had once stopped. A largely attended religious fair used to be held at this Gudwara on the occasion of Baisakhi. The place was abandoned in the wake of the partition of the country in 1947.

TILOK SINGH, (d. 1710), Tiloka or Tilok Chand before receiving the Sikh initiatory rites, was an ancestor of the Phulkian families of Nabha and Jind, Badrukkhan and Dialpura. He was the eldest son of Chaudhari Phul. His wife, Bakhto, bore him two sons, Gurdit Singh and Sukhchain Singh. From the elder son, Gurdit Singh, were descended the rulers of the Princely state of Nabha and from Sukhchain Singh those of Jirid. Tilok Singh was Guru Gobind Singh`s devoted disciple and took part in his battles with the hill rajas.

TULSA, BHAI, a Bhalla Khatri of the village of Dalla, now in Kapurthala district of the Punjab. He received the rites of initiation at the hands of Guru Amar Das and learnt to shed the pride of caste. His name figures in Bhai Gurdas, Varan, XI. 16. TULSA, BHAI, a Vahura (Volwa) Khatri trader living in Sultanpur Lodhi, now in Kapurthala district of the Punjab, received the rites of initiation during the time of Guru Amar Das. His name is included among the Guru`s devotees in Mani Singh, Sikhan di Bhagat Mala. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Mani Singh, Bhai, Sikhan di Bhagat Mala. Amritsar, 1955 2. Santokh Singh, Bhai, 5n Gur Pratap Suraj Granth.

UNTOUCHABILITY, a feature of the caste system prevalent in Hindu society since time immemorial, reduces certain classes and castes to a very low level in the social scale. The caste system, the origins of which can be traced to the Purusa Sukta, hymn 90, of the tenth book of the Rgveda, had, by the time of the Epics, become an inalienable part of the Varnasrama Dharma of the Aryans. While Buddhism disapproved of caste distinctions, the Bhagavad gita (IV. 13) confers divine sanction on the caste system. Again, Bhagavadgita implies the distribution of human beings into castes in accordance with their guna or qualities and karma or actions.

VAR HAQIQAT RAI, by Aggra or Aggar Singh, is a versified account of the life and martyrdom of Haqiqat Rai. No biographical details are available about Aggra, except that he was a contemporary of Haqiqat Rai and that he came of a Sethi Khatri family. Haqiqat Rai was the son of Bagh Mall and the grandson, on the mother`s side, of Bhai Kanhaiya, a devout Sikh of the time of Guru Gobind Singh. The Var was completed in 1841 Bk/AD 1784, and it comprises 212 stanzas. 

Var Patshahl Dasvin Ki, ballad in Punjabi by an unknown poet who describes, Guru Gobind Singh\'s battle against the combinded forces of hill rajas and the Mughal faujdar Rustam Khan. The poet has not mentioned where and when the action took place the names of the Mughal commander Rustam Khan and his brother Himmat Khan mentioned in the Var indicate that it was the battle of Nirmohgarh, fought in 1700. The Var opens with a supplicatory verse where after the poet straightway begins the narrative. Rustam Khan has arrived at the head of a Mughal host with the proclaimed hiect of routing the Guru and his Sikhs.

AGAMPUR or AGAMPURA, lit. city unapproachable or inaccessible (Skt. agamya plus pur or pura). The word appears in one of the hymns of Guru Nanak in Asa measure where it is used to signify God`s abode or the ultimate state or stage of spiritual enlightenment and bliss. Another term used synonymously in the same hymn is nijaghar, lit. one`s own real home signifying the ultimate sphere of jivatma.

AJMER CHAND, ruler of Kahlur (Bilaspur), one of the princely states in the Sivaliks. He succeeded his father. Raja Bhim Chand, who had retired in his favour. Bhim Chand had led battles against Guru Gobind Singh, and his son, Ajmer Chand, continued the hostility. He formed a league of the hill chieftains and solicited help from Emperor Aurangzib in order to evict Guru Gobind Singh from Anandpur which fell within his territory. Their attacks upon Anandpur in 1700 and 1703 proved abortive, but Guru Gobind Singh had to evacuate the citadel in 1705 under pressure of a prolonged siege. Ajmer Chand joined the imperial troops in their pursuit of the Guru up to Chamkaur. Ajmer Chand died in 1738.

AKUL, BHAI, a resident of Sultan pur Lodhi in present day Kapurthala district of the Punjab, embraced the Sikh faith in the time of Guru Amar Das. Bhai Gurdas in his Varan praises his sincerity and devotion to the Guru. Once Bhai Akul, along with several others from his village, waited on Guru Arjan and begged to be instructed in how sattvika gunas, or qualities of purity and goodness, might be cultivated.