guru

VAR MAJH KI, by Guru Nanak occurs in the musical measure Majh, in the Guru Granth Sahib. The word majh, in Punjabi, means in the middle or midway, and the raga which goes by this name was a folk tune of Majha, the central country of die Punjab, which attained literary form at the hands of Guru Nanak. This raga is meant to be sung is the evening. At the head of the Var is recorded the direction by Guru Arjan , Nanak V, as the tune to which it should most appropriately be sung, i.e. the tune of a well known ballad about a battle between the two chiefs of Emperor Akbar, namely Malak Murid and Chandrahara.

WAJAB UL-ARZ, lit. a properly petition, is a section of Sikhan di Bhagat Mala, also known as Gursikkhan di Bhagatmal, a manuscript in Punjabi, Gurmukhi script, attributed to Bhai Mani Singh (d. 1737) the martyr, who had received the rites of initiation at the hands of Guru Gobind Singh himself. Three copies of the manuscript were preserved in the Sikh Reference Library at Amritsar under No. 7398, No. 6140 and No. 751 until these perished during operation Blue Star in 1984. The printed version of Sikhan di Bhagat Mala however does not include this section. The Wajab ul-Arz also forms part of Bhagvan Singh\'s anthology of rahitnamas entitled Bibekbardhi, an unpublished manuscript of which is preserved in the Dr Balbir Singh Sahitya Kendra, Dehra Dun.

AGHORl or AGHORPANTHI. one of the several Kapalika sects, connected with the Tantrik cult of Saivism, notorious for its cannibalism and other abominable practices. Aghora literally means "not terrible," "not evil," otherwise, "pleasant" or "handsome," and is one of the euphemistic titles of the Hindu god, Siva. Aughar or Aughada is another cognate word which stands for a follower of the Aghorpanth. Besides , there is also a Vaisnava sect of Aghoris of modern origin, said to have been founded by Baba Kinarama (1684-1787) who himself was a disciple of Baba Kalarama Aghori of Varanasi.

AJMER SINGH was the name given a seventeenth century Muslim recluse of Chhatteana, a village in present day Faridkot district of the Punjab, as he received the initiatory rites of the Khalsa. His original name was Ibrahim, popularly shortened to Brahmi or Bahmi. According to an old chronicle, Malva Desh Ratan di Sakhi Potbi, Ibrahim had himself dug a grave, duly lined with brick and mortar into which he intended to descend, through a hole he had kept for the purpose, when his time came.

AMAR KATHA, of unknown authorship, comprises a mixture of diverse hagiographic traditions bearing on the life of Guru Nanak. The work remains unpublished, but several manuscripts are known to exist: for instance, two of them, dated AD 1818 and 1872, respectively, are preserved in the Guru Nanak Dev University Library at Amritsar, one, dated 1877, in the Punjabi University Museum, Patiala, one, dated 1870, at the Panjabi Sahitya Akademi, Ludhiana, and one, dated 1825, in the Sikh Reference Library until it perished in the Army attack in 1984. Compiled probably towards the end of the eighteenth century, Amar Katha draws upon all the prevalent janam sakhi cycles such as Puratan, Miharban and BaJa along with the interpolations introduced by the Handalias (q.v.).This miscellany narrates Guru Nanak`s life in terms of the usual legend, myth and miracle.

ANANDGHANA, SVAMI, an Udasi sadhii known for the commentaries he wrote on some of the Sikh scriptural texts. Not much biographical detail is available about him, but references in his own works indicate that he was a disciple of Baba Ram Dayal, an Udasi ascetic; also, that he was born into the family of Guru Nanak, tenth in descent from him. Since his first tika, a commentary on the Japu, was completed in 1852 Bk/AD 1795, it may be presumed that he was born around the middle of the eighteenth century. He spent the early years of his life at Dera Baba Nanak where he was born.

ARJAN SINGH, BHAYEE (1875-1946), of Bagarian, titled chief much honoured in Sikh piety, was a descendant of Bhai Rup Chand, a devoted disciple of Guru Hargobind, who had bestowed on him the title `Bhai` (also written as Bhayee) or holy brother. Rup Chand belonged to the village of Vadda Ghar, in Amritsar district, but upon receiving Guru Hargobind`s blessing he founded (1631) a village in the Malva region of the Punjab which he named Bhai Rupa. Rup Chand`s sons, Bhai Param Singh and Bhai Dharam Singh, received the rites of Khalsa baptism at the hands of Guru Gobind Singh.

ARTI is a form of worship of an idol or deity in which candles or earthen lamps are waved as a token of devotion; sometimes during the Arti, incense.jossticks, pieces of sandalwood are burnt and flowers showered on the object of worship. When Guru Nanak went to Jagannath Temple in Puri, he found the priests performing Arti facing the idol. The Guru offered a new kind of Arti by ,singing a song (in Rag Dhansri) in praise of God emphasising how Nature adores God.

AVATARS OF VISHNU (Incarnations of Vishnu) There are millions of incarnating Vishnus. (Bhairo M. 5, p. 1156) Under the Will of the Lord, ten incarnations (of Vishnu) were created. (Mani M. l, f,. 1037) Krishan (It connotes Vishnu here) is always busy in incarnating himself; whom should then the world follow? (Wadhans M. 3, p. 559) The number of Avatars of Vishnu have not always remained the same. In Mahabharata, the following ten, in order have been mentioned: 1. The Hansa (Swan) 2. Kachh or Kurma (Tortoise) 3. Machh or Matsya (Fish) 4. Varaha (Boar) 5. Narsingh (Man-Lion) 6. Vamana (DwarQ 7. Parashurama 8. Rama 9. Satvata 10. Kaiki In Bhagavata Purana, twenty-two have been described, including Prithu, Dhanwantari and Kapila.

BALA, BHAI (1466-1544), who, according to popular belief, was a lifelong companion of Guru Nanak, was the son of Chandar Bhan, a Sandhu Jatt of Talvandi Rai Bhoi, now Nankana Sahib in Pakistan. Three years senior in age to Guru Nanak, he was his childhood playmate in Talvandi. From Talvandi, he accompanied Guru Nanak to Sultanpur where he stayed with him a considerable period of time before returning to his village. According to BalaJanam Sakhi, Bhai Bala at the instance of Rai Bular set out from Talvandi to join Guru Nanak who had already left Sultanpur on his travels abroad and met him in Bhai Lalo`s home at Saidpur.