guru

BAHORU, BHAI, a Khosia Khatri of Lahore, received initiation at the hands of Guru Arjan. As Bhai Bidhi Chand in Guru Hargobind`s time went to Lahore to rescue the second of the two horses belonging to Bhai Karori, a horse dealer of Kabul, who was bringing the pair as an offering for the Guru but which had been forcibly taken away by the faujdar, Qasim Beg of Lahore, he stayed with Bhai Bahoru. The latter, a cloth merchant by profession, provided garments for Bhai Bidhi Chand to disguise himself as an astrologer in order to beguile the faujdar and his servants, and recover the horse.

BALVAND, RAI, a rababi or rebeck player in the time of Guru Arjan and co-composer with Satta, said to be his brother, of a Var included in the Guru Granth Sahib in the Ramkali musical measure. He was by birth a mirasi, Muslim minstrel and genealogist, and sang the sacred hymns to the accompaniment of rebeck like Bhai Mardana used to do during the time of Guru Nanak. Not much authentic biographical information is available about him except that he and his brother, Satta, were contemporaries with Guru Arjan (1563-1606) for whom they recited sabdakirtan. According to another tradition, they started their career under Guru Arigad sometime after he succeeded Guru Nanak on the latter`s demise in 1539 and continued to serve the Gurus until the time of Guru Arjan.

BARH, a town in Patna district of Bihar, 56 km east of old Patna city (25° 37`N, 85° 10`E), is sacred to Guru Tegh Bahadur who stayed here during his tour of the eastern districts in 1666. It has one Suthrashahi Sangat and two Udasi Sangats existing of old. Guru Tegh Bahadur stayed at what is known as Bari (larger) Sangat, situated in Chuna Khari Mohalla. It was spread over a oneacre compound and had a prayer hall with the Guru Granth Sahib seated in the centre. But the building^was completely destroyed in the 1934 earthquake, with the exception of an old well which is still in use.

BEDI, a subcaste of the Khatris, Prakritized form of the Sanskrit kstriya which is one of the four caste groups into which the Hindu society is divided. The Khatris are mainly Hindus though there is among them a Sikh element which is small in number but important historically.There are no Muhammadans in the caste because a Khatri after conversion into Islam ceases to be a Khatri and becomes a Khoja. The Khatris are further divided into four subgroups Bahri, Khukhrain, Bunjahi and Sarin. Bahris have twelve castes, Khukhrain eight, Bunjahi fiftytwo and Sarins twenty.

BHAGBHARI, MAI (d. 1614), of a Brahman family of Srinagar, was converted to the Sikh faith by Bhai Madho Sodhi, sent by Guru Arjan to preach in Kashmir. As she grew old, she wished to have a glimpse of the Guru before she died. Guru Hargobind then occupied the spiritual throne of Guru Nanak. Mai Bhagbhari had stitched a role of homespun fabric which she longed to present to the Guru personally, but she was too old to travel to distant Amritsar. As says Gurbilas Chhevin Patshahi, Guru Hargobind did visit Kashmir and, reaching Srinagar, he went straight to Mai Bhagbhari`s house in Hathi Gate area.

BHAKTI AND SIKHISM. The word bhakti is derived from Skt. bhaj, meaning to serve, honour, revere, love and adore. In the religious idiom, it is attachment or fervent devotion to God and is defined as "that particular affection which is generated by the knowledge of the attributes of the Adorable One." The concept is traceable to the Vedas where its intimations are audible in the hymns addressed to deities such as Varuna, Savitra and Usha.

BHAROANA or Bhairoana, a small village 16 km southwest of Sultan pur Lodhi (31°13`N, 75°12`E) in the Punjab, is the place where at the close of the fifteenth century lived Bhai Phiranda, a piousminded musician who also manufactured the stringed instrument called rabab or rebeck. Guru Nanak, before setting out from Sultanpur Lodhi on his extensive travels to deliver his message, sent Bhai Mardana to buy a rabab from Phiranda. Phiranda produced the instrument but, on learning as to who had ordered it, refused to accept any money for it.

BHIM CHAND, ruler of Kahlur (Bilaspur), a princely state in the Sivaliks, from 1665-92. The family claimed descent from Chandel Rajputs of Bundelkhand. Bhim Chand`s father, Dip Chand, was a tributary of the Mughals and he was allowed to exercise nominal authority over twenty-two states in the hills including Kulu, Karigra, Mandi, Suket and Chamba. Till the accession of Bhim Chand to the gaddfin 1665, the rulers of Kahlur had maintained amicable relations with the Gurus. In 1635, Guru Hargobind had retired to Kiratpur, a town founded by his son, Baba Gurditta, on the base of the Kahlur mount.

BIHAGRE KI VAR, by Guru Ram Das, is one of the twenty-two vars included in the Guru Granth Sahib. The Var, originally comprised pauris which were prefaced with slokas, or couplets, by Guru Arjan at the time of the compilation of the Guru Granth Sahib. All the twenty-one pauris are of the composition of Guru Ram Das. Of the forty-three slokas, thirty-three are by Guru Amar Das, four by Guru Nanak, two each by Guru Ram Das and Guru Arjan, one by Kabir and one by Mardana. Each pauri is preceded by two sJokas except pauri 12 which has three sJokas prefixed to it.

BRAHMAN MAJRA, an old village, about 11 km southeast of Ropar (30° 58`N, 76° 31`E), is sacred to Guru Hagobind and Guru Gobind Singh. Gurdwara Guru Garh Sahib commemorates the visit of Guru Gobind Singh on 6 December 1705 when he, with his two elder sons and 40 Sikhs, was on his way from Kotia Nihang Khan to Chamkaur. The Gurdwara about 50 metres outside the village, constructed during the 1970`s, consists of a square divan hall with a verandah in front.