guru

KARTAR SINGH DAKHA, PANDIT (1888-1958), scholar, grammarian and theologian, was born the son of Ram Singh on 13 September 1888 at Dakha, a village 16 km southwest of Ludhiana along the Ludhiana Firozpur highway. After receiving elementary education in his village, lie was admitted to Khalsa Collegiate School, Amritsar, but owing to his father`s death in 1907, he left off without taking the matriculation examination and joined the Nirmala Dora at Thikrivala, in the former princely state of Patiala, to learn Sanskrit from Pandit Basant Singh. Besides Sanskrit, lie was nurtured at the Dera in Sikh scriptures and he passed out as a learned scholar and practised debater. He worked for a time as a teacher in Khalsa Pracharak Vidyala, Tarn Taran.

KIRTIA, BHAI, later Kirat Singh (d. 1705), son of Bhai Gurdas, a Sikh who had served Guru Tegh Bahadur, joined the retinue of Guru Gobind Singh as a young man. He received amrit, i.e. initiatory rites of the Khalsa, and became Kirat Sirigli. He fell a martyr in the battle of Chamkaur (7 December 1705).

KUL GURU GOBIND SINGH JI KI DASAM PATSHAHI Kl, lit. the family or sept {hula) of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth (dasam) Guru of the Sikhs, forms part of a collection of unpublished Punjabi manuscripts, including such titles as Rahitnama Nand Lal, Rahitnama Prahlad Singh and abbreviated version of Prem Sumdrag Granth, held in the Khalsa College, Amritsar, under catalogue No. 1442. The work, anonymous and undated, recounts in rapid Punjabi verse the genealogy of Guru Gobind Singh in the manner of panegyrics by family bards, i.e. aums or bhalts, for oral recitation in honour of their patrons.Such recitals run from the present to the past, from the known to the unknown.

LAKHISAR, a small habitation in the neighbourhood of Goniana Mandi (30°18`N, 74°54`E) in Bathinda district of the Punjab, is famous for the historical shrine, Gurdwara Lakkhi Jangal, raised in honour of Guru Gobind Singh. According to Sikh tradition,the name Lakkhi Jangal was given this semi desert tract by Guru Gobind Singh, who passed through here on his way from Muktsar to Talvandi Sabo early in 1706. As says the anonymous chronicle, Malva Desk Ratan di Sakhi Pothi, the Guru stayed here for three days.

LALU, BHAI, a Vij Khatri, was initiated into Sikh faith by Guru Arjan. The Guru instructed him in the virtues of humility and of sharing with others whatever one had to eat. Bhai Santokh Singh, Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth, mentions Bhai Lalu`s name among those who earned prominence for their diligent service during the excavation of the sacred pool at Amritsar. His name also figures in Bhai Gurdas, Varan, XI. 18.

MADAN NATH, head of a band of Kanphata yogis, called on Guru Gobind Singh as he was visiting Thanesar in 1702. As says Bhai Santokh Singh, Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth, the yogi was surprised to see Guru Gobind Singh in a warrior\'s dress and gave expression to his misgiving. Guru Gobind Singh explained that he had formed the Khalsa and given them this form in face of the religious intolerance of the ruling class, the Mughals.

MAHIMA PRAKASH, by Sarup Das Bhalla, is a versified account, in Gurmukhi script, of the lives of the ten Gurus, completed according to inner evidence, in 1833 Bk/AD 1776. Three copies of the manuscript, are still extant: one (No. 176) in the Languages Department, Punjab, Patiala, the second (No. 792) in the Punjab State Archives, Patiala, and third (No. 3200) in the Khalsa College Library, Amritsar. A fourth copy of the manuscript existed in the Sikh Reference Library, Amritsar, until it perished in 1984. The work has since been published (1970) in two volumes by the Languages Department, Punjab, Patiala.

MALIA, BHAI, along with Bhai Saharu, accepted the Sikh faith at the hands of Guru Amar Das. Both were tailors by profession and belonged to the village of Dalla, in present-day Kapurthala district of the Punjab. According to Bhai Mani Singh, Sikhdan di Bhagat Mala, as Guru Amar Das once arrived at Dalla and the Sikhs came out in small groups to offer obeisance, he gave them advice appropriate to their calling. To Malia and Saharu he said, "Mend the torn garments of the Sikhs and wash them if they be soiled. By serving them thus, you will be cleansing them and earning the pleasure of the Guru."

MARDON, 15 km south of Ambala city (30°23`N, 76°47`E), claims a historical shrine called Gurdwara Mardori Sahib Patshahi 9 ate 10. It is situated on the right bank of the river Tarigri. Guru Tegh Bahadur passed through this village during one of his preaching tours across the region, and Guru Gobind Singh visited it during his sojourn at Lakhnaurin 1670-71. Gurdwara buildings stand in the middle of an enclosure covering over an acre of land.

MEHRA, BHAI, a hillman, was a devotee of Guru Arjan. The name also figures in Bhai Gurdas, Varan, XI. 23