guru

ATAL RAI, BABA (1619-1628), son of Guru Hargobind (1595-1644), was born to Mata Nanaki at Amritsar on 23 October 1619. He died at the tender age of nine years. The circumstances of his death, as narrated in Gurbilas Chhevin Patshahi, were most extraordinary. Atal Rai had a playmate, Mohan, who was the son of a local businessman, Suini Shah. One day as they played with ball and sticks far into the evening, the forfeit was upon Mohan.

ARISAR SAHIB GURUDWARA :Gurdwara Arisar Sahib Patshahi Nauvin Village Dhaula Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji came to village of Handiyaya in the year 1665 A.D. As per the local people, it is said that while passing through Handiyaya his horse stopped all of a sudden just outside the boundary of village Dhaula. Even Guru Ji tried his best but the horse did not budge. Every body got surprised. The villagers then asked Guru Ji why was the horse not moving? Guru Ji smiled and said that the horse has stopped because he has smelt tobacco, which was grown over there.

AVTAR SINGH AZAD Avtar Singh \'Azad\', (1906 - 1972) the minor Punjabi poet, is not deserving of notice. Before independence, he had published four collections of poems, Swant Bundan (Drops of Bliss), Savan Pinghan (The Swings of Savan), Vishva Vedna (Plight of the World) and Kansoan (Intimations), and published a translation of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam under the title of Khayyam Khumari (Inebriations of Khayyam). His style is rhetorical in the way of most Urdu poetry.

BAHILOL, BHAI, a resident of Qadivind, a village near Kasur, now in Pakistan, was a devotee of Guru Amar Das. Once the Guru visited Qadivind at his request and, pleased at his devotion, promised him any boon he might ask of him. Bhai Bahilol spoke humbly : "Nothing is permanent in this world, Lord ! Grant me therefore the only boon worth asking for, that is, I may always remember God`s Name." The Guru gave him his blessing. The memorial gurdwara dedicated to Guru Amar Das and constructed on the land donated by Bhai Bahilol was looked after by a line of Udasi priests until the partition of the Punjab in 1947. The.samadh of Bhai Bahilol also existed near the gurdwara.

BALA MARVAHA. a devoted Sikh of the time of Guru Arjan. He served diligently as the Harimandar at Amritsar was under construction. Once, as says Bhai Mani Singh, Sikhari di Bhagat Mala, Bhai Bala, along with Bhai HamzaJa|ja, Bhai Nanon Ohri and Bhai Suri Chaudhari, went up to the Guru and begged him to explain the greatness and significance of Amritsar. The Guru said that Amritsar would remain of utmost sanctity for the Sikhs.

BARAH MAHA or BARAH MASA, in Hindi, is a form of folk poetry in which the emotions and yearnings of the human heart are expressed in terms of the changing moods of Nature over the twelve months of the year. In this form of poetry, the mood of Nature in each particular month (of the Indian calendar) depicts the inner agony of the human heart which in most cases happens to be a woman separated from her spouse or lover. In other words, the separated woman finds her own agony reflected in the different faces of Nature. The tradition of Barah Maha poetry is traceable to classical epochs.

BAVAN AKHARI, a poem constructed upon 52 (bavan) letters (akhar) of the alphabet. In this form of poetry each verse begins serially with a letter of the alphabet. The origin of the genre is traced to ancient Sanskrit literature. Since the Devanagari alphabet, employed in Sanskrit, comprises fifty-two (bavan, in Hindi) letters (33 consonants, 16 vowels and 3 compounds), such compositions came to be called bavan akharior bavan aksari. Notwithstanding this nomenclature, no such composition consists exactly of fifty-two stanzas as few stanzas will open with a vowel, and the compounds are generally left out of this scheme of poetry. 

BHAGAT BHAGVAN, recipient of one of the bakhshi`shs or seats of the Udasi sect, was a contemporary of Guru Har Rai (1630-61). His original name was Bhagvan Gir. Little is known about his early life except that, according to Udasi sources, he was born in a Brahman family at Bodh Gaya and that he was a Sannyasi sadhu roving in search of spiritual solace. Having heard about Guru Nanak, Bhagvan Gir came to Kiratpur to meet his living successor.

BHAGVANT SINGH BANGESARI was. according to Sarup Singh Kaushish, Guru kian Sakhian, the naik or leader of a large tanda or trade caravan. In September-October 1708, he with his merchandise was passing through Nanded where he halted to pay homage to Guru Gobind Singh. As the Guru deputed Banda Singh Bahadur with five of his Sikhs to come to the Punjab to chastise the persecutors, they travelled with Bhagvant Singh`s caravan.

BHANU, BHAI, a Sikh of Guru Arjan`s time, earned the sobriquet of Bhagat (devotee) for his piety and devotion. Guru Arjan appointed him to preach Guru Nanak`s word at Muzang, in Lahore. By his kirtan and exposition of the holy texts, Bhai Bhanu, as says Bhai Mani Singh, Sikhan di Bhagat Mala, converted many to the Sikh way of life. See KISNA, BHAI