RAM DATT, a Brahman resident of Kurukshetra, who became a devotee of Guru Gobind Singh during the latter\'s visit to the town on the occasion of the solar eclipse in 1702. According to tradition preserved in Bhai Santokh Singh, Sri Crur Praldp Suraj Granth, while other Brahmans sought alms from the Guru, Ram Datt begged for spiritual instruction.
RUKMAGADA Remembrance of the Name of the Lord was a constant function of Rukamagad..... (Swayye Mahle Teeje Ke, p. 1394) Rukmagada was a king, who always meditated on the Name of the Lord. (See Narada Purana, chapters 9 to 38).
ROCHA SINGH, SANT (1688-1803), a holy man and preacher of Sikh faith, was born of Brahman parents living at Kausari, a small village in Hazara district (now in Pakistan). Rocha Singh was barely 14 years of age when his father, Bhai Parijaba, died leaving his wife and a younger son, Mota Singh, to his care. He grew up into a handsome youth, tall in stature, but had little interest in worldly affairs. He roamed about seeking the company of saintly persons.
SACHCHA SAUDA, GURDWARA, at Chuharkana in Sheikhupura district of Pakistan, celebrates a popularly told event from the lit of Guru Nanak. According to Bhai Bala janam Sakhi, Guru Nanak`s father, Baba Kalu, to settle his son in a permanent vocation once gave him a sum of twenty rupees and asked him to go to the nearest market to purchase merchandise which could be sold at a profit, and thus strike a good (khara or sachcha, in Punjabi) bargain (sauda, in Punjabi).
SAHARI MALL, BHAI, a Sodhi Khatri of Lahore, was the first cousin of Guru Ram Das. Although older than the Guru in age, he revered him like a disciple. Once Sahari Mall visited Amritsar to invite Guru Ram Das to the wedding of his son. The latter deputed his youngest son, Arjan, to represent him at the marriage, and told him to remain in Lahore and preach Guru Nanak`s word until recalled. Arjan remained in Lahore for several months, and Sahari Mall served him as if he was the Guru himself.
SAIN or SAIN, whose one hymn has been included in the Guru Granth Sahib, is counted among the disciples of Ramanand (1300-1411). Guru Arjan, Nanak V, says in one of his hymns in the Holy Book that the name of Sain was a household word as a bhakta of rare devotion (GC,487). In another, hymn, he refers to him as an example of dedication to the service of holymen. Bhakta Ravidas in a sabda in the Guru Granth Sahib ranks Sain with Namdev, Kabir, Trilochan and Sadhna in piety (GG. 1106). According to Bhai Gurdas, Sain was the disciple of Ramanand and he had adopted him as his preceptor on hearing of the fame of Kabir (1398-1518) who, too, was Ramanand`s disciple.
SAMUNDA, BHAI, a seeker of truth, once waited upon Guru Arjan and begged to know how a bemukh was distinguished from a sanamukh. The Guru, according to Bhai Mani Singh, Sikhan di Bhagat Mala, spoke thus "Sanamukh is one who, following the Guru`s precept, rises early to make ablutions, contemplates on the Nam, and practises charity. A bemukh, on the other hand, is one who wastes his life in pursuit of sensual pleasures and passions." Bhai Samunda, says Bhai Santokh Singh, became a Sikh. He remained in the Guru`s presence, always listened attentively to what he said, and acted upon his word.
SARABLOH GRANTH, a poem narrating the mythological story of the gods and the demons, in ascribed to Guru Gobind Singh, and is therefore treated as a sacred scripture among certain sections of the Sikhs, particularly the Nihang Sikhs. The authorship is however questioned by researchers and scholars of Sikhism on several counts. First, the work is marked by extraordinary effusiveness and discursiveness of style over against the compactness characteristic of Guru Gobind Singh`s compositions collected in the Dasam Granth. Qualitatively, too, the poetry of Sarabloh Granth does not match that of Guru Gobind Singh`s Chandi Charitras and Var Durga Ki dealing with the same topic of wars between the gods and the demons.
SATKARTARIAS, a religious sect only remotely related to Sikhism was founded by Sarigat Das, a Julka Khatri, contemporary of Guru Hargobind (1595-1644). The name Satkartaria is derived from .Sangat Das` preceptor, Bhai Sangtia, a Sodhi of Lahore, who was initiated into Sikhism by Guru Arjan in 1593 and who used to repeat the words Sat Kartar (lit. the True Creator) and earned thereby the popular epithet of Satkartaria. Sangat Das inherited the epithet and the sect came to be known as Satkartaria.
SHAHZADA, son of Bhai Mardana, Guru Nanak`s favourite minstrel and companion. Like his father, Shahzada was a devotee of the Guru and an accomplished musician. After the death of Mardana, he remained in attendance upon Guru Nanak at Kartarpur and continued to perform kirtan or hymn singing to the accompaniment of rabab or rebeck.
