guru

DHILLI MANDAL, BHAI, was a devoted Sikh of the time of Guru Arjan. Once, as says Bhai Mani Singh, Sikhan di Bhagat Mala, he reported to the Guru that he had come across verses using the pseudonym Nanak, but which did not seem genuine at all. Guru Arjan, continues Bhai Mani Singh, undertook thereupon the task of preparing an authorized volume sifting the genuine from the counterfeit. Thus emerged the Holy Granth which was installed in the Harimandar at Amritsar in 1604. See GOPI MAHITA, BHAI

DIPA, BHAI, a Jatt of Deu clan, once came along with Bhai Narain Das and Bhai Bula to Guru Arigad (1504-52) and begged to be instructed how they could have themselves released from the cycle of birth and death. The Guru, according to Bhai Mani Singh, Sikhan di Bhagat Mala, told them to foll^ the bhakti marga, path of devotional love of God, to the exclusion of the paths of bairag (renunciation), yoga (austerities) and gian (knowledge). Bhakti, he explained, involved complete self surrender to the Will of the Lord.

DURGA, BHAI, accompanied by Bhai Paira, once visited Guru Arjan and begged to be instructed in the duty of a householder. The Guru spoke: "Earn your living by the labour of your hands. Share with the needy from what you save. Feed the poor and clothe the naked. They receive God`s bounty who give away in His name." Durga and Paira acted on the Guru`s instruction. They, as says Bhai Mani Singh, Sikhan di Bhagat Mala, distributed in charity all they had, and yet they were never in want. They received more than they gave.

DHARAM CHAND, son of Lakhmi Chand and grandson of Guru Nanak. According to Gurbilas Patshahi Chhevin, he received Guru Hargobind when the latter, along with Bhai Gurdas and Bhai Bhana, went to Kartarpur which Guru Nanak had made his dwelling place during the last years of his life. Dharam Chand received the Guru and his entourage along with other persons of the Bedi clan, with honour. Guru Hargobind made him an offering of a horse and five hundred gold mohars.

FATEH SINGH, SAHIBZADA (1699-1705), the youngest of Guru Gobind Singh`s four sons, was born to Mata Jitoji at Anandpur on 25 February 1699. After the death of his mother, on 5 December 1700, he was brought up under the care of his grandmother, Mata Gujari, with whom he remained till the last. On 12 December 1705, he was martyred at Sirhind along with his elder brother, Zorawar Singh. See ZORAWAR SINGH, SAHIBZADA

GANGU, BHAI, was, according to Bhai Santokh Singh, Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth, a devout Sikh of the time of Guru Angad. He attained spiritual merit through seva or humble service and simran, absorption in the remembrance of the Divine Being. Gn.S. GANGU, BHAI, a devoted Sikh of the time of Guru Amar Das. He lived at the village of Dalla in present day Kapurthala district of the Punjab and received spiritual instruction at the hands of Guru Amar Das (Varan, XI. 16). GANGU, BHAI, a Sahigal Khatri, was a devoted Sikh of the time of Guru Arjan. He received instruction at the hands of the Guru himself and learnt to repeat always the Name, Vahiguru, See UDDA, BHAI, Varan, XI. 19 BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Mani Singh, Bhai, Sikhan di Bhagat Mala. Amritsar, 1955 2. Santokh Singh, Bhai, Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth. Amritsar, 1927-33

GHAVINDI, village in Lahore dislrict of Pakistan, only one kilometre from the IndoPak border opposite Khaira, had a historical shrine commemorating Guru Nanak`s visit. Upon his arrival in the village, the Guru is said to have put up under a lahurd tree (Cordia latifolia). On this site was built Gurdwara Lahura Sahib (lahurd being a pronunciational variation of lasurd), which had to be abandoned at the time of mass migrations caused by the partition of the Punjab in 1947.

GOD, a term used to denote any object, of worship or evocation, signifies the belief of most modern religions in the existence of a Supreme Being who is the source and support of the spatio temporal material world. Theologians remember Him by the name of God. The fundamental belief of Sikhism, too, is that God exists, not merely as an idea or concept, but as a Real Being, indescribable yet not unknowable. The Gurus, however, never theorized about proofs of the existence of God. For them He is too real and obvious to need any logical proof.

GOSTI BABA NANAK, lit. the discourses of Baba [Guru] Nanak dictated by Hariji, son of Sodhi Miharban, is an unpublished and incomplete work (MS. No. 2306) preserved in the Sikh History Research Department at the Khalsa College at Amritsar, comprising 235 folios and 23 complete and two, one in the beginning and the other at the end, incomplete gostis.

GUPALA, BHAI, a learned Sikh of the time of Guru Arjan who distinguished himself also as a warrior under his successor, Guru Hargobind. Once, as Guru Hargobind was encamped at Ruhela, renamed Sri Hargobindpura, a Sikh, Sabhaga by name, presented him with five handsome horses. The Guru immediately distributed three of them, one each to Baba Gurditta, Bhai BidhT Chand and Painda Khan. The remaining two were retained in the Guru`s personal stables. While sitting among the sangat one day, Guru Hargobind asked the question; "Who among you can recite gurbdm faultlessly, pronouncing perfectly every vowel and consonant?" Many said with folded hands that they had learnt a large portion of gurbdm which they regularly recited.