guru

DEHLON, village in Ludhiana district, 19 km from the city (30° 54`N, 75° 52`E), claims a historical shrine,...

DHAMOT (30° 42`N, 76° 2`E), village in Ludhiana district, has a historical shrine sacred to Guru Hargobind. The...

DHINGAR, BHAI, a carpenter, was a devoted Sikh of the time of Guru Hargobind (1595-1644). According to Bhai Mani Singh, Sikhan di Bhagat Mala, Bhai Dhirigar, along with Bhai Maddu, a fellow worker in the craft, came to serve at the Guru`s feet. During the day they hewed wood for Guru ka Langar, community kitchen, and made cots and other articles for use by the disciples; in the divan they attentively listened to recitations and discourses; and early in the morning they drew water for Sikhs` ablutions.

DIVALI, festival of lights (from Sanskrit dipamala or dipavali meaning row of lamps or nocturnal illumination), is observed all over India on amavasya, the last day of the dark half of the lunar month of Kartika (October-November). Like other seasonal festivals, Divali has been celebrated since time immemorial. In its earliest form, it was regarded as a means to ward off, expel or appease the malignant spirits of darkness and ill luck. The festival is usually linked with the return to Ayodhya of Lord Rama at the end of his fourteen year exile. For the Hindus it is also an occasion for the worship of Laksmi, the goddess of good fortune, beauty and wealth.

DASVANDH or Dasaundh, lit. a tenth part, refers to the practice among Sikhs of contributing in the name of the Guru one-tenth of their earnings towards the common resources of the community. This is their religious obligation a form of seva or humble service so highly valued in the Sikh system. The concept of dasvandh was implicit in Guru Nanak`s own line: "ghali khai kichhu hathhu dei, Nanak rahu pachhanahi sei He alone, 0 Nanak, knoweth the way who eats out of what he earneth by his honest labour and yet shareth part of it with others" (GG, 1245).

DASRATH (JASRATH) (Guru Ramdas) was like Rama, the beautiful chief of the dan of Raghu and son of Dasrath..... (Swayye Mahle Chauthe Ke, p. 1401) My king Raja Ramchand, the son of Jasrath (Dasrath)—His Name, says Namdev, be drunk as the essence and ambrosia. (Ramkali Namdev, p. 973) Dasrath, the king of Ayodhya, was the son of Aja, the king of the Solar dynasty. He had three wives, viz., Kaushalya, the mother of Rarna; Sumitra, the mother of Lakshrnana and Shatrughana and Kaikeyi, the mother of Bharata. Rama was the incarnation of Vishnu.

GAGGOBUA, village 27 km southwest of Amritsar (31°38\'N, 74°52\'E) along the Amritsar Khemkaran road, is sacred to Guru Hargobind (1595-1644), who came here once following the chase. Gurdwara Manji Sahib Chhevin Patshahi, constructed at the site of the old shrine, marks the spot where Guru Hargobind had halted. The Gurdwara is affiliated to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. Gaggobua was also the native place of Baba Bir Singh, a nineteenth century saint, whose memory is perpetuated through two gurdwaras, both managed by his descendants.

GARHI NAZIR, a village 3 km to the southeast of Samana (30°11`N, 76°11`E), is the site of an historical Sikh shrine called Gurdwara Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Patshahi 9. From Samana, Guru Tegh Bahadur, for whose arrest an imperial troop had been patrolling the countryside, was escorted by Muhammad Bakhsh, a Muslim noble of liberal religious views, to the safety of his own house in Garhi Nazir. The pursuing soldiers, following the scent, also arrived at Garhi and made enquiries, but Muhammad Bakhsh denied the Guru`s presence in his house and sent them away.

GIANI SAMPRADAI is one of three major schools of Sikhs theologians and expositors of the Sikh scripture, the other two being the Udasis and the Nirmalas. Giani, the Punjabi form of Sanskrit jndni from the rootjnd (to know), originally meant a scholar of high learning. In Sikh tradition, a gidmis a learned man of pious character, competent to recite faultlessly, interpret and expound the Guru Granth Sahib and other Sikh religious texts. Sampraddi denotes a sectarian system or school of thought of accredited standing. It is claimed that the school of Gianis originated with Bhai Mani Singh (d. 1737) who had the privilege of receiving instruction from Guru Tegh Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh.

GOKHU MAHITA, BHAI, Bhai Toda Mahita. Bhai Tota and Bhat Maddu, all devoted Siklis who performed dedicated service at the time of the excavation of the sacred tank at Amritsar, once came to Guru Arjan and begged to be instructed. The Guru told them to sit in the sangal and recite gurbum. The Guru spoke: "Recitation of the sacred hymns cleanses the mind of sinful thought. To the listeners it gives comfort.