MARU VAR MAHALLA III, by Guru Amar Das, Nanak III, in the musical measure Maru is a poetical composition in the style of a vdr included in the Guru Granth Sahib. There are totally twenty-two such vdrs in the Guru Granlh Sahib in various musical moulds. A vdr is

MIRIPIRI, compound of two words, both of Perso Arabic origin, adapted into the Sikh tradition to connote the close relationship within it between the temporal and the spiritual. The term represents for the Sikhs a basic principle which has influenced their religious and political thought and governed their societal structure

BANDAI, name given to the followers of the Sikh hero, Banda Singh Bahadur (1670-1716), who regarded him not only as a military leader but also as Guru next to Guru Gobind Singh in spiritual succession. They were opposed and ultimately expelled in 1721 by the mainstream of the Sikhs,

NIHALU CHADDHA, BHAI, was a devoted Sikh who lived in Agra. Once he, accompanied by Bhai Saktu Mahita, visited Amritsar to pay obeisance to Guru Arjan. According to Bhai Mani Singh, Sikhdn di Bhagat Maid, they sought instruction saying, "Some believe that liberation is not possible without virtuous actions;

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

Neki, Jaswant Singh, one of the prominent Punjabi poets, was born in 1927. As a psychiatrist, he presents modem psychological insights through his experimental poems. He penetrates to the fundamentals of existence and through a lucid style recaptures vividly its subtle patterns and concepts. He is predominantly a poet

BENI, BHAGAT is one of the fifteen saints and sufis some of whose compositions have been incorporated in the Guru Granth Sahib. Very little is known about his personal life except that he spent most of his time in prayer and contemplation. Nabhaji`s Bhagatmal, which includes him in its

PARCHIBHAI KANHAIYA, i.e. parchi (from Sanskrit prichaya or introduction here used in the sense of a life or biography) of Bhai Kanhaiya, a Sikh of the time of Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708) and founder of the Sevapanthi sect. Written in Bhakha sometimes between 1728 and 1740 when its author

BHAKTI AND SIKHISM. The word bhakti is derived from Skt. bhaj, meaning to serve, honour, revere, love and adore. In the religious idiom, it is attachment or fervent devotion to God and is defined as "that particular affection which is generated by the knowledge of the attributes of the

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

BRAHMGIANI (Skt. brahmajnanin), lit. the knower of Brahman or one possessing the knowledge of Brahman. The knowledge (giana, jnana) of the Universal Spirit (Brahman) consists not in the mere recognition of His existence, but in a continuous consciousness about HimHis realization in the heart or rather the realization of