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

RAMA TIRTHA, SVAMI (1873-1906), who, after Svami Vivekananda, by whose personality he was deeply influenced, created a powerful influence with his quiet spirituality, was born on 22 October 1873 at MuralIvala, a small village 5 km south of Gujrariwala, now in Pakistan. He came of a family of Gosvami

BRAHMO SAMAJ. The expression "Brahmo Samaj" (correct transcription, "Brahma Samaja") literally stands for a society of the worshippers of Brahman, the Supreme Reality, according to Hindu philosophy. It is the name of the Theistic Church founded by Raja Rammohun Roy (1772-1833), in Calcutta on 20 August 1828. The history

RAMGARHIA MISL. See MISLS RAMKALI KI VAR, also known as Tikke di Var, lit. Coronation Ode, is the joint composition of the bards Balvand and Satta. In the caption given it by Guru Arjan in the Guru Granth Sahib, the former is particularized as a Rai, or panegyrist, and

FIVE KHANDS or Panj Khands, lit. realms (panj == five, khand == region or realm), signifies in the Sikh tradition the five stages of spiritual progress leading man to the Ultimate Truth. The supporting text is a fragment from Guru Nanak`s Japu, stanzas 34 to 37. The Five Realms enumerated

RAVIDAS, poet and mystic, was born to Raghu and Ghurbinia, who lived near the city of Varanasi. Not much biographical information about him is available, but, from what can be made out of his own compositions, he belonged to a lowcaste (Chamdr) family. He followed the family profession of

GAURI KI VAR, by Guru Ram Das, is one of his seven vars in a total of twenty-two in the Guru Granth Sahib. As the title indicates, the Vdr is cast in the Gauri musical measure a rdga commonly sung in the evening. In Sikh Scripture, Gaun is the

SADHNA, one of the fifteen saints and sufis whose hymns are incorporated in the Guru Granth Sahib, was a qasai or butcher by profession who, by nis piety and devotion, had gained spiritual eminence. He is believed to have been born at the village of Sehvan, in Sindh. He was