Alphabetical Index

GAJA (KUNCHARA) When the Gaja (elephant) took refuge in the Merciful Lord, he was released from the clutches of the crocodile. (Sorath M. 9, p. 632) The king of elephants meditated on Thee, O Lord! and he was liberated. (Basant M. 5, p. 1192) Ajamala, Pingala, Lubhata and Kunchara (Gaja) went to the Abode of the Lord. (Kedara Ravidas, p. 1124) According to Bhagavata Purana, a Gandharva, who had become an elephant on account of the curse of a sage, was entangled by an octopus in its tentacles. He meditated on the Lord for his help and was saved.

GAJJA SINGH, MAHANT (c. 1850-1914), maestro of Sikh classical devotional music, was born in a Jatt Sikh family of Vandar, a village in Faridkot district of the Punjab. He had a sensitive ear for music from his early childhood. His father, a pious Sikh himself, apprenticed him for religious instruction to the mahantor custodian of Gurusar (Mehraj), a historical shrine about 25 km northeast of Bathinda (30°14`N, 74°59`E). The mahant was impressed by the rapid progress Gajja Singh made in learning the scriptural and other texts and by his ability to sing the sacred hymns in the folk tunes he had picked up in his native village.

GAJJAN, BHAI, an Uppal Khatri, named among Guru Nanak\'s Sikhs in Bhai Gurdas, Varan, XI. 14.

GAJPAT SINGH, RAJA (1738-1789), founder of the Sikh state of Jind, was born on 15 April 1738, the second son of Sukhchain Singh (d. 1751), who was the younger brother of Gurdit Singh, an ancestor of the ruling family of Nabha. In 1755, at the age of seventeen, Gajpat Singh seized a large tract of country including Jind and Safidori. In 1764, he joined the Khalsa Dal under Jassa Singh Ahluvalia and took part in the conquest of Sirhind. He then overran Panipat and Karnal. In 1766, he made Jind his capital. Unlike other Sikh chiefs, he continued to acknowledge the Mughal authority in Delhi and paid revenue to the Emperor.

GALAURA, BHAI, a resident of village Chlka in the present Kaithal district of Haryana, became a devotee of Guru Tegh Bahadur The Guru appointed him his masand, representative in Hisar and Harisi, in which capacity he spread the teachings of the Gurus in that region.

GANA The Ganas, Gandharvas, Siddhas and saints...are engaged in uttering the infinite Praises of the Unapproachable and Unfathomab\'" Lord. (Devgandhari M. 5, p. 535) The Ganas and Gandharvas were emancipated through the remembrance of the Name of the Lord..... (Malar M. 3, p. 1259) Ganas or Gana-Devatas are the troops of deities. Nine classes of Ganas are Adityas, Viswe-devas, Vasus, Tushitas, Abhaswaras, Anilas, Maharajikas, Sadhyas and Rudras. These are inferior deities and are attendant upon god Shiva. The Lord of these Ganas is Ganesha (or Gana-pati), who, according to one legend, sprang from the scurf of the body of Parvati; and who is the god of wisdom and remover of obstacles.

GANDA SINGH (d. 1845), of Butala, in Gujranwala district of undivided Punjab, was a soldier in the Sikh army. Early in his career, he was assigned by Maharaja Ranjit Singh to Prince Sher Singh`s troops. Ganda Singh`s father, Dharam Singh, had also served in the army and taken part in several battles including those of Multan, Kashmir and Peshawar. Ganda Singh remained the favourite of Prince Sher Singh who granted him a jagir worth 3,000 rupees from his own estates. He fought in the Prince`s Yusafzai and Kullu campaigns and held both civil and military appointments under him when he was the Nazim of Kashmir.

GANDA SINGH (d. 1845), of Butala, in Gujranwala district of undivided Punjab, was a soldier in the Sikh army. Early in his career, he was assigned by Maharaja Ranjit Singh to Prince Sher Singh`s troops. Ganda Singh`s father, Dharam Singh, had also served in the army and taken part in several battles including those of Multan, Kashmir and Peshawar. Ganda Singh remained the favourite of Prince Sher Singh who granted him a jagir worth 3,000 rupees from his own estates. He fought in the Prince`s Yusafzai and Kullu campaigns and held both civil and military appointments under him when he was the Nazim of Kashmir.

GANDA SINGH MASHARIQI (1857-1909), Urdu poet, scholar and religious guide in the line of family preceptors to the chiefs of Ropar in the Punjab. His grandfather, Bhai Bagh Singh (1757-1822), and his father, Bhai Bishan Singh (1809-90), had served the Ropar family as priests and counsellors. When the British East India Company confiscated the princely state in 1846 for its sympathy with the Sikhs during the AngloSikh war (1845-46), and placed Raja Bhup Singh, of Ropar, under detention in Saharanpur, Bhai Bishan Singh accompanied his master to Saharanpur. He returned to Ropar after the death of Raja Bhup Singh (1851) and settled down to a life of worship and strict religious discipline in his former residence, then famous as Granthi Bagh.

GANDHARBA (GANDHARVA) NAGARI They are in maze on seeing a mirage and abide in Gandharva Nagari (Utopia). They only seem bedecked in their mind and body, who meditate on Truth. (Shalok M. 5, p. 1425) The Gandharvas generally had their dwelling in the sky or atmosphere. Their abode is thus considered a mirage. It is equivalent to Harchandauri. See : Harchandauri

GANDHARVA Millions of Gandharvas hail Thee, O Lord! (Bhairo Kabir, p. 1163) In whose house there are Ganas (attendants of gods), Gandharvas, sages and where helpless musicians sing..... (Malar Namdev, p. 1292) A Gandharva is half-man, half-bird. Gandharvas are celestial minstrels. Vishnu Purana states that they were bom from Brahma. They are musicians of heaven and inhabit Indra-loka. They witness the actions of men. They generally had their dwelling in the sky or atmosphere. One of their other duty was the preparation of soma-juice for the gods. The apsaras were their "wives or mistresses.

GANDHUAN, a village 20 km southwest of Sunam (30°7`N, 75°48`E) in Sangrur district of the Punjab, has a historical shrine dedicated to the memory of Guru Tegh Bahadur who visited it in the course of his travels in these parts. According to local tradition, a resident of the village, Bhai Muglu, was a devotee of Guru Hargobind and had shown his prowess in the battle of Mehraj (1634). The Guru, pleased at his devotion and valour, had invited him to ask for a boon. Bhai Muglu said that his only wish was that he should be favoured with a glimpse of the Guru before he breathed his last.

GANESHA SINGH, BHAI (d. 1888), assistant chief secretary of the Khalsa Diwan, initially called Singh Sabha General, which was established in 1880 to coordinate the activities of the Singh Sabhas at Lahore and Amritsar, was employed in the Amritsar municipal committee as a sarishtadar or clerk. When the Khalsa Diwan was reorganized in 1883, Bhai Ganesha Singh was named one of the two chief secretaries, the second being the better known Bhai Gurmukh Singh. With the split in the Khalsa Diwan in 1885, whereas Bhai Gurmukh Singh left to establish a separate body at Lahore, Bhai Ganesha Singh continued as chief secretary of the Amritsar Diwan.

GANGA Jaharnavi (Jahnavi) or Ganges was brought (to earth) by Bhagiratha..... (Malar M. 4, p. 1263) If the wine is made from the waters of Sursuri (Ganges), the saintly persons do not drink it; if the impure wine or any other water, mixes with Sursuri, it becomes the Sursuri itself. (Malar Ravidas, p. 1293) If the stream merged in Ganga (Ganges), it became Ganga itself. (Bhairo Kabir, p. 1158) Ganga is said to be the daughter of Himavat, the king of mountains and given to gods by him. Sagara the king of Ayodhya and stxty thousand sons by one of his \'wives. When he was performing the horse-sacrifice, the horse \'was stolen. He ordered his sons to go in search for the same.

GANGA RAM, an affluent Brahman merchant of Bathinda (30°14`N, 74°59`E) now a district town in Malva region of the Punjab, accepted Sikh faith at the hands of Guru Arjan. He, according to Bhai Santokh Singh,Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth, once crossed the Sutlej with a large stock of bdjard, a variety of millets. Learning that a vast body of men was at work digging a large tank at Guru Chakk (presentday Amritsar), he proceeded in that direction hoping to sell his merchandise profitably. At Amritsar, he saw large number of Sikhs engaged in voluntary sevd, digging and shovelling and carrying basketfuls of earth on their heads, and, although they had had little to eat owing to Guru ka Larigar or community kitchen having run short of rations, their pace had not slackened.

GANGA RAM was one of the five sons of Bhai Sadhu and Bibi Viro, the daughter of Guru Hargobind, who formed part of Guru Gobind Singh`s retinue at Paonta, in present day Himachal Pradesh, when he was attacked by a combined force of some of the hill chiefs headed by Raja Fateh Shah of Garhval. Ganga Ram, along with his brothers, fought in the battle that took place at Bhangani, not far from Paonta, on 18 September 1688. He survived the action in which two of the brothers, Sangram Shah and Jit Mall, were killed.