Second in Series

BY: ALICE BASARKE (CANADA) 

The third guru, Amar Das was truly the champion of women. In Keeping with the teaching of the first guru, Nanak, he worked throughout his ministry, towards improving the status of women, which was pitifully non-existent at the time,

Guru Amar Das was born on May 5, 1479 to Bakhi Devi.

While sitting on the roof top of his house, Sri Amar Das who was in I at the time, heard Bibi Amro, the wife of his brother’s son singing Guru Nanak’s shabads in the early morning. He listened attentively and was deeply moved, after daybreak he questioned her about these hymns. She told him that she had learnt them from her father, Guru Angad who was the second Guni of the Sikhs. Sri Amar Das was a devout Hindu. For some time now he was looking for a personal Guru. He asked Bibi Amro to bring him to her father. There he asked Guru Angad to become his disciple.

There are many tales in the Janam Sakhis which clearly paint a picture of loving companionship between Guru Amar Das and his wife, Mansa Devi, My favorite is the one that tells of the Guru sitting with his wife watching their children playing in front of their house. Mansa Devi observed that their daughter Bhani, was growing up, and it would soon be time to think of getting her married. As they sat, a young boy selling roasted chick peas came by. Mansa Devi said she had been watching this boy for some time. He was honest and hardworking, had good manners and was very pleasant. She thought they should look for someone just like him. Guru Amar Das stated that no two human beings can be exactly alike. Each one is unique. It would be futile to look for someone like him, when he was present there. Mansa Devi explained that this was not what she meant. The boy was an orphan. He had no status. She didn’t know what caste he was from. The Guru was supposed to have said that the boy was unique and could not be substituted: What importance did caste have to the Sikhs?

The happy couple had four children, two boys and two girls. Bhani and Dani, Dani? was the elder, She ‘was also known as Sulkhani. She married Rama of the Bedi family.

Bhani was the younger daughter mentioned above. She had a serious nature and was very de voted to her father. The Janam Sakhis tell us of an incident when she was still a young girl. She came into a room where her father was meditating, and noticed that the pirhi he was sitting on was uneven. Afraid that it might tip and disturb him, she quietly sat on the floor beside him and put her hand under the shortest leg. When the guru was finished, her hand was badly mangled, He was over whelmed by her dedication and promised her that her son and her grandson would someday be gurus.

Traditionally, our Sikh girls are expected to emulate her services to her father. The Sakhis also tell us that she received revenues of several villages from Emperor Akbar as a marriage gift. Her husband became the Fourth Guru, Ram Das, She was mother of Guru Arjan. She participated in the establishment of Ramdaspur, which later became Amnitsar. Ever since then women have participated in Kar Seva (labor of love) at the construction or renovation of gurdwaras and sarovars (water pools).

When writing of the time of Guru Amar Das, one cannot leave out Rajni, youngest daughter of Rai Duni Chand, a Kardar (revenue collector) of Patti. She was a Sikh, a disciple of Guru Amar Das. She incurred the wrath of her father because of her extreme piety. The infuriated father had married her to a leper with a taunt that he would see how her God would help her lead a normal life, the poor girl had accepted her fate ungrudgingly and had worked hard to maintain herself and her crippled husband by carrying him in a basket. One day, she had reached the site of a pool on her way to a neighboring village. Placing the basket containing her husband by the side of the pool, she had gone off on an errand, most probably to look for food. In the meantime, her crippled husband had seen a black crow dip into the water of the pool and come out white. Amazedat this miracle, the man crawled up to the edge of the pool and managed a dip. He found himself completely cured, When his wife returned, she was amazed 1o find her husband in good health. At first, she suspected that he might be a different person. He had however, kept one finger with leprosy marks undipped. He showed her the diseased finger as proof of his identity. The pool was the future site of the Golden Temple. The medicinal properties of the water came from the Tulsi plant which in abundance on its banks. The legendary importance of the site, highlights the medicinal properties of the waters of the pool. Ranji’s leper husband was cured in it.

Guru Amar Das gave Sikhism an organizational form by setting up 22 dioceses corresponding to the 22 States of the Moghul Empire. To carry out this mission, he appointed 146 well trained missionaries out of which 94 were men and 52 were women. The appointed missionaries were called Masands which in Arabic means delegated authority, or one belonging to the throne. The whole state of Kashmir and the country of Afghanistan were under women Masands,

There are 52 missing biographies on these women. What a story each one must have had to tell!

Bibliography supplied upon request.

Article extracted from this publication >>  December 2, 1994