Spreading the Mission of the
Sikh Gurus and Baba Siri Chand:
The Work of Baba Virsa Singh
Gobind Sadan
Gadaipur, Mehrauli
New Delhi 110030, India
Baba
Siri Chand was born in 1494 in Sultanpur Lodhi, Punjab. He was the elder son of
Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the First Sikh Guru. Guru Nanak travelled by foot to places
where some Hindu and Muslim priests of those times were misguiding the common
people for the sake of their own selfish motives. He taught people the real aim
of religion. Freeing them from the grip of the priests, he connected them
directly with God. The founding principle of his teaching was continual inner
remembrance of God (“Nam japo”), hard
work to earn one’s own honest living (“kirat
karo”), and sharing with the needy (“vand
chhako”). In addition, he gave them the message of unity by binding them
with the thread of love. For this purpose, he visited all the major Muslim and
Hindu pilgrimage places on foot, taught the people with his spiritual logic,
and set them on the straight path to God.
Guru
Nanak spent 30 years of his youth in these long journeys to remove meaningless
ritualism and misconception. His journeys are called Udasis. When he returned from his last journey, he bestowed his
Udasi dress on Baba Siri Chand Ji and gave him the duty to go to every place as
he had for preaching. Baba Siri Chand performed that duty for the rest of his
long life. He visited almost all the places that Guru Nanak had visited before
him, and also went all over India and through neighboring countries. With his
spiritually magnetic personality, he set people on the straight path to God,
relieving them from illogical and superstitious rituals. He made the people
firm in dharma by giving the message of Guru Nanak: inner remembrance of God,
honest hard work, and sharing (Nam japo,
kirat karo, vand chhako).
Baba Siri Chand gave his last talk in Chambha,
a town at the foot of the Himalayas. Lovingly he said farewell to his lifelong
companion, Bhai Kamalia, and blessed the sangat. Then he disappeared. No one
ever saw his body again.
After
Baba Siri Chand, the preachers of the Udasi spiritual communities which he
founded were, like him, living a simple life and taking the message of Guru
Nanak to the common people in country after country. They are doing this
service till today.
During
Baba Siri Chand’s lifetime, the Fifth Guru, Guru Arjun Dev Ji, compiled the
hymns of Guru Nanak, other Sikh Gurus, and Hindu and Muslim lovers of God,
putting them together in an extraordinary scripture. Baba Siri Chand played a
great role during its compilation. After some time, the same scripture was
honored with the title of Guru by Guru Gobind Singh, the last Sikh Guru, and is
therefore called Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
Guru
Gobind Singh throughout his life struggled against the cruel rule of that time,
in which his parents, all four of his sons, and countless disciples happily
sacrificed their lives. They did not compromise their precious principles. The
objective of the scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, is to encourage people to act
upon these valuable principles. After Guru Gobind Singh’s physical departure
from this world, the cruel regime tried to erase the effect of those principles
from the people’s minds. Guru Gobind Singh had mandated distinctive appearance
for his disciples so that they stood out from the general public. The tyrants’
forces searched for and killed them wherever they could recognize them. Many of
the disciples therefore went into hiding in the jungles and mountains to wait
for a more favorable time. Those who did so survived; all others were killed.
During
those difficult times, the responsibility of spreading the highly idealistic
teachings of Guru Nanak and the other Gurus was undertaken by the followers of
the Udasi sect founded by Baba Siri Chand. They were ascetics who lived in
society to help spread the holy message. Handwritten copies of Guru Granth
Sahib were prepared and sent to every corner of the country through their
preachers. To spread this mission all over the world, some preachers also went
abroad, and there is evidence of their presence in the cities of Baku and St.
Petersburg, Russia.
After
a century-long struggle in Punjab in northern India, the Sikhs—followers of
Guru Nanak’s teachings—were able to establish their own rule which lasted for
half a century. Reign of the area during this period was led by Maharaja Ranjit
Singh, who respected all religions equally. With an open heart, he helped
religious places of all religions and also granted large tracts of land with
whose income the religious places could be run. Because Maharaja Ranjit Singh
was born with the blessings of an Udasi saint, Santokh Das of Akhara Brahmbuta
in Amritsar, he also granted huge tracts of land to the gurdwaras, which were
managed by Udasis.
After
some time, some of the Udasis managers—who were called “mahants”—gave up their
simple life for more lavish and luxurious lifestyles, with the result that the
gurdwaras under their management started flouting the sacred principles and
malpractices began to spread. One of these gurdwaras was the birthplace of Guru
Nanak Dev Ji, Sri Nankana Sahib, whose mahant was living a very depraved and
immoral life. People were enraged and sought to improve the management of those
gurdwaras. After a few years, this reform effort became a wave and was known as
“Akali Lehar.” After great struggle, those gurdwaras were freed from the
clutches of the Udasi mahants, and a new class called Akali Dal emerged to
manage those gurdwaras.
After
taking over the management of those gurdwaras from the characterless mahants,
the Akalis also tried to take over management of those gurdwaras which were
being managed well by Udasi mahants.
Some impartial leaders and saints advised the Akalis not to proceed with this
agenda, because those well-managed gurdwaras under Udasi mahants had been
spreading the teachings of Guru Granth Sahib for a long time. However, because
of selfish ideas and over-enthusiasm, the Akalis did not heed any advice and
they began considering that all the places of Guru Granth Sahib were the
property of the Akalis.
To
save the places under their management and the properties attached with these
gurdwaras, the Udasis removed Guru Granth Sahib from the gurdwaras, installed
statues of Baba Siri Chand there for worship, and declared themselves separate
from the Sikh community. Thus a part of the Sikh community that had been
selflessly spreading the message of Guru Granth Sahib got separated, and the
gap between them widened.
To
manage the gurdwaras under their control, the Akalis founded a committee which
was managed by elected officials. Gradually all the drawbacks of the election
system began appearing in this committee. Throughout all this episode,
spreading of the message of Guru Granth Sahib was badly affected. As a
consequence, the very impressive and beneficent message of Guru Nanak Dev Ji
could not be spread throughout the world. It was restricted only to Punjab, and
even there it has not been sent to all the people.
Baba
Virsa Singh felt very strongly about the loss of spreading the mission of Guru
Nanak. As a result, he spent his whole life tirelessly trying to bring the
estranged Udasis back into the mainstream. Babaji organized seminars,
conferences, and discussions of intellectuals to research the differences which
were intentionally created to prevent the Udasis from spreading the message of
Guru Granth Sahib. In addition, on his tours to various cities and rural areas
of India, Babaji tried to remove the misconceptions among the people. The
results of his efforts have been very positive.
Irritated
by the characterless mahants, the Akalis had tried to hold the whole Udasi sect
guilty by inserting false stories in the histories of the Gurus. These were
rectified by Baba Virsa Singh with the help of intense and deep research by
intellectuals and scholars. The same scripture—Guru Granth Sahib—which had been
preached with great enthusiasm and reverence by Udasis in India and abroad had
been wrongly interpreted by Akalis to create objections about the great
personality of the founder of the Udasi sect, Baba Siri Chand. Baba Siri Chand
himself appeared before Baba Virsa Singh when he was a very tender age and made
him aware of the whole situation. With strong faith, Babaji decided to bring
before the Sikh community the truth of the contribution of the Udasis in
spreading the preaching of Guru Granth Sahib. In this, the direct blessings of
Baba Siri Chand were at work and were visible in practical form, as Babaji
often used to mention in his discourses.
When
Baba Virsa Singh as a youth used to feel deep longing for meeting some unseen
Power, he used to cry out, “Kite aa . .
.jaa, kite aa. . .jaa!” (Wherever You are, please come!) In the agony of
this longing, he would lose awareness of his surroundings. Then Baba Siri Chand
began appearing often to him. One day an elder appeared with Baba Siri Chand,
who told Babaji that this was his father, Guru Nanak Dev Ji, who would bless
him with Nam (the holy Name of God for recitation). Guru Nanak told Babaji to
repeat “Ik Onkar Sat Nam Siri Wahe Guru.”
He also commanded him, “You are to recite it yourself and give to others as
well.” Guru Nanak Dev Ji opened a secret to Babaji, telling him, “I also
received this Nam in the same way.” After that, Baba Siri Chand was
continuously appearing to Babaji and sharing with him the teachings of Guru
Nanak, who was his Guru and also his father.
Baba
Virsa Singh arranged a permanent bed for Baba Siri Chand to rest in a mud-brick
room of the house of his father, who was an ordinary farmer. During this
period, Baba Siri Chand Ji trained Babaji, giving him the deepest and highest
universal teachings of religion. The base of his teaching was the same as Guru
Nanak had taught him: inner remembrance of God, honest hard work, and sharing,
plus “All are equal; no one is an outsider.” Baba Virsa Singh decided to
propagate these teachings of Guru Nanak, as taught to him by Baba Siri Chand,
who was continually appearing and teaching him.
Baba
Virsa Singh often used to say that the deep respect he had for Guru Gobind
Singh is due to the blessings bestowed on him by Baba Siri Chand Ji. “When in
waves of ecstasy I used to sing praises of Baba Siri Chand, he would tell me to
sing praises of Guru Gobind Singh instead. Then Guru Gobind Singh would appear
and say, ‘No—You should sing praises of Baba Siri Chand.’ Thus they each used
to tell me to praise the other. And by doing so, gradually I developed the
feeling that perhaps they are both one.”
During
that time, Guru Gobind Singh told Babaji that whosoever would read Jaap Sahib
would receive a shower of spiritual blessings. According to Baba Virsa Singh,
when he was preaching throughout the rural and urban areas of northern India,
often people would come to him with their miseries and problems in life and
work. He said, “Baba Siri Chand and Guru Gobind Singh are so kind that even
while people were describing their problems, Baba Siri Chand and Guru Gobind
Singh were simultaneously giving me the solutions.” People were happily
undertaking to follow the path of Guru Nanak—inner remembrance of God, honest
hard work, and sharing.
To
propagate the true teachings of Guru Nanak and Baba Siri Chand, Baba Virsa
Singh founded Gobind Sadan in 1968 in New Delhi. First to be constructed were
Baba Siri Chand’s place, havan (holy
fire place symbolizing receipt of spiritual powers), and the room of Guru
Granth Sahib, an enormous treasure of teachings of Sikh Gurus and Hindu and
Muslim saints. These places were established to satisfy the spiritual hunger of
the devotees. When Baba Virsa Singh Ji first arrived on the piece of land where
Gobind Sadan is now situated, Guru Gobind Singh appeared physically before him,
sitting on a horse which was dancing with joy. Guru Gobind Singh showed where these
three places were to be built and gave the blessing that whosoever would come,
even for the first time, and respectfully bow his forehead on that holy land
would have his karma changed forever. “With seva and meditation here, one will
receive whatever he wants. This is an ancient holy place that I have visited in
several of my previous lives,” the Guru told Babaji.
Agriculture
was started on a small piece of land at Gobind Sadan. The devotees used to work
there to support a very simple free kitchen. Food was prepared and shared
there, and everyone thanked God. With God’s blessings, the work expanded and
the mission also spread. With income from that farm, Gobind Sadan developed
other barren wastelands into productive farms to help provide services to the
poor and to support the mission of Gobind Sadan, that is, to spread the
preachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji and Guru Granth Sahib. Baba Siri Chand kept guiding Baba Virsa Singh,
as a result of which he established in Gobind Sadan places of worship for different
religions where everyone could pray to their deity in their own way and receive
peace and happiness.
Baba Virsa Singh exhorted the visitors and
devotees of every faith to be firm in their faith, reminding them of the
teachings of founders of different religions. At the same time, in every
discourse he would always mention inner remembrance of God, hard work, and
sharing—the teaching of Guru Nanak and Baba Siri Chand—and “Recognize all of
humanity as one human race,” the teaching of Guru Gobind Singh. He always said
that religion is one, though the ways of worship of God are different. Religion
is inside every human being, but inside some it is sleeping and needs to be
awakened. The messengers of all religions do so. By their teachings, they arouse the dharma
that is sleeping inside human beings. Baba Virsa Singh dedicated his whole life
to the practical teaching of religion. From country to country, wherever he
went, people from all faiths listened lovingly and respectfully and followed
those teachings in their own lives.
