Jivan beora of Guru Angad dev ji
Guru Angad (31 March 1504 – 28 March 1552) was the second of the ten Sikh Gurus
He was born in the village of Sarae Naga inMuktsar District in Punjab on 31 March 1504. The name Lehna was
given shortly after his birth as was the custom of his Hinduparents. He was the
son of a small but successful trader named Pheru Mal. His mother's name was
Mata Ramo (also known as Mata Sabhirai, Mansa Devi and Daya Kaur). Baba Narayan
Das Trehan was the Guru's Grandfather, whose
ancestral house was at Matte-di-Sarai near Muktsar.
In 1538, Guru Nanak chose Lehna—his disciple—to be his
successor as Sikhism's
Guru, rather than one of his sons. Lehna was then given the name Angad and designated as Guru
Angad, becoming the second guru of the Sikhs. He continued on the
work started by the first Sikh Guru.
Guru Angad married Mata Khivi in January 1520 and had two sons (Dasu
and Datu) and two daughters (Amro and Anokhi). The entire family of his father
had left their ancestral village in fear of the invasion of Babar's armies. After this
the family settled atKhadur Sahib, a village by
the River Beas near what is now Tarn Taran a small town about 25 km from the
city of Amritsar,
the holiest of Sikh cities.
One day, Bhai Lehna heard the recitation of a
hymn of Guru Nanak from Bhai Jodha a neighbour who was a
follower of the Guru. His mind was captured by the tune and while on his annual
pilgrimage to Jawalamukhi Temple
he asked his group if they would mind going to see the Guru. Everyone thought
this most inappropriate and refused. Not one to shirk his responsibilities, he
was after all the guide and leader of the group, he couldn't abandon them with
thieves along the way. But man of honor and dharma that he was, the poems and
prayers (kirtan) of Guru Nanak still held onto his every thought. So one night
without telling anyone he mounted his horse and proceeded to the village now
known as Kartarpur (God's
city) to visit with Guru Nanak. Upon receiving directions to the Guru, Bhai
Lehna found a number of people working on a field. Bhai Lehna did not recognize
the Guru as he looked just like the ordinary field workers, and asked Guru
Nanak if he could take him to the Guru. Guru Nanak agreed and took the saddle
strings of the horse while Bhai Lehna sat upon the horse comfortably. After
some time the Guru reached his home and told Bhai Lehna to sit down whilst he
went to get the Guru; when the Guru returned, this time after freshening up,
Bhai Lehna realized instantly what a huge mistake he had made. He had several
thoughts going through his head about what a huge sin he had committed by
making the Guru pull him and his horse home whilst he sat upon the horse
comfortably. His face at once dropped and Guru smiled, he asked what is your
name, Bhai replied 'Bhai Lehna'. The Guru then replied: 'don't worry when
someone comes to take something they would come as you have' (as Lehna means to
take something) 'if you give me the strings of your mind as you did with the
horse saddles and let me direct you, you will be amazed... '
Bhai Lehna displayed deep and loyal service to
Guru Nanak. Several stories display how Bhai Lehna was chosen over the Guru's
sons as his successor. One of these stories is about a jug which fell into mud.
Guru Nanak's sons would not pick it up; Shri
Chand the older, refused on the grounds that the filth would pollute him, and
Lakshmi Chand, the younger, objected because the task was too menial for the
son of a Guru. Bhai Lehna, however, picked it out of the mud, washed it clean,
and presented it to Guru Nanak full of water A different version of this story counts this as a key
part of Guru Nanak deciding upon Bhai Lehna for his successor. The Guru's wife,
Mata, said to Nanak "My Lord, keep my sons in mind," meaning that she
wished them to be the ones considered for succession to the guruship. Guru
ordered them to come, and he threw a bowl into a tank of muddy water. The Guru
ordered them to retrieve it for him, and both of them refused to do it. Guru
Nanak then asked Bhai Lehna to retrieve it, and Bhai Lehna promptly complied. In one instance, the Guru orders a wall of his house,
which had fallen down, to be repaired. His sons refused to fix it immediately
because of the storm that had knocked it down, and the lateness of morning. Guru
Nanak said that he needed no masons while he had his Sikhs, and ordered them to
repair it. Bhai Lehna started to repair the wall, but Nanak claimed that it was
crooked when he was finished, and ordered him to knock it down and build it
again. Bhai Lehna complied, and Nanak still claimed the wall was not straight.
The Guru ordered him to attempt it a third time. At this, the Guru's sons
called Bhai Lehna a fool for putting up with such unreasonable orders. Bhai
Lehna simply replied that a servant's hands should be busy doing his master's
work. Yet another anecdote exists where Guru Nanak asks his
Sikhs and his sons to carry three bundles of grass for his cows and buffaloes,
and, as with the other examples, his sons and his followers failed to show
loyalty. Bhai Lehna, however, immediately asked to be tasked with carrying the
bundles, which were wet and muddy. When Bhai Lehna and the Guru arrived at the
Guru's house, the Guru's wife complained at Guru Nanak's terrible treatment of
a guest, noting how his clothes were covered from head to foot with mud. Guru
Nanak then replied to her, "This is not mud; it is the saffron of God's
court, which marketh the elect." Upon another inspection, the Guru's wife
saw that Bhai Lehna's clothes had, indeed, changed into saffron. To this day,
Sikhs consider the three bundles as important symbols of spiritual affairs,
temporal affairs, and the Guruship. In one of the most significant stories, Guru Nanak travels
through the forest with his disciples. The Guru made gold and silver coins
appear in front of the group, and all but two followers ran to pick them up:
Bhai Lehna and Bhai Buddha. Guru Nanak led them both to a funeral pyre, and
ordered them to eat the corpse that was hidden under a shroud. Bhai Buddha
started thinking, but Bhai Lehna obeyed. When he lifted the shroud, he found
the Guru Nanak himself underneath it.In a different version of this story, Bhai Lehna is met
with Parshad (sacred food) instead of Guru Nanak. Bhai Lehna offers the Parshad
to the Guru, satisfied to eat of the leavings. Guru Nanak, after this test,
reveals the Japuji to Bhai Lehna, proclaims Bhai Lehna is of his own image, and
promises that Bhai Lehna shall be the next Guru.
Guru Nanak had touched him and renamed him
Angad (part of the body) or the second Nanak on 7 September 1539. Before
becoming the new Guru he had spent six or seven years in the service of Guru
Nanak at Kartarpur.
After the death of Guru Nanak on 22 September
1539, Guru Angad left Kartarpur for the village of Khadur
Guru Angad popularized the present form of the Gurmukhi script. It became the medium of
writing the Punjabi language in which the hymns of the
Gurus are expressed. This step had a far-reaching purpose and impact. First, it
gave the people who spoke this language an identity of their own, enabling them
to express their thought directly and without any difficulty or
transliteration.
Earlier, the Punjabi language was written in
the Landa or Mahajani script. This had no vowel sounds,
which had to be imagined or construed by the reader in order to decipher the
writing. Therefore, there was the need of a script which could faithfully
reproduce the hymns of the Gurus so that the true meaning and message of the
Gurus could not be misconstrued and misinterpreted by each reader to suit his
own purpose and prejudices. The devising of the Gurmukhi script was an
essential step in order to maintain the purity of the doctrine and exclude all
possibility of misunderstanding and misconstruction by interested persons.
The institution of the langar was maintained and developed. The
Guru's wife personally worked in the kitchen. She also served food to the
members of the community and the visitors. Her devotion to this institution
finds mention in the Guru Granth
Sahib.
The second Mughal Emperor of India Humayun visited Guru Angad around 1540 after Humayun lost his throne to Sher Shah Suri.
When he arrived in Khadur Sahib Guru
Angad was sitting and listening to hymns of the sangat and the failure to greet the Emperor
angered Humayun. Humayun got out his sword threatening to attack but the Guru
reminded him that the time when you needed to fight when you lost your throne
you ran away and did not fight and now you want to attack a dervish engaged in
prayer. Humayun fell to the Gurus feet and asked for forgiveness. Humayun was told the he would retrieve his throne eventually
but now was a time to leave the country.
The Guru earned his own living by twisting
coarse grass into strings used for cots. All offerings went to the common fund.
This demonstrates that it is necessary and honorable to do even the meanest
productive work. It also emphasizes that parasitical living is not in
consonance with the mystic and moral path. In line with Guru Nanak's teaching,
the Guru also declared that there was no place for passive recluses in the
community.
Like Guru Nanak, Guru Angad and the
subsequent Gurus selected and appointed their successors by completely
satisfying themselves about their mystic fitness and capacity to discharge the
responsibilities of the mission.
Community Work
Guru Angad is credited with introducing a new
alphabet known as Gurmukhi script that he made in Khadur Sahib,
modifying the old Punjabi script's characters. There is evidence, however, that
this was not the case: one hymn written in acrostic form by Guru Nanak gives
proof that the alphabet already existed. Soon, this script became very popular and started to be
used by the people in general. He took great interest in the education of
children by opening many schools for their instruction and thus increased the
number of literate people. For the youth he started the tradition of Mall
Akhara, where physical as well as spiritual exercises were held. He collected
the facts about Guru Nanak's life from Bhai Bala and wrote the first biography of Guru
Nanak. He also wrote 63 Saloks (stanzas), which are included in the Guru Granth
Sahib. He popularised and expanded the institution of Guru ka Langar (the Guru's communal kitchen) that had
been started by Guru Nanak.
Guru Angad travelled widely and visited all
important religious places and centres established by Guru Nanak for the
preaching of Sikhi. He also established hundreds of new centres of Sikhi and
thus strengthened its base. The period of his Guruship was the most crucial
one. The Sikh community had moved from having a founder to a succession of
Gurus and the infrastructure of Sikh society was strengthened and crystallised
– from being an infant, Sikhi had moved to being a young child, ready to face
the dangers that were around. During this phase, Sikhi established its own
separate religious identity.
Death and successor
Guru Angad, following the example set by Guru Nanak,
nominated Guru Amar Das as his successor (The Third Nanak)
before his death. He presented all the holy scripts, including those he
received from Guru Nanak, to Guru Amar Das. He died on 29 March 1552 at the age
of forty-seven. It is said that he started to build a new town, at Goindwal
near Khadur Sahib and Guru Amar Das was appointed to supervise its
construction. It is also said that the deposed Mughal Emperor Humayun (Babar's son), while being pursued by Sher Shah Suri,
came to obtain the blessings of Guru Angad in regaining the throne of Delhi
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