Guru NanakDevJi - The Vaishnava Hindu Saint

The Tat Khalsa Singh Sabhias have managed to suppress the Sanatan Hindu Sikhi version by inventing a new anti Hindu history & ignoring the fact that Guru NanakDevji was a Vaishnava Hindu Saint. I have come across authentic frescos dating back over 200 years which clearly show NanakDevji wearing a Chandan Tilak, Rudraksh Mala & Seli Topi instead of the image we are made to believe of him today.
The first image ( above) is the original handwritten Pothi by NanakDevji, a Shaligram dedicated to Lord Vishnu & mala & padam belonging to him. A Shila or Shaligram is a Hindu Vaishnava aniconic representation of Lord Vishnu, in the form of a spherical, usually black coloured stone found in the sacred river Gandaki.


ਹਾਥਿ ਚੜਿਓ ਹਰਿ ਸਾਲਗਿਰਾਮੁ ॥
haathh charriou har saalagiraam ||
I hold in my hands the Saalagraam of the Lord.

ਕਹੁ ਨਾਨਕ ਗੁਰਿ ਕੀਨੋ ਦਾਨੁ ॥੪॥੩੯॥੯੦॥
kahu naanak gur keeno dhaan ||4||39||90||
Says Nanak, the Guru has given me this Gift.
~SGGS Ji ang 393


Below is a fresco (over 200 yrs old), found in the inner sanctum of Dera Baba Charan Shah Udasin at Bahadurpur in Hoshiarpur, Punjab. It depicts the first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak Dev, along Bhai Bala, a Hindu disciple is fanning the Guru. Note the Vaishnav Chandan tilak on His forehead.




Wooden Slippers worn by Guru Nanak Dev ji 

This Seli Topi was worn by Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, Sri Guru Angad Dev Ji, Sri Guru Amar Das Ji, Sri Guru Ram Das Ji & Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji. Presently it is lying at the The Fort, Kartarpur District Jalandhar (Pb.) India. We are today made to believe that NanakDevji wore a Turban, when he wore the traditioal Seli Topi of Hindu Saints & sported a Vaishnava Chandan Tilak.



                                                       






                                                                                      

Above: Chola worn by Nanak Devji

                          

                

Above: Jaap Mala used by Nanak devji

Hand written pothis of Nanak Devji

What did Guru Nanak Dev ji Look Like ?

A very rare portrait of Guru Nanak Dev ji ( circa 16th cetury A.D ) - He is accompanied by Bhai Mardana & He seems to be addressing a Saint dressed up as a Hindu woman adorned with the sixteen forms of traditional beauty & clothing- notice the Red Tilak on Guruji's forehead & the traditional Seli Topi worn by Hindu saints of the Bhakti period.

Above: Guruji in the company of Bhai Mardana playing the rabab, while Bhai Bala stands behind Guruji who is conversing with Hindu saints - rare painting dated 17th century.

Above: Guru Nanak Devji with Bhai Mardana playing the rabab & Bhai Bala holding a fan - notice how Guruji is depicted in this traditional 18th century painting - He is holding a rudraksh mala & a traditional 'Kamandal' which a small pot used by all Hindu Yogis that holds water.

Above: Blocks of wood were carved with the outlines and shapes of pictures. These could then be inked and printed onto paper. This technique for mass production was adopted in Panjab in the 19th century and enabled artists to reach a much larger market than previously.Above is a 19th century portrait made in wood - Guru Nanak Devji with Bhai Mardana & Bhai Bala. ( Victoria & Albert Museum, London )

Upto the early period of 19th century Guru Nanak Devji was painted by artists as a traditional Hindu Saint of the Bhakti period of India until the Tat Khalsa was established towards the end. From then onwards, a very different looking Nanak Devji - an image of Him similar to some Sufi type of Saint was circulated - which today's Sikhs have been forced to accept.

Above: A very rare painting - 17th century - Hindu saints & Kings paying homage to Guru Nanak ji. Again Guruji is portrayed as a Hindu Saint wearing His traditional seli topi.

Above: Guru ji as a child & student of Pandit Gopal ji the Brahmin teacher ( painting 17th century).

Above: Guru Nanak ji with Sant Gorakhnath ( painting is from circa 17th century ). Again, Guruji is traditionally wearing the red tilak of a Hindu sant.

                  Above: Guru Nanak with Sant Kabir ( painting: circa 17th century ) 

Above: Bhai Lehna visits Guru Nanak Devji - ( ca: 17th century) Again all are depicted wearing traditional red tilak marks including Bhai Mardana who is playing the rabab.

Above: Painting from circa 17th century -Guru Nanak Devji listening to Bhai Bala who is seated on the red seat.

Above: Guru Nanak Devji in the company of Brahmins & Yogis ( painting: circa 17th century)

The Transformation of Guru Nanak Dev ji's Image as seen below:

Copyright©Arjan Singh Virdi 2012. 

The Unbreakable Hindu Sikh Bond -Dr Arvind S. Godbole

[Copyright Organiser By Dr. Arvind S. Godbole]

The claim of many Sikh politicians and authors that Sikhism is a separate religion, calls for an objective and a nationwide debate. In this debate, we can keep aside, the semantic of the terms dharma and ‘religion’ and use the term ‘religion’, as it is commonly understood at present. To qualify as a ‘separate religion’ it must have a theology and philosophy distinct from other religions. The revered, Shri Guru Granth Sahib (Granth, G.pp. no) is the most important source of Sikh theology and philosophy. According to the Granth, the supreme Being is sans beginning (G.1351), primordial being (G.129), complete or integral (G.705) eternally true (G.1,119), sans human birth (G.1,99), transcendent as well as immanent (g.79, 102 etc), antarjami (G.13,43,454 etc.) nirvairu or sans enemity (G.1,99), fearless (G.199), fearless (G.1,464 etc.), supremely resplendent ( G.13,277 etc.), supreme bliss (G.814), untainted or niranjana (G.119,597,1353) and both sarguna and nirguna (G.128,862).

These basic theological concepts are of the Sanatana Hindu religion. Shankara in his Vivekachudamani (225) calls Parabrahma as nitya or eternal. Bhagvadgita (9.18) regards the supreme as the primordial origin of the universe. The Chandogya Upanishad (8.3.8) holds that the truth is His name. Bhagvadgita, (7.25), declares that the ignorant think that the Supreme Being has a birth. The immanence of the Supreme being, a cardinal tenet of the Sanatana Hindu religion and the Sikhism differentiates then clearly from the Semitic religions, who do not subscribe to that doctrine. Several hymns of the Granth, bring out very eloquently, the contrary attributes of God e.g. ‘You are the teacher, you are the disciple’)G.69); ‘You are water, you are the fish’ (G.85). This is a corollary of the doctrine of total immanence of God and is an echo of the Taittiriya Upanishad. Antarjami (antaryamin), an attribute of God, is drown from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. The epithet, nirvairu of the Parabrahma is a corollary of the doctrine of immanence. The Amritbindupanishad (6) holds that God is impartial. This doctrine differs from the Old Testament concept of ‘chosen people’ or the Quranic concept of the ‘favoured believers’.

That the Supreme is a bliss is a Vedantic concept, endorsed both by The Brahmasutra and the Tejabindupanishad. That the supreme is untainted is the doctrine of the Upanishads, later adopted by the Nath samparadaya. Guru Nanak has sung the glory of Om (G.929-930) as the creator of the Vedas, etc. Needless to say the Om is the Vedic mantra as well as a pan Hindu symbol. Expressions like, ‘Uradh mula jasu sakha’ (Guru Nanak, g.503), ‘Neta neta kathanti beda’ (Guru Arjuna, g.1359), ‘Brahamgiani sada niralepa jaise jalamahi kamal alepa’ (Guru Arjuna, G. 272) are but echoes of the Vedas and the Bhagvadgita.

The philosophical concepts of the Grantha like indestructibility of soul, the cycle of birth, death and rebirth, evil impulses viz lust, anger, etc., maya, brahamgiani, cardinal importance of guru, the importance of recitation and meditation of Hari or Ramanama, realization of soham for the liberation, jeevana mukti, the merger of the individual soul with the supreme soul, during life time or the mukti, the two categories of people viz the manamukha seeking ephemeral pleasures and the gurumukha or the god oriented people, are Sanatana Hindu Concepts.

The Philosophical nomenclature of the Granth viz Parabrahma, Ghata, Pinda, Atama, Moksha, Mukti, jeevan Mukti, Maya, Mithya, Sarguna and Nirguna, Bharamanda, Jogu (yoga), Raja Jogu (rajayoga), Isaru (Ishvara) is same as that of the Sanatana Hindu religion. The term like four yugas, four padaratha goals of life-viz the purushartha, tribhuvana, amrita, lakha chourasiha 84 lakh species, which appear so often in the Grantha denote its Sanatana Hindu ethos.

 

Neither Guru Nanak nor any of the other Sikh Gurus declares in their hymns that he is founding a religion. Guru Amardas declares that ‘He gave the smritis, the Shastras (Vedas) and the reckoning of punya and papa’ (G.949). “You are the Shastras, you are the Vedas”, sings Guru Arjun (G.1150). Not only the Smritis and the Shastras but Puranas also were created by His order, declares Guru Arjun (g.261). A distinct civil code and a distinct mythology are hallmarks of a separate religion e.g. Islam, Old Testament as the mythology of the Semitic religions. The Sikhs share the same mythology, as elaborated by the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Puranas, Shrimad Bhagvata, with the Sanatani Hindus. The Sikhs never had and could not have a separate civil code, given the reverence of the Sikh Gurus for the Smritis and the absence of any declarations, in the Granth on marriage, divorce and inheritance. The recent practice of many Sikh authors to present ten Sikh Gurus as ten prophets does not have a scriptural basis. Sikh Gurus never claimed to be prophets or having received any massages from God. With great humility, they said that they were but the dust of the feet of saints.

 

The rejection by the Sikh Gurus of the Vedic rituals and their insistence on inner realization of God is consistent with the Upanishads. Although the hymns of the Granth repeatedly describe god as formless, a nirguna, they do describe, in many places, the physical attributes of God. Wherever they do so, the description is invariably that of Vishnu or one of His incarnations (G.567, 1082, 1402). The argument that because Sikhism is monotheistic, it is akin to Islam and or a different religion is unfounded. The monotheism of Sikhism is different from that of Islam. While revering the One Parabrahma, Sikhism like the Sanatana Hindu religion, does not reject other Gods. The expression like ‘Suri Nara’ (G.775), devate kodi tetise’ (G.1079), ‘tritia brahma bisanu mahesa’ (G.839), Yama, Yamaduta, Yama danda appear in the Granth.


The Farid Bani in the Granth does not support the notion that there is a Sufi element in Sikhism. The Farid Bani deals with general themes like inevitability of old age and death. It does not bring out any basic philosophical doctrines. Unlike the Bhagat Bani, which appears uninterrupted, in the Granth, the Farid Bani is interspersed with the Guru’s verses, indicating that the Gurus desired to comment on it. The Sufi nomenclature is conspicuous by its absence in the Granth. The Guru’s criticism of mechanical relation of the Vedas without understanding their meaning and their insistence on the inner God realization is consistent with Shankara’s Vivekachudamani V. The rejection of idol worship by the Sikh gurus has been mistakenly interpreted as rejection of the Sanatana Hindu religion. ‘He is not in any symbol’ declares the Brahma sutra ((4.1-4). Idol worship is not an essential component of the Sanatana Hindu religion. The claim that Sikhism rejects the avatara concept of the Sanatana Hindu religion is also baseless. ‘Sunnahu upaje dasa avatara ‘declares Guru Nanak (G.1038). ‘Assuming the form of a child, you killed Kamsa, Keshi and Kuvalyapida’, says Guru Ramadas (G.606). In one hymn, Guru Arjun enumerates various avatara (G.1082). Story of Prahlad (Narasimha avatara) appears in many places in the Granth, Guru Gobind Singh wrote Ramavatara, Krishnavatara and and Chobis avatara. Guru Gobind Singh says in his autobiographical ‘Bachitra Natak’ that the Bedis (Guru Nanak’s clan) and the Sodhis, his own clan originated, respectively, from Kusha and Lava, the sons of Shri Rama. It should be remembered that Guru Gobind Singh did not make the initiation into the Khalsa, mandatory for all Sikhs. Bhai Nandlal, an important member of the court of the tenth Guru and an author of a famous Sikh Rahatnama and Bhai Kanhaiya were not Khalsa Sikhs.

The fear that the Sikhs will lose their identity if they are included in the Hindu society is unfounded. Without losing their characteristic features and individual identity, the Varkaris, the Ramadasis, the Swami Narayan Panthis have remained within the Hindu society. In the present controversy of the nature of ‘Sikh religion’, let us keep aside the current and past politics and in the Sikh tradition, seek the guidance from the Guru Granth Sahib.

 

(Dr. Arvind Godbole is author of Guru Nanak Guru Gobind Singh (Marathi) and Philosophy of Shri Guru Granth Sahib’ (English) and many articles on Sikh history and Sikh Philosophy.)

Neo-Sikhs stop Brahmin Bashing!

Everytime I google for Sikh websites, I find forums with so much hate speech & derogatory remarks against Hinduism & Brahmins. I call this Brahmin/Hindu bashing. As a proud Singh guy who loves his Sanatan Hindu Sikh heritage, this really gets to me. I have read up on so much Hindu/Sikh history that enough is enough! I'm sick of how much low the 'Sikhs' can get especially the Talibanised ones from Canada.

And how many of you have seen what the Gorrees are wearing? I mean, turbanated women as well now! Since when a woman should wear a turban - they look like muslim women. What happened to the traditional Kaur with a beautiful bindi & colourful clothes? Talibanisation of Sanatan Sikhi at its best. Time to set the record straight.

How did Brahmin bashing begin?

So lets look at the next few points as to how this has come about which has made India a country with a State policy for Brahmin bashing. Its pretty sickening since this type of diarrhoea comes from illiterate, ignorant people who have 'grown'  listening to or reading up nothing but crap & dog poo, being constantly churned out by our SGPC 'Gyanis'.

Talibanised Sikhs are fed on venom against the centuries old Hindu Dharma & values of which Sanatan Sikhi is also a part. They are brainwashed by those with vested interests, into believing that behind every tree lurks a Brahmin who wants to hurt & kill off Sikh Dharam. They spread lies about the Vedas, Upanishads & even Manu Smriti which is the first scripture on rules for a follower of the Vedic Dharma. I guess they are ignorant & its like the blind leading the blind syndrome. But it is pissing me off bigtime nowadays since not only one anti-Hindu website is out there which is being run by Neo-Sikh fanatics, -  but millions. What is wrong with these dopes? Is Sikhism only about having a Turban & Beard so to identify ourselves with Sikhi traditions? Did you know we are losing our great Sanatan heritage because of mischief being made by Canadian Talibani Sikhs working with the Akal Takht & the SPGC also?

False stories & myths that the Talibani neo-Sikhs have spread so far are plenty attacking all the great Dharmic principles of our mother faith: Hindu Dharam.

The ones that have made me laugh are the following when they compare Hinduism to Sikhism. Here they are: 

Myth 1] 'Low Status' of Hindu women in Manu Smriti ( British version) as to status of Sikh women


Myth 2] So called Brahmin oppression & conspiracies (British versions)


Myth 3] The claim that 'All the Gurus rejected idol worship & Hindu practises'- give me a break please.


Myth 4] Sati - this is hilarious but always used by Hindu bashers from the Neo Sikh brigade


Myth 5] Gangu Brahman ( this guy was invented later on by the British & SGPC) but more about this character very soon as his story has become really ridiculous in the past 5 yrs.


Myth 6] Sikhism is not from Hindu scriptures/ also from Islam - this is the best one so far!


Myth 7] Sikhism was created because of caste system - another good one to bash Hindus with!


Myth 8) Sikhism is different religion that does not worship icons..Hindus worship stones!


Myth 9) Brahmins have always been hostile to Sikhs & are enemies of Sikhism


Myth 10) Sikhs saved Hindus of entire India..


Myth 11) Hari, Krishna, Vishnu, Ram etc mentioned in Shri Adi Granthji are not the same as the Hindu Gods..


Actually the list is longer than we think but this will do for now! Myths 2, 3, 5 - 11 will be exposed in a separate post.


Its laughable & at the same time I feel pity upon these ignorant arrogant souls who have hijacked the Gurus' Sanatan philosophy & made it their own into a Christian/Islamic type of doctrine.
This list is endless. But anyone with a brain would know how insane the neo-Sikhs are when they make ridiculous claims against Hindu Dharam & how Sikhism is a different 'new' religion. I will go into these fanatic claims soon. But first how Brahmins are blamed for everything they never did in the first place.


                      True facts about anti-Brahminism


Did you know?

Who was Max Muller?




Max Muller - he started Anti Brahminism to weaken Hindu society

1] Anti Brahminism/Hinduism began during the last 2 centuries when the British parasites set their 'manhoos' foot on our soil. Though Islam too tried in its own way by killing thousands of Brahmin priests during their Jihads of Hindu temples - I'll go into this later on as this is a much wider topic & its best I stick to explaining how the British played their satanic part in the Sikh-Hindu divide.


2] Max Muller : A paid agent of the British translated the Rig Veda & Manu Smriti in a most vulgar way. He twisted & distorted every word of sanskrit since he wanted to spread Christianity. This Muller was a German, who was especially employed by the British Empirein 1847 to translate & misinterpet the Vedas  in such a way that Hindus/Sikhs would lose all faith in these great scriptures & hopefully become Christians. He was paid £4 per sheet of rewriting Hindu scriptures which is nearly £1000 in today's value. This was a very high price but the Gorres were determined to break Hinduism & weaken it as much as possible.

3] Max Muller was born poor & this was his golden opportunity as a Christian missionary to start breaking the pride of the people who belonged to a land like India ,which is where the great Rishis, Yogis, Sidhas & Gurus have taken birth. The British knew that the pride of India was the Vedic Dharma.

Muller's letters dated August 25, 1856, February 26, 1867, and December 16, 1868 reveal the fact that he was desperate to bring Christianity into India so that the religion of the Hindus should be doomed. 

His letters also reveal that:

He lived in poverty before he was employed by the British. His duplicity in translation was praised by his superiors, and in London, where he lived, there were a lot of Orientalists working for the British.

To Chevalier Bunsen, 55 St. John Street, Oxford, August 25, 1856, he wrote: 

“I should like to live for 10 years quite quietly and learn the language, try to make friends, and then see whether I was fit to take part in a work, by means of which the old mischief of Indian priestcraft (Brahminism) could be overthrown and the way opened for the entrance of simple Christian teaching…Whatever finds root in India soon overshadows the whole of Asia.” 

To the Dean of St. Paul’s (Dr. Milman), Stauton House Bournemouth, February 26, 1867, he wrote: 

“I have myself the strongest belief in the growth of Christianity in India. There is no country so ripe for Christianity as India, and yet the difficulties seem enormous.” 

4] Muller invented the Aryan Theory & propogated it like a devil. He wrote this in the letters to his wife:


"It took only 200 years for us to Christianise the whole of Africa, but even after 400 years India eludes us, I have come to realize that it is Sanskrit which has enabled India to do so. And to break it I have decided to learn Sanskrit." 

The soul of India lies in Sanskrit & the Vedas. And Lord Macaulay saw to it that the later generations are successfully cut off from their roots.


5] He invented the Dravidian theory also aiming at the South Indians & cooked up stories of Brahmins as Aryans who 'invaded their lands & oppressed them'. His sole aim was to break the backbone of Sanatan Dharma by vilifying the Brahmins who were great scholars, mathematicians, warriors & teachers. They were in his way of spreading his Christianity & converting gullible Hindus & Sikhs.

6] While Muller & Macaulay were busy destroying the Manu Smritis & Hindu scriptures, Macauliffe was busy doing mischief in Punjab with Sikh history & religion.


         Brahmins & Their Contribution to Sikh Dharma


Did you know?

19 Bhatt Brahmins who were originally from Kashmir helped the Gurus to write & compile the Shri Adi Granth?


1] Despite the fact that Brahmins made a significant contribution during the times of Sikh Gurus, their role has not been highlighted so far. Out of 35 authors whose writings have been incorporated in Shri Guru Granthji, 19 were Brahmins, making their contribution nearly 45 percent. The Bhatt Brahmins sang and wrote in the praise of Sikh Gurus and 11 of them had even laid down their lives for the cause of Sikhism during the lifetime of Sikh Gurus. They were bestowed with the honour of preacher (Manjis) by the Gurus.This is the crux of the research, "Brahmin Bhala Aakhiye", conducted by Iqbal Singh, senior superintendent of police, Amritsar (rural). He has quoted hymns from Guru Granth Sahib to substantiate his viewpoint on the subject. The research is a collection of information about the Brahmins who hail from far-off places like Jagannath, Kashi, Gaya, Brindaban, Kurukshetra, Lahore, Jhelum, Kashmir, Gorakhpur, Jodhour and Gwalior, and their contribution towards the Bhakti movement.

Todays Brahmin bashing Talibani Sikhs should know this fact.

2] The Panch Pyarre were sent to Varanasi & Haridwar by DasamPitah Shri Guru Gobindji to learn from Brahmins the Vedas & Sanskrit. Again this is not ever told to us by the fanatic neo-Sikhs. Guru Gobind Singhji himself was taught Vedas, sanskrit, farsee & martial arts by a Kashmiri Pandit named Kripa Ram Dutt, who was good & loyal friend of Guru Tegh Bahadurji. Other Brahmins from Kashmir who were most loyal to the Gurus were Praga Sen, Mati das, Dayal Das, Sati das etc all of whom gave their lives on the battlefield for Sikhism. The majority of warriors who fought alongside of Guru Gobind Singhji were Mohyal Brahmins of Kashmir who died for Sanatan Sikhism.

3] There are 35 Classical Ragas that the Shri Guru Granthji is sung in - these Ragas were Vedic Ragas from Sama Veda which were set by the 19 Kashmir Bhatt brahmins who have given so much rich heritage from Hindu Dharam into Sikh Dharam.

4] Sanatan Sikhism recognised the 3 main Bhagats before the life of Guru Nanakji; they are Bhagat Ramananda, Bhagat Surdas, Bhagat Jayadeva.  Many of the other icons of Sikhism are disciple of Brahmins such as Bhagat Kabir, Bhagat Dhanna, Bhagat Ravidas, Bhaga Pipa, Bhagat Sain. The writings and sayings of these icons are preserved in the Sikh text, the Sri Guru Granthji.

5] The Moghuls targeted mostly Brahmins because they knew our strength lay with the scholarly Brahmins on our side. They kept our Dharam alive because they had knowledge of Shastar Vidya, Malla Yudha & Gatka. When the muslims realised that they were unable to defeat our fighting spirit because of the Brahmins preserving all aspects of Dharma, they carried out annual Jihads against them to finish them off completely. Akbar, raided Varanasi temple several times, but he was met with fierce opposition from armed Brahmin priests who fought the muslim forces bravely. Akbar raided the temple & seized it through force one day - he rounded up 30,000 pandits that day & forced them to accept Islam but the Pandits were adamant to die rather than accept anything other than Sanatan Dharma. Akbar massacred them in cold blood.

6] Brahmins such as Raja Dahir of Sindh, Rajpal Shahi King of Afghanistan, Vijayanagar Kings, Banda Bahadur are but a few of the several warrior Brahmins who have constantly fought to protect India & its people from Islamic invasions throughout history. Recent Brahmins who laid down their lives against the British were Mangal Pandey, Veer Savarkar, Chandrashekhar Azad, Subhash Chandra Bose & not to forget Gangaram Tilak.


7] Maharaja Ranjit Singh's own bodyguard was a Brahmin who protected the Maharaja with all honesty & loyalty.


Next I will compare what the neo-Sikhs shout out about Hindu beliefs like Sati, idol worshipping, status of Hindu women, Brahmins as 'oppressors', all of which is malicious & derogatory. These are normally used when a neo Sikh is doing his/her bit for 'Hindu Bashing'.


Copyright©Arjan Singh Virdi 2012. 

Veer Banda Singh Bahadur - A Vaishnava Vairagi Warrior

I recently had a heated debate with one so called Sikh historian who kept ranting on about how Sikhs have saved the Hindus & how much sacrifice we have really done for India as Sikhs. To be perfectly honest I don't blame him since for the 56 years of his entire life he has been living under some type of delusion, like most of us, until we actually wake up to the fact that thanks to Tat Khalsa scholars working under the influence of Gorre rulers, they sat about adding & subtracting records & presenting us with discrepancies within our history. Talking of the several discrepancies found today within the new versions of Sikh history, here is an answer for those neo-Sikhs out there who are full of inflated self egos when it comes to 'saving Hindus',when it is actually the other way around. Most of the Khalsa were Hindus of Punjab who fought bravely alongside their own Sanatan Sikh brothers in armies that created havoc against the Islamic forces. Here is an article I would like to share with everyone on the true history of Lakshman Dev Bharadwaj, originally a Kashmiri Brahmin at birth, who later on joined the Vaishnava Vairagi Akhara & trained as a military general possessing his very own army of thousands of Vaishnava Hindu sadhus who were fully armed. Neo Sikhs praise the brave sadhu sipahee as a Rajput who later on took amrit under Guru Gobind Singhji which is actually false propaganda. I am actually getting sick of the rubbish that most 'sikh' ( Talibani) sites out there are churning out..but this is an eye opener thanks to some good writers of authentic Hindu history out there!

Source: http://www.trinetra.org.uk/#/hindu-warriors/4549751595

The Legend of Veer Banda Singh Bahadur
Pavan Mishra

The medievel period between 13th century to 18th century was one of great turmoil in India. Muslim invaders from Asia Minor were ruthlessly looting, plundering, eroding and persecuting Hindu Civilisation. In the Punjab, which over the centuries had been bearing the main brunt of continuous Islamic invasions, terror, mayhem and murder ruled the roost, with the Muslim rulers carrying a systematic persecution of the Hindus. Thousands of places and structures of Hindu worship along with ancient centres of learning were being systematically desecrated and razed to the ground by the Muslim plunderers in an attempt to annhilate all traces of Hindu Dharma from its soil and to force all Hindus into submitting to Islam either through violence, treachery, extortions, kidnappings  or torture. It was during this period when Aurangzeb was the Mughal emperor that persecution reached its peak. Destruction of sacred Hindu temples, cow slaughter inside sacred Hindu sites, murder of men, rape and kidnapping of Hindu women had become the favourite passtime of Aurangzeb and his faithful Islamic army. The magnitude of Muslim barbarity against Hindus and Hindu Dharma was beyond measure, most of which was regularly documented by the Muslim historians in various chronicles celebrating the exploits of Muslim monarchs against the 'idol or Murtee worshipping' infidels.

Stretching from Sindh province, Northwest Frontier and into the Punjab, the Islamic invasions had led to many Hindus in these provinces living as second class citizens who could not practise ancient Dharmic rituals as this was seen as blasphemy by the Muslim tyrants, often leading to inhumane torture and persecution if caught, while other Hindus in these areas had been converted to Islam forcefully. Islam prescribed a death penalty for Murtee worship and many Hindus had been put to death in this region. However, while the Rajputs, Marathas, Ahom kings and many other Hindu warriors fought countrywide across the length and breadth of India against Islamic tyranny, there evolved alongside a spiritual and Dharmic rennaisance spurred by several Hindu saints and Akhara sadhus which became to be known as the Bhakti movement. Saints of the South such as Tyagaraja, from Mewar Rajasthan such as Meerabai to Tulsidas, Surdas, Kabir , Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, RaviDas in the North, all strived to rejuvenate Sanatan Dharmic philosophies through composing hymns and Bhajan Kirtans in praise of the Hindu pantheon of Gods such as Lord Rama and Lord Krishna, all echoing the message of the Vedas and Upanishads . They stressed devotion over theology.They travelled countrywide as poets or bards with their own groups of devotees and followers singing the greatness of the Supreme Being Shri Hari, a brave response of defiance against the Islamic onslaught, by involving local people therefore keeping the Dharmic tradition alive. In Haridwar, Kashi , Ayodhya and in the Himalayas, centres or ashrams of spiritual learning began to flourish and groups of sages known as Shiva Akharas, Vishnu Akharas, Vairagis, Nagas , Siddhas and Yogis known as Udasis roamed the forests keeping the Dharmic spirit alive. 

 In Punjab, Guru Nanak Dev, born in a Vaishnava family, founded a Bhakti movement or Panth which was based on Advaitic ( literally non-duality) principles, a branch of the Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy, found mainly in the Upanishads as well as other traditions of Hindu Dharma. Some authentic accounts prove he may have belonged to a Brahmin family i.e. the fictional story of his rejection on wearing the sacred thread which could possibly  have been concocted by the British 'historian' Max Macauliffe in an attempt to colour Brahminism with shades of superstition and arrogance since the so called Sikh history has been proven to be replete with later edited versions, which have been designed by those secularists with vested interests, as I will explain here. However, this new movement required none of the ritualistic worship of Hindu Dharmic traditions, though keeping in line with Vedantic thought, and instead flourished more in this region due to the fact that places of Hindu worship had been ransacked and ritual practises had been banned by the Muslim rulers. Soon several Hindus flocked to Guru Nanak and welcomed this new resurgent Dharmic movement as a way out of their oppressed and much downtrodden lives and in due course this, like many other offshoots of Hindu Dharma, crystallized into a distinctive sect later on during the 19th century, known as Sanatan Sikhism, while followers of this movement came to be known as Sikhs or Shishyas ( Disciples). Guru Nanak Dev had remained a Hindu throughout his life, while spending most of his time for spiritual quest in the company of sadhus such as Sant Gorakhnath and other great spiritual Yogis of Kashi. His elder son Shri Chand had become a Sanyasi and had set up the Udasi Sant order, with thousands of his own followers.

Baba Shri Chand

This Hindu tradition of associating with Brahmins and sadhus for  spiritual guidance had continued upto the last tenth Guru, Shri Gobind Rai who was a self professed protector of Hindu Dharma:  


Sakal jagat main Khalsa Panth gaje Jage dharam Hindu sakal bhand bhaje ~

Guru Govind Singh  :''The Khalsa sect will roar around the world. We will awaken Hindu Dharma so that its enemies will flee''His father Guru Teg Bahadur had maintained company of several Brahmins such as Mati Das, Pandit Sati Das as well as Dayal Das and also ensured Gobind Rai a good education in Vedas and Sanskrit as well as Persian languages under the guidance of a Kashmiri Brahmin teacher known as Pandit Kripa Ram, who was also a trained warrior belonging to the military Brahmin class. All the ten Gurus had lived as Hindus and married according to the traditional Sanatan Dharmic ceremony of walking around the sacred fires under the guidance of the Brahmin priests.

Historic portraits of Guru Nanak Dev painted during his time show Nanak Dev sporting  a sandalwood tilak on his forehead, wearing a Seli Topi ( a loosely woven cap) and wearing the Rudraksha mala typical of a Hindu saint of the medievel period and engaged in discussions with many Hindu saints and yogis of the time. However, by the end of the 19th century an Islamised version of portraits of NanakDev would take over the earlier images of this great saint.

Within a span of a century, the movement had gained momentum and spread from Punjab to North West Frontier during and after Guru Nanak Dev's time and Gurudvaras were constructed in several places. This was an opportunity for the Hindus of these regions to install Murtees of the Hindu pantheon of Gods in these Gurudvaras which served as centres of gathering and worship in an otherwise hostile environment that had been imposed upon them by the Islamic rulers. Those Hindus who had already joined this sect as well as those Hindus who had chosen to remain within the traditional Dharmic fold, worshipped together at these centres. The fourth Guru, Shri Ram Das, had stumbled upon an ancient Vishnu tank, a very popular pilgrimage site for Hindu worship during the time of Emperor Ikshvaku, the ancestor of Lord Rama and it is a well known fact that Lord Buddha had also performed auterities at this very place when he renounced all material ties with his Kingdom and family members. Guru Ram Das excavated the tank and laid the first stone for foundation for a grande structure known as Hari-Mandir or Hari meaning Vishnu's temple. The site became to be known as AmritSar ( Pool of Nectar) and HariMandir soon became the centre for Hindu and Sikh worship, later on to be known as the Golden Temple. Here the compilations of writings of the Gurus known as Adi Granth was placed along with Murtees of Hindu Gods such as Goddess Durga, Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu as well as  a life size murtee of the sixth Guru Shri HarGovind, later to be removed by separatist Sikhs, some of them who had been converted to Christianity, belonging to the Tat Khalsa Singh Sabha movement during the end of the 19th century,which had been engineered and fostered by the British Regime occupying India at the time. This was a ploy to plant the seeds of  establishing a separate  Sikh identity from its parent  Sanatan Dharmic heritage , and the Singh Sabhias collaborated with the Colonial forces as their stooges and were launched as a movement towards the end of the 19th century. The Tat Khalsa began to radically change and rewrite 'Sikh' history, conveniently expunging all signs of Hindu philosophy and historical accounts which had been initially propogated by all the ten Gurus of this Hindu sect. Heavy tones of blatant anti Hindu as well as anti Brahminical  sentiments replaced the earlier authentic records of the great history of this region. The leading figure of the Tat Khalsa was headed by the 'historian' Max Macauliffe, an Irishman whom the neo Sikhs of today regard as a great scholar and historian and an authority on the history of Sikhism and Punjab. In a systematic attempt to turn the Sikh soldiers against the Indian freedom movements, the colonial forces ensured great minority privileges for Sikhs in order to make governing of the  Indian sub continent an easy task, and they began a massive drive to convert many Sikhs to Christianity whilst at the same time taking over the running of HariMandir at Amritsar. Their aim : To Christianise Sanatan Sikh heritage and to make HariMandir a place of Christian worship by drawing plans to turn the site into  a Church complex.

In 1882, Macauliffe achieved the position of Deputy Commissioner in Punjab. With the help of Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha of the Tat Khalsa Singh Sabha, Macauliffe wrote the popular Tat Khalsa Singh Sabha-sanctioned text that outlined Sikh history according to the views of the Tat Khalsa scholars of the time. In it, he states the reasons for writing his extensive work on the Sikhs:

"It is admitted that a knowledge of the religions of the people of India is a desideratum for the British officials who administer its affairs and indirectly for the people who are governed by them so that mutual sympathy may be produced. It seems, at any rate politic to place before the Sikh soldiery their Guru’s prophecies in favor of the English and the texts of their sacred writings which foster their loyalty."
- - - The Sikh Religion’,1909, M.A. Macauliffe, Preface xxii


This highly encouraged several Sikh scholars of the time to rewrite Sikh history in the manner that the British preferred, therefore promoting a sense of contempt towards anything remotely that sounded Hindu, especially  Hindu bravery against Islamic hordes. In an attempt to Christianise  and de-Hinduise the Adi Granth, additions were made to several instances of  Gurus' lives which were obvious copies of myths from Abrahamaic scriptures and many contortions crept in. HariMandir was replaced with Arabic/Persian words like Darbar Sahib. Myths of a sufi saint Mir Mian supposedly having laid the founding stone for HariMandir were circulated and widely promoted by the Tat Khalsa. Words of the great Gurus such as Tegh Bahadur were manipulated  in an attempt to give them a somewhat 'Sikh' appearance. The incident of the ninth Guru having died for Kashmiri Brahmins showed further contradictions present in Sikh historical accounts, in his statement to Aurangzeb  before his execution: 

Tin te sun Sri Tegh Bahadur / Dharam nibaahan bikhe Bahadur Uttar bhaniyo, dharam hum Hindu
Atipriya ko kin karen nikandu

Lok parlok ubhaya sukhani / Aan napahant yahi samani Mat mileen murakh mat loi
Ise tayage pramar soi Hindu dharam rakhe jag mahin / Tumre kare bin se it nahin

Guru Tegh Bahadur's reply to Aurangzeb's ordering him to embrace Islam:

(In response, Shri Tegh Bahadur says, My religion is Hindu and how can I abandon what is so dear to me? This religion helps you in this world and that, and only a fool would abandon it. God himself is the protector of this religion and no one can destroy it.)

According to his son Guru Govind Rai , his father had sacrificed his life for his belief in the preservation as well as protection of  'sacred tilak and thread' therefore affirming his strong belief in the Hindu Dharma.  Along with Tegh Bahadur, Mati Das, Pandit Sati Das and Dayal Das, all of whom were Brahmins died through torture for not embracing Islam. Neo Sikh scholars have clouded this particular information by carefully mentioning the sacrifices of the Brahmins as 'Sikhs' who died alongside their 'Sikh' Guru, replacing this episode with a highly debatable and unconfirmed incident of some 500 Kashmiri Pandits having approached  the Guru for help and for protection for which he nominated himself supposedly to be executed by Aurangzeb. Mati Das, Sati Das and Dayal Das have been described in the annals of the new Sikh historical accounts, as having died as brave 'Sikhs' instead of brave Brahmins who gave up their lives for Punjab and Vedic Dharma.

 The promotion of such fraud and deception is a trademark of the Tat Khalsa Singh Sabha authorised scholars and historians. One such fraud and deception promoted by the Tat Khalsa Singh Sabha is of the great bravery of a Hindu Dharmic warrior who was born in Rajauri Kashmir to a poor Brahmin known as RamDev Bharadwaj in the year 1670 AD. He was born as Lakshman Dev Bharadwaj as recorded in authentic accounts of the literary works Chhowen Rattan and as mentioned severally in local folklore of Jammu, a place where he had built his place. Eminent and well known authors such as Dr Nanak Singh as well as P.N Bali , have also acknowledged Lakshman Dev's family name as Bharadwaj, a lineage of Brahmins belonging to military traditions. After painstaking research, it has become evident to me that there were several authentic accounts of Kashmiri Brahmins known as Mohyal and Chibber Brahmins who had given a good fight against the Islamic oppressors in Punjab during this turbulent time alongside of the Kshatriya forces organised by Guru Govind Rai whom he would later call 'Khalsa'. Lakshman Dev Bharadwaj was one of them. His name has been played down by neo Sikh scholars as Lacchman DAS, Lacchman DEV, Lakhman DEV and more recently GurBaksh Singh, and have continued to portray him as a poor Rajput's son who later on would become a Sikh to protect the Hindus of Punjab. His family name had been conveniently left out by the Tat Khalsa 's anti Brahmin stance as they rewrote Sikh history to the wishes of the British, and in their blind haste to prove that he was a Rajput, they even overlooked the most important fact that all Rajput names end with the name Singh.

Bharadwaj is a Brahmin Gotra of Kashmiri Brahmins originating from the lineage of Guru Dronacharya, which has produced several great Hindu Kings who fought bravely against the invading Muslim hordes. However, the bitter truth is, like so many brave Hindu warriors of the time,  whether a Rajput Kshatriya, Shudra or a Brahmin, it took a Hindu warrior to organise the Khalsa and to establish the first Khalsa kingdom in Punjab, who was brave enough to continue after the tenth Sikh Guru Govind Singh's passing away, with a daring approach on tactics and  assaults when it came to confronting  the Islamic tyrants on many a battlefield. The participation of several Brahmins alongside the Khalsa during their struggle against Islamic tyranny is nowhere mentioned by neo Sikhs who have succeeded in supressing  all historical facts, at the same time brainwashing Sikh youth into following an anti Hindu Talibanised version of ancient Sanatan Sikhi traditions. Instead of acknowledging the fact that Hindus saved the Khalsa in order to uphold Hindu Dharma, we are constantly fed on a diet of how  'Sikhs saved Hindus' and when a lie is circulated over a thousand times, it almost tends to become 'true'. No doubt the struggle of the Gurus against Islamic fascism at the time was a struggle to keep Hindu Dharma alive which firmly puts the Sikhs within the same camp as the Hindus.
Not much has been recorded about Lakshman Dev's early life but there are a few folk stories/myths and some may appear to be highly exagerated since most have been sung as oral traditions which tend to be passed down from one generation to another. According to Gyani Budh Singh, as a child Lakshman Dev was a recluse who was more interested in training in martial arts combats, weaponry, horse riding and meditation. His family was extremely poor due to the fact that Brahmins and other Hindus of this region had been denied basic human rights by the Islamic Governors of the time and were a downtrodden people who were forced to live under humiliation and tyranny. It is believed as he grew up, Lakshman Dev left Rajauri to join the wondering Vaishnava saints known as Vairagi Akharas and travelled to Haridwar and later on to Nanded, Maharashtra.  Janaki Das, his guru named him Madhav Das.

The period of 20 years (1688-1708) of Vairag, that Lakshman Dev  spent before settling down at Nanded, situated on the bank of the river Godavari, has been taken as a dark period with no available historical account. He spent these years amongst the various Akharas or sects such as Nagas, Sanyasis, Yogis, Gosains, Dasnamis, Dadupanthis and many other sects with their Akharas under charge of their own mahants. Akharas were mostly founded to defend Hindu temples from the Muslim invaders at the beginning of the second millennium CE. By Mughal Emperor Akbar's time, there were already large numbers of armed ascetics all over India. Some of the Vairagis had become mercenaries fighting large scale battles, while some had become land owners, cultivating their lands to provide food for the rest of these saint warriors. Madhav Das learned from them training of mind and body and battle strategy. The Vairagi Akharas of the time were highly organised whereby peasants, farmers, Brahmins, shudras, kshatriyas, including orphans even could be hardened into effective, disciplined soldiers and had a good reputation as fierce fighters and loyal soldiers. Their weaponry was state-of-the-art and included musketry and artillery, materials for mounting sieges against well fortified locations as well as  camel guns.They also possessed horses, elephants and other pack animals required to transport heavy equipment.  The Kumbh Melas served as the staging ground for the mobilization, recruitment, and mercenary employment for the Akharas which sometimes expanded in numbers over 10,000 recruits to fight for Dharma against any foreign occupation.

Madhav Das soon had over the years, earned himself a notorious reputation with an army of thousands of armed followers of his own. News of this had reached the tenth Sikh Guru Gobind Singh, who arleady had heard of Madhav Das and his command over a strong army of  Vaishnava saint warriors and decided to meet Madhav Das at Haridwar, and later on again at Nanded where Madhav Das had set up his own ashram ( hermitage). The Guru spent a year with Madhav Das, watching and studying the battle tactics of the Vairagis and requested the Vairagi to assist him in freeing  Punjab from the Muslim oppressors.  The meeting between Guru Govind and Madhav Das is described in many literatures in various ways and there are many contortions that have crept in over the years especially within Sikh historical accounts which were edited during the 19th century by the Tat Khalsa under the guidance of Macauliffe. Bhai Santokh Singh in his literature 'Suraj Prakash' describes Madhav Das as nearly 7 feet tall with athletic build and one who knew the art of warfare very well. The dialogue between the Guru and Madhav Das was, as Dr Nanak Singh (historian and scholar) describes this  as ' similar to the dialogue of Lord Krishna and Arjun on the battlefield of Kurukshetra'. The Guru it seems had lost everything in the past few years including all four of his sons, while his wife Mata Sundari had been left behind in Delhi at the Moghul headquarters. It was a wake up call for Madhav Das to stand up and liberate his land which was being ravaged and plundered by the Islamic barbarians; at a time when Hindus were being tortured and persecuted endlessly, it was time for Dharma to be re-established.

According to many distortions in various Sikh literatures, it is widely believed that Madhav Das had taken 'amrit' or become baptized into Sikhism but Bhai Santokh Singh and various other authentic sources have proved that this was simply not the case, since the Vairagi remained a Vaishnava and Sikhism as it is known now had not come into existence even at the time.  Guru Govind Singh, had sent him along with the rest of the Vaishnava saints to Punjab to fight fierce wars with the Muslim forces of Wazir Khan- the Guru named the fearless Vairagi,  Veer Banda Bahadur.

In September 1708 Banda Bahadur set out towards Punjab with the help of Guru Govind Singh's men - he would enter Punjab like a tornado and through his expertise of guerilla warfare, organise the Hindus/Sikhs into a military machine that would eventually establish the first Khalsa kingdom.
(Part 2 to be followed)

Copyright Trinetra 2011   .