Shashktiwari at 22:55, 18 July 2023

2023-07-18T22:55:47Z

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{{Short description|Sikh saint}}
{{Not to be confused with|Bhai Gurdas|text=[[Bhai Gurdas|Bhai Gurdas Bhalla]], an earlier Sikh saint and writer}}
{{Infobox religious biography
| religion = [[Sikhism]]
| name = Gurdas Singh
| honorific prefix = Bhai
| image = Repoussé plaque (gilded panel) depicting Bhai Gurdas Singh presenting himself before Guru Gobind Singh with an offering, from the Khatwari Dharamsal in Shikarpur, Sindh.jpg
| caption = Repoussé plaque (gilded panel) depicting Bhai Gurdas Singh (standing at right) presenting himself before Guru Gobind Singh (seated in centre) with an offering, from the Khatwari Dharamsal in Shikarpur, Sindh
| relations = [[Alam Singh Nachna]] (brother)
}}

'''Bhai Gurdas Singh''' ([[Floruit|fl.]] 18th century), also known as '''Bhai Gurdas II,''' was a Sikh during the time of [[Guru Gobind Singh]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=Sri Dasam Granth: Facts Beyond Doubt |publisher=Sri Guru Granth Sahib Academy |year=2021 |isbn=9781527282773 |edition=1st |location=Malaysia |pages=302–304 |quote=}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Harbans |title=The Encyclopedia of Sikhism |publisher=Punjabi University, Patiala |volume=2: E-L |pages=139–140}}</ref> He is most known for writing a ''[[Vaar]]'' (folk ballad).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kaur |first=Gurnam |title=Sikh Value System and Social Change |publisher=Publication Bureau, Punjabi University, Patiala |year=1995 |isbn=9788173801341 |pages=89}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Takhar |first=Opinderjit Kaur |title=Global Sikhs: Histories, Practices and Identities |last2=Jakobsh |first2=Doris R. |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2023 |isbn=9781000847352 |series=Routledge Critical Sikh Studies |quote=23. Vars are long poems written by Bhai Gurdas. The first 40 vars are written by Bhai Gurdas who was contemporary to the early Gurus. But the 41st var is written, in the opinion of McLeod, by another Gurdas who had written it the eighteenth century. It is likely that information about the eighteenth century sangats of Bihar comes from Gurdas Il. McLeod, Dictionary, 212.}}</ref>

== Biography ==
He was the brother of [[Alam Singh Nachna]].<ref name=":0" /> He served as one of the many poets in the ''[[Durbar (court)|durbar]]'' (court) of Guru Gobind Singh.<ref name=":0" />

=== ''Vaar'' ===
He was an eyewitness to the [[Vaisakhi]] event which occurred in Anandpur on 13 April 1699, when the Guru formalized the [[Khalsa]] order.<ref name=":0" /> He later recounted his account of that day in a ''[[Vaar]]'', named the ''Vaar Sri Bhagaut Ji Ki Patshahi Dasvin Ki'', amidst hostilities from Hindus and Muslims alike.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> In a manuscript of the Vaar kept in the collection of the Sikh Reference Library, the work is known under the titled ''Vaar Bhai Gurdas Ji Ki''.<ref name=":1" /> The entire work comprises twenty-eight ''pauris'' (Indic term for [[stanza]]s), with twenty of the pauris praising Guru Gobind Singh and singling out unique aspects of the tenth guru.<ref name=":1" /> A common theme emphasized throughout the work is how Guru Gobind Singh transformed the ''sangat'' (congregation) of Sikhs into the Khalsa.<ref name=":1" /> The comparison is made to the Guru's sword and [[Kali]]ka, the Indic deity.<ref name=":1" /> Reference is made to the predecessor gurus [[Guru Har Rai|Har Rai]], [[Guru Har Krishan|Har Krishan]] (both on pauri 22) and [[Guru Tegh Bahadur|Tegh Bahadur]] (pauri 23), with the last containing an account of the Guru's martyrdom in Delhi.<ref name=":1" /> The finishing stanzas eulogize the Khalsa.<ref name=":1" /> The work was composed in "Hindized Punjabi".<ref name=":1" />

In his ''Vaar'', he states:<ref name=":0" />
{{Blockquote|text=The Guru has remembered upon the Kalka and prepare the Amrit of Khanda. Drinking which, this life becomes of fruition.|author=Bhai Gurdas Singh|title=''Vaar 41'' (Pauri 1, lines 3–4)}}In his ''Vaar'', he furthermore stresses the importance of the remembrance and chanting of Akāl ({{Lang-pa|ਅਕਾਲ|lit=without time|translit=Akāla|label=[[Gurmukhi]]}}, [[Literal and figurative language|{{Small|fig.}}]] 'immortal') for Sikhs:<ref name=":0" />
{{Blockquote|text=Everyone automatically speaks of Guru Gobind Singh Ji who has made them to chant Akaal, Akaal.|title=''Vaar 41'' (Pauri 17, line 10)}}This work is commonly appended at the end of ''[[Varan Bhai Gurdas]]'' as a 41st Vaar on-top of the traditional forty authored by [[Bhai Gurdas|Gurdas Bhalla]].<ref name=":1" />

According to Louis E. Fenech and [[Vir Singh (writer)|Vir Singh]], the 41st Vaar would have been written in the mid-1780s as per internal evidence.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fenech |first=Louis E. |title=The Sikh Zafar-namah of Guru Gobind Singh: A Discursive Blade in the Heart of the Mughal Empire |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2013 |isbn=9780199931453 |pages=246 |chapter=Notes}}</ref>

=== Later life ===
After the death of his master, Guru Gobind Singh, in 1708, it is said Gurdas Singh traveled to [[Sindh]], where he did missionary work spreading the tenets of Sikhism in the local area of [[Shikarpur District|Shikarpur]].<ref name=":0" /> Traditional lore claims he lived to an impressive age of 150.<ref name=":0" /> His life is commemorated in the Khatwari [[Dharamshala|Dharamsal]] of Bhai Gurdas in Shikarpur, Sindh.<ref name=":0" />

== Literary works ==
* ''Vaar Sri Bhagaut Ji Ki Patshahi Dasvin Ki'' – [[Vaar]] on the [[Amrit Sanskar|Amrit Sanchar]] and Guru Gobind Singh<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />
* ''Raag Ramkali Ki Vaar<ref name=":1" />''
* ''Barahmaha Sri Ram Chandar'' – narration of the separation between [[Rama in Sikhism|Rama]] and his brother, [[Bharata (Ramayana)|Bharata]], whom were saddened by their uncoupling. Written shortly after the death of Guru Gobind Singh in 1708 to recount how the Sikhs of the time were feeling being separated from their Guru.<ref name=":0" />
* ''Pryaye Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji'' – poetic expounding of the [[Guru Granth Sahib]]<ref name=":0" />

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Sikhism}}

[[Category:Sikhs]]

Bhai Gurdas Singh - Revision history

Shashktiwari at 22:55, 18 July 2023