The Janamsakhis are the major source related to the study of Guru Nanak. However, there are still some others which help us in getting the knowledge of the life and times of Guru Nanak. Some reliable sources can be mentioned as under.
I. Vars of Bhai Gurdas
Bhai
Gurdas was a nephew of the third Guru, Amar Das ji. He was a contemporary of
the third, fourth, fifth and sixth Gurus. He was responsible for scripting the
Adi Granth at the dictation of Guru Arjan Dev. He composed 39 Vars and 556
Kabits. Though his poetry was not included in the Adi Granth, Guru Arjan
declared that the verses of Bhai Gurdas must be read first by a Sikh in order
to understand fully the philosophy contained in the Holy Granth. The reader of
these verses can gain spiritually and acquire the instructions regarding the
teachings of the great Gurus. It is thus certain that the works of Bhai Gurdas
existed even at the time of composition of the Adi Granth in 1604 AD and some
of the Vars were written during the pontification of Guru Hargobind.
It is believed that Bhai Gurdas composed his Vaars about sixty years after the death of Guru Nanak, which give us a sketch of the life of Guru Nanak. The stanzas 23 to 45 of Var 1 and stanzas 13-14 of Var 11 provide us with a brief account of Guru Nanak. Mainly the religious aspect of Guru Nanak is dealt with in the Vars, while the Kabits contain merely ‘the Sikh tenets and a panegyric of the Gurus.’. Dr. Indu Bhushan Bannerjee writes that “it is important to note that they mark a definite landmark in the evolution of Sikhism and should thus be regarded as extremely valuable.
II. Janamsakhis
Janamsakhis
are very important source to study the life of Guru Nanak Dev. There are many
versions of the Janamsakhis.
1. Puratan Janamsakhi or Janamsakhi
by Sewa Das: The Janamsakhi by Bhai Sewa Das is probably the oldest of all the
Janamsakhis. Two manuscripts of this Janamsakhi are available:
(a) Colebrooke
Manuscript: This manuscript was taken to London by Sir Thomas Colebrooke in
1815-16 A.D. and was donated to the Library of East India House. In 1872 AD,
Dr. Ernest trump found it in India Office Library, London. The manuscript was
published in 1877 AD. When the Sikhs of Punjab knew of it, they pleaded with
Sir Charles Aitchison, the Lt. Governor of Punjab, that the Janamsakhis may be
shown to them. The petition was accepted and the Government of India got its
copy printed after photozincophing it. But in 1884 AD, the Singh Sabha of
Lahore had lithographed its copy.
(b) Hafizabad
Manuscript: Bhai Gurmukh Singh of Lahore got this manuscript in Hafizabad and
M.A. Macauliffe found some of its last pages missing, completed it by the
Colebrooke manuscript. He has based his famous work, The Sikh Religion, on it.
Macauliffe
is of the opinion that it was written in 1588 AD, half a century after the
death of Guru Nanak. But most of the scholars are of the view that it was
written in 1634-35 AD. It contains 57 sakhis and is considered to be the
genuine source to study the life of Guru Nanak. Bhai Vir Singh published a
sakhi based on it in 1926 AD.
When the accounts were written by Bhai
Gurdas and Bhai Sewa Das, some of the disciples of Guru Nanak were still alive
and “would have acted as a powerful check on the introduction of doubtful and
exaggerated details.” Yet these cannot be concluded to be free from legendary
myths and supernatural touches, even though scrappy. Bhai Gurdas has, however,
avoided to give a complete life sketch of the Guru as its details could have
been easily obtained at that time.
Whatever may be the nature of these
accounts, we can’t omit its supernatural and mythical details, because by doing
so, we will be having a bare skeleton which will be regarded as even the
necessary minimum. Trumpp observes, “Compared with the later Janamsakhis, which
enter into minute details in order to satisfy curiosity, and which have no
sense but for the miraculous, however absurd, it is relatively sober.”
2. Janamsakhi
by Meharban Sodhi: Meherban was the son of Prithi Chand, elder brother of Guru
Arjan Dev. Being related to the Guru family, he knew pretty well the traditions
regarding Guru Nanak. This Sakhi was compiled probably during the Var 1 by Bhai
Gurdas and the Janamsakhi of Sewa Das. The chief feature of this Janamsakhi is
the account of Guru Nanak’s settlement in Kartarpur, which is not available in
any other Janamsakhi.
Historically, this account is regarded
very much valuable because
(a) The
names of persons and places mentioned in it are generally correct;
(b) There are few miraculous stories in it; and
(c) The
dates given are quite accurate.
` 3. Bhai Bala’s Janamsakhi
: Bhai Bala’s Janamsakhi has been a controversial issue among the historians.
According to the Sikh chronicles, Bhai Bala was one of the earliest accomplices
of Guru Nanak. He is even stated to have accompanied Guru Nanak during his
travels. The Sakhi is stated to have been written during the period of Guru
Angad with Bala’s help, who dictated these to Paira Mokha. This Janamsakhi, as
compared to other sakhis, contains a number of events in Nanak’s life.
However, today the
authenticity of this Janamsakhi as well as its author is doubted. It is stated
that when Bala came on a visit to Guru Nanak’s successor, Guru Angad, at
Khadur, the new Guru sought his introduction as to whose disciple he was and
also about his religious convictions. Bala informed that he was a disciple of
Guru Nanak and had been very closely associated with Him since his early
childhood. On hearing this, Guru Angad entrusted upon him the task to narrate
the incidents of the Master’s life. Moreover, it is also said that one day Bhai
Bala started making an enquiry to know about the successor of Guru Nanak.
Now how is it probable
that two close associates of the same Guru are not familiar to each other, and
Guru Angad had even sought Bala’s introduction. Also, Bhai Gurdas has mentioned
the names of various eminent personalities associated with Guru Nanak,
including Mardana, Bhai Budha, Daulat Khan Lodhi etc, but Bala’s reference does
not come even once.
Again, it is believed
that had Bala been a genuine person, he would not have mentioned the
disparaging stories to show that Nanak was born again and again because of the
result of the bad Karmas in his previous lives. According to the Sikh
traditions, Nanak was sent by God to liberate mankind from sins and from the
shackles of birth and rebirth.
Certain aspects are
forwarded to prove that Bala’s Janamsakhi is spurious:
-
‘Waheguru’ is the word used in this
Sakhi. But it was used since the period of Guru Ramdas and not Guru Nanak.
-
Eminabad was the name given to the town
during the period of Akbar and Guru Arjan Dev. During Guru Nanak’s period it
was called Syedpur. However, Bala has used the name Eminabad for it.
-
A story in the Janamsakhi refers to
Devlut Masand. However, it is a matter of fact that the Masand system was
introduced by Guru Ramdas
-
The language in the Janamsakhi is also
not of Guru Nanak’s age but much later than that.
Dr.
W.H. McLeod believes, “The Bala version is, however, the least trustworthy of
all the Janamsakhi traditions. Errors of fact occur with considerable frequency
and the fabulous material which it incorporates far exceeds that of the other
Janamsakhis, both in quantity and in degree.” Dr. Trilochan Singh, however,
refutes this theory.
4. Gyan
Ratnavali: Bhai Mani Singh was initiated into the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh.
His Gyan Ratnavali, also known as Mani Singh’s Janamsakhi, appears to be the
expansion of Bha Gurdas’ Vaar 1 and includes the popular theories regarding
Nanak in the age of Guru Gobind Singh.
5. Mahima Parkash : Mahima Parkash Vartik was written by Kirpal Singh in 1741 AD, while the Mahima Parkash Kavita was composed in 1776 AD by Sarup Das Bhalla. These accounts are the other important sources regarding the period of Guru Nanak. Basically, the two accounts appear the same, but Kirpal Singh’s Vartik is shorter. Sarup Das’ account of Guru Nanak is based on Puratan Janamsakhi. The later version is composed by imagination. He started writing at Varanasi and completed it at Amritsar. It is also known as Vairowal Wali Janamsakhi.
III. Nanak Prakash
It
was composed by Bhai Santokh Singh in 1823 AD. Imagination was in full swings
at this time. Taking the clue from Nanak’s visit to Ceylon, he narrates the
meetings of Guru Nanak with Hanuman, Vibhishana, Prahlad, Dhruva and other
bhaktas. To give it a touch of reality, he introduces long dialogues in this
connection. Dr. I.B. Banerjee comments, “In fact, imagination once let loose,
does not stop till it has effected a complete metamorphosis of the personality
of Nanak and brought him into the line with the legendary figures of old.”
IV. Dabistan-e-Mujahib
The
author of this work wrote under the pseudonym of Mohsin Fani. He was a
contemporary of the fifth, sixth and seventh Sikh Gurus, and was a personal
friend of Guru Hargobind. He has given a good account of the teachings of Guru
Nanak. He seems to have deep regard and tolerance towards Sikhism. As Dr. I.B.
Banerjee believes that his work is of special value as he is an independent
witness. But he has also given a number of mythical stories, he heard from the
Sikhs of his time.
These
sources are not without their limitations. So far as the period of these
sources is concerned, no account was written during the period of Guru Nanak.
These sources were composed much after Nanak’s death. The Janamsakhis of Sewa
Das, Meherban and Bala were written not before the first half of the 17th
century, while the versions of Mahima Prakash were written in the 18th
century. Moreover, these Sakhis were a mixture of legends, myths and
supernatural elements. In fact, these were written by the devoted Sikhs for the
faithful followers of Sikhism and not for the sake of historians.
Another
drawback in these sources is that they are not arranged in chronological order.
Therefore, it becomes difficult to arrange different aspects of the life of
Guru Nanak in a chronological sequence.
Dr.
W.H. McLeod writes, “The Janam Sakhis must be regarded as examples of
hagiography and any inclination to treat them as biographies will distort both
our understanding of Guru Nanak and our appreciation of the true value of Janam
Sakhis themselves.”
Despite
these shortcomings, we possess only Janamsakhis as a source of our knowledge
for the life of Guru Nanak. Our chief aim is to find out how much material
containing in these sakhis and other sources can be acceptable as historical,
because as McLeod feels, “In spite of their manifest shortcomings, we are bound
to rely on the Janamsakhis for almost all of our information concerning these
events….”
