The Devi, the Madrasi & Dussehraa Smaagam

[nanosecond]

The Devi, the Madrasi & Dussehraa Smaagam

Adapted from article by Bhai Raam Singh jee, Sooraa, March 1989

Translated by Admin www.tapoban.org

A memorable story from the 1975 Dussehra Smaagam in Delhi:

A resident of Madras was a devotee of the Devi (Goddess). From his childhood according to his family traditions, he had always worshiped the Devi. The Devi became pleased at this loving devotion and worship and then gave him her Darshan (vision) not once but on many occasions. The devotee in his mind was very happy that his worship was successful and the Devi also provided him guidance in all his worldly works. She would stop him from doing any unsuccessful worldly business and guide him towards success.

Quite a while passed in this state and the devotee asked the goddess to grant him liberation from the cycle of births and deaths. The Devi replied "This is not in my control." Hearing this, the devotee became disappointed. What did he know that "Deviaa(n) nahee jaanai marm. Sabh oopar alukh paarbrahm" (p. 894)

The devotee then said to the Devi, "Where can I find liberation then?" The Devi replied, "When you transfer from this place to another, someone there will give you the lead in this regard. By listening to his instructions you will get what you want. You will also have to change your religion."

After some time, the devotee was transferred to Vijiaavaadaa City and upon arriving there, he became eager to know who would lead him, as had been prophesied. One day, a very special Sikh (Heeraa/diamond) of Guru Dashmeesh Jee was doing nitnem. When the BaaNee entered the ears of this Madrasi brother, he felt as if a light current of electricity

had passed through his body. He thought to himself, "This has never happened to me before? What has happened here? Is it possible that this Sardar is to be my leader?" He had this thought in his heart when he went to the Singh and asked "Forgive me, what are you reciting? This has given me a buzz through my entire body." The Singh then explained that he was reading the BaaNee of Guru Nanak Dev jee.

The Madrasi brother told the Singh about his experience with the Devi and asked "Can you lead me to the path of liberation?" The Singh replied "You've come to the right place. Liberation (Muktee) can only come from Guru Nanak Saahib. For this, you will have to receive amrit with your wife and become a Singh. By the time the Amrit Sinchaar time comes, prepare yourself by learning Gurmukhee and reading BaaNee"

This was all the Madrasi had been waiting for and he along with his wife began to learn Gurmukhi and in days began to do Nitnem. Such a colour coloured him that soon he brought home Sree Guru Granth Saahib. The divnely coloured couple even unfurled the Khalsa's Nishaan Saahib over their home and eagerly began to await Delhi's Dussehra Smaagam. By the time Dussehra Smaagam arrived the devotee's wife became a daily reciter of Sukhmani Saahib.

Waiting, finally Dussehra arrived. The couple along with their two children arrived in Delhi. Doing Gur Gur, this couple was initiated and became the True Guru's naam abhyaasee Khalsas. Upon receiving the Gurmantar, the khanda of naam began to go by itself. Facing the Guru, he with his own eyes saw the Satguru and was fulfilled for life. "Bhoola Maarag so pvai jis dhur mastak laykhang. Tin janm svaariaa aapNaa jin gur akhee(n) daykhang." (p. 1099).

After all this, one may wonder, "What a broken and twisted method the Devi used to lead her devotee! Why didn't she just say 'you will get liberation from the door of Guru Nanak?'" This actually is a very big revelation for us: Guru Nanak's name, or God's Naam, or

GurbaaNee, or any words/Shabads uttered from the mouths of the Satgurus can only be uttered in Human life form, not after leaving the Human form. Forget meditating on Naam, gods and goddesses, devis and devtas, cannot even say the name of the Satgurus from their mouths. In such a helpless state, what liberation/muktee can they give to anyone? In his own words, Satguru Sachay Paatshaah who is the Master of Muktee in this era "Mukat Data Satgur joug maahi" asks the Devi:

"Too(n) kaheeat hee aad bhavaanee. Mukat kee bareeaa kahaa(n) chhapaanee" (874)

Then, we who are in the Human life form should consider ourselves very lucky that we have come to understand that liberation/muktee can only come form the door of Guru Nanak.

There is no guarantee on life: "Hum aadmee haa(n) ik damee mouhlat mouhat na jaaNaa" (660) Then we should not delay at all. We should go for Amrit and become complete Singhs and then meditate endlessly on Naam, recite BaaNee and then we should achieve what we have taken human life for and return with a glowing face to the court of God. We should become free from births and deaths and "Tin janm svaariaa aapNaa jin gur akhee(n) daykhang" should be our spiritual state. Otherwise, let it not be that we regret that our short lives have come to an end and we have found ourselves in the situation "RaN vihaaNee pachhtaaNee ouTH chalee gaiee niraas" (134).

NOTE: This Singh was a Telegu speaker and dedicated servant of the Goddess. He was peshed in the 1975 Dussehraa Smaagam and received amrit with his family. He was named Bhai Bhajan Singh and his wife was named Bibi Amar Kaur. When they received amrit, it was an amazing sight.

On January 27, 1989, Bhai Bhajan Singh returned to the feet of the Guru. The blood-family of these Gursikhs have cut themselves off from them, knowing them to be Sikhs. The family lives in a rented home but they keep Satguru jee in their home with the utmost respect. The couple, alone, would do RaN Sabaaees. They would not drink so much as a sip

of water from their relatives' or friends' homes. They were dealing with a situation where their entire worldly family was on one side and their faith on the other. And then fate struck. May Guru jee keep this family steadfast even after the deadly blow of the loss of the father. These poor people have no other support but the Guru and other Sikhs. There are four children. The elder son and daughter were in the 9th grade and the younger in the 5th when this happened. The mother feels sad sometimes, but the children say "Guru Granth Saahib jee is our Baba jee and Father: Mother, don't worry!"

The family is receiving some pension from the Military and the AKJ also has begun to send some monthly assistance. Satguru jee himself is the sustainer of his children.

[bravekhalsa]

This Story proves that Devees/Hindu Goddesses or any of their Gods don't have Mukti. They can't get out of the Cycle of Birth&Death so how they gona give mukti to you?

Mere Satgur Jeeo! Mai Balehaar Java TuhadaY!!!!!

[Guest balwinderkaur]

thats an inspirational story.

This Story proves that Devees/Hindu Goddesses or any of their Gods don't have Mukti. They can't get out of the Cycle of Birth&Death so how they gona give mukti to you?

Mere Satgur Jeeo! Mai Balehaar Java TuhadaY!!!!!

hmmmmmm well mukti aside im sure they have some sort of power to the hindus thats why they have been worshipped for ages on end and will continue to be worshipped. my half cent

[Jkaur]

well yeah.. ive heard a similar story that happen in malaysia too.. where this person who has been doin dewi puja was told by da dewi to go and pray in gurdwara coz there's where he'll get mukti...

[Niranjana]

thats an inspirational story.

This Story proves that Devees/Hindu Goddesses or any of their Gods don't have Mukti. They can't get out of the Cycle of Birth&Death so how they gona give mukti to you?

Mere Satgur Jeeo! Mai Balehaar Java TuhadaY!!!!!

hmmmmmm well mukti aside im sure they have some sort of power to the hindus thats why they have been worshipped for ages on end and will continue to be worshipped. my half cent

Gur Fateh!

The concept of the Devi, or divine mother is found all over the world and is not limited to just India...anyway, as interesting a subject this is, I can’t write too much right now!

What I do wish to pick up on is the ‘protection’ element of the Devi which you alluded to...this also features within Sikh thought, however as with all things Sikh, the meaning is different! The Brahmins of the Indian subcontinent for centuries had plagued people with the notion of worshipping the Devi to please ‘Chandi’ such that she manifests herself and provides some form of magical protection to the people. <

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This led to widespread weakening of the people through this literal transposition of the Devi as people simply began to worship the idols of the Devi in order to seek some form of protection from the invading Moghuls. The Brahmins further weakened this through a twisted and again literal rendering of the ‘Karma’ theory such that the fate the people suffered at the hands of the invaders (rape, pillage, killings, conversions, death) were all pre-written destiny and they simply had to accept this.

It is during the time of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, when the topic was once again raised whilst he was resident at Naina Devi. I won’t relay the entire story as there are a few variant versions of it, but the common themes are that having disposed of the Brahmins performing the Havan, after exposing them for their futile ways, Guru Ji is said to have raised the Havan fires by pouring in all the remaining items (according to some accounts to have recited Chandi di // at this instance too) and appearing with a drawn Sword when meeting the Sikhs at the bottom of the mountain, which he declared as the ‘Chandi’ of the Khalsa (again according to another variant of the incident, Guru Ji is supposed to recited the ‘Sri Kaal Ji ji Ustat’ Khag Khand Bihandang...at this point).

Points to note:-

-Guru Ji has throughout our Maryada used existing terms (Hari, Shiv, Vasakhi, Divali, Holi & Holla, Arti & Arta etc) and concepts (Maya, Karma) and given them their true meanings. Some people describe this as giving them new meanings, I used to share that view, but having looked deeper into this matter, I personally feel that Guru Ji exposed the true meanings. For instance, many say that the cla

ssical epics in the Dasam Granth (24 Avtars etc) are translations of ancient Indian texts, but if one reads them carefully, one can find variations and extra material evident in the writing of Guru Ji –personally, I feel this to be Guru JI revealing hidden truths...but that’s my personal opinion. Similarly the rendition of maya and Karmic doctrines is different in the Sri Guru from that of the Brahminical concept...

-Chandi Puja is a term used within Martial circles all over India, for Sikhs, it refers to the practice of Martial Skills (Shaster Vidiya) and ways (Khshatriya Marg). However, the notion of ‘puja’ often raises an eyebrow or two, :T: so to briefly expand, just consider this version of Chandi Puja (i.e. working out, keeping fit & healthy, armed and skilled in the use of weapons...through to recitation of the Chandi compositions for Bir Ras, keeping Sarbloh Bibek –see my posts on the correlation between Chandi and Sarabloh and incidentally Sarabloh Bibek here extends beyond simply cooking in iron vessels, but includes weapons and respecting and caring for them) with the Brahmanical version of performing rites to a stone idol and one can see why it is used in context of my opening paragraphs. The ‘Chandi’ of the Khalsa (Tegh) is the one that will protect (Dharma) not the stone idol!!!

-Outside of martial practice, Chandi also features in Sikh lore in a metaphorical sense as the feminine divine jyot of Akal (see Chandi di //) also referred to in the Sri Guru as Satguroo Poora amongst other terms...just as Har, Shiv, Hari etc have been used as functional aspects of Nirankar Vaheguroo in the Sri Guru, Chandi refers to Akal as the divine mother (not the goddess!) for instance, in the Anand Sahib, Maharaj speaks of “Har Ji Pita, Har Ji Mataâ€, in the Jap Ji Sahib, “Eka Maee tivey chlaee...†and in Bent

i Chaupai Sahib (Dasam Granth), “Kirpa Karee Hum Par Jag Mataâ€...

...this is a huge topic, which I may expand on later...must dash for now...

Forgive any foolish comments,

MAHA KAAL RAKVAAR HAMAARO||

MAHA LOH MAI KINKER THAARO||

[Guest balwinderkaur]

thanks for that input niranjana..very interesting...cant wait to read part 2 of that post