Translated, abridged and retold from Bhai Vir Singh's ‘Guru Nanak Chamatkar'Bhai Bhagirath and MansukhBy Indra Kirpal SinghA poem be read several times in order to ‘hear’ it and feel its emotions.Melsihan was a village about 4 - 5 miles fromSultanpur. Bhagirath was its chieftain. One day,Guru Nanak visited village Melsihan. Bhagirathwelcomed him and had his dinner with the Guru. Hedecided to stay with the Guru for the night. Guru Jigot up very early in the morning and after his bathwent into meditation.During this time, Bhagirath observed a woman witheight arms sweeping the floor. On being asked byBhagirath, who she was, the woman replied that shewas a Devi. Bhagirath was astonished and asked herwhat was the need for her to sweep. She replied thatGuru Nanak, being Gurparmeshar (Supreme), shebecomes powerful by serving him. Bhagirathrealized that he should also serve Nanak.Bhagirath gave up the worship of the Devi's idol andshifted to Sultanpur. He started attending Satsang(congregation) of Guru Nanak. During the day, GuruJi attended to Modikhana (store) and convenedSatsangs during mornings and evenings.A poor Khatri's daughter was soon to be married, buthe had no money for the celebrations. He requestedGuru Nanak for help. Guru Ji told Bhagirath to takethe list of items required and proceed to Lahore. Heshould buy everything and return the next day.Bhagirath immediately left and went to a tradernamed Mansukh, who told him that it would takehim a couple of days to collect the required items.But on being told that Bhagirath was to return thenext day and was not to spend more than one night,Mansukh felt curious and asked him why he couldnot spend more than one night. Bhgirath told him itwas his Guru's order and he had to obey him.Mansukh felt all the more curious and insisted onknowing whose order it was that Bhagirath wasobeying. He replied that he was one in whose heartGod stays and who had shown him the true pathand added, "I am very happy to have followed him."Mansukh was inspired on hearing all this and gotready to accompany Bhagirath, but on conditionthat he would test his Guru and see if on reachingSultanpur, the Guru would call him by his name.Bhagirath cautioned that it is not fair to test the holymen, but he could do so to satisfy himself.When both reached Sultanpur, Bhagirath placedeverything before Guru Nanak saying that the Chura(set of bangles) was from his friend, who hadaccompanied him out of curiosity. Guru Jiaddressed his friend by name and said, "Mansukh,truth is nowhere to be found, there is darkness allaround. Therefore, a seeker is always confused in hissearch for God". Mansukh, who was assured byGuru Ji addressing him by his name, fell on theGuru's feet and became his devotee. Guru Nanaktold him to meditate on the Divine Naam and bysubduing his ego submit to Will of God. He shouldread the holy scriptures. Mansukh did not returnhome but stayed in Sultanpur for a long time. Heattended Satsang early in the morning, wrote downGurbani and learnt it by heart. Being a trader, hesometimes went to attend to his work in Lahore butwould come back soon thereafter with the resultthat he became a resident of Sultanpur. Bhagirathwas sent back to his native village Melsihan.Material Mirage(Sadho eh tan mithya jano)baljeet kaur tulsi-128- -129-The book of poems<strong>Eternal</strong> <strong>Voice</strong> Nov, 2010 - Jan, 201176 77
estern Tibet, also called 'Ngari' in local language, wasWhome of three kingdoms in the past, viz., Taklakot, Zhadaand Rutok. Of these, Taklakot was the largest in size, while Zhadawas the most famous kingdom, situated about 400 km north westof Taklakot.There is a legend popular among the Tibetans about the reign ofKing Kunga Gyalsten of the Zhada kingdom. It says that once,seven monks came to his court. All had brought one bag of silvercoins and they requested the King to keep the bags in safe custodyfor the next 9 years, saying that they would reclaim them if theyreturned before the 9-year period was over. However, if they failedto do so the King would be their rightful owner and was free to usefor whatever purpose he considered right.The monks were actually representing the God of wealth, Kuber.The monks were never seen thereafter and the seven bags ofsilver coins remained in the King's treasury for long even after 9years. One day, the King consulted his Royal Priests about thecoins and their possible use. He was advised to have an idol madefrom the silver coins.Expert craftsman were consulted, including those fromneighbouring kingdoms of Nepal and Kashmir, for casting the idol.The work was finally awarded to a craftsman living at a placecalled 'Sher', in northwest Nepal, about 13 kms from the presentKhojarnath monastery. A day was ordained for commencing thework. But on the appointed day, the idol manifested by itself to theKhojarnathbewilderment of all. The King then arranged to bring the idol onhis chariot in a procession to his palace. The chariot got stuck atKhojar and a celestial voice forecasted that the idol wished to stayat that place only. The King again consulted his Royal Priests, whoreadily complied with the Divine command and the idol wasinstalled there itself in an elaborate ceremony. This is how theKhojarnath monastery came into existence some 1800 years ago.Khojar is derived from two words: 'Khor' which in Tibetanlanguage means to come and 'char' meaning to settle down. Inother words, it represents the coming of the idol down there.'Nath' is a Sanskrit word meaning benefactor and is used as suffixto the names of holy shrines. It is said that at first there was onlyone statue, of Buddha, the compassionate or the Avalokiteshwara.Subsequently two more statues, that of Vajrapani and Manjushree(Goddess of knowledge, Saraswati) were also cast and installed.The Khojarnath monastery finds a description in the Manas Khad,where it is pronounced Khocharpuri. Maharishi Vyasa narrates tothe Rishis the story of Vishvakarma, the architect supreme. LordIndra had asked him to design a beautiful home for Lord Shiva.Vishwakarma came to Mansarovar and as he prepared to select asite, a divine voice ordained him to proceed towards Indra Parbat.There he established the serene and beautiful Khochar Puri(township). He created an absolutely enchanting idol of Mahakala(Shiva as the destroyer) and also made many other idols of Gods,Gandharvas and Yakshas.Swami Pranavananda gives a vivid description of theKhocharnath monastery as it existed in the 1930s. “It consisted oftwo halls. The three beautiful idols of Buddhistic deities in theprayer hall were made of Astadhatu (mix of eight metals) andplaced on a beautifully designed pedestal, about 5 ft. high, madeby a Nepali sculptor. The middle statue was called Jambyang andwas about 8 ft. high, with four hands, of which two were goldenand two silver. The right idol of Chanraje (Avalokiteshwara) was7 ft. high, and of yellow complexion and the one foot idol ofChhanadorje (Vajrapani) was also 7 ft. high of blue complexion”.The Hindu pilgrims erroneously described them as those ofRama, Laxman and Sita. Tibetans believe that the idols were ofdivine origin. They were not made by human beings and emergedby themselves from the lake. The other hall was used for a divinedance called Namdong and for holding annual feasts. There wereabout 50 monks in the monastery with a Tulku or Lama.After the Tibet uprising of 1956-59, the idols in Khojarnathmonastery were vandalized. They were broken and all valuablesinside the idols were looted. The Chinese Government has nowpermitted restoration of many of these monasteries. TheKhojarnath monastery has been fully restored and the idols recastthree years ago. They are made of clay from outside and are filledwith silver, gold, ornaments and other valuable jewels inside,offered by faithfuls and the authorities. The Lamas perform thePrana Pratishtha ritual to invoke life into the idols in an elaborateinstallation ceremony in the monastery.The monastery is situated on the left bank of river Karnali whichoriginates from west of the Gurla Mandhata mountain ranges andflows down to Taklakot, Khojarnath and onwards to Nepal andIndia. More and more Tibetans are coming to settle down in thesurrounding areas of the monastery and new constructionactivity can be noticed. Greenery along the valleys due toagricultural development by the villagers adds charm to themonastery. The surrounding snow peaks of the greaterHimalayan ranges provide an ideal natural setting. It may not belong before the monastery returns to its past glory and prosperity.- Courtesy: UTDB<strong>Eternal</strong> <strong>Voice</strong> Nov, 2010 - Jan, 201178 79
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