INTRODUCTION
Birbhan was born in Punjab in the year 1543 and founded the famous sect of Saints. Birbhan followed the one god concept and descri¬bed God by the name of Truth. Birbhan was against caste discrimination and idol worship. According to him, god can be found anywhere and everywhere and he is residing in the hearts of all the living beings in the earth, including the animals and the small insects. He strongly condemned towards doing cruelty to animals and other living beings in the earth.
He insisted the people to do meditation and yoga in order to attain the glory of God. Birbhan was against consuming liquor and feeding animal food as well as enjoying comforts and luxuries. He followed the Satnamis sect and named his granth as Pothi, which is considered similar to the Granth of the Sikhs, with regard to its holiness.
Some of the saints were also interested in following the principles similar to that of Birbhan and followed most of his principles, and were against caste discrimination and feeding non vegetarian food. They also lived a simple and a holy life.
The prominent saints are as follows:
1. Lal Das
2. Bawa Lal
3. Dliarnidas
4. Jagjivandas
5. Charandas
6. Ramcharan
IMPORTANCE
Though he followed a separate sect, he is not against Hinduism. He also asked his followers to worship the god and not through in the form of any object. He strongly believes that when god resides in everyone’s heart, why you are searching him in the outside world? He further tells that, if a person is following his duties properly, and acting honestly and showing kindness towards others, that will bring him better prosperity and can blossom in his life. He had done many social welfare activities, like providing food, clothing and shelter to the poor people, and also helped the poor in conducting marriages and also educated the poor children.
He was a soft, gentle and a pious saint and a well- educated scholar, who was thorough in all the religious and other subjects. He was liked by all the people through his simplistic approach. People were gathered in large numbers to attend his speeches.
Let us worship this holy saint and be blessed.
“JAI BIRBHAN JI JAI”
WRITTEN BY
R.HARISHANKAR
