Gracy Saint-Guru Angad Dev Sahib Ji

Gracy Saint-Guru Angad Dev Sahib Ji

Guru Angad Sahib Ji, (Bhai Lahna ji) was born in the village named Harike in Ferozepur district in Punjab, on Vaisakh Vadi 1st , March 31, 1504. He was the son of a petty trader named Pheru ji. His mother 's name was Mata Ramo ji (also Kwown as Mata Sabhirai, Mansa Devi, Daya kaur). Baba Narayan Das Trehan was his grand father, whose ancestral house was at Matte-di-Sarai near Mukatsar. Pheru ji shifted back to this place. Under the influence of his mother Bhai Lehna ji began to worship Durga (A Hindu mythological Goddess). He used to lead a batch of worshippers to Jawalamukhi Temple every year. He was married to Mata Khivi ji in Jaunary 1520 and had two sons (Dasu ji and Datu ji) and two daughters (Amro ji and Anokhi ji). The whole family of Pheru ji had to leave their ancestral village because of the ransacking by the Mughal and Baloch militia who had come with Babur. After this the family settelled at village Khadur Sahib beside the Beas river, near Tarn Taran Sahib (A small town about 25 kmt.away from Amritsar City). Once Bhai Lehna ji heard the recitation of a hymn of Guru Nanak Sahib from Bhai Jodha ji (a sikh of Guru Nanak Sahib) and was thrilled and decided to proceed through Kartarpur to have a glimpse of Guru Nanak Sahib at the time of yearly pilgrimage to Jwalamukhi Temple. His very first meeting with Guru Nanak Sahib completely transformed him. He renounced the worship of Hindu Goddess, dedicated himself to the service of Guru Nanak Sahib, became his Sikh and began to live at Kartarpur, His devotion to Guru Nanak Sahib and his holy mission was so great that he was installed as the Second Nanak in September 7, 1539 by Guru Nanak Sahib himself. Earlier Guru Nanak Sahib tested him in various ways and found an embodiment of obedience and service in him. Guru Nanak Sahib gave him a new name Angad (Guru Angad Sahib). He spent six or seven years in the service of Guru Nanak Sahib at Kartarpur. After the death of Guru Nanak Sahib on September 22, 1539, Guru Angad Sahib left Kartarpur for Khadur Sahib Village (near Goindwal Sahib). He carried forward the thought of Guru Nanak Sahib both in letter and spirit. Yogis and Saints of different sects visited him and held detailed discussions about Sikhism with him . Guru Angad Sahib introduced a new alphabet known as Gurmukhi Script, modifying the old Punjabi Script 's characters. It become the script of the masses very soon. He took great interest in the education of the children by opening many schools for their instruction and thus increased the number of literates. For the youth he started the tradition of Mall Akhara, where physical as well as spiritual exercises were held. He collected the facts about Guru Nanak Sahib 's life from Bhai Bala ji and wrote the first biography of Guru Nanak Sahib. (Bhai Bale Wali Janamsakhi available now a days in not the same that Guru Angad Sahib had compiled.) He also wrote 63 Saloks (stanzas), these were included in Guru Granth Sahib. He popularized and expanded the institution of 'Guru ka Langar' started by Guru Nanak Sahib earlier . Guru Angad Sahib visited all important places and centres established by Guru Nanak Sahib for preaching Sikhism. He also established hundreds of new Sangats (Sikh religious Institutions) and thus strengthened the base of Sikhism. The period of his Guruship was the most crucial one. The Sikh community being infant, had to face a number of dangers. It was not difficult for Hinduism to swallow the newly born Sikhism in due course of time. Moreover Sri Chand's Udasis sect community and the activities of Jogies had not yet abated. At this hour of juncture he lived Guru Nanak Sahib's tenents in true spirit and there were manifest signs of drifting it (Sikhism) away from the Hinduism. Sikhism established its own separate religious identity. Guru Angad Sahib, by following the example of Guru Nanak Sahib, nominated Amar Das Sahib as his successor (The Third Nanak) before his death. He presented all the holy scripts including those he received from Guru Nanak Sahib, to Guru Amar Das Sahib. He breathed his last on March 29, 1552 at the age of forty-eight. It is said that he started to build a new town, at Goindwal near Khadur Sahib and Guru Amar Das Sahib was appointed to supervise its construction. It is also said that Himayun, when defeated by Sher Shah Suri, came to obtain blessings of Guru Angad Sahib in regaining the throne of Delhi.

Gracy Saint-Swami Prabhupada

Gracy Saint-Swami Prabhupada

His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada appeared in this world in 1896 in Calcutta, India. He first met his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami, in Calcutta in 1922. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, a prominent religious scholar and the founder of sixty-four Gaudiya Mathas (Vedic institutes) in India, liked this educated young man and convinced him to dedicate his life to teaching Vedic knowledge. Srila Prabhupada became his student and, in 1933, his formally initiated disciple.
At their first meeting Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati requested Srila Prabhupada to broadcast Vedic knowledge in English. In the years that followed, Srila Prabhupada wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad-gita, assisted the Gaudiya Matha in its work, and, in 1944, started an English fortnightly magazine. Single-handedly, Srila Prabhupada edited it, typed the manuscripts, checked the galley proofs, and even distributed the individual copies. The magazine is now being continued by his disciples in the West.
In 1950 Srila Prabhupada retired from married life, adopting the vanaprastha (retired) order to devote more time to his studies and writing. He traveled to the holy city of Vrndavana, where he lived in humble circumstances in the historic temple of Radha- Damodara. There he engaged for several years in deep study and writing. He accepted the renounced order of life (sanyasa) in 1959. At Radha-Damodara, Srila Prabhupada began work on his life's masterpiece: a multivolume commentated translation of the eighteen-thousand-verse Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana). He also wrote Easy Journey to Other Planets.
After publishing three volumes of the Bhagavatam, Srila Prabhupada came to the United States, in September 1965, to fulfill the mission of his spiritual master. Subsequently, His Divine Grace wrote more than fifty volumes of authoritative commentated translations and summary studies of the philosophical and religious classics of India.
When he first arrived by freighter in New York City, Srila Prabhupada was practically penniless. Only after almost a year of great difficulty did he establish the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, in July of 1966. Before he passed away on November 14, 1977, he had guided the Society and seen it grow to a worldwide confederation of more than one hundred asramas, schools, temples, institutes, and farm communities.
In 1972 His Divine Grace introduced the Vedic system of primary and secondary education in the West by founding the gurukula school in Dallas, Texas. Since then his disciples have established similar schools throughout the United States and the rest of the world.
Srila Prabhupada also inspired the construction of several large international cultural centers in India. The center at Sridhama Mayapur is the site for a planned spiritual city, an ambitious project for which construction will extend over many years to come. In Vrndavana are the magnificent Krsna-Balarama Temple and International Guesthouse, gurukula school, and Srila Prabhupada Memorial and Museum. There is also a major cultural and educational center in Bombay. Major centers are planned in Delhi and in a dozen other important locations on the Indian subcontinent.
Srila Prabhupada's most significant contribution, however, is his books. Highly respected by scholars for their authority, depth, and clarity, they are used as textbooks in numerous college courses. His writings have been translated into over fifty languages. The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, established in 1972 to publish the works of His Divine Grace, has thus become the world's largest publisher of books in the field of Indian religion and philosophy.
In just twelve years, despite his advanced age, Srila Prabhupada circled the globe fourteen times on lecture tours that took him to six continents. Yet this vigorous schedule did not slow his prolific literary output. His writings constitute a veritable library of Vedic philosophy, religion, literature, and culture