Guru Nanak took care to ensure that the doctrine of unity of God, equality of mankind and supremacy of Nam that he had enunciated was neither diluted any of religion nor it plunged into the mire of any other religion wherein there was enough scope for its being absorbed as one of its many diverse sects.
Guru Nanak took such steps so as to enable his teachings to assume the form of a society that manifested his doctrines through a dynamic living. For this purpose he kept a watch-ful eye on many of his devotees including his own sons to see whether any one of them had truly im-bibed his instruction. He found one such person in Lehna who had understood the meaning of divine knowledge that lay deep in the innermost corner of the mind of Nanak. Guru Nanak anointed Lehna as his successor during his life time, gave him the ser-mon of Sat Nam and declared, “only the worthy get the divine knowledge. The light of my knowledge Guru Nanak at Kartarpur came to be followed at Khadur with some additional features. Guru Angad personally started caring the sick especially the lep-ers while his wife Khivi looked after the organiza-tion of Langar. To demonstrate whole life concerns of Sikhism, the Guru also ensured instruction of young children and arranging of wrestling bouts for the youth. The day ended with the evening Diwan (Congregation) in which Sodar-Arti were recited as at Kartarpur.
Guru Angad started with the privilege of having been named as the second Guru by Nanak himself who let it be known in unequivocal terms that only the deserving could get elevated (Gian Ratnawali Ibid 610). When ascetics and some yogis led by Guru Nanak’s son, Sri Chand Udasi came to him to question his credentials as a non-recluse religious preceptor, his response was forthright and direct. He refuted the claims of yogis by quoting Guru Nanak’s hymns “why live long if we are of no use to society?” He asked them to follow the path of Sahj-Yoga (equi-poise) and live to serve God and His men. A real yogi must lead a pure and detached life amidst the impurities of the world. Guru Angad’s humility and courage of conviction, impressed the yogis who returned to leave the Guru alone to spread the gospel of Guru Nanak.
Guru Angad happened to be a contemporary of the second Mughal King, Humayun and Sher Shah Suri, the founder of Sur Afgan dynasty. The Sikh tradition has it that Humayun after having been worsted by Sher Shah in the battle of Kanauj ran towards Lahore. After crossing river Biya (Beas) near Sultanpur (Lodhi), he heard about the successor of Nanak having taken up his abode at Khadur. At this; he decided to seek divine help through the holy man (Guru Angad). Humayun had heard about the cap-ture of Guru Nanak at Emnabad (near Gujranwala, Pakistan) by the victorious forces of his father and his subsequent release along with hordes of other innocent captives. When Humayun approached the dwelling place of Guru Angad; he was found ab-sorbed in meditation and none of his disciples would disturb him as the emperor would like them to. The long wait enraged the fugitive king who attempted to assault the Guru with his sword. The consternation that ensued among the devout awakened the Guru who was quick to remark “Is it chivalrous for a king
to flee the battlefield and give vent to his wrath on the men of God?” Humayun begged forgiveness. The Guru granted him pardon in compassion. When ap-proached to invoke divine intervention for his resto-ration, the Guru’s cryptic reply was “the path is arduous and long, have faith in the Almighty.” The credibility of this story is often asserted by a reference to a line found in Guru Gobind Singh’s Bachitra Natak: ‘Both Baba (Nanak) and Babar were ordained by the Supreme Lord. Recognise one (Nanak’s House) as exalted (Shah Supreme) in spiritual realm and estimate the other (Babar’s house) as worldly masters.” [Bachitra Natak Chaupai 9, Advent of Shahzada (prince) in Madra Des.]
Guru Angad was an embodiment of austere living. In fact he followed the principles of “Kirt Karo, Naam Japo, Vand Chako” in the true sense. The offerings of the devout were meant for the community and he chose to live on the small money that he earned by twisting the twine used for stringing the cots. Besided, he continued to maintain his humble disposition despite his exalted position as successor of Guru Nanak.
Bhai Satta and Bhai Balwand were two musicians who played the instmruent, Rabab and performed kirtan of Gurbani (Sacred hymns composed by Guru Nanak and Guru Angad) in the Sikh congregations. It is said that Guru Angad had made special request to Guru Nanak to send Bhai Balwand to Khadur. As they saw the number of the disciples of the Guru increasing as also those of the people who came to listen Gurbani Kirtan, they observed that the amount of offerings also swelled. This made them think within themselves that people made offering because the holy hymns recited by them enchanted them. They thought of demanding half the amount of offerings. The Guru despised the idea and declared that offerings were meant to be spent for the benefit of Sangat (multi-tude). At this the two musicians tended to behave with the devotees and eminent Sikhs like Baba Budha in a haughty and unbecoming manner. Added to this; as Bhai Santokh Singh the author of Suraj Parkash will like us to believe, they even remarked “None would have cared for Nanak but for the musician Mardana.” This was too much. The Guru asked them has immersed in thy (Lehna’s) heart and soul. I bow before thee”. (Jasbir Singh Sabar Ed. Gian Ratnawali, 610, GNDU Amritsar). Thus, Lehna became Angad to signify that the Sikh (disciple) of the Guru had shed his own being to become as much a part or a limb of his Master. Indeed, Lehna had devoted himself whole heartedly to Guru’s work and deeds of service. There are numerous stories that come down to us, enshrined in tradition emphasising the patient and unquestioned loyalty of Angad vis-a-vis Guru Nanak’s own sons and other distinguished dis-ciples. In this regard, one is tempted to relate here an interesting anecdote where it is stated that one day after the regular assembly concluded in the Dharamsal (now gurdwara) at Kartarpur, Guru Nanak proceeded towards the river Ravi and left a word for his disciples not to follow him. However a group of selected devotees like Lehna and Budha would not let him go alone. After many exhortations when all others left, Nanak asked Budha, ‘why did he not leave him alone?”. Budha begged him to show the path where to go. The Guru Nanak kept quiet and after some time repeated the same question to Lehna. Lehna replied in a chocking voice, “I have nowhere to go except follow thy path”. The Guru was pleased, blessed Lehna and designated as him Angad (his own limb). Satta and Balwand the mistrals testify in their composition Var Ramkali (Sri Guru Granth Sahib, P. 967) that Lehna was installed as Angad and a canopy hoisted over his head only after Guru Nanak had subjected many including his sons to sever tests. Lehna got the certification and holy spirit of Guru Nanak im-mersed within him. After that Guru Angad shifted to Khadur (now in district Tarn Taran) as desired by Guru Nanak. The nomination or transfiguration, as this event has been described by some historians, surely remains as event of profoundest significance because it is this very development that paved the way for evolution of Nanak’s faith into a dynamic living social order. Moreover, it is this momentous decision of Guru Nanak that did not let Sikhism quiet down to slumber like many another sect of the followers of the Bhaktas of medieval times. That is why Bhai Gurdas describes the appointment of Lehna (Guru Angad) as the onset of a new religion on the authority’ of the doctrine propounded by Guru Nanak and that this religion, was devoid of any impurity. (Bhai Gurdas Var-I Pauri 45)
Guru Angad who was entrusted with the task of facing the initial formidable challenges that could stall the development of Sikh faith, was born as Lehna to Bhai Pheru Mal and Mata Ramo in 1504 A.D. at Matte-di-Sarai (about 9 km from Mukatsar, a district headquarter of present-day Indian Punjab). Some believe that the family had shifted to this place from Gujrat (a district headquarter of Pakistani Punjab) having been pushed by frequent disturbances in that area. The Trehan Khatri family to which Guru Angad belonged was a God-fearing family with moderate means. In pursuit of their vocation, they had to shift even from Matte-di-Sarai, first to Harike and then to Khadur due to devastation of their village by invaders. Khadur was than a village inhabited by the votaries of DeviFcult. A man of religious disposition and piety, Lehna (married to Khivi in a nearby village sangar) soon got popular and earned respect as a preacher who led a pilgrim party from Khadur every year to the shrine of Jawala Mukhi in the Kangra hills. But he did not get spiritual solace. At Khadur he made friendship with Bhai Jodha who had be-come a disciple of Guru Nanak. It may be remembered that during this period, Guru Nanak had become quite popular among the people and Lehna was attracted to his faith after hearing the hymns of Nanak from Bhai Jodha.
As providence willed, Lehna once managed to take his pilgrim party to Kartarpur on the bank of river Ravi where Guru Nanak had founded a township. Here, the very glimpse of the personality of Guru Nanak had an electrifying effect on Lehna. The discourse that followed did the rest. Lehna decided to become a votary of Guru Nanak and part company with the Durga worshipers. Guru Nanak found in Lehna a disciple sincere to the core, devoid of any aberration and the one determined to follow the path of truth. Lehna served the Guru with single-minded dedication in such a way that left many a devout Sikh and sons of the Guru in shade. Guru Nanak on his part saw to it that Lehna visited his family at Khadur quite often and discharged his duties as a householder. His frequent visits to Khadur brim-ming with a new zeal and glow over his face impressed the elderly in his village. The headman of the village Takht Mal and many others were initiated to the faith of Nanak by Lehna. Khadur came to have a preaching centre of Sikhism and Guru Nanak himself paid a visit to the place. Such was the background of the person who got transformed from Lehna to Angad and identified his being within the body and soul of his master.
The appointment of Guru Angad as successor to Nanak marked out Sikhism as a distinct religious system. In fact this paved the way for the Nanak Panthis to unite under the guidance of the second preceptor and make a determined bid to uphold the principles that their founder Guru had preached. In fact Angad’s nomination as Guru gave the Sikh movement a distinctive turn at the very outset. Soon after the departure of Guru Nanak for Sach Khand, Guru Angad chose to retire in a secluded place at Khadur presumably to give concrete shape to his plan of action to face immediate challenges. But some of the prominent Sikhs like Bhai Budha implored him to come out in the midst of the Sikhs so as to inspire confidence in the Sikh multitude. Before long, the daily routine of Sikh assemblies introduced by to leave his place and not to see him in future. They tried their best to attract the disciples of the Guru with their music by holding separate assemblies but none listened to them. At last they implored the promi-nent among the sangat to intercede on their behalf They were pardoned by the Guru and they sang the coronation ode of the Guru known as Var Ram Kali Satta, Balwand, which was subsequently included in the Guru Granth. Santokh Singh places the incident in the time of Guru Arjun. But this seems improbable. The internal evidence of the ode makes it clear that the anecdote belongs to the period of Guru Angad. The fifth passage is addressed to the Guru wherein the bards clearly express penitence in a self-condemnatory tone. This tradition speaks for the ex-panding popularity of the Sikh faith during the period the pontificate of Guru Angad. Besides this episode has added significance in the history of the development of Sikhism. The explusion of Bhai Satta and Bhai Balwand for their having fallen from the cherished values and code of conduct that Sikhism stood for, explains that Sikhism was to develop as an organized church with its distinctive features sans the he gemony of the priestly class. The idea of excommunicatin and atonement for any denigration in the specified conduct is also implicit in this tradi-tion ego and challenge to the position of the Guru in the Sikh religious system becoming the primary offences.
Beyond doubt; the essentials for the Sikh religious system were provided by Guru Nanak, what his successor did was to identify such elements that were required for its development as an independ-ent religion in its own right. He took steps to pre-serve the early tradition that had enveloped round the personality of Guru Nanak. Bhai Budha was asked to contact such contemporaries who could be of help in providing an account of the events connected with the life and work of Guru Nanak, his travels to far flung areas and visits to various famous religious centres. The tradition regarding the compilation of Bala Janam Sakhi and scribe Piara Mokha goes back to the period of Guru Angad. It is unfortunate that no such Janam Sakhi manuscript has come to light so far that can trace its origin to the period of Guru Angad. But the fact of Guru Angad having made efforts to get such stories of Guru Nanak collected around which Janam Sakhi tradition subsequently de-veloped, cannot be ruled out. Added to this was the improvement and popularization of the then extant script popularly called Mahajani or Landa which had developed out of earlier scripts Sharda and Takri.
There is a strong tradition that Guru Angad himself invented the Gurmukhi script but this tradition does not hold good if we examine it in the light of Guru Nanak’s Bani entitled Patti, Rag Asa found in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Still the contribution of Guru Angad towards shaping and popularization of Gurmukhi script currently in vogue can be gauged and properly assessed if we consider Grierson’s view. It will be appropriate to quote the same “it is said that in the time of Guru Angad (1538-1552). Landa was the only alphabet employed in Punjab for writing vernacular. Angad found that Sikh hymns (Gurbani) written in Landa were liable to the misread and he accordingly improved it by borrowing signs from Devnagri alphabet (then only used for Sanskrit manu-scripts) and by polishing up the forms of the letters so as to make them fit for recording the scriptures of Sikh religion. Having been invented by him, this character became known as Gurmukhi or alphabet proceeding from the mouth of the Guru. Ever since this alphabet has been employed for writing Sikh scriptures and its use has been widely spread”. Con. sequently Gurbani (Hymns) composed by Guru Nanak and handed down in Landa script was trans. literated into Gurmukhi with necessary modifications Here; it has also to be noted that the use of vernacular for divine knowledge and that too through a script that they could claim to be their own, meant a blow to the hegemony of the priestly class whose main forte was their knowledge of Sanskrit that enjoyed the status of Dev Bhasha (language of Gods or reli gion). This single measure of Guru Angad made the appeal of Sikhism direct and the script used by him gave the Sikh gospel an added distinctiveness and solidarity.
While assessing the contribution and significance of Guru Angad, it had to be kept in mind that the Guru emphasized the whole life character of Sikhism. He attacked recluses and mendiants as escapists. Instead of penances and denial of worldly comforts. he exhorted the Sikhs that they should have healthy physique. He himself witnessed the wrestling bouts. His message: ‘A healthy body carries a healthy mind’. He laid emphasis on literacy, prepared Gurmukhi primers and himself inspired children to take to schooling. The main focus of all his activities was to bring into being such institutions that could help per-petuate the influence of Nanak and pave the way for social regeneration.
