Sri Chand

Sri Chand ( Gurmukhi:: ਸ੍ਰੀ ਚੰਦ; born 8 September 1494, traditional death date 13 January 1629), also known as Baba Sri Chand or Bhagwan Sri Chandra, was the founder of the Udasi sect of ascetic Sadhus.

***While Sikh and Udasi traditions commonly state that he lived from (1494 to 1629), which would imply a lifespan of 134 years, this figure is likely symbolic, as there is no contemporary historical documentation to independently verify the exact year of his death.

Early life

He was the eldest son of Guru Nanak, the first Guru and founder of Sikhism. He was born to Mata Sulakhani on Bhadra sudi 9, 1551 Bikrami (i.e. 8 September 1494) in Sultanpur Lodhi. Whilst Guru Nanak was out on his long travels, Sri Chand's mother took him and his younger brother to her parental house located in the village of Pakkhoke Randhawa (located in present-day Dera Baba Nanak). As Sri Chand matured, he became a spiritually-inclined individual who grew to be indifferent to worldly affairs. When he was eleven years old, he left for Kashmir to study Sanskrit literature under the wing of Pandit Purushottam Kaul. He also studied and partook in yoga under the mentorship of Avinasha Muni. After he reached adulthood, Sri Chand had become an ascetic and followed a life calling of celibate reclusivity. Guru Nanak finally returned home for good in 1522 after his last travel tour and thus Sri Chand returned to living with his family.

Sri Chand had a high-regard for his father despite any incompatibilities of their spiritual views and teachings. It is said that after his father's death on 7 September 1539, Muslim followers of Nanak constructed a shrine at the spot his ashes had been buried. During a flooding event of the Ravi River, this shrine was apparently washed away by the flood water. Sri Chand managed to rediscover the urn containing his father's ashes that had been upheaved by the flood and he therefore shifted the urn to Pakkhoke Randhawa for it to be reburied near the well of Ajita Randhawa, an early follower of Nanak. The present-day shrine of Dera Baba Nanak evolved ultimately as a '' dera'' out of the '' samadh'' (mausoleum) constructed at that location by Sri Chand.

Candidacy for Sikh guruship

According to Bhai Gurdas' ''Varan'', Sri Chand was egotistic, which is why his father passed over him as a suitable successor:
Sri Chand had promoted renunciation and celibacy, which were against the teachings of Sikhism.

Spiritual career

Sri Chand promoted the worship of five Indic deities, them namely being Surya, Vishnu, Shiva, Ganesha, and Shakti (divine feminine cosmic energy and dynamic force of the Universe).

As the founder and leader of the Udasi sect, he established their main base of operations at Barath (located eight kilometres southwest of Pathankot). Sri Chand embarked on many travels throughout the Indian subcontinent with his entourage of followers, much like his own father did before him.

Composing ''Aarta''

Sri Chand wrote a ten verse work titled ''Arta Sri Guru Nanak Dev'', popularly known simply as ''Aarta'', his most important writing, in praise of his father, Guru Nanak, and presented it to him after one of the ''Udasis'' (travels). This writing had a major influence on people of that time who did not know about Guru Nanak yet.

Akharas

Prominent Udasi akharas were established in the 1800s, including the Shree Panchayati Akhada Bada Udasin (est. 1825) by Yogiraj Shri Nirvandev in Haridwar, and Shree Panchayati Akhada Naya Udasin (est. 1846) by Mahant Sudhir Das after a dispute with the Bada Udasin.

Possible contribution to the Adi Granth

According to a '' sakhi'', when Guru Arjan had finished composing sixteen ''astpadis'' (cantos) of the Gauri Sukhmani composition, popularly known as Sukhmani Sahib, Sri Chand visited him. During this visit, it is said that Guru Arjan requested him to continue the composition he was compiling and complete the seventeenth canto of the Sukhmani Sahib. Sri Chand humbly recited the verse of his father following the Mul Mantar in the Japji Sahib. Thus, it became the seventeenth canto of the Sukhmani Sahib.

Relationship with Nanak's successors and Sikhs

It is believed that Sri Chand rejected Angad as the successor to his father. When the Sikh guruship passed from Nanak to Angad, the sons of Nanak, Sri Chand and Lakhmi Das, made a legal claim to their father's properties in Kartarpur, forcing Guru Angad to reestablish the early Sikh community's centre at his native village of Khadur instead.

Guru Amardas declared active and domestic Sikhs to be separate from passive and recluse Udasins. Baba Mohan, son of Amar Das, would mimic the life path of Sri Chand by becoming a lifelong celibate himself.

However the Sikh Gurus, Guru Amardas, Guru Ramdas, Guru Arjan and Guru Hargobind who were contemporaries of Sri Chand held him in high esteem due to his descent, old age and piety.

When Sri Chand paid a visit to the fourth Sikh guru, Ram Das, it is said the Sikh guru got-up to wipe Sri Chand's feet with his own beard as a show of deep respect for Sri Chand after Nanak's son made a remark about the Guru's long beard.

Guru Arjan met with Sri Chand at Barath to request for compositions of Nanak in the possession of Sri Chand to assist with his project of compiling a Sikh scripture.

In 1619, Sri Chand used his spiritual sway and authority to help convince Jahangir to release Guru Hargobind from his incarceration at Gwalior Fort.Guru Hargobind's eldest son, Baba Gurditta, was given to the Udasins at the behest of Baba Sri Chand and Baba Gurditta eventually replaced Baba Sri Chand as head of the Udasins after his death. Baba Gurditta was the father of Guru Hari Rai, the grandfather of Guru Har Krishan, and the elder half-brother of Guru Tegh Bahadur.

Sri Chand was there for the groundbreaking ceremony for the establishment of Kiratpur at the foothills of the Shivalik Range by Baba Gurditta on the orders of Guru Hargobind. Sri Chand broke the ground for the project himself. Sri Chand also participated in the cremation ceremony of Baba Buddha.

Ram Rai, son of Guru Har Rai joined the Udasin sect after a failed attempt of being an official eighth Guru of the Sikhs.

Death

Sri Chand is traditionally believed to have died in Kiratpur on 13 January 1629. (Highly unlikely given the lack of proper documentation) Prior to his death, he is said to have appointed Baba Gurditta, the son of Guru Hargobind, as his successor and spiritual leader of the Udasi sect.

Gallery

File:Hindu Temple, Sadh Belo 11.jpg, Memorials to Udasin mahants of Sadh Belo with an invocation to Sri Chand, the founder of Udasins.
File:Sri Chand with Lakhmi Das.jpg, Sri Chand (right) seated with his brother Lakhmi Das (left). Fresco from Gurdwara Baba Atal in Amritsar
File:Khem Singh Bedi Haveli fresco 49.jpg, Fresco of Guru Nanak, Sri Chand, Bhai Mardana, Bhai Bala, and possibly Lakhmi Das from a Punjabi haveli, circa 1850's
File:Fresco artwork from Pothi-Mala, Gur Harsahai, Punjab 36.jpg, Fresco of Sri Chand seated to the left of Guru Nanak, from Pothimala, Guru Harsahai, circa 18th century

See also

* Sri Chand Darbar

Notes

References

Bibliography

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chand, Sri
Family members of the Sikh gurus
1494 births
1629 deaths
16th-century Indian people
People from Kapurthala district
Ascetics