The founder of the Sant Nirankari Mission, Baba Buta Singh Ji was born in the year 1873 at Village Hudwal, Distt. Kaimalpur (Pakistan) in the family of Shri Bishan Singh Ji and Smt. Mayawanti Ji. He had spiritual leaning from the very childhood and had developed a special aptitude for reciting Gurbani (holy verses from the Adi Granth).
A good orator on Gurbani, he was equally sincere and serious in understanding the same. This trait helped paving his way to reach and realise the Truth. It is said that whenever he used to recite Gurbani or sing the same, he would be so lost in it as to forget even his physical self. His views and concepts was so clear and strong that nobody could utter even a single word to negate his view-point.
After the program, he could not resist approaching Baba Buta Ji. He asked him politely, "Bhai Buta Singh Ji, where is your Mohan (Lord) whom you want to meet?" and added hastily, “First know Him, otherwise your calling Him will have no effect."
These words had a piercing effect on the young Buta Singh Ji. He clearly understood that the person did possess some spiritual secret. He followed him for knowing the Truth. Bhai Sahib Kahan Singh Ji initially tried to put him off, but ultimately he had to yield to the former's humility and strong urge and finally revealed God knowledge to him.
At the time of receiving Brahm Gyan or God-knowledge, Baba Buta Singh Ji was 40 years old. For about 15 years he remained quiet, assimilating what he had come to know from Bhai Sahib Kahan Singh Ji and comparing it with the vast knowledge of Gurbani he had. Thereafter Baba Buta Singh Ji started revealing the Divine Secret to whosoever was found interested and among his first few disciples was Baba Avtar Singh Ji.
Baba Buta Singh Ji and his esteemed wife had a very simple life. Being a staunch devotee of God, Baba Buta Singh Ji would not like to think of worldly requirements beyond what was necessary for 'present'. He had a brief stint in the Army. Later, he left the job and adopted art of tattooing for livelihood which was quiet adequate to maintain his family.
One day the Master and his Disciple were going to Village Latifal, the birth place of Baba Avtar Singh Ji. From the Dhudial railway station they had to walk on foot for about four miles. Some critics from Dhudial, however, planned to kill them. So, they were hiding on the way.
The sun had already set and there was darkness all around. Baba Buta Singh Ji and Baba Avtar Singh Ji, however, were so engrossed in their conversation that they took a different road. Naturally, their opponents kept waiting for them in vain. This convinced them of the spiritual power of Baba Buta Singh Ji and the very next day they all surrendered to him.
Baba Buta Singh Ji believed that the selfless service to others is a seed for prosperity and he wanted to see every disciple of his prospering. One day he asked one of his disciples to shell out some money for offering food to saints. Baba Avtar Singh Ji saw this and said, “Baba Ji, you could have told me. Why did you ask for money from the other person? He may start misunderstanding you.” Baba Ji, however, replied, “Bhai Avtar Singh! Do you want to usurp the entire wealth of the world?
Don’t you think Satguru is a always a giver and not a beggar. I want that every disciple may prosper. None should suffer from material wants. That is why I ask them to contribute something towards service of others. This will prove a seed for their prosperity”. Baba Avtar Singh Ji understood what the Master wanted to teach and thereafter never objected to such an act again.
After everything was arranged, he took out his white Dupatta i.e. scarf and put it round the neck of Baba Avtar Singh Ji and bowed at his feet. All other disciples understood that he was nominating Baba Avtar Singh Ji as his successor to head the Mission. He told Baba Avtar Singh Ji that white Dupatta is not a sign of decoration; it is a symbol of responsibility. It is like a necklace of razors.
The razors may not harm so long as the neck is straight. What he meant was that he should move straight on the path of the Truth without permitting his mind to waver. All the disciples bowed at the feet of Baba Avtar Singh Ji and thus accepted him as their Spiritual Master.
Moments later, Baba Buta Singh breathed his last. His body was taken on its last journey in a procession led by Military Band. And this closed the first chapter of the history of the Sant Nirankari Mission.
Baba Avtar Singh Ji (1899-1969)
Baba Avtar Singh Ji was born in a small village named Latifal in Jhelum District ( now in Pakistan) on December 31, 1899 in the family of Shri Mukha Singh Ji and Smt. Narayani Devi Ji. He was being brought up with due affection and indulgence, but when he was just 6 years, his father died after brief illness.
This untimely loss was a big jolt to the family. Then the responsibility of looking after the family gravitated to the shoulders of his mother Narayani. The little boy Avtar was entrusted to the care of Shri Nand Lal, a local priest, for education as there was no school in the village. In a short span of time he was able to study scriptures. As he grew, Avtar proved to be extraordinarily intelligent.
Family hardships made Avtar a very strong and determined person. When he was just 12, his maternal uncle Shri Narain Singh took him to Rawalpindi. In Rawalpindi, Avtar worked first at a hotel and then as a porter at railway station. There, he incidentally came in contact with Seth Sawan Mal.
Impressed by his honesty, integrity and hard work, Seth Sawan Mal employed Avtar in his bakery and eventually he made him a partner and handed over the whole unit to him. This was a step that marked the beginning of Avtar's life of determination and firm faith in goodness.
Following the partition of India in 1947, Baba Avtar Singh Ji had to shift from Rawalpindi (now in Pakistan) to Paharganj, Delhi (India). Devotees migrating from Pakistan also maintained their contact with Baba Ji and sought rehabilitation in and around Delhi. In order to meet the requirements of the children of the devotees and others, Baba Avtar Singh Ji opened Sant Nirankari School in Paharganj, (which is now a Senior Secondary School). Subsequently, he also established Sant Nirankari Colony in North Delhi and shifted the Headquarters of the Mission there. Santokh Sarovar (now called Nirankari Sarovar) was also developed near the Colony.
The ideology of the Mission was easy to understand and follow in practical day-to-day life. It attracted people from all castes and communities. The Mission prescribed no cumbersome rituals or costly ceremonies and liberated people from all kind of taboos. Then, it loved all and hated none. The masses that had just experienced the havoc that communalism and religious intolerance could play with the mankind, gone through the misery before Partition and suffered from the agony even thereafter. They had not only seen the disease of casteism in its full swing, but felt the sting also, welcomed the Mission where all of them were treated as equally respected and dignified members of one human society. They found here what they really needed—the Mission under the spiritual leadership of Baba Avtar Singh Ji, was providing spiritual balm to heal their worldly wounds, the inner strength to bear the sorrow and the morale boosting to continue their journey of life.
The orthodox elements continued to harass Baba Avtar Singh. One day, while a congregation was going on at the residence of Baba Avtar Singh Ji, some people came and started shouting slogans against him. When they continued for some time and did not disperse, some of the disciples asked for Baba Ji’s permission to go and teach them a lesson. Instead Baba Ji asked some disciples to go and offer them water. The demonstrators felt very happy. But when they came to know that the water was being offered on behalf of Baba Avtar Singh Ji, they felt a
To give an organisational outfit to the expanding Mission, Baba Avtar Singh Ji founded Sant Nirankari Mandal in 1948 and got it registered with Headquarters at Delhi. Establishing branches in various cities with Pramukhs-incharge also came in the priority agenda of the Master for holding regular congregations and taking forward the message of the Mission. For this very purpose, Sant Nirankari Sewa Dal also came into being in 1956 with Chacha Pratap Singh as its Head.
Publication wing was set up for books and periodicals. Bringing various books containing philosophy of the Mission were attempted by missionary scholars with deep inspiration from the Master. The Avtar Bani, considered the essence of the Nirankari Ideology, was published in 1957.
One of the unique things related to Baba Avtar Singh Ji is that during his life time itself he took a decision to revert from the Satguru to an ordinary devotee. The Annual Nirankari Sant Samagam which opened on November 5, 1963 was, of course, the first occasion when devotees from all over saw Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji as the Spiritual Head of the Mission. With this, the Satguru stood manifested in Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji.
As a devotee, Baba Avtar Singh Ji became an example to others. He showed full reverence to the Satguru of the time, Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji.
In 1969 Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji and Rajmata Kulwant Kaur Ji left for tour to U.K. The tour had, however, to be cut short because of sudden deterioration in the health of Baba Avtar Singh Ji who breathed his last on September 17, 1969 i.e., after a few days of their return.
Going by worldly norms, having been the spiritual head of the Mission for about 20 years, many devotees insisted that Baba Avtar Singh Ji be given a grand funeral with sandal wood etc.
But Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji explained that a dead body is just a dead body whether it belonged to an ordinary person, an intellectual, or even a holy man. So Baba Avtar Singh Ji was given a simple funeral at the electric crematorium in Delhi.
Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji (1930-1980)
" It seems that nothing has been talked about,
More than God. Yet, few care to realise Him."Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji was one of those great masters who lived and died for the noble cause of human unity through spiritual awakening. Throughout, he endeavored to transform the demoniac face of human society and inculcate the spirit of peaceful co-existence, love and harmony. He was pained to find people quarrelling and suffering because of hatred generated by ignorance, blind faith and superstition.
Fortunately, Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji did not have to go out to learn the real purpose of human life, the reason for man's suffering and answer to his problems. His father, Baba Avtar Singh Ji and the founder of the Sant Nirankari Mission, Baba Buta Singh Ji blessed him with spiritual awakening and provided ample opportunity to him to imbibe and practice the noble traits of selfless service, surrender to the divine will and truthful living, free from any kind of hatred or jealousy. This turned his life into a practical version of spirituality, a living example of divine truth, so much so that Baba Avtar Singh Ji chose to see the Satguru manifesting himself in him and preferred to live as an ordinary follower of the Mission for the rest of his life.
Baba Gurbachan Singh was born on December 10, 1930 in Peshawar (now in Pakistan). He received boundless love and affection from his parents, Baba Avtar Singh Ji and Jagat Mata Budhwanti Ji as also from the then True Master Baba Buta Singh Ji, residing with the family at that time. Right from his infancy, the child Gurbachan manifested rare and remarkable qualities. These qualities comprised sensitiveness to human sorrow and suffering, sympathy for the afflicted, avoidance of disputes, discord and malice as also appreciation of fine traits in others.
Gurbachan was a shining student. After doing his Middle from Peshawar, he matriculated from the Khalsa School, Rawalpindi. He, however, could not pursue his studies further, because of the turmoil leading to Partition of India. He, however, acquired rich and rare experience of practical life by his wisdom and intelligence.
During the turbulent days preceding the Partition, every parent wished to be relieved of his pressing responsibilities as quickly as possible. Accordingly, Bhai Manna Singh solemnized the marriage of his daughter, Kulwant Kaur Ji, with Gurbachan Singh Ji on April 22, 1947, at a simple ceremony. Kulwant Kaur Ji who subsequently became popular as Nirankari Rajmata, marched shoulder to shoulder with her husband. Surely, the couple had been united by the Almighty for the well being of humanity.
During Partition, people were migrating to India. For the migrants of the Rawalpindi area, a camp was set up at Wah, near border. The Camp Officer entrusted to young Gurbachan the job of looking after the inmates of the Camp. The step had a deeper significance. It was actually a test of Gurbachan’s spirit of selfless service, self-sacrifice and sense of justice which was displayed by him admirably. One day when it was announced on behalf of the Government that those desirous of migrating to India, could do so by aeroplanes, then available, all the devotees left for India, leaving their belongings to the care of Gurbachan Singh Ji. A few days later, he loaded all the belongings of the devotees in a goods train and reached India.
Following the migration, while Baba Avtar Singh Ji resumed the Mission's activities in Delhi, Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji started business in auto-parts, first in Jalandhar in Punjab and later in Delhi. Simultaneously, he took keen interest in congregations. He would drive Baba Avtar Singh Ji to the places of congregations both in the morning and in the evening. Besides being at the service of the Satguru, he attended to devotees also.
With the passage of time, the fast growing number of devotees needed some organizational reforms. For this purpose, Baba Ji convened the First Mussoorie Conference on July 17 & 18, 1965, which was attended by the organizers and the preachers of the Mission. A number of important decisions were taken to streamline the administrative outfit and to spread message of Mission. To this end, the administrative work of the mission in the country was divided into four zones.
On a suggestion from Baba Avtar Singh Ji who attended this conference as one of the missionaries, it was decided to start Building fund for setting up Satsang Bhawans to enable devotees to hold congregations regularly. As suggested by the devotees from foreign countries, it was also decided to undertake missionary tours abroad.
Through world-wide tours of Baba Ji and his missionaries, the message of the Mission spread across the globe. In this way, the campaign for human redemption and spiritual enlightenment hitherto confined to the boundaries of India, began to travel overseas also.
Baba Ji convened the Second Mussoorie Conference on May 14th, 15th and 16th, 1973. The Conference turned out to be a watershed in the history of the Mission as it proposed a code of conduct for the missionaries. It was also decided at this conference that while we may not hate others on account of their diet-habits, we ourselves should abstain from the use of all kinds of intoxicants. Another decision was to promote dowry free marriages and observe austerity in other social functions.
Baba Ji gave a clarion call to all, especially the youth to implement the above decisions. He exhorted them to come to the fore for propagating the Mission and combating the social evils vigorously. He advised the older generation to give full encouragement to the youth in this direction, failing which they would not only themselves lag behind but also hamper the progress of the Mission. Interestingly, Baba Ji's son Hardev (the present Head of the Mission) and daughters Niranjan, Jagjit, Mohini and Swaran all joined Sewa Dal, (selfless voluntary service unit) as its Primary Members.
Quite predictably, the voice of truth first raised by Baba Buta Singh Ji and Baba Avtar Singh Ji and now spread by Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji was resisted by the orthodox. The rapid progress of the Mission had sometimes upset these elements to the level of desperation. Many a time, Baba Ji called upon them to first understand the Mission and then point out if there was anything wrong. But all his gestures fell flat on them. Congregations were disturbed at many places. Violent attacks were also reported from several centers.
The worst in the chain was the attack on the Baisakhi Samagam in Amritsar on April 13, 1978. Baba Gurbachan Ji was scheduled to address the Samagam. But before he arrived, about 200 fanatics attacked the congregation. The police opened fire. Eighteen precious lives were lost. The incident was followed by a court case. Several Nirankari saints remained in judicial custody for about two years before they were acquitted honourably. The case was declared to be false and fabricated. The court passed severe strictures against the then Government of Punjab for filing a totally false case against innocent Nirankaris. The court held fanatics responsible for brutal attack on peaceful Nirankari congregation.
While the case was on, Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji did not sit back due to the turmoil. He declared that Truth had always to face such opposition and the greatest quality of the saints is that they do not feel frustrated realising that the Truth is on their side and it must triumph in the long run. There was, therefore, no let up in the activities of the Mission.
The opposition, however, did not end with the historic Karnal verdict in the Amritsar case, acquitting all the accused Nirankaris, including Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji, honourably. The fanatics made Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji personally the target of their violence. They made an attempt on his life first in Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh and then near Durg in Madhya Pradesh.
Ultimately, Baba Ji fell to their bullets in Delhi on April 24, 1980. Naturally, every peace-loving person lamented and condemned the senseless act of the fanatics as an attack on love and peace by the forces of hatred and violence. “An Apostle of God's glory, a Messiah of human unity and a true social reformer, had fallen prey to religious intolerance", commented newspapers. It was another blot on human history, said the intellectuals. And the peace-loving humanists felt that humanism had been ravaged.
Mere condemnation of the brutal act would, however, not suffice. The entire Nirankari world was in dismay. Their sense of tolerance as also the patience was under severe stress. It was only for the successor of Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji, His son Baba Hardev Singh Ji came to their rescue. He put aside his own worldly sentiments usual for a son on the tragic demise of his father and consoled every follower of the Mission to face the tragedy boldly and without any feeling of vengeance.
Following the partition of India in 1947, Baba Avtar Singh Ji had to shift from Rawalpindi (now in Pakistan) to Paharganj, Delhi (India). Devotees migrating from Pakistan also maintained their contact with Baba Ji and sought rehabilitation in and around Delhi. In order to meet the requirements of the children of the devotees and others, Baba Avtar Singh Ji opened Sant Nirankari School in Paharganj, (which is now a Senior Secondary School). Subsequently, he also established Sant Nirankari Colony in North Delhi and shifted the Headquarters of the Mission there. Santokh Sarovar (now called Nirankari Sarovar) was also developed near the Colony.
The ideology of the Mission was easy to understand and follow in practical day-to-day life. It attracted people from all castes and communities. The Mission prescribed no cumbersome rituals or costly ceremonies and liberated people from all kind of taboos. Then, it loved all and hated none. The masses that had just experienced the havoc that communalism and religious intolerance could play with the mankind, gone through the misery before Partition and suffered from the agony even thereafter. They had not only seen the disease of casteism in its full swing, but felt the sting also, welcomed the Mission where all of them were treated as equally respected and dignified members of one human society. They found here what they really needed—the Mission under the spiritual leadership of Baba Avtar Singh Ji, was providing spiritual balm to heal their worldly wounds, the inner strength to bear the sorrow and the morale boosting to continue their journey of life.
The orthodox elements continued to harass Baba Avtar Singh. One day, while a congregation was going on at the residence of Baba Avtar Singh Ji, some people came and started shouting slogans against him. When they continued for some time and did not disperse, some of the disciples asked for Baba Ji’s permission to go and teach them a lesson. Instead Baba Ji asked some disciples to go and offer them water. The demonstrators felt very happy. But when they came to know that the water was being offered on behalf of Baba Avtar Singh Ji, they felt ashamed at their mistake and realized how He possessed divine qualities of compassion, love for all and forgiveness.
Going by worldly norms, having been the spiritual head of the Mission for about 20 years, many devotees insisted that Baba Avtar Singh Ji be given a grand funeral with sandal wood etc.
But Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji explained that a dead body is just a dead body whether it belonged to an ordinary person, an intellectual, or even a holy man. So Baba Avtar Singh Ji was given a simple funeral at the electric crematorium in Delhi
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