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Bhagat Beni Ji
BENI, BHAGAT is one of the fifteen saints
and sufis some of whose compositions have been incorporated in
the Guru Granth Săhib. Very little is known about his personal
life except that he spent most of his time in prayer and
contemplation. Nabhăji ‘s Bhagatmăl, which
includes him in its roster of well-known bhaktas or devotees,
narrates a popular
anecdote about how Beni absorbed in meditation often neglected
the household needs and how the Deity himself intervened and
physically appeared to help him. Bhăi Gurdăs ( Vărăń, X. 14) has referred to Beni’s
single-pointed meditation in solitude enriched by moments
of spiritual edification. Beni’s three hymns in the Guru Granth
Sahib are marked by an intense spiritual longing. They also
indicate the various paths tried by him in his quest, his
practical experience of life and his mastery of religious
lore of diverse traditions. His five-stanza Iabda in Sri Raga,
in terse and elliptical form, traces the gradual spiritual
degeneration of man from the time of his birth to the end. It
so closely resembles Guru Nănak’s Pahire hymns in the
same răga that Guru Arjan, when compiling the Holy Book,
recorded the instruction that Beni’s hymn be sung in the same
tune as Pahire. In
his hymn in Răga Rămkali, Beni, using allegorical expressions
of the yogis, dwells upon the gradual process leading to the
highest spiritual knowledge which is also the ultimate bliss.
This hymn, too, has close similarity with several of Guru
Nănak’s verses in the same measure. It reveals Beni’s
knowledge of the practices and terminology of hatha yoga as well as his
rejection of them in favour of the cultivation of the Divine
Name. In the hymn in Răga Prabhăti, Beni censures in the
general tone of the Gurus’ bani the hypocrisy of
the Brăhman who practises outward piety while harbouring evil
in the heart. He adds in
conclusion that without the true Guru’s instruction way
to liberation will not be found. Source:
Allaboutsikhs |