His mission at Nanded was to meet Madhodas Vairagi. The idea was given to him by Mahant Jaitram of Burhan. Madhodas was early known as Banda Vir Vairagi. His real christened name was Laxmandas. He was born to the family of Ramdev Dogra of Rajouri on 27 October, 1670.
As a young man he was very fond of hunting. Once he hunted down a doe. When he cut open the belly of the doe he discovered two live fawns in its womb. The fawns died after going through agonising convulsions as he looked in horror.
His conscience rebuked him for being responsible for those infant deaths. A deep feeling of remorse swept him. He felt disgusted with himself. There was no more any joy for him in the life. He got disenchanted with the word and worldly things.
Young Laxmandas did not go home. He wandered around aimlessly in a stunned state of mind. Nothing seemed to make sense for him. One day as he was wandering he ran into an ascetic named Sant Janakidas. The desperate Laxmandas became his disciple hoping to find some peace of mind. Sant gave him the name ‘Madhodas’.
Madho followed his guru like a man in stupor. The guru later joined a group of ascetics. The group roamed around like spiritual tourists without any particular destination. The group reached Punjab.
There disenchanted Laxman went into the fold of another guru Ramdas. Following his new guru he reached Nanded in south-west.
In Nanded he came into contact with an yogi and occultist named Augharnath. The weird ways of the occultist attracted Madho. He though that the world itself was a weired place, hence, may be the weird world of occult could open the doors of salvation. He became a disciple of the yogi occultist. He learnt yoga from his new guru and went through the occult rituals.
Madhodas gained some psychic powers which made him feel that he was the master of the world. It made him an arrogant spiritualist. He began to live with his guru. When the guru died, he inherited the seat of occultist guru.
Now he had his own band of disciples. The people around who were steeped in blindfaiths were afraid of him because they thought he possessed supernatural powers like a sorcerer who commanded spirits and ghosts. The people’s ignorance magnified whatever psychic powers Madhodas had developed. That made him more arrogant than before.
When Guru Gobind reached his dera (camp) with his followers Madhodas was not home. To wait for him Guru Sahib went to the traditional seat of the occultist and sat on it. It was objected to by the disciples of Madhodas. But Guru Sahib’s followers overpowered them and drove them out. When Madhodas returned his disciples revealed to him the acts of the bullying visitor who had occupied his seat. It infuriated the occultist. He rushed in.
He tried several psychic tricks on Guru Sahib. They made no impression on the latter. Guru Sahib continued to occupy his seat without getting intimidated by weird postures of the occultist. Then, Modhodas softened up and queried, “Who are you?”
Guru Sahib quizzed him, “Think hard. You will understand.”
Madhodas pondered. He knew that his tricks worked only on ignorant people subject to blindfaiths and superstitions. His psychic powers would be useless against a true spiritualist who has his own charisma and mental dominating powers. He knew there was only one such figure at that time.
He asked, “Are you Guru Gobind Sahib?”
Guru Gobind smiled at him.
Madhodas fell at his feet and apologized for his offending conduct and the disrespect shown by his disciples. His disciples also watched the scene in puzzlement. Madhodas said, “True Guru! What can I do for you? I am at your service.”
Guru Sahib said, “A man with great pyschic powers and brave spirit like you is needed in Punjab to liberate people from the torments of the tyrannical rulers. You are unproductively wasting your powers here. Put them to good use for the welfare of your own brethren.”
Madhodas said, “Show me the way, Guru Sahib.”
“I came to you with the purpose of destroying your arrogance and to remind you that you are born for the welfare of the people. Greater deeds are expected of you, my dear man.”
On 3 September, 1708 Guru Gobind initiated Madhodas into Khalsa Panth and gave him the Sikh name ‘Banda Singh Bairagi’. Guru took out five arrows from his quill and gave them to him. Five Sikhs Baba Vinod Singh, Baba Ram Singh, Baba Kam Singh, Baba Baz Singh and Baba Daya Singh were appointed Banda Singh’s advisors. He was to act according to the counsel of his advisors.
Banda Singh took a pledge to make his life a mission to fight against injustices and tyranny even if that meant sacrificing his life. After training in arms Banda set out on his mission with his advisors.
Banda Bairagi proved true to his word. He reached Punjab and unleashed a blistering campaign against the cruel regime of Mogul governors. He plundered Sirhind and punished cruel Vazir Khan. He became a scourge of the Mogul empire.
At last in 1716 Moguls were able to nab him in Delhi. Banda Bairagi was cruelly put to death by Moguls for his anti-Mogul acts. Unfortunately Guru Sahib did not survive to see the exploits of Banda Singh.
Shopping Cart
