I first heard about Sant Maghar Singh jee 20 years ago. It was mentioned that Sant jee did a lot of Sewa during the Singh Sabha movement. Actually Sant jee did sewa during the years of Gurdwara Reform movement as opposed to Singh Sabha movement. Sant jee came on the Panthik scene around 1919 and by 1924 he left for Sachkhand but in these 6-7 years he did such massive Parchaar of Sikhi that it is hard to find such example anywhere else.
From the time I heard about Sant jee, he got carved in stone, on my heart. A warm feeling always engulfs me when I hear about him. In these years, some information about Sant jee was collected and presented below is his brief life. Most of this has been taken from Bhai Babu Singh Ramgarh's book on Sant jee's life.
Childhood and MarriageSant Maghar Singh was born in 1890 in village Ramgarh, district Faridkot. From his early childhood he had spiritual inclinations which were greatly augmented because of his closeness to his Gurmukh grandfather (grandfather’s brother) Baba Bahaal Singh jee. He got deeply attached to Baba jee at early age and even used to sleep with him. Baba Bahaal Singh and his brother Baba Jeeta Singh had fought against the British in Anglo-Sikh wars. Baba Jeeta Singh was martyred in these battles and Baba Bahaal Singh seriously injured. Since Baba Bahaal Singh jee used to get up at Amritvela and do Naam Abhyaas and Gurbani Paath; and Sant Maghar Singh jee too got this habit of getting up at Amritvela, early on in his life. When he was around 14-15, he was married to Bibi Dhan Kaur jee.
About Sant jee it’s written that he was a born Gurmukh because he had massive Bhagti from previous lives. He had formed love with Gurbani at a very early age and this love became an obsession as he grew up. He started doing Kirtan and Akhand Paath during his childhood.
He grew up to be a very tall, strong and handsome young man. He was about 6’4” tall and his body was very strong. When he was about 17-18, he joined the army and was selected at first instance because of his tall and strong body.
Sant Maghar Singh jee RamgarhLife in ArmyIn army, he formed a Kirtani Jatha and used to do Siri Asa kee Vaar kirtan daily at Amritvela. Sant jee’s voice was very sweet, heavy and loud. In those days, there were no loudspeakers but his voice could still be heard up 2 miles. The Singhs who became members of this Kirtani Jatha stayed within the Jatha even after they had retired from the army. Sant jee’s Bhagti had started giving fruit and whatever he said unwittingly used to come true. This increased Sant jee’s respect and honour within the Sikh soldiers of his unit of army.
British Officer who kicked Karaahee of DeghIn 1914, the First World War broke out and Sant jee’s unit was sent to France to fight the Germans. While they were on the ship to France, they continued to do Kirtan and Bhagti all day long. Once Singhs prepared Degh for a Gurpurab and Sant jee’s Jatha did Kirtan in that Samagam. A British Sergeant named Carlton came and kicked the Utensil carrying Degh. Singhs were obviously very upset and thrashed him. He went running to the commanding officer Mr. Hill and complained that Singhs had thrashed him and were going to throw him in the ocean. Mr. Hill was very upset and scolded the Singhs. When Singhs told him that the Sergeant had kicked at the utensil carrying Degh, he pacified a bit.
In the meantime Singhs were going to throw the Degh in the ocean since it was not suitable to get Bhog of Guru Sahib but Mr Hill objected to this and ordered the Singhs to use the Degh since nothing had touched the Degh itself and it had not been contaminated by touch. Singhs went quiet and were thinking what to say. In the meantime, Sant jee spoke up in Chardi Kala, “Listen Sahib jee, we have sold you our body but not our Sikhi. Don’t interfere in our religious affairs.” Saying this he ordered the Singhs to throw the Degh in ocean. Singhs fulfilled the order and then new Degh was prepared for Gurpurab. Mr Hill just kept quiet and did not stir the issue any more.
Now all Singhs who were on the ship considered Sant jee to be their leader.
Singhs Arrive at FranceWhen the ship reached France, Sant jee told Mr Hill that Sikhs would come out of the ship led by Siri Guru Granth Sahib jee. Very respectfully, Siri Guru jee’s Saroop was carried out, followed by all Sikh soldiers. French people who had come to welcome the Sikh soldiers, asked about Siri Guru Granth Sahib jee and when Mr Hill told them that the Sikhs considered Siri Guru Granth Sahib jee to be their living Guru, they were quite astonished.
The Singhs were allowed to rest for about a month or so, before the actual battle started. Before going in the war, Sikh Faujis (soldiers) performed an Ardaas before Guru Sahib. Sant jee in his lecture to Sikh soldiers reminded them to keep honour of Sikhs and never give back to the enemy. Sant jee asked the soldiers to either attain martyrdom or victory. The Singhs in army were filled with Bir Rass and this resulted in their eventual victory.
Singhs Refuse to eat from hands of BritishAfter beating the Germans in a battle front, Singhs arrived back at their camps. They were informed by Mr Hill that their Desi Raashan (food material) had expired and as such they would have to eat food like bread, biscuits etc. prepared British and French cooks.
When Sikh soldiers including Sant jee heard this, they refused to eat from the hands of people who ate Kutha and consumed Tobacco. When the officers heard this, they assembled all soldiers of the Sikh regiment and threatened that they would have to eat what they were given and if they refused, they would be given death penalty.
Before anyone else could speak, Sant Maghar Singh jee at once came in front of Mr Hill and said, “O Sahib, Singhs are not scared of death. We have come here to save you all from death and we have been saving you from death all these months. Now you are trying to scare us with death? The day a Sikh takes Amrit, he gives up the fear of death and never compromises on his Dharma (religion)”.
When the soldiers heard Sant jee’s courageous Bachans, they immediately said in one voice that they were willing to face the consequences of not eating non-Dharmi food, even if it meant death for them.
Sensing the response of the Sikh soldiers, Mr Hill got a bit pacified and requested, “We would provide you with very good food and also double in quantity. What’s wrong in eating this food?”
Sant jee responded, “It does not matter how good the food is because it is not suitable for a Sikh to eat this food as it violates his religion.”
Mr Hill got very upset when Singhs refused to obey his Hukam and he said that he would see how long they would hold on to their faith. He ordered that food supplies be stopped for these Singhs.
Singhs fight the Germans without Food for 8 daysAfter Mr Hill left, Singhs assembled at the Gurdwara Sahib and there Sant jee addressed them very forcefully and reminded them of the sacrifices of Siri Guru Arjun Dev jee, Siri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib jee and Sahibzade. Sant jee gave a very powerful lecture on not losing faith and honour and to not compromise on Dharma. After this Sant jee did very Chardi Kala Kirtan. Singhs were filled with religious fervour. They vowed to die but not compromise with Sikhi.
Singhs continued to fight the Germans for 8 days. Germans heavily bombarded the area where the Singhs were stationed. There were no camps and no barracks. Sikh soldiers were staying at the houses of the French people. So heavy was the bombardment that the French left their houses and fled. Sikhs soldiers were the only ones left there as the residents had pretty much left the place for safer places.
Soldier Mansha Singh gets slapped by Sant jeeA Sikh Soldier by the name of Mansha Singh was coming back to his place when he noticed an abandoned house. He entered the house and found a whole garage full of apples. He filled his bag with apples thinking that Singhs were hungry for so many days and why not feed them apples. He came to Sant jee and said, “Bhai Sahib jee, Sebh Chhako (please eat apple)”. Sant jee asked him where he had got the apples from and at this Mansha Singh narrated how he got the apples.
At this, Sant jee forcefully slapped Mansha Singh and ordered him, “O Bhale Maansa (good man), we are facing heavy fire from the front and heavy bombardment from the sky. Death is roaming around and you still stole apples? Go and put the apples back from where you got them.”
When Mansha Singh came back, Sant jee lovingly said, “O Bhale Maansa Bandiya (O good man), if you had been caught stealing, all Sikhs would have gotten bad name. Never steal again and never take that what is not yours.”
A Miracle related to Food SuppliesAfter this incident, Sant jee thought that Singhs were increasingly becoming desperate because of hunger. He took 5 Singhs and performed an Ardaas before Siri Guru Gobind Singh jee requesting Him to keep honour of His Singhs. As soon as they had finished doing Ardaas, a Singh came to Sant jee and said that 2 bags full of Desi food supplies were available for Singhs about 2 km from there. He asked Sant jee to send a Singh and get those supplies. Sant jee sent 2 Singhs in a jeep to get the supplies. The 2 Singhs arrived and saw a very Darshani Singh waiting with supplies. He helped them load the supplies on jeep and left so soon that it seemed as if he had just vanished in thin air.
The whole Sikh unit cooked food and ate for the first time in 8 days. Someone complained to Mr Hill that Sikhs had stolen food from somewhere. Mr Hill came to the Sikh officers and inquired where the Raashan (food supplies) had come from. The Sikh officers said that Sant Maghar Singh would know and advised him to inquire from him.
Mr Hill and the Sikh officers came to Sant jee and asked about the Raashan. Sant jee replied, “Our Guru, Siri Guru Nanak Dev jee had spent 20 rupees on feeding the hungry holy men and that 20-rupees-Raashan still has not been expired by Sikhs and it never will be. Where ever there is Sikh Sangat, there is Guru ka Langar. We had done an Ardaas before Guru Sahib and accepting our Ardaas, Guru Sahib sent us Raashan for Langar. And now listen up O Sahib, by evening ships full of our Raashan will arrive and there will be no more shortage of Raashan (food supplies).”
And this is exactly what happened. Food supplies arrived in abundance and Sikhs kept their faith without compromising. Mr Hill was very impressed and now he too developed a feeling of Shardha (faith) for Sant Maghar Singh jee.
Daas,
Kulbir Singh
More on Sant jee’s life to follow in the coming days.
ਸਤਿਗੁਰਬਚਨਕਮਾਵਣੇਸਚਾਏਹੁਵੀਚਾਰੁ॥
