Sant Garib Das Ji Maharaj

Brief Life Story of Garib Das Ji Maharaj

Respected Garibdas Sahib ji of Village Chhudani, District Jhajjar, Haryana

Respected Garibdas Sahib ji was born in 1717 A.D. He met God Kabir Ji at the age of 10 years in a field named Nalaa in 1727 A.D. and departed to Satlok in 1778 A.D. God Kabir met Respected Garibdas ji in an embodied Jinda form. Garibdas ji along with his other fellow milkmen was tending his grazing cattle in his Nalaa field, which was adjoining to the boundary of Village Kablana. The milkmen requested Supreme God Kabir who had appeared in the form of a Jinda Mahatma to have something to eat. God Kabir declined that offer and said that He had already eaten. The the villagers said that if you are not going to have food, then at least have milk. God Kabir ji said that I drink milk only from a maiden cow. Child Garibdas ji brought a maiden cow to Supreme God Kabir ji and said that Baba ji, how can this maiden cow give milk? Supreme God Kabir patted on the back of that maiden calf; automatically milk started flowing from the udders of the maiden calf and stopped when the pot became full. Supreme God Kabir ji drank that milk and also made child Garibdas ji drink some as prasaad (blessed drink).

God Kabir then gave information about Satlok to child Garibdas ji. Garibdas ji expressed a desire to see Satlok and God Kabir took him to Satlok. In Satlok, God Kabir showed Garib Das ji His form while sitting on the throne in Jinda form as the Master of all, and said that I myself had lived in Kashi (Varanasi) for 120 years as a weaver (dhaanak). I had also met Prophet Muhammad earlier. In Quran Sharif, the words Kabira, Kabiran , Khabira, Khabiran , Allahu Akbar etc point towards me only; I only met Shri Nanak Ji in form of a Jinda Mahatma on the bank of river Bein {Jinda Mahatmas are in Muslims, who wear a black knee-length cloak (like an overcoat) and wear a conical hat on head}, and I only had met king Abrahim Sultan Adham in Balakh city and Shri Dadu Ji. In all the four Vedas, the names KavirAgni, KavirDev (KaviranghariH) etc are indicating towards me alone. I only was sitting in Satlok much before the Vedas.

'Kabir bed humaara bhed hai, main milu bedon se naahin
jaun bed se main miloon, vo bed jaante naahin || '

In Village Chhudani, District Jhajjar, Haryana, even today a memorial is present in that jungle where Sant Garibdas ji had seen and met Supreme God Kabir. 

When the soul of Garibdas ji was visiting Satlok with God Kabir, the villagers considering Garib Das ji dead, placed him on a pyre and started preparing to cremate him. At that very moment, Supreme God penetrated the soul of Garibdas ji back into his body. Ten years old boy Garib das became alive.

Thereafter, Garibdas ji started uttering the eye witnessed account of Satlok in form of couplets and speeches which no one could comprehend. A Dadu panthi mahatma by the name of Gopal Das once visited Chhudani village some three years later. When Gopal Das ji met Garib Das ji, he understood the speeches uttered by Garib Das ji and requested him to dictate the whole speech so that he could put it in writing. For three days Gopal Das ji continued to request Garibdas ji and then Garibdas ji agreed. The book named 'Sat Granth' was then completed over a period of six months which contains sacred speech on the eye-witnessed account of that Supreme God. Some sacred speech from Sat Granth Sahib as evidence is given below -

Ajab nagar mein le gaya, humkoon Satguru aan || Jhilke bimb agaadh gati, soote chaadar taan ||
Anant koti brahmand ka, ek rati nahin bhaar || Satguru Purush Kabir hain, kul ke srjan haar ||
Gaibi khyaal vishaal Satguru, achal digambar theer hai  || Bhakti het kaaya dhar aaye, avigat Sat Kabir hain ||
Hardam khoj hanoj haajar, trivaini ke teer hain || Das Garib tabeeb Satguru, bandichhod Kabir hain ||
Hum Sultani Nanak tare, Dadu koon updesh diya || Jaat julaaha bhed nahin paaya, Kashi maahe Kabir hua ||
Sab padvi ke mool hain, sakal siddhi hain teer || Garib SatPurush bhajo, avigat kalaa Kabir ||
Jinda jogi Jagat Guru, maalik murshad peer || Dahoon deen jhagda mandya, paaya nahin shareer ||
Garib, jis koon kahte Kabir julaaha | Sab gati purna agam agaaha ||

In the aforesaid speech, Respected Garibdas ji Maharaj has made it clear that the weaver (Dhaanak) of Kashi city also gave me naam and conveyed me across (liberated me). This weaver (Dhaanak) of Kashi himself is (SatPurush) Purna Brahm (Supreme God).

Garib Das ji has said that Supreme God Kabir himself came in the form of Jinda Mahatma from Satlok and took me to the Ajab Nagar (Strange / remarkable city Satlok), where there is only happiness, no worry; no birth-death; no grief or sufferings in the bodies of other living beings. This very SatPurush, who had come in Kashi city as a weaver, by appearing at different-different times had conveyed across Abrahim Sultan Adham and Dadu Sahib ji and also Nanak Sahib ji by giving them Satnaam. That same KavirDev (God Kabir) whose one hair follicle has brightness similar to that of crores of suns and is visible like a man, by putting another body of faded masses of lights over His actual bright body meets us in this mortal world because the naked eyes cannot bear the light of the actual form of that Supreme God. Garibdas Sahib ji has said in his sacred speech

'Sarv kalaa Satguru Saheb ki, Hari aaye Hariyaane nu '

The meaning is that the area where Supreme God Kavir Hari (KavirDev) came, its name is 'Haryana' i.e. 'a holy place where God came'. Because of which started calling the nearby regions as Hariaana (Haryana). In 1966 A.D. on the division of the Punjab state, this region got the name Hariaana (Haryana). The speech spoken around 236 years ago proved right in 1966 that when the time will come, this region will become popular as the Haryana state, which is clearly evident today.

Garib Das Ji's appearance in Saharanpur

In 1778 A.D. Garib Das Ji Maharaj at the age of 61 departed to Satlok. A memorial was built at the site of his departure in Chhudani village in Haryana. The memorial is called as 'Chhatri Sahib'. Six months later, as promised, Garib Das ji appeared in Saharanpur and met his devotee 'Bhoomad Saini'. Garib Das ji then lived for another 35 years in Saharanpur. A memorial has also been built over there in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh which is also called 'Chhatri Sahib'. The site is close to baada of Lal Das Ji who was a famous saint at the time in Saharanpur. 

A famous story about Garib Das Ji Maharaj and Lal Das Ji

Lal Das Ji had supernatural powers due to the earnings of his worship. Using his 'siddhi' (supernatural power) he used to every day visit Haridwar for a holy dip in river Ganges (Ganga). One day he got unwell and therefore was doubtful of not visiting Haridwar the next day and got upset. Sant Garib Das ji met Lal Das ji and questioned whey he looked upset. Lal Das Ji narrated his chain of thought to Garib Das ji on which he asked Lal Das ji not to worry as he would get river Ganga to visit Saharanpur. The next morning Garib Das Ji took Lal Das ji to the banks of river Ganga which had come to Saharanpur. Lal Das ji had a dip in the river but had reservations about the river being Ganga. On this Mother Ganga appeared on the surface of the river to quell the doubt of Lal Das Ji and also said that she had appeared on the orders of Supreme Saint Garib Das Ji Maharaj. 

Sat Granth Sahib of Garib Das Ji Maharaj

Sat Granth Sahib is a Holy Scripture which is a compilation of speeches uttered by Sant Garib Das Ji Maharaj. The knowledge was imparted to Sant Garib Das ji by Supreme God Kabir. 

The word 'speech' is referred to as 'Bani' or 'Vani' in North Indian regional languages and therefore this Sat Granth Sahib is also addressed as Bani of Garib Das Ji Maharaj.

• Bani (Punjabi) = Speech
• Vani (Hindi) = Speech

It contains around 7000 verses, and contains the most treasured knowledge about the attainment of Supreme God Kabir and His eternal home Satlok (Sachkhand). It also gives detalied authentic accounts of prominent religions of the Indian Subcontinent (Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, Jainism, Buddhism etc), various Gods and Goddesses such as Brahma, Vishnu, Shiv, Goddess Durga, eminent saints, prophets etc. and other Holy scriptures such as Vedas, Puranas, Quran, Ramyana, Mahabharata etc.

How was Sat Granth Sahib written?

When Garib Das Ji was 10 years old, God Kabir descended from his eternal abode Satlok (Sachkhand) and met child Garib Das ji. God Kabir first initiated child Garib Das ji and then took him to Satlok and showed him around. God Kabir also imparted his superiormost, divine knowledge to child Garibdas Ji. When child Garibdas ji started uttering those eye witnessed accounts of Satlok in form of couplets and speeches, the villagers could not grasp it. Rather they started addressing Garibdas ji as a lunatic. One of the most significant banis of Garib Das Ji is as follows.

Three years later, a learned man named Gopal Das visited village Chuddani. Gopal Das ji was initiated in Dadu Panth. The villagers took child Garibdas ji to Gopal Das ji thinking that he might be able to suggest a solution for his mental illness. As Gopal Das ji and Garib Das ji started conversing, Gopal Das realised that the speeches that child Garib Das ji was uttering contained the most profound knowledge. He therefore requested child Garibdas ji to get these speeches written, to which Garib Das ji agreed. It then took Gopal Das ji six months to write the full scripture. Sat under a tree, 13 year old child Garib Das ji spoke and Gopal Das ji wrote all the speeches in real time.

This Holy Scripture is now available in the form of Sat Granth Sahib. It is also called as Bani of Garib Das Ji Maharaj or Granth Sahib of Garib Das ji. It is also known as the Sukshm Veda.

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