Samparda Bhindra cont'd

Baba Gurbachan Singh was born on 1th February 1902 to Mata Anand Kaur in the house of Baba Roor Singh. Sadly, Baba Gurbachan Singh's mother passed away when he was only approximately a year old. At the time, his father was serving in the British Indian army in Burma. Mata Raj Kaur, Baba Gurbachan Singh’s grandmother looked after him. In time, his devout father returned home and began to farm the family land. He had memorized over 110 pages of Dasam Guru Durbar and over 200 Shabads of Adi Guru Durbar, all of which were his daily liturgy.

Sriman 108 Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji Khalsa
Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji was born in the village of Akhara, Ludhiana District in Punjab

The profoundly pious nature of Baba Gurbachan Singh’s father had a great impact on him. He was also fortunate to have a very learned paternal uncle, Bhai Kahn Singh. It was his uncle who would train Baba Gurbachan Singh in matters of spirituality.

At the age of 7, Baba Gurbachan Singh could correctly read the entire Adi Guru Durbar. His paternal uncle had also taught him to read ‘Bhai Gurdas Diyan Vaaran’, ‘Kabit Svaiya’, ‘Sri Nanak Prakash’, ‘Siri Guru Pratap Suraj Granth’, ‘Parbodh Chander Natak’, ‘Bhagat Bani, ‘Panj Granthi, ‘Das Granthi’, etc.

Baba Gurbachan Singhs beloved grandmother also passed away and his paternal aunt, Bibi Sahib Kaur brought him to her village of Kishan Pur. Here, he attended the local school. Near Kishan Pur lived a famous Udasi Sadhu named Mahant Lal Das Ji. At the age of 13, Baba Gurbachan Singh was taught Sanskrit and various Sanatan texts such as ‘Ramayan’, ‘Bhagvad Gita’, ‘Mahabharat’, Yoga Vishesht’, etc. by the learned Udasi Mahant. Obtaining such wisdom, Baba Gurbachan Singh delved into the ‘Faridkoti Teeka’ of Sriman 108 Baba Badhan Singh Nirmala, a translation of Adi Guru Durbar from the Sanatan Sikh perspective. An electronic version of the 'Faridkoti Teeka (approx. 10Mb) is available here (to download right-click and select 'Save As').

After his education with the Udasi Mahant, just before his 18th birthday, Baba Gurbachan Singh went to the Budha Dal, and was initiated into the Khalsa brotherhood at the hands of the then Jathedar of the Budha Dal, 96 Crore Jathedar Akali Nihang Baba Sahib Singh Ji.

96 Crore Jathedar Akali Nihang Baba Sahib Singh Ji 'Kaladhari'
The 11th 'Jathedar' (commander-in-chief) of the Akali Nihang Singh Khalsa and the Akal Takht

For some reason, the fact that Baba Gurbachan Singh Khalsa was a Nihang Singh of the Budha Dal has been omitted by published biographies of Baba Gurbachan Singh by both Samparda Bhindra and Chowk Mehta. This fact is only spoken of in private conversations with elderly learned ‘Gianis’ such as Giani Gurdev Singh, himself a one-time ‘Shish’ (student) of Baba Gurbachan Singh, and Baba Avtar Singh, Baba Gurbachan Singh’s grandson.