Treh Charittar (Charitropakhyaan)
In Budha Dal tradition the stories told in Treh Charittar are without
doubt all accepted as Guru Gobind Singh Ji's works. An extract from
the writings of a British student of Indian religions may shed light
on how exactly one such story came about to be in Dasam Guru Durbar:
‘In A.D. 1691, or thereabouts, Govind Singh, the tenth
and last guru of the Sikhs, celebrated with unusual pomp at
Anandpur the gay Hindu saturnailia known as the 'Holi'.
Visitors were attracted thither from considerable distances,
and amongst others came a young and beautiful Hindu widow named
Anup Kaur, a khatrani by caste, and a resident
of Lahore. Guru Govind Singh, who was only twenty-five years
of age and a particularly handsome man, captivated the susceptible
heart of the young widow, and she resolved to try her arts upon
him. It appears that at this period the chief object of Govind’s
life was to induce, I might almost say compel, the goddess Devi
to appear to him and promise him her assistance against the
Muhammadan rulers of the land, who were carrying on a bitter
religious persecution of Hindus. For the attainment of the end
he had in view, Govind had gathered many Brahmans together,
for, like all Hindus, he believed that if the appropriate religious
ceremonies were correctly carried out, the goddess, however
reluctant, would be constrained to make her appearance. It is
well known to the Hindus that besides the Brahmans there are
others who, by the practice of painful austerities, have become
possessed of great, sometimes unlimited, power. These thaumaturgists
are to be found only here and there, it is true, amongst the
sadhus, therefore, Govind frequently restored for advice
and assistance in his endeavours to propitiate the goddess Devi.
Having come to know this, a happy idea entered the head of the
lovesick Anup Kaur. She would personate a sadhu, enter into
close relations with Govind, and, in the end, attract and ensnare
the object of her passion. In pursuance of this plan, she disguised
herself as a sadhu, and, being possessed of ample means, she
easily secured accomplices in her scheme. She took up her abode
at a spot within a short distance of Anandpur, and her satellites
soon let it be known through the countryside that a most holy
and learned Synyasi had favoured the neighbourhood with his
presence. It was also given out that this most saintly Mahatma
had a special key to open the heart of the goddess Devi. The
important news, of course, reached Govind, for whom it had been
specially prepared, and he forthwith instructed a confidential
servant to arrange an early interview with the new-comer, the
youthful sadhu, however, betrayed no eagerness to meet the Guru,
and merely sent word to the effect that if Govind wished to
come he might do so, but on condition that he came without any
pomp or following, in an ascetic garb, at midnight and alone.
These conditions excited the imagination of Govind Singh, and
enhanced the importance of the sadhu in his eyes. So, having
donned the orange-coloured vestments of an ascetic, he sought
the saintly Mahatma in the stillness of the night at the appointed
hour. He was graciously received, and the usual exchange of
compliments and ideas took place. After a little while, on some
pretext or other the sadhu retired, and the then reappeared
before the astonished Guru decked in silks and jewellery, a
young and fascinating woman, with every attraction that
could lure an ordinary mortal to her embraces. But
Govind, like Joseph under somewhat similar circumstances, kept
his virtue, and, after rebuking Anup Kaur, made good his escape;
not however, before the disappointed temptress had raised the
cry of "Thief!" Govind, who was never at any time
deficient in artfulness, joined in the cry, and siezing Anup
Kaur’s brother in the darkness, added greatly to the confusion,
in which he managed to slip away safely. This adventure of Govind’s
bore fruit of another kind also. The wiles of Anup Kaur had
made a deep impression on him, and he wrote, or more likely
collected, no less than four hundred and four stories
on the wiles of women, for the timely warning, it is
said, of his simple followers.’
('The Mystics, Ascetics, and Saints of India', by J.C. Oman,
1903, Pa 196-198)
Within Dasam Guru Durbar, it continues to state that
Anup Kaur became an ideal chaste Sikh woman, and was later kidnapped
by the Muslim chiefs of Malerkotala. Rather than surrender her honour
she took her own life. The Muslims buried her as was their custom.
When Banda Bahadur attained ascendancy in Punjab, the Akali Nihang
Khalsa went and retrieved the corpse of the venerable Anup Kaur
and cremated her according to Khalsa Sikh rites.
Untamed Love
Many tales such as those of Anup Kaur are recounted with Charitropakhyaan
that cover
a variety of topics that today's puritanical bigotted narrow-minded
mainstream Sikhs would find offensive
