Guru Jambheshwar
Guru Jambheswar Ji also known as Jambhoji was born to a kshatriya (Royal) family in Pipasar village of Nagaur district of Rajasthan in year 1451vikrami samwat 1508, Krishna (black) 8th day of bhadarpad month(same day of Krishna’s birth ). His old father shri Lohat Ji Panwar (parmar) was very sad when commented by a farmer for not having children up to 50 years of age. Then he started tapsya and was blessed by a yogi for a son who will be different from others. Same time his wife Hansa Devi was also blessed by the same yogi for a son.
Considering the blessings of yogi, miracle powers of Jambo Ji, Guru Ji’s shabads, Jambheswar ji is popularly considered Vishnu sawrup (part or incarnation of Vishnu). The young Jambh Raj did not drink milk from his mother's breast and did not speak in early childhood. He told first shabad (Guru chinho guru chinh purohit…..) to a Brahmin called to cure his dumbness.
The young Jambh dev was simple but a genius, kind, liked loneliness and did many miracles. He did not marry and used to graze cows. At the age of 34 he left his home and belongings and started preaching at a sand dune called Samrathal Dhora. He was very keen in social welfare and helping others. In year 1485 there was a worst draught in western Rajasthan area and people started migrating to malwa (MP) with their animals. The kind hearted Jambha ji was sad to see people’s pain. He then offered his help to the draught affected people to hold them back. People agreed and Jambha Ji helped them with grain, food, fodder, seed, agriculture accessories etc. He also used his miracles powers to help people in need.
That period was a dark period of Hindu dharma. Hindus of that area were suffering from external invaders, religion conversions as well as internal bad practices. Hindus were became either irreligious or blind faith or worshiping many god, goddesses in frustration and victimised by hypocrite sadhus. People were involved in malpractices, immoral activities, selfishness, sins, stupidity etc.
To help suffering people of that time and save religion, Guru Jambheswar Ji founded Bishnoism in year 1485 (Vikram samwat 1542, Krishna 8th of Kartik month) on the sand dune (Samrathal Dhora)after performing havan.
Bishnoism was based on main 29 principles and best practices taken from all religions & faiths. Followers of different religions, faiths, casts and various professions & class accepted Bishnoism by taking pahal (sacred water) and became Bishnois. Guru Ji’s teachings were very simple, logical, practical and effective. He believed in one god and did not believe in statue worshiping or man worshiping or leaving social responsibilities to achieve god.
His way was, “JIYA NE JUKTI AUR MARIYA NE MUKTI” means a meaningful way of living and then moksha after death. He travelled a lot to help and teach people and done many welfare works. He was a true & visionary guru, social reformer, follower of non violence, great environmentalist and believed in love and harmony among not only human beings but also among nature.
His teachings are covered by 29 principles, 120 shabads and sandhya mantra. Many kings and reputed persons came in his contact and admired his teachings. He also helped many of them with his blessings.
Guru Jambheshwar Ji left this world at the age of 85 in year 1536 (vikrami samwat 1593, Krishna 9th of Margshirsh month) at Lalasar and his body was buried in village Talwa (now famous as Mukam) of Bikaner. Every year two melas are held here, one on Amawas (no moon night) of Falgun month and another on amawas of Ashvin month.
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| Maps Of India with Bishnoi Population |
29 Rules or Commandments of Bishnoi Community
1. To observe segregation of the mother and newborn for 30 days after delivery
To prevent infection to the mother and the baby during a stage when both are highly susceptible to outside infections
Also to provide forced rest to the woman when she is very weak
2. To keep woman away from all activities for 5 days during her menstrual periods To provide compulsory rest to the woman
(also, considering the poor hygiene levels in those days or even today in rural India) For woman
3. To take early morning bath daily Personal hygiene
4. To maintain both external and internal cleanliness and remaining content Internal cleanliness meansà good intentions, humble behaviour, character without envious feelings, etc.
5. To meditate twice a day i.e. morning and evening (times when night is being separated from the day)
Morning meditation to ponder over the proposed activities of day, whether my actions are right, moral or am I going to do something against my life values. Also, to pray the lord for directions and power to move ahead in the life path.
Evening meditation to take a stock of day’s activities, whether I made any mistake? Did I hurt somebody? Whether I spent the day in constructive activities or just wasted this valuable time? Some authors say thrice a day
6 .To sing the Lord’s glory and reciting His virtues every evening
7 To offer daily oblation to the holy fire with a heart filled with feelings of welfare, love and devotion Daily (preferably morning) oblations with:
Feelings of welfare of all living being
Love for nature and whole world
Devotion to the Lord
8 Use filtered water, milk and carefully cleaned fuel/ firewood To make the water and milk bacteria free! In case of firewood to see that some insects etc. don’t get burned with the fuel and pollute the environment
9. Filter your speech! Think before you speak.
10. To be forgiving in nature Forgiveness is a parameter of greatness. This one virtue could uplift a normal person to the standards of great souls of the world. Guru said further, if somebody come to you shouting, become cool like water!
11 To be compassionate Compassion helps in purifying the heart. It is opposite** to the forgiveness (Refer rule 10 and end note) in a sense that in forgiving, we keep our heart and mind cool against some external stimuli, whereas in compassion, we imbibe the feelings of the helpless. We put ourselves in the shoes of victim (of some other external circumstance, assault, stimuli) and acting accordingly.
12. Not to steal Trying to own someone else’s things through cheating, or stealing is theft. Theft is the dirt of the character. It pinches the soul.
13. Not to revile/ condemn someone Reviling means insulting stealthily or disparaging behind the back. This is different from open criticism. Criticism is done openly with an objective of the improvement, whereas the objective of reviling/condemning someone is only to malign the victim’s image/position in the eyes of listener or the community. Condemning is an act of cowards and done out of envy and/or hatred.
14. Not to tell lies A liar can never attain respect of others. It is insult to the gift of speech. There was a time, when even the court used to accept the testimony of Bishnoi men as hard evidence
15. Not to indulge in opprobrium One should not indulge in any unnecessary/ wasteful debates. All such discussions/ deliberations, which are anti-social, anti-human fall under this category. It is to be noted that the Guru has not proscribed / banned a healthy debate on issues concerning the welfare of all.
16. To observe fast and meditate on no-moon night (and the same day i.e. Amavsya) To provide rest to the body and its internal systems. This day of the month has a special significance from astronomical and planetary science’s point of view. In addition, the regular fading of the moon’s appearance is also symbolic of the perishable nature of life. So in this context, one should not waste his/her energy in the daily routine work but should ‘charge’ his /her energy level and introspect & ponder over the collective welfare
17. To recite the holy name of Lord Vishnu
18. To be compassionate towards all living beings
19. Not to fell green trees
20. To kill the non-perishables! To overcome the non-perishable enemies of human beings viz. lust, anger, envy, greed and attachment.
21. To partake food cooked by self/ other religious person or one who is pure by heart and work
22. To provide a common shelter (Thhat) for goat/sheep to avoid them being slaughtered in abattoirs No Bishnoi should sell a male goat/sheep because these could be used for slaughtering purposes. Hence, he should send them to Thhat’s where the whole community provides feed and shelter for them. In later years, most Bishnoi’s got out of the business of rearing goats/ sheep, etc.
23. Not to have bull’s castrated In rural India, bulls are castrated before they are used as bullocks for agricultural purposes. Guru prohibited this activity for his disciples. The underlining feeling behind this commandment is that Bishnoi’s rear the bovines like their son/daughters and getting them castrated through a painful procedure portray nothing but cruelty.
24. Not to partake of opium Or any product made out of opium
25. Not to use tobacco and its products
26. Not to partake of cannabis
27. Not to drink liquor
28. Not to eat meat or non-vegetarian dishes The underlying rationale of this commandment are two pronged
To protect the animals/birds from being slaughtered by creating a market barrier!
29. Not to use blue coloured clothes In ancient India, the blue colour used to be obtained from indigo. Thus it’s possible that the Guru wanted to stop destruction of this wild shrub or promote its cultivation in lieu of other life supporting crops.
Blue is the colour of death , poision ( Indian Mythology- Lord Shiva). It is also thought that the blue colour do not reflect the harmful ultraviolet rays but absorbs them, which is a major health hazard.
The Sacrifice Place of Khejarli
Khejarli is a village in Jodhpur district of Rajasthan, India 26 km south east of the city of Jodhpur. The name of the town is derived from Khejri (Prosopis Cineraria) trees, which were abundance in the village.
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| Khejarli Temple head Priest , Heera Nand Bishnoi ,explains near a painting what happened in 1730 AD when 363 Bishnoi's gave up their lives to save trees. |
Amrita Devi (Beniwal) protested against King's men attempting to cut trees as it was prohibited in Bishnoi religion. The malevolent feudal party told her that if she wanted the trees to be spared, she should give them money as bribe. She refused to acknowledge this demand and told them that she would consider it as an act of ignominy and insult to her religious faith. She said that she would rather give away her life to save the green trees. It is at this stage she spoke the words: "Sar santey rukh rahe to bhi sasto jaan", if a tree is saved even at the cost of one's head, its worth it. Saying these words, she offered her head. The axes which were brought to cut the trees, servered her head from the body. Her three daughters Asu, Ratni and Bhagu were not daunted and offered their heads as well and met the same end. Soon old persons, young men, women including newly married ones and children were sacrificing themselves in a similar way. There was intense pandemonium. As soon as Maharaja learnt it, he ordered stopped of felling trees. By that time 363 Bishnois had already become martyrs.
Honouring the courage of the Bishnoi community, Maharaja Abhay Singh, apologised for the mistake committed by his officials and issued a royal decree engraved on copper plate.
The anniversary of the massacre is observed each year at village, which has now become an important tourist destination.
edit]Lover of Wild Animals
Bishnois lived with trees and wild animals in the Thar Desert with complete harmony for centuries and have been fiercely protecting the trees & wild life in their areas to follow the teachings of their Guru Jambheshwar Ji.
This was not an easy task especially in the desert where water was a luxury commodity and trees could fetch same extra revenue but for Bishnois protection of wild life was a Dharma (religion).
Bishnois appealed to rulers/kings to make rules for banning tree cutting and hunting in their areas and fought cases in the courts to ensure the rules are followed by all.
But in the arid desert facing continuous draughts, the trees and wild animals were always temptations of others.
Time to time their faith was tested by rulers, poachers and others but Bishnois always protected the wild life even at the cost of their lives by braving the bullets.
Scores of Bishnois have sacrificed their lives for protecting wild life in Rajasthan.
Bishnois are extremely aggressive about their pacifism. Foremost in the community's pantheon of heroes are men and women who gave up their lives trying to save trees and animals.
On 03.10.1996, Nihal Chand Bishnoi (30 Yr) sacrificed his life while chasing poaches to save life of black bucks.
A film named, "Willing to Sacrifice" was shown in 5th International Festivals of Films, TV & Video Programs ENVIRON 99 held at Bratislava, Slovakia and won the award for Best Environmental Film.
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| Bishnoi used to feed daily flocks of wild gazelles,anetlopes,peacocks .... They denote twice a year cereals to temples and suppose to give 10% of their shares to the wildlife |
