Sri Chand

Sri Chand (8 September 1494 – 13 January 1629; Gurmukhi: ਸ੍ਰੀ ਚੰਦ), also referred to as Baba Sri Chandra or Bhagwan Sri Chandra, was the founder of the Udasi sect of ascetic Sadhus. Sri Chand was the son of Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh religion. However, despite being Guru Nanak's son, he was passed over when it came to choosing a successor, with the mantle of Sikh guruship being bestowed upon a close follower of his father instead.

Sri Chand would forge his own religious career and followed in his father's foot-steps by also embarking on travels, with him becoming an ascetic and leader of his own sect. He maintained relations with the successive Sikh gurus throughout his long life. Sri Chand would choose the son of a Sikh guru as his own successor. Sikh sources give his life the impressive dates of 8 September 1494 – 13 January 1629, which would have made him 134 years old upon his death but current scholarship attributes errors in the dates of his birth and death to conversion to different calendars and mistakes.

Names Amongst the Udasin Panchayati Bada Akhara, he is known as Guru Chandradev while Udasin Panchayati Naya Akhara refer to him as Guru Chandracharya. He is also known as Sri Candracarya.

Early life

He was the eldest son of Guru Nanak, the first Guru and founder of Sikhism. He was born to Mata Sulakhani on Bhadra sudi 9, 1551 Bikrami (i.e. 8 September 1494) in Sultanpur Lodhi. Other versions of his birth-story place his birth in Talwandi. Sri Chand decided to start spiritually training himself to become a worthy successor of his father.

Spiritual career Sri Chand, son of Guru Nanak, seated reading scriptures to devotees in a forest hermitage. Pahari School, ca.1850-70.In 1539, after the death of his father and not being selected for the guruship, Sri Chand became disinterested in the secular world, started wearing only a loin-cloth, and spent much of his time meditating at the samadh dedicated to his father at Kartarpur that he had built over the location where part of his father's remains were burnt. Due to his lack of proper attire, a childhood friend of Sri Chand had to burn cow-dung in-order to keep Sri Chand warm while he was engrossed in meditation in winter. The dhuni would later become an important aspect of Udasi theology and symbolism. This writing had a major influence on people of that time who did not know about Guru Nanak yet.

Possible contribution to the Adi Granth

According to a sakhi, when Guru Arjan had finished composing sixteen astpadis (cantos) of the Gauri Sukhmani composition, popularly known as Sukhmani Sahib, Sri Chand visited him. During this visit, it is said that Guru Arjan requested him to continue the composition he was compiling and complete the seventeenth canto of the Sukhmani Sahib. Sri Chand humbly recited the verse of his father following the Mul Mantar in the Japji Sahib. Thus, it became the seventeenth canto of the Sukhmani Sahib.

Relationship with Sikhs Painting of Guru Arjan, Lahore Museum, ca.1800. A figure, possibly Sri Chand, can be seen sitting beside him. It is believed that Sri Chand rejected Guru Angad as the successor to his father. When the Sikh guruship passed from Nanak to Angad, the sons of Nanak, Sri Chand and Lakhmi Das, made a legal claim to their father's properties in Kartarpur, forcing Guru Angad to reestablish the early Sikh community's centre at his native village of Khadur instead.

Death As per the Bhatt Bahis, Sri Chand died in Kiratpur on 13 January 1629. A shrine dedicated to Sri Chand can be found in Pakhoke Randhāve in Gurdaspur district, Punjab. At this shrine, there is a śiśama tree linked to Sri Chand. At Faqir Jo Goth in Thatta, Sindh, an idol of Sri Chand can be found.

Gallery