Tag: saints

Guestpost

The author of this piece on Shakar Saheb aka Shakar Shah Padshah [approx. 1794 to 1830] is Late Sona Bakaya Moza, daughter of Shri Nand Lal Bakaya and wife of Shri Amar Nath Moza]. Sona Bakaya was a direct descendent of Sat Ram Bakaya [elder brother and guardian of Shakar Sahib who had no children].

Sona Bakaya Moza had written the piece in Hindi (original manuscript included in PDF) recollecting the family lore told by paternal grandmother. The work has been translated by Mr. Anil Bakaya.

Aum Shakar Sahibaya Namah

I heard this story on Shakar Sahib from my father’s mother, Veshmal Bakaya. Veshmal Bakaya was the wife of Shri Narayan joo Bakaya. I wrote the same story 60 years ago in Bhajans.

Now I am writing this from the perspective of the Bakaya khandan (family).

Shri Keshav Ram Pandit was the father of Shakar Saheb. At that time, Keshav Ram Pandit was the collector of Kamraj division. In those days, Pathans were the rulers. Shri Keshav Ram Pandit was a rich man, owning lot of land, property etc. People were jealous of him. His wife’s family lived on the banks of the river which also passed the house of the Bhans.

The pathans were cruel to Keshav Ram Pandit and he was stoned to death by the pathans in front of the eyes of his wife’s family. The descendents of Keshav Ram Pandit believed there was a famine in Kashmir during which Kehav Ram Pandit showed kindness to the farmers by not forcing them to pay taxes. The Pathans were furious because they didn’t get the taxes.

Later a bridge was built at that spot and the bridge was named Kani Kadal. A stone is called Kani in Kashmiri.

After Keshav Ram Pandit’s untimely death an outstanding amount was declared as debt owed by him. Bakaya is a term used to describe debt.

Because of this reason the family was called Bakaya family. Bakaya continued to be the last name of direct descendents of Keshav Ram Pandit.

The elder son of Keshav Ram Bakaya was Sat Ram Bakaya. The second son was Himmat Sahib. Govind Ram Bakaya was the third son. The youngest son was Shakar Sahib Bakaya. Shakar Sahib was only one year old when his father was killed.

The elder brother of Shakar Sahib, Sat Ram Bakaya was married to someone in the family of Birbal Kaul who was famous for his senior role as adviser and Minister of the Mughal emperor Akbar.

Maharaja Ranjit Singhji had given him a very good position.

He also got good properties with that position. He spent lot of the money on dharmarth.

His other brother Govindram Bakaya could not cope with the trauma resulting from his father’s terrible death by stoning. Haunted by the memory of that traumatic event, he left Kashmir with his wife and moved to Lahore.  Later we were told he eventually moved to Allahabad .

Sat Ram Bakaya and family continued to live in the Kani Kadal house.

Shri Shakar Sahib also stayed with his elder brother, because Sat Ram Bakaya did not have any children.

Govind Ram’s wife went with her children to Sathoo Barbarshah. When Shakar Sahib was 5 or 6 he started going to school. There he got a takhti and pen.

Shakar Sahib used to take his takhti and pen to school and on the takhti he used to write only RAM RAM on the takhti repeatedly. He had no interest in studies and was immersed in RAM.

One day on his way back from school, Shakar Sahib bought a kabab and roti from a Muslim shopkeeper.

In those days there were lot of differences between Hindus and Muslims. Hindus who saw him eat the food prepared by a Muslim, resented this act.

They went to his mother asking her to expel Shakar Sahib from their house. The poor mother was very sad and asked him: Why did you do this? You brought so much anguish to our society. They won’t let you stay here.

Seeing his anguished mother, he took her to the riverbank next to their house. He took out his intestines and washed them. The kabab and roti were still intact as if no one had chewed them. Every person watching this miracle was amazed. It was so unbelievable that someone could take out consumed food by emptying his stomach.

He asked all the spectators “Am I purified now or not?” The astonished spectators were dumbfounded and left the place silently.

Shakar Sahib’s mother also forgave him and allowed him to stay in their house.

This way he was engrossed in his bhajans.

His elder brother Sat Ram Bakaya owned lot of properties. He bought land in Rambagh and when asked what the purpose was for buying the land, Sat Ram Bakaya said it should be made my samadhi after I die. My brother Shakar Sahib is a “mastana”, what will he do?

At that very moment Shakar Saheb gave him a vardaan [a promise/blessing] that he will be blessed with a daughter. Her offspring will continue the family clan for generations going forward.

After some time he was, indeed blessed with a daughter. Our Bakaya family are direct descendants of Sat Ram Bakaya’s daughter. 

In those days Kripa Ram was a very wealthy person. He was a disciple of Shakar Sahib. Whenever he would pass by the river in front of Shakar Sahib’s house, he would visit Shakar Sahib. His boat had ghungroo made of silver and pedals for the boat were also made from silver. These would make a specific sound because of which Krima Ram was nicknamed Krip shrone [shrone means a particular sound made by a pedal pushing the water].

When Sat Ram Bakaya’s daughter was born, Kripa Ram gifted them two bracelets/bangles made of gold and a dussa shawl.

Kripa Ram had lot of faith in Shakar Sahib. But on one occasion he passed by and forgot to greet Shakar Sahib with a Namaskar. On this occasion his boat got stuck and was unable to move forward. Then he realized his mistake.

He started praying. He used a rope made of grass to anchor his boat to the house. He walked up to pay obeisense to Shakar Sahib. From that day whoever would pass by the bridge in front of the house would chant “Shakar Shah Padshah” before moving forward. 

As the years went by Shakar Sahib got more and more respect from disciples. His disciples included reputed families in Safa Kadal and every day after making food they would take a thali to him for bhog. One day someone made the meal jootha [impure], and when the thali was sent to Shakar Sahib two men dressed in black clothes came and said Our Shakar Shah padshah said Our Shakar Sahib does not eat this impure food. Take it back.

The same day when they returned a member of their household who held a good position in was punished by black water in accordance with orders from Raja Ranjit Singh’s darbar. 

Then he went to Mahan nand joo’s house who was a very wealthy individual. He came barefoot to Shakar Sahib and begged him for forgiveness. Shakar Sahib then comforted him and asked him not to be fearful; it was a mistake. When he was back at Maha Nand  joo’s place he found his order was withdrawn.

One of the maids of Shakar Sahib’s mother was a Muslim but he would treat every one similarly without discrimination. One day that maid said she also does Shakar Sahib’s work and asked for his blessing. Shakar sahib asked her to tell him what was her wish. The maid said she wished for her family to eat from a thali [tram] made of gold. Shakar Sahib said: Tathastoo [So be it!]. Upto now people from that village Bachgam, are more wealthy.   

Shakar sahib’s mother forced him to get married when he was only 10 years old.  In those days Dila Ram was a very wealthy person. Shakar Sahib’s marriage was arranged with Dila Ram’s daughter. 

When she was 13 she had her “gauna” after which she moved to Shakar Sahib’s house.

But whenever she would enter Shakar Sahib’s room she could not see him and could see only snakes and scorpions. For a few days she slept outside Shakar Sahib’s room. But after a few days she told her father about this experience. But her father had lot of respect for Shakar Sahib. Her father had a good chat with her and asked her to continue to stay in the house of Shakar Sahib. Sadly, she died when she was only 18.

Dila Ram did not terminate his relations with Shakar Sahib. He treated Shakar Sahib with lot of respect. He would still visit his son-in-law and take gifts to Shakar Sahib on his birthdays. The gifts would be typically a pheran made from pashmina, a dussa shawl and a pot of yoghurt/curds. When the father-in-law left, Shakar Sahib would distribute among his disciples, the birthday gifts received by him.

In Kashmir there was a village called Batgund where one of his disciples named Shankar would hold prayers for Shakar Sahib. One day Shankar’s family members came to see Shakar Saheb to give him the sad news of the passing away of Shankar. But Shakar Sahib did not believe them. He accompanied them to their village. On arrival Shakar Sahib sat next to the corpse; Shakar Sahib then lifted his cap from his head and placed it on the head of the corpse. At once, Shankar came back to life and sat up. On seeing this miracle all the people watching the miracle were stunned to see a dead man getting his life back. Since that time on that day people of that village perform a yagya/havan on the anniversary of Shakar Sahib’s birth as well as death.

Hindus as well as Muslims accepted Shakar Sahib’s extraordinary powers and Shakar Sahib was given a special title in recognition of his powers. A popular poem was composed In Kashyap’s Kashmir produced many saints but the highest level was attained by Shakar Sahib.

Several objects belonging to Shakar Sahib were preserved as relics: his sandals, his pillow, his cap, his hookah and a scroll (book) on which RAM RAM was written by him hundreds of thousands of times. It is not known where his Takhti is. But it is said touching his relics brought about quick healing to the sick. We observed his sandals were used by our family to bring to an abrupt halt natural  calamities like fire and flood. Pointing the sandal towards the advancing fire or flood would stop it from creating further damage. 

Shakar Sahib’s other brother who used to live in Sathoo preserved Shakar Sahib’s sandals and charpoy, [bed]. Shakar Sahib’s cap was preserved  in Batgund village.

After some decades Sat Ram Bakaya’s daughter got married to a Kotru boy from Rainawari. Sat Ram Bakaya was rich and gave away sandals made of gold and silver as dowry.

This  led to jealousy among people and they made verses to taunt the display of wealth selection was made from gold and diamonds. 

Sat Ram Bakaya’s daughter gave birth to a son and daughter. The son was adopted by Sat Ram Bakaya. He was named Tota Ram Bakaya. Tota Ram got married to a girl from Kaul family in Alikadal. They had 3 sons. Shri Narayanjoo, Shri Man joo and Shri Damodar joo Bakaya. Narayan Bakaya got married at the age of 9 to the only daughter of Amar Chand Khosa. The marriage ceremony took place in Nageen Bagh. A few years later there was an earthquake occurred repatedly. Every person was evacuated from their houses. People had to live in boats because their houses had fallen because of the earthquake. All their belongings and documents. Information on the year of occupation in the house. In their house a cupboard was saved from damage. Tota Ram Bakaya’s daughter was young when she was widowed. It is not known if the earthquake occurred before or after Tota Ram’s death.  

Narayan joo Bakaya’s maternal uncle used to live with them. One day he dropped a cup of food and he had marks all over his body. The marks looked as if some one had beaten him. The marks were seen as punishment from Shakar Sahib.

In about the late 1930s / early 1940s Maharaja Hari Singh’s brother-in law used to comefor home tuitions to the Bakaya family. His home tutor was late Shri Nand Lal Bakaya [also father of the author Sona Bakaya/Moza], son of Shri Narayan Joo Bakaya who was also a Master at Mission School.

The brother-in-law’s name was Omkar Singh. He used to spend a lot of time in the home of Shri Nand Lal Bakaya. One day Omkar Singh said he will go to Shakar Saheb’s prayer room in the Bakaya house. As soon as he entered the room, he got scared and thought Shakar Sahib was chasing him. Out of fear he ran away from the prayer room.

Footnotes

1. The author’s husband Amar Nath Moza did a good service to India in 1947. He happened to be in Baramulla when the Kabalis raided Kashmir. He was one of the first people to escape from Baramulla in 1947 and rushed to the Bakaya home in Kani Kadal, Srinagar. On arrival in Kani Kadal he asked his brother-in law Shri Prem Nath Bakaya to communicate news of the Kabali aggression to the right people in Delhi. Shri Prem Nath Bakaya took him to the nearest telephone at the fire station. The telephone was monitored by Pakistan informers. They called PNB’s contact, DayaNand Kachru who was Nehru’s Secretary. Daya Nand Kachru’s wife picked the phone, her husband was in the office with Nehru and his cabinet. Shri Amar Nath Moza cleverly uttered the following words “Shotur chav Varmul munz.” When Nehru came to know about the aggression, he immediately flew Indian troops to Srinagar.

2. The relics of Shakar Sahib are currently in two places Shakar Sahib’s pillow and Khadaon [footwear] are in the Jammu house of Shri Vijay Bakaya, IAS.

Anil Bakaya

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The article has been uploaded to archive.org with permission of Mr. Anil Bakaya, as part of SearchKashmir.org Free book Project

The article can be accessed here: archive.org link

Guestpost

History of saint Shakar Saheb aka Shakar Shah Padshah [approx. 1794 to 1830] active during the Sikh rule era of Kashmir based on family lore of Bakayas. 

The author of this piece on Shakar Saheb is Late Shri Prem Nath Bakaya, IAS son of Shri Jia Lal Bakaya]. Shri Prem Nath Bakaya was a direct descendent of Sat Ram Bakaya [elder brother and guardian of Shakar Sahib who had no children]. With permission of Mr. Anil Bakaya, uploaded by SearchKashmir.org Free book Project

Our family’s eminent spiritual legend, Shakar Sahib In our joint family we, even as children, were encouraged to have faith in some widely acknowledged saints. It started with an ancestor of our Bakaya family called Shakar Sahib. We were told about him as part of the Bakaya family folklore. He had been popular for his spiritual powers and some noteworthy events. In fact there were many stories of his miracles. The family maintained some of his relics in a pooja (worship) room in our Kanikadal home on the bank of the Kutakul stream which had branched out from the river Jehlum. 

 One of the stories was about an arrogant governor who ruled over Kashmir as representative of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (Maharaja of the Sikh empire 1780 to 1839). It was said that the governor took frequent tours in the city of Srinagar as a part of his inspections. He used a large boat driven by twelve sturdy rowers. He liked the sound of their rhythmic rowing; he was known by Kashmiris as Kripa – Shruni (Lover of the sound produced in perfect unison while his boat was rowed). It was said he was going in that boat, one day over the Kutakul stream. His boat could not proceed beyond the point at Kanikadal, where Shakar Sahib lived. He urged his team of rowers to proceed. They did their best but the boat did not move. He was enraged; he started scolding them. But one of the boatmen who knew of Shakar Sahib dared to stand up to suggest that they should land and pay respects to the saint. It was a practice for passersby on the boats to say “Shakar Shah Padshah” (meaning Shakar Sahib is king). The arrogant governor felt there was no option, he agreed and was taken to visit the saint. He greeted him. Shakar Sahib spoke, “It is good you came; there is a bad news, people feel you are a good ruler but a complaint has been made to the king in Lahore, you are being called and a different governor is being sent to Kashmir. You should go, explain your position. The king will be convinced and you will come again. Have faith in God almighty. Do not be arrogant, you can go.” The governor was taken aback. He became pensive. He went back to his boat which started moving. It was said this prophesy came true after about a month. He was summoned to Lahore to be reprimanded by the King – Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He was able to explain his conduct. The king asked him to wait for his decision as his dismissal was possible. After a few days he was summoned again and told the complaint was found untrue and he would be sent to Kashmir again. But he was directed to be humble while governing with strength and strictness. After I grew up I read in a history book that one governor Kriparam was the king’s representative who was in Kashmir in 1819 was recalled on some complaint but cleared and deputed for a second term. The history book did not mention about the Saint’s warning and prophecy but this was part of our family folklore which was full of many other stories of Shakar Sahib’s miracles. It was said that as a child he was precocious. He mixed freely with all boys of his age – both Kashmiri Hindus and Muslims. Once his Muslim friends bought a cooked mutton mince delicacy (harsa) from a street shop. He felt ‘tempted’ to taste this too. His Hindu companions complained to his mother that he had outraged his religion. His mother was sad, called him over and reprimanded him sharply and said he had despoiled himself and started crying. He was upset and pleaded with his mother that there was nothing to worry as all the boys were brothers there was no difference between Hindus and Muslims but she was disturbed. He assured her that he would cleanse his stomach. So he was reported to drink glasses of water which he excreted after an hour or two it contained the stuff that was said to have cleared out and off. It was said that to reassure his mother of his purity, he vomited out his intestines into the river, washed the intestines with the river water and swallowed back his intestines. Shakar Sahib’s parents forced his marriage to a young pretty daughter of a wealthy Kashmiri Brahmin, Dilaram Mandal. He resisted but was overruled and the girl joined the family as a favorite daughter-in-law. The story goes on when the girl was pushed into his room for the first night, she felt that Shakar Sahib was in deep meditation and was surrounded by a circle of very bright light. She felt endangered and could not stay on. She cried and ran out. She told her mother-in-law who was amazed, but consoled her and asked her to not be afraid but should try again next day. She could not summon the courage but she helped her mother-in-law to serve Shakar Sahib. But when she entered his room she thought she saw a snake surrounding him. She reported her experience to her own parents and her motherin-law, who also saw a snake. Her father felt it was a mistake but was convinced that her daughter may be destined to be a serving disciple of a budding saint. He used to visit Shakar Sahib on his birthdays and present him a nice Pashmina Shawl (a warm soft wool wrap) every such day and wrap it over him. It is said, Shakar Sahib, by this time had accepted a Muslim disciple. This gentleman would take over the shawl and keep it safe in his possession while Shakar Sahib looked quietly on unconcerned. When on the third or fourth anniversary the wealthy father-in-law (Mr. Dilaram Mandal) put yet another shawl around Shakar Sahib’s body, he offered his respects and left. The Muslim disciple started removing the expensive nice wrap. Shakar Sahib stopped him and said – “No, you have received back all the value of the amount I owed you as a repayable debt in my earlier birth, now onwards this will be given over to someone else deserving it.” The message in this episode is there is a limit in every relationship imposed by karma on what you owe and what needs to be repaid. Shakar Sahib’s guru was Mirza Kak Sahib and we often visited Kak Sahib’s Samadhi, the place where he was cremated on the banks of a beautiful stream a few kilometers from Kokernag on the way to Anantnag/Srinagar. In the Bakaya family we lived with these delicious but inspiring stories and always remembered the heritage of an inspiring spirituality. While we were growing, we were encouraged to join our elders’ visits to the third storey small room used as the family’s prayer room. The room was small but enriched with precious Souvenirs of our family saint, revered Shakar Sahib. A part of the headgear turban he had worn, a small notebook packed by a tiny sized writing of ‘RAMA- RAMA’ in Hindi letters, a little stick usable as a help to lean on while holding a prayer book and a worn out pair of wooden clogging which Shakar Sahib used for walking outdoors. We enjoyed the rhyme and rhythm of the hymns either Sanskrit or Hindi or even Kashmiri that the elders recited with devotion. We could remember some of the easier ones but we were attentive while the recitation was going on. The Puja – worship and prayers was a daily routine – led either by my Dad or uncle Nandlal or uncle Jejkak. This time period of half an hour to 45 minutes was very quiet and elevating. This routine daily exercise created a curiosity in me and my cousin sister Sona three to four years elder to me and we talked it over and decided to find details about Shakar Sahib. So one day the two of us approached the eldest living member of the family, NandLal’s mother Vishimaal. She told us she had not seen Shakar Sahib in person but heard many legends about him and his spiritual prowess. She said that Srinagar, at that time had a number of saints, many of them used to visit Shakar Sahib to pay respect to him. She had heard that one saint, Labi Shah who lived mostly at Tulamul (Khir Bhawani) shrine used to tell everyone “Kashapani Kashiri Mastana Setiha, Shakar Sahib chhu Sahibi Dasgah” which means, in Kashmir there are a number of Saints, Shakar Sahib has lot of power. This made Shakar Sahib known and many people visited him to pray for his favors. A Muslim lady from the neighborhood used to visit Shakar Sahib, to help serve him she told him she was very poor, she had no house of her own. Shakar Sahib asked her to walk with him in the neighborhood. He took her and they walked over around an area then he suddenly stopped and told her she would own this piece of land and have a house of her own. She felt this seemed impossible and asked him “How could this be? The land belongs to a rich man and I have no money to buy” The saint smiled and told her this was what “God willed”. After a few days the owner of the piece of land, who had lost his wife about a year ago, sent a message to this lady whether she would agree to marry him. She was aware that she was a poor woman, while he was quite rich. She felt this was not possible but the man repeated the offer. They married and constructed a house on that plot of land and he gifted this house to her while they lived there as husband and wife. Veshmal told us that she had heard of some stories of miracles performed by Shakar Sahib. She said the saint was approached by his neighbors to save them from an epidemic of cholera which had appeared and caused lot of panic, as a result of some deaths. He told them he would pray to God and asked them to walk with him from his house in Kani Kadal to Sathu, while he continued to pray in silence. It was found that the entire area was saved. No case of cholera occurred in that large area. In another instance, a relative of Bakayas living at a short distance was frightened when a house near his caught fire and had started moving in the direction of his house because of the strong wind. He ran to our house and took a holy relic, a Takhiti, a flat piece of wood on which the Saint had written “RAMA RAMA” and held it against the wind. He said that the fire changed direction and his house was saved. Veshmaal’s Dad said he was a personal witness to this miracle, while the saint was not personally living. I came to see an article written by someone whose name was not written there. Actually the K P Journal “Koshur Samachar” issued one or two issues exclusively covering stories about the many Saints and spiritually advanced Gurus (Teachers) who were very popular in Kashmir over a period and some who were living. I could not get access to the issue of that main journal which mentioned Shakar Sahib but the one printed journal I received seemed an auxiliary journal called the “Khir Bhawani Times” the issue was dated Jammu 1998.  The article in this journal was purported to be written by one member of the Bakaya family. He has mentioned some instances of miraculous powers of Shakar Sahib related to him by a cousin, one Mr. Radhakrishan Bakaya. These seem to be stories of unbelievable character, but the world of saints and savants is believed to be extraordinary. For instance it says Shakar Sahib’s mother was scared when she saw him cross over the flowing kutakul with his wooden clogging in his feet or when he would climb a standing wooden pole. He is stated to invite other Saints and savants and entertain them, provide food on certain occasions and sometimes tea. Usually he remained silent and absorbed in meditation, feeling comfortable in their company. One story recites an occasion where Mr. Dilaram and his family took Shakar Sahib to Khir Bhawani – something happened and he felt upset and just walked away. They tried to stop him but he started running and did not stop. After some days he was found to have reached village Khrew, quite a distance, where another saint, Jeevan Sahib, resided with his disciples. The saint was expecting another saint to come over and asked his disciples to prepare to receive him. He arrived and saint Jeevan Sahib embraced him. His disciples asked who he was as they saw their Guru very excited and overjoyed meeting him. Saint Jeevan Sahib told them that in their previous birth both of them were co-disciples of a great Guru and he (Jeevan Sahib) was the elder one, and the time came for him to give up his body, he prayed to his Guru that in their next birth both of them should be born in places near each other so they could continue to meet and advance their spiritual career together. He told them that the great Guru had obliged and now he was expecting him to meet Shakar Sahib. After few days the story goes Shakar Sahib was told by Saint Jeevan Sahib that Shakar Sahib’s wife was very ill and nearing her death. He told him he should go and see her at Srinagar. Shakar Sahib reached Srinagar and went to the cremation ground where his father and brother Hemant had brought the dead body. He told his brother to perform the funeral rites treating her as his mother. His brother agreed and Shakar Sahib stayed on till the rites and the cremation ended. Then he went to stay in the Kanikadal house. After sometime he is said to have gone to a village Batagund near Sopore where he had two of his disciples one Shankar Lal and another Hyder Ali. He saw Hyder lying unconscious taken for dead but he called him, then he put his own cap on his head. Hyder woke and stood up to pay his regards. Shakar Sahib is said to have given up his body when he was just 36 years old. As I have said already, we in the Bakaya home used to attend the daily puja performed every morning by our elders. I recall that we felt very peaceful and happy. Whenever anyone in the family faced any problem, he or she visited the room and meditated, focusing on his memory and the holy relics. Doing this made them forget their worries and could feel the tension dissipate. My wife Parma lost both her parents when she was in her 20’s and used to cry for them for several years. She felt a presence of Shakar Sahib as a young boy consoling her. We used to pray to him for success in exams and other important occasions including marriages in order to receive his blessings.

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The article has been uploaded to archive.org with permission of Mr. Anil Bakaya, as part of SearchKashmir.org Free book Project

The article can be accessed here: archive.org link