KRIPA SINGH AND SANMUKH SINGH WERE KASHMIRI PANDITS

( Kashmiri Pandits headed by Pandit Kripa Ram Datt visiting Guru Tegh Bahadur at Anandpur Sahib )

KRIPA SINGH AND SANMUKH SINGH, WHO SACRIFICED THEIR LIVES IN THE BATTLE OF CHAMKAUR ( PUNJAB) WERE KASHMIRI PANDITS 

Kashmiri Pandits maintained close ties with the Sikh Gurus. When Guru Nanak Dev Ji visited Mattan town, Pandit Brahm Dass Datt became a follower of the Guru. Later, Pandit Narain Dass Datt, son of Brahman Dass, met Guru Hargobind Ji and became his follower. Pandit Aru Ram Datt, son of Pandit Narain Dass Datt met Guru Har Rai Ji and became his follower.  Aru Ram embraced Sikhism and was known as Gurmukh Singh. Pandit Kirpa Ram Datt led a delegation of Kashmiri Pandits to Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji, who was camping at Chak e Nanaki, now known as    Anandpur Sahib. His brother Sanmukh Ram Datt. was a member of this delegation. After the martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur, Ji, both brothers stayed with the child Gobind Rai, who later became Guru Gobind Singh . Pandit Kripa Ram had profound knowledge of the Shastras and the Sanskrit language. Apart from other things, Pandit Kripa Ram imparted the knowledge of Sanskrit to the child Gobind Rai ( Guru Gobind Singh Ji ). Both brothers embraced Sikhism and took Amrita from the hands of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. Both joined Guru Gobind Singh Ji in his battle against the Mughal forces at Chamkaur Sahib and sacrificed their lives as martyrs. Both brothers are held in high regard in Sikh history and listed amongst the forty Muktas ( liberated souls ). In 1989, Badri Nath Sidha, an elderly Brahmin priest from Mattan, told me this :

" After the martyrdom of Pandit Kripa Ram and Pandit Sanmukh Ram, the other two brothers of Pandit Kripa Ram left Mattan for fear of being hounded by the Mughal Subedar. One moved to Punjab and later to some place in UP, possibly Nainital( now in Uttarakhand ) hills, while the other moved to Srinagar City and lived a life of anonymity. Both were married. A person from the Datt family from UP has also signed our Bahi ( family record ). Presently, also two Datt families live in Rainawari, Srinagar ." 

To what Badri Nath Sidha said, I need to add this :-

(1) I worked as manager of a public sector bank branch in Mattan from 1986 till November 1989, and remember having opened a bank account for a person who belonged to the Datt family living in Mattan. There was one ( could be two also ) family with Datt as its surname living in Mattan during the period of my stay over there . They were Brahmins.

(2)  Some writers inform that the Antyeshti of 40 Muktas from the Chamkaur Sahib battle was performed by Guru Gobind SinghJi. This needs verification.

And  Pandit Kripa  Ram Datt features prominently in Neel-gatha, an epic poem of poet Agnishekhar ( poem no 11 of the 7th story canto titled Ananadpur Sahib  ). The epic poem has been translated into English by the blogger. The specific poem is as under:-

(Tears trickled down without break from Kripa Ram’s eyes.

Every pore of his body shivered with the catastrophe (Killing of Guru Tegh Bahadur).

Every person stood near him.

Suddenly, Nilalnaga appeared before him and said:

 “A true master (Guru Tegh Bahadur),

He was in every light, in every illumination.

Who can cut off the flame of the Eternal Being?

To kill Vratra, didn’t Lord Indra build his Vajra weapon from the mortal remains of Dadeecha?

Didn’t Guru Arjun Dev give his life smilingly on a burning iron?

I can see it,
Our struggle will be long,
But the end of tyranny is near.

Offer yourselves to the Guru’s family.
Have you forgotten Guru Nanak’s words

That he spoke two centuries back?

 'If you want to play the game of love,

Put your head down and come my way,
Walk this path carefully.
Give your head,
Do not deny or refuse.' "

 Kripa Ram stood up,

And turned towards the child Gobind (the tenth Guru).
He and his companions,
Like shadows, stood with him at the Chamkaur Sahib battle,

They were among the forty enlightened souls who sacrificed their lives.

And no less valiant were the five hundred petitioners (Pandits)

Who accompanied Kripa Ram.

Now, newer Bodhisattvas will be born,

Who shall guide the permanent achievement of the final objective.

They shall be born in every age, in every era.)

( Avtar Mota ) 

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