The Minas And Their Literature By Jeevan Deol

[dalsingh101]

I found this fascinating myself. Gives an account of the rival movement initiated by Prithi Chand contesting Guru Arjan Dev ji's Gurgaddi. Prithi Chand was Guru Arjan's older brother for those that do not know. Well worth a read. Try and include the endnotes too, as many interesting facts are given there.

Hope you enjoy.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go2081/is_n2_v118/ai_n28711541/

Edited June 18, 2010 by dalsingh101

[dalsingh101]

Found this bit in the article relating to the relationship between Raja Janak and Guru Nanak, as this was bought up in another thread.

A major component of the discourse of stigmatization and marginalization that was applied to the Minas was the orthodox contention that the Minas had broken faith with the panth by composing and disseminating heterodox literature, particularly spurious writings attributed to the Gurus. As early as the beginning of the eighteenth century, mainstream Sikh tradition began to contend that the existence of Mina bani(9) composed in the name of Guru Nanak had caused Guru Arjan to compile the Adi Granth in order to safeguard the sanctity of the Gurus' authentic compositions.(10) Other texts of the period claim that the Minas interpolated the janamsakhis(11) portraying Guru Nanak's life with stories that denigrated him by claiming that Nanak had been the disciple of a Hindu raja in a past life or that he had exercised the droit de seigneur with a landowner's daughter in his present incarnation. Thus, tradition explains, Sikhs petitioned Guru Gobind Singh's contemporary Bhai Mani Singh to write a proper, uninterpolated janamsakhi for the panth:

The Sikhs said, "The chhote mel [Minas] put whatever they wanted in the gostis [discourses] they wrote. They wrote that Guru Nanak married the daughter of a Ranghar and was a disciple of Raja Janak They polluted the gostis by doing so.".(12)

Edited February 21, 2010 by dalsingh101

[amardeep]

Mohsin Fani also writes that all sikhs he met thought that Guru Nanak was Raja janak in his previous life

[dalsingh101]

Mohsin Fani also writes that all sikhs he met thought that Guru Nanak was Raja janak in his previous life

The impression one gets of that period is one that appears quite confused in terms of ideology and cohesion in the panth, especially with the contention by Prithi Chand. There seemed to have been a profusion of spurious literature during the period (from the orthodox point of view)? The Mina movement seems to have been quite a powerful one. Even Bani written with the name of Nanak from that quarter was quite popular according to the article.

Anyway, regarding Raja Janak, the key points are:

1) Did Guru Nanak ever say anything that supported the notion of his being Raja Janak in a previous birth?

2) Is there anything in bani from subsequent Gurus which unequivically supports this notion? (Note: references using allegorical references to Raja Janak don't count).

[Kam1825]

1) Did Guru Nanak ever say anything that supported the notion of his being Raja Janak in a previous birth?

No

2) Is there anything in bani from subsequent Gurus which unequivically supports this notion?

No

The assumption is used as Hindu Texts state that Janak freed the captive souls in hell and it is believed that Guru Nanak DEv Ji was the one who came to the earth when those captive souls had taken birth and they needed to be liberated by Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

The Bhatts and Guru Arjan Dev Ji state that Guru nanak Dev Ji were the manifestation of the Lord.