Dhanna, generally known as Dhanna Jat, is said to have been born in the year A. D. 1415. He lived in the village of Dhuan in Tank territory, about twenty miles from the Deoli cantonments in Rajputana. A religious bent was given to his genius from his earliest years. A Brahman went to his parents’ house to worship. On seeing the ceremonials, Dhanna asked for an idol so that he too might worship on his own account in imitation of the Brahman. The Brahman at first put him off with excuses, but, when Dhanna further importuned, he handed him a small black stone for his youthful devotion. Dhanna took it up, applied it to his eyes and head, and began to worship it in imitation of the Brahman. The ceremony observed was this: — Dhanna first bathed himself, then bathed the stone, and put on it a tilak or patch made from the mud [ p. 107 ] of a neighbouring tank. He had no sweet basil dear to gods and idols, but he offered green leaves instead, and then performed the customary devotional homage and prostration. [2]
When Dhanna’ s mother brought him bread he put it in front of the idol, and shutting his eyes sat down hard by. He waited long in hope that the idol would eat, but, on finding that it would not, became sad and distressed. He repeatedly clasped his hands in supplication, and, when that form of inducement proved unavailing, began to ply the idol with boyish flatteries At last, when all failed, he threw the bread into the tank, by which he meant to clearly show the idol that if it did not eat it, he would not eat it himself. Some days passed in this way until Dhanna was wellnigh dead from weakness produced by thirst and hunger. At last the Brahman, anxious to confer a blessing on the youthful saint, appeared to him and urged him to satisfy his appetite. Dhanna did so and revived to pursue his devotions with even greater fervour than before.
The Brahman again paid Dhanna a visit, and on seeing his progress towards spiritual perfection prostrated himself before him and shed tears of love. By Dhanna’s contemplation, worship, and repetition of the Name, God was gladdened, and the Brahman, through Dhanna* s devotion, obtained, it was said, the object of his desires both in this world and the next.
Dhanna was supernaturally directed to go to Banaras and receive the spell of initiation from Ramanand. He accordingly did so. Ramanand oil seeing his purity of heart and devotion, recognized him as a great saint and apostle, and duly initiated him as a disciple. In due time Ramanand, [ p. 108 ] having enjoined the service of the saints . on him as a special duty, dismissed him with every token of love and respect, and Dhanna on reaching his home duly followed his spiritual guide’s injunctions.
One day, as Dhanna was taking wheat to sow, he met some holy men who urged their necessities. Accordingly, he bestowed his seed- wheat on them. God, on seeing Dhanna’ s charity to his saints, said, ’ He who casteth corn in the ground expecteth a return several times . greater. Now Dhanna putteth corn into the mouths of My saints, so I must give him a thousandfold return.’ Dhanna’s field accordingly flourished so much better than the fields of his neighbours that it became the subject of general congratulation. Dhanna thought the congratulations were merely jeers and jests, until one day he paid a visit to his field. Then he found that what people had been saying was really true. He became absorbed in the love of God, and redoubled his devotion to Him and His saints. His land is still called Dhanne Bhagat ka khet, or Saint Dhanna’s field. It is said that the black stone of his youthful worship was subsequently embedded in one q| the walls of his temple.
… Nabhaji concludes his account of Dhanna with the following invocation : — ’ O God Indar, how prudent and wise art thou who madest thy thunderbolt out of the bones of Dadhich, king of the Rikhis ! Why hast thou not lifted up and taken away this wretched heart of mine which is millions of times harder than adamant, since it is not in the slightest degree softened on reading the story of Dhanna and hearing of God’s kindness, love, and affection for His saints ? 3
Though Dhanna began life as an idolater, it is clear from the following hymn that he became in riper years a worshipper of the one God, and renounced all superstitious practices.
[ p. 109 ]
ASA
In Gobind, Gobind, Gobind was Namdev’s heart absorbed;
A calico-printer worth half a dam became worth a lakh.
Abandoning weaving and stretching thread, Kabir devoted his love to God’s feet ;
Though a weaver of low family he obtained untold virtues.
Rav Das who used to remove dead cattle, abandoned worldly affairs,
Became distinguished, and in the company of the saints obtained a sight of God.
Sain, barber and village drudge, [3] well known in every house,
In whose heart the Supreme God dwelt, is numbered among the saints.
Having heard all this I, a Jat, applied myself to God’s service ;
I have met God in person [4] and great is the good fortune of Dhanna. [5]
The following hymns of Dhanna afford abundant additional evidence that he by further study and meditation embraced a purer form of worship than that of his early youth. After a confessedly sinful life Dhanna met the guru, who united him with God
Wandering and roaming many births have passed away ; my body, mind, and fortune [6] remain not constant.
Attached to and stained with the sins of covetousness and lust, I have forgotten God, the diamond.
The fruit of sin is sweet to the demented mind ; it knoweth not excellent meditation.
My love, turning in a different direction from virtue, increaseth, and I again weave the web of birth and death. [ p. 110 ]
I did not know the way of recognizing Him who dwelleth in the heart ; [7] I burned in the fire of worldly love and fell into Death’s noose.
I collected so many fruits of sin and filled my heart with them, that I forgot God the Supreme Being.
When the guru caused the wealth of divine knowledge to enter me, I meditated on God, and accepted in my heart that He was One,
I have embraced the love and service of God and known comfort ; I am satiated and satisfied, and have obtained salvation.
He in whose heart God’s light which filleth creation is contained, recognizeth God who cannot be deceived.
Dhanna hath obtained God [8] as his wealth ; [9] meeting with saints he hath become absorbed in Him.
God is the universal Preserver.
O my heart, why thinkest thou not of the God of mercy ? Why ignorest thou not all besides ?
Wert thou to run through the universe and the continents of the earth, it would not avail thee ; only what the Creator doeth cometh to pass.
He who made the body with its ten gates in the water of its mother’s womb,
Nourisheth it and preserveth it in its fiery home ; such a Lord is ours.
The female tortoise liveth in the water ; its young remain on land ; they have no mother’s wings to shelter them, and no milk to drink,
Yet God, the All-pervading, the Primal Joy, the Delightful feedeth them ; understand this in thy heart.
A worm is embedded in a stone, and there is no exit for it :
Saith Dhanna, God filleth it ; O my soul, fear not.
Dhanna in order to maintain himself while engaged [ p. 111 ] in his devotions prays for the means of subsistence.
DHANASAKI
O God, I Thine afflicted servant come to Thee : —
Thou arrangest the affairs of those who perform Thy service.
Dal, flour, [10] and ghi I beg of Thee
So shall my heart be ever happy.
Shoes and good clothes,
The seven sorts of corn, [11] I beg of Thee.
Milch cows and buffaloes I beg ;
A good Turkistani mare,
And a good wife,
The slave Dhanna beggeth of Thee. [12]
For some local inquiries made regarding Dhanna we are indebted to Colonel E. R. Penrose, Cantonment Magistrate of Deoli. ↩︎
Before adoration the Hindus perform a ceremony called pran pratishta, which consists, as they believe, in infusing life into the idol. In this the idolatry of the Hindus appears to differ from that of other races. ↩︎
Butkaria, from butti, forced labour. ↩︎
Partakh, the Latin praesens. ↩︎
In the Granth Sahib this hymn is headed Mahala V, under which the compositions of Guru Arjan are included, but there appears no doubt that it was Dhanna’s composition. ↩︎
Dhan, literally — wealth. It is very likely this word is an expletive. ↩︎
Also translated—The manner of knowing God did not enter my heart. ↩︎
Dharnidhar, literally — the Sustainer of the earth. ↩︎
Dhan, the saint puns on the similarity of the word to his own name. ↩︎
By sidha, literally, uncooked food given to fakirs, is generally meant flour. Some read sindha, which means rock salt, ↩︎
And; sat sika is the same as satnaja, ‘ a mixture of seven kinds of grain bestowed on a caste of people called Dakaunt on certain occasions, for the benefit of a person who is supposed to be under the evil influence of some planet, the grain being equal in weight to the body of the person’— The Ludhiana PanjdU Dictionary.
Anaj sat sika is also translated— corn grown on a field ploughed seven times, called in Panjabi sat sian lanian. ↩︎
As asking God for worldly favours is deemed inconsistent with the saintly character, the gyanis have exercised their ingenuity in finding one or more fanciful meanings for almost every substantive in the above hymn. For instance, dal is made the subjection of the passions, sJdha, or flour, is rectitude, ghi is God’s love, &c., &c They who choose may adopt such interpretations. It must be remembered, however, that Dhanna was a husbandman, and for the sake of his calling and livelihood, to say nothing of his devotions, generally needed what he prayed for. ↩︎