[ p. 120 ]
Sain was a disciple of Ramanand and consequently lived in the end of the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth century of the Christian era. He was a barber at the court of Raja Ram, king of Rewa, then called Bandhavgarh. The tendency of the age was towards devotion and religious composition, and Sain found leisure in the midst of his duties to study the hymns of Ramanand, shape his life on the principles inculcated in them, and successfully imitate their spirit and devotional fervour.
The accomplishments and duties of an Indian court barber at the time of Sain were and are still of a miscellaneous character. He is something of a surgeon and ordinarily a marriage or match-maker, he oils the king’s body, shampoos his limbs, pares his nails, shaves his face and head, if he be a Hindu, and clips his moustache, if he be a Musalman; amuses him with gossip and tales ; often plays the rebeck and sings his own compositions, which deftly combine flattery of his master with social satire or pleasantry. [1]
God is said by the Hindu chronicler to have cherished Sain as a cow her calf. He frequented the society of holy men and was very happy in their company. He performed for them all menial offices, for he believed that serving saints was equivalent to serving God Himself.
The Bhagat Mal contains a legend which at once [ p. 121 ] illustrates Sain’s devotion to saints and the estimation in which he was held for his piety. When going one day to perform his usual ministrations for king Raja Ram, he met some holy men on the way. He thought it was his first duty to attend to them. He took them with him, and began to render them the customary services. With the greatest mental satisfaction to himself he gave them consecrated and secular food to relieve their souls and bodies. In thus acting Sain disregarded his duty to the king and braved his displeasure.
The legend states that a holy man, by God’s favour, in order to avert the king’s wrath and save Sain from punishment, assumed his appearance, and having gone and performed the customary duties for the king, took his departure. Soon after Sain arrived and began to apologize for his delay. The king said, ‘ Thou hast only just gone after the usual services to me ; why apologize ? ’ Sain replied, ‘ I have not been here. Perhaps thy Majesty say est so to excuse my absence’. The Raja then knew that a special providence had intervened and performed for him the usual tonsorial duties. He was at once converted, fell at Sain’s feet, worshipped him as his guru, and thus sought an asylum in God. It had at any rate at the time of the composition of the Bhagat Mal become an established custom that the successive kings of the house of Bandhavgarh should always be disciples of the descendants of Sain. They are now said to be followers of Kabir. [2]
The following hymn of Sain in the Dhanasari measure is found in the Granth Sahib : —
Having made an oblation of incense, lamps, and clarified butter,
I go to offer them to Thee, O God. [3] [ p. 122 ]
Hail to Thee, O God, hail !
Ever hail to Thee, O Sovereign God !
Thy name is the best lamp, meditation thereon the purest wick;
Thou alone art the Bright One, O God.
It is the saints of God who feel divine pleasure ;
They describe Thee as all-pervading and the Supreme Joy. [4]
Thou, of fascinating form, O God, float us over the ocean of terror.
Sain saith, worship the Supreme Joy. [5]
Beaumarchais was censured by contemporary writers for the diversity of accomplishments of the hero of his great comedy—‘Figaro le barbier, beau diseur, mauvais poete, hardi musicien, grand fringueneur de guitare, et jadis valet de chambre du comte, établi dans Seville, y faisant avec succes des barbes, des romances, et des manages, y maniant dgalement le fer du phtebotome et le piston.’ ↩︎
The Bhagat Mal of Maharaja Raghuraj Sinh of Rewa. He stated that he was the tenth in descent from the Raja at whose court Sain lived. ↩︎
Kawalapati, literally—Lord of Lakshmi. ↩︎
This and the preceding line are also translated —
It is Ramanand who knoweth devotion to God ;
It is he who can describe the Perfect Primal Joy. ↩︎
This hymn is included in the Arati, a divine service of the Sikhs when lamps are lit in the evening. ↩︎