Giani Dit Singh
| Giani Dit Singh | |
 | |
| Full Name : | Giani Ditt Singh |
| Birth : | 21 April 1850, Kalaur, Distt Fatehgarh Sahib |
| Parents : | Diwan Singh |
| Spouse : | Bishan Kaur |
| Children : | Son: Baldev Singh, Daughter: Vidyavant Kaur, |
| Death : | 6 September, 1901, Lahore, Pakistan |
| Other Info: | Singh Sabha Activist, Poet, Scholar, Editor, Professor, Authored 71 Books |
Giani Ditt Singh (1850 - 1901) was a scholar, poet, editor and an eminent Singh Sabha Reformer. He was born on April 21, 1850 at village Kalaur in the district of Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab India.
Early Life
His ancestral village was Jhalhan, near Chamkaur Sahib, but his father, Divan Singh, had migrated to his wife's village, Kalaur. Divan Singh, a Ravidasia by caste and a weaver by trade, was a religious minded person who had earned the title of Sant for his piety. Himself an admirer of the Gulabdasi sect, he sent Ditt Singh at the age of nine, to be educated under Sant Gurbakhsh Singh at Dera Gulabdasian in the village of Tior, near Kharar in Ropar district. Ditt Singh studied Gurmukhi, prosody, Vedanta and Nlti-Sastra at the Dera, and learnt Urdu from Daya Nand, a resident of Tior. At the age of 16-17, he shifted to the main Gulabdasi centre at chhathianvala, near Kasur, in Lahore district. Formally initiated into the sect of Sant Desa Singh, he became a Gulabdasi preacher. Not long afterwards, he came under the influence of Bhai Jawahir Singh, formerly a follower of Gulabdasi sect, who had joined the Arya Samaj.
Giani Ji in Arya Samaj
Having moved from one centre of learning to another, Ditt Singh became knowledgeable enough to hold in-depth discussions with eminent religious scholars like Sadhu Dayanand and others. It is worthwhile to look at some of these discussions; one of these appears below.
"Arya Samaj" was, initially, an institution which was working towards the removal of casteism and ritualism. Giani ji along with Bhai Jawahar Singh joined this movement. Swami Dayanand was the torch-bearer of this movement. However, Giani ji soon found that the Arya Samaj Chief, Swami Dayanand’s belief in the supremacy of Vedas was overwhelming as was the similar assertion made by the Muslims regarding the holy Koran.
The Swami did not believe in the existence of any other religion apart from Hinduism. This was, again, a narrow parochial approach to the multi-cultural and multi-religious societies of the world. Both Bhai Jawahar Singh and Giani Ditt Singh planned to set things right.
During a religious gathering in 1877 at Lahore, Giani ji visited Swami Dayanand along with Bhai Jawahar Singh "to know his mind and to know his ideals". During the discussions, a questions and answers situation arose with Swami Dayanand. This dialogue is quoted below as per the words of Giani Ditt Singh. The question are by Giani ji and the answers are by Swami Dayanand:
"Q: Who is the Creator of this universe?
A: The Lord (Ishwar)
Q: Does the Lord create the universe from Himself or from something else?
A: How can the Lord create the universe from Himself? He is without form (Nirakaar). He creates the world from four atoms.
Q: Where from does the Lord bring these atoms?
A: The Lord joins the atoms floating in the sky and creates the universe.
Q: How many atoms help making this universe and how does the Lord create the universe around them? Can you explain - sequentially and systematically?
A: The atoms of earth, water and air roam around freely in air that the Lord mixes them as per the requirement and creates the universe, e.g., he creates earth from earth atoms, water from water atoms, fire from fire atoms and air from air atoms.
Q: Were these four elements existing earlier than the Lord of were created by the Lord?
A: The Lord is non-existent that he could create the solid elements from His soul. The elements of these four atoms existed already which the Lord united to create the universe.
Q : From your statement the Lord appears to be like a mason who collects and joins bricks, sand, lime, and wood, etc., to make a house. He is not a creator of atoms but creator of a structure from these items? ….. He is like a women who cooks food from various items?"
Hearing these comments Swami Dayanand became angry. The dialogue continued but, at the end, he said angrily, "Go and say that I (Gyani Ditt Singh have won and Swamiji has lost."20
This showed the shallowness of Swami Dayanand’s knowledge. Gyani Ditt Singh held three such discussions with Swami Daya Nand with the same results. The details of these discussions are available in his book Sadhu Daya Nand Naal Mera Sambad. Swami Dayanand stood exposed in all these discussions. This made a great impression of Gyaniji on the listeners and he became very popular and acceptable among Sikhs.
Singh Sabha Lahore
Ditt Singh also became an Arya Samajist. He was introduced to "Swami" Daya Nand, the founder of the Arya Samaj, during the latter's visit to Lahore in 1877. Soon, however, he and his friend, Jawahir Singh, were drawn into the Sikh fold through Bhai Gurmukh Singh, then an active figure in the Singh Sabha movement. In 1886, Bhai Gurmukh Singh, following the establishment of the Lahore Khalsa Diwan parallel to the one at Amritsar, floated a weekly newspaper, the Khalsa Akhbar. Though its first editor was Giam Jhanda Singh Faridkoti, the principal contributor was Giani Ditt Singh, who soon took over editorship from him.
Being one of the founding members of the Singh Sabha of Lahore, he made the Singh Sabha a great movement through his speeches and writings. As an educator, he not only helped in the setting up of Khalsa College, Amritsar, but also wrote textbooks for the students of the college. Author of 71 books, a major forum for his writing was the Khalsa Akhbar, in which he wrote on current issues. Giani Dit Singh was an editor of this prominent Punjabi newspaper of the time.
Giani Ditt Singh wielded a powerful pen and was equally at home in prose as well as in verse. He wrote more books and pamphlets on Sikh theology and history and on current polemics. He died at Lahore on September 6, 1901. The loss was mourned widely by the Sikhs.
Death
Ditt Singh was very fond of his daughter who was a highly precocious child. Her death on 17 June 1901 was a great blow to Ditt Singh, who had already been under a strain owing to persistently heavy work since the death in 1898 of Bhai Gurmukh Singh. He still continued to work with patience and fortitude, but his health deteriorated rapidly and he fell seriously ill. A Muslim doctor, Rahlm Khan, treated him but it was of no avail. Giani Ditt Singh died at Lahore on 6 September 1901. The loss was mourned widely by the Sikhs.
His works
Well-known among his works are: Guru Nanak Prabodh, Guru Arjan Chariltar, Dambh Bidaran, Durga Prabodh, Panth Prabodh, RajPrabodh, Mera ate Sadhu Dayanand da Sambad, Naqh SiAh Prabodh and Panth Sudhar Binai Pattar. He also published accounts of the martyrdoms of Tara Singh of Van, Subeg Singh, Matab Singh Mirankotia , Taru Singh and Bota Singh.
Bhai Vir Singh on Giani Ditt Singh
After Giani Ditt Singh's demise, a poem was published in the Khalsa Samachar about Giani Ditt Singh by Bhai Vir Singh.
ਜਾਗੋ ਜਾਗੋ ਜੀ ਦਿੱਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਪਿਆਰੇ, ਕੌਮ ਬੈਠੀ ਸਿਰਹਾਣੇ ਜਗਾਵੇ|
Jago jago ji Ditt Singh piare, Qaum baithee sirane jagawe.
Wake up, wake up, O Ditt Singh ji dear, The nation (Sikh qaum) is sitting near you pillow.
ਕਿਓਂ ਕੀਤੀ ਨੀਂਦ ਪਿਆਰੀ, ਕਿਓਂ ਜਾਗ ਤਹਾਨੂੰ ਨਾ ਆਵੇ |
Kion kiti neend piaree, kion jaag tuhanun na aave.
Why don’t you wake up?
ਕਦੀ ਕੌਮ ਜਗਾਈ ਸੀ ਤੈਨੇ, ਲਮੇ ਕਢ ਕਢ ਵੈਣ ਤੇ ਹਾਵੇ| ਹਾਂ!
Kadi qaum jagaayee si taine, lame kaddh kaddh vain te haave. Han!
Once you awakened the entire nation.
By praying, crying, howling and growling,
ਜਾਗ ਕੇ ਕੌਮ ਭਲੱਕੜ, ਆਪ ਸੋਂ ਗਝ ਹੋ ਬੇਦਾਵੇ |
Jagaike qaum bhulakad, aap saun gaye hoi bedawe.26
Now after awakening the forgetful nation.
Yourself have gone to sleep unattached.
Institutions In Name of Giani Ditt Singh
- A 15 member memorial committee was formed with Arjan Singh Bagarian as chairman. Notable memorials honoring his name were Giani Ditt Singh Khalsa Boarding House in Lahore and Bhal Ditt Singh Library opened at Sikh Kanya Mahavidyala Ferozepur by Bhal Takhat Singh, one of his former students and close friend. Giani Ditt Singh Memorial International Society, Chandigarh is regularly organizing functions in his memory. The society released a book, Bhai Ditt Singh Giani: Jeevan, Rachna Te Shaksiat authored by Dr Karnail Singh Somal, who also born in village Kaluar. Karnail Singh had through his work, more than a 100 years after the death of Giani Dit Singh , attempted to take the reader back into the latter half of 19th century to elucidate events and personalities that helped shape Giani Dit Singh.
External links
- (Extracted from http://www.panthic.org/?y=2006&m=04&d=23 )
- Further reading at sikh review article on Giani Ditt singh
