Gurdwara Shri Akal Bunga Sahib - Jalandhar

Bhai Dhanna Singh Ji, who now resides in Australia, was a resident of village ‘Bhangala’, Punjab. Bhangala was the place of residence of Sant Mani Singh Ji up until 2000, when they immigrated to America. Bhai Dhanna Singh was the first person to discover and approach Sant Mani Singh Ji, when they were found meditating in a small-uninhabited forest area of the village. The account of Bhai Dhanna Singh Ji is beautifully told, and we highly recommend that the account be listened to (all parts 1-4 of this sakhi are in this video) :

A translation of the account can be read below. This will be released in four stages, 1. The Discovery of Baba Ji 2. First Approaching Baba Ji 3.Baba Ji comes into sangat 4. Baba Ji leaves Bhangala. A transcript of Part 1 can be read below :

Part 1 – The Discovery of Sant Mani Singh Ji at Bhangala

“When Baba Ji first came to Bhangala, the residents of the village started wondering who this person was who had appeared in their village. They thought he was probably a traveller simply crossing the village to get to the next. If anyone tried to contact him, Baba Ji would just walk away and sit far away, preferring quietness to meditate. A lot of time passed by, until Baba Ji became ‘Pargat’ (revealed). Baba Ji was staying in a Bhora (meditation chamber, in this case a small hole in the ground which no one knew about), by which was a massive ditch. In fact this ditch was a once a lake, which was full of rainwater from the monsoon but due to the season change a lot of the water had dried up. There used to be a lot of fish in the lake, and boys from the village would come fishing at this spot. As only a little bit of water was left it was easier for them to catch the fish. Some boys from the village decided to go fishing one day, but had no equipment for catching them. They decided to find a cloth of some sort lying around so that they could use it to trap the fish. But they couldn’t find anything. So they wandered into the forest area where Baba Ji’s Bhora was trying to find any discarded piece of cloth. As they were searching they saw a wooden frame with a net on top of it. When one of the boys went to lift the frame and net, underneath he noticed there was a small hole in the ground that the frame was covering. When he looked underneath he saw that a Man was sitting inside this hole with his head bowed down. When they saw that there was a man sitting in this hole, they threw the frame and ran away back to the village. Around the village the news spread that there is an unknown man sitting in a hole on the outskirts of the village. This was around 1/2 pm in the afternoon.

This news spread like wildfire and all the people of the village arrived to see who was there. Everyone would come and take a glimpse, but Baba Ji remained undisturbed, their Simran and connection with Waheguru did not break. All day until late evening Baba Ji remained in this state and didn’t come out of the hole they were meditating in. I was out all day due to driving the tractor and tending to the crops. When I reached home, I asked my mother; why was there such a commotion in the village? She replied, ‘someone is sitting in a hole in the ground meditating, do you know anything about him?’ I replied that this was the first I had ever heard of him. I started laughing and said to my mother ‘the harvests are starting and someone who is lazy is probably sitting there to hide away from doing any work. He must be scared of doing work, and just wants to sit around’   ( i.e. Dhanna singh inadvertently did nindia of Baba Ji). After this I carried on with my business.

When I returned to my tractor to complete my work in the fields, the thought came into my mind that I too should at least visit this place. My field was around 500 meters away from where Baba Ji was in meditation. After completing my work around 5 pm I reached that spot. Standing there were 3 women, and 1 man. They were standing near to Baba Ji’s Bhora (i.e. the hole) and I asked them ‘Who is inside?’ The woman replied ‘a Baba is sitting inside.’ I replied ‘ why is the Baba sitting in there? It’s so hot and there are so many trees here. He can sit under a tree in the shade.’ The woman replied ‘he is in deep meditation doing paath’. I said ‘Why can’t Baba Ji come outside and do his paath instead of sitting in the heat like this?’ (i.e. Dhanna Singh at this point was still a bit dubious about who Baba Ji was, and whether they were genuine). The Women remarked that I shouldn’t say such things about a Saint, and questioned me as to why I didn’t simply come near to Baba Ji’s Bhora and see for myself, rather then stand there and complain. I replied ‘what’s the use of seeing him? The harvests are going on, it is the time when every able-bodied person should be helping in the fields. This person is probably scared of working and is just hiding here.’ For the third time the women requested me to come and look inside the hole where Baba Ji was sitting in undisturbed meditation.

Finally I accepted and walked up to the Bhora Sahib. I got onto my knees to get a proper look due to how deep the hole was. I was astonished by what I saw. Baba Ji was sitting crossed legged, and his eyes were closed. In his hand was a Simrani (rosary). On one side of Baba Ji there was a small garrvi (metal pitcher) with water inside. The whole body of Baba Ji was dripping with sweat due to the intense heat. You know how we bathe in water? That’s how water was dripping off Baba Ji’s body. The floor around them was all wet. Despite all this their consciousness was undisturbed, their Simran continued despite the intense heat. Baba Ji’s face was glowing. When I saw all this, my body started shaking and I was taken aback. I regretted what I said before, a realization came into me that I had spoke ill of a true saint. Without even looking I had said so many wrong things about Baba Ji.

To Be Continued…

End of Part 1 – Part 2 will continue how Bhai Dhanna Singh first approached Baba Ji, and the bachans Baba Ji shared with him.