Census of India 1891: Punjab and its Feudatories Part I - The Report on the Census (Vol. XIX)

· 1892 · Public domain (published pre-1930) · archive.org ↗

1Sects. ] DAbU.

287. DAda@.—A later and more noticeable product of the teaching of RAmé-

3nand was DAdi, the cotton cleaner of Ahmaddb4d, He is stated to have been

4the sixth in spiritual descent from R4m4nand, which would imply that he

5flourished about 1600 A.D. Other accounts make, him a contemporary of Dard

6Shikoh ; others still a contemporary of Gobind Singh. He appears to have been ~

7a great traveller, but his chief residence was at Nar4nia in Jaipur territory, in the

8neighbourhood of which he was absorbed into thedeity. He had fifty-two disci-’

9ples who spread his doctrines through Rajptitana and the neighbouring provinces.

10The chief of these were Rajjab, Gharfb Das and Sundar Dds; and othersalso are‘

11named, such as Jaisa, Pray4g Dds, Bakhnagf, Shankar Dds, Babé Sanwarf Dds

12Beat boat sie and Madho Das. Of these Rajjab, the first disciple of Dadd

13Gbarty Dist. : 4,183 was 2 Musalmdn, and it is said there are Musalmdns

14tndar Dis» + 34 who follow Dédi, the Hindu’D4ddpunthis being palled

15Nagi in contra-distinction to the Musalmans who are called Utrddf, Gharib DAs

16was a poet and composed many songs which are popular among Hindus, His fol-

17lowers are said to be mostly Chamérs; they cut their hair short and wear cotton

18quilting. Sundar D4s again was the author of a book called Sakya, “a com-

19pilation of hymns and religious compositions said to resemble the Sikh granth

20in its doctrine,”

21Dadi appears to have taught the unity of God, “To this day,” writes Mr.

22Coldstream, “the Dadipanthias use the phrase Sat R4m, the True God, as a

23current phrase expressive oftheir creed. He forbids the worship of idols and

24did not build temples ; now temples are built by his followers who say that they

25worship in them ‘the book’.” “ The worship,” writes Professor Wilsdh, “is ad-

26dressed to R4ma, but it is restricted to the japa, or repetition of his name, and

27the R4ma intended is the deity negatively described in the Veddnta theology.”

28In fact the doctrine of D4dii is sometimes described as pantheistic. It is con-

29tained in several works in the Bhdsha tongue which are said to include many of

30the sayings of Kabir. The chief of these are the Dddubdnf, the Sakya-granth *

31above alluded to, and the Janmlfla, which contains accounts of the guru and his

32followers.

33The followers of D4dii are mainly to be found in Jaipur and Udaipur; those in

34the Punjab are for the most part in the districts near Rajpiitana, and from our

35‘returns would appear to be strongest in Rohtak and Hiss4r, They are nomin-

36ally divided into the Viraktas, or ascetics, the Nagas, or mercenary warriors,

37and the Bistardh4ris, who follow the ordinary avocations of life. The Nagas are a

38well-known item of the armies of Jaipur and other Rajptitdna States, but do not

39appear to be known in the Punjab. The Dddtipanthfs proper are celibates, but

40both men and women are admitted into the community, and a great many have

41taken to,marriage without ceasing to be known as Ddddpanthis. The guru

42‘originally preachedasceticism ; he would take no gifts or lands, and directed his

43plollowers to beg their bread and worship God ; but many of them are merchants,

44especially grain merchants, and wealthy men. The celibates of to-day wear

45white cloths, in contrast to most other SAdhs who wear red; they abjure flesh

46and wine, and they shave both beard and moustache. They wear necklaces

47and have white round caps on their heads, to which is attached a piece of cloth

48which hangs down the back. The Gaddi-nashin, or chief representative of the

49sect, visited Ffrozpur about three years ago, and is said to have made a royal

50progress through the towh accompanied by five hundred che/as and more

51than one elephant.

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