Dusht Daman (Destroyer of The Evil)

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DUSHT DAMAN JEE

Lokpal Shri Dusht Daman is said to be previous incarnation of the 10th guru Guru Gobind Singh ji. The place hemkunt refers to Dusht Daman jee. Guru gobind singh Ji mentions this place in his composition Bachittar Natak. But it was not until the twentieth century after many long years of searching that Hemkunt Sahib was finally discovered.

DUSHT DAMAN JEE

During the age of truth – Sat Yuga, gods and mortals will face the tyranny of the fierce demons known as Dhents. The gods will call upon Durga Devi to assist them and she will do battle against the dhents. The onslaught will be too much even for her and she will flee to the mountains.

Here she will approach a holy man called Samaundh Rikhi of Markandey Clan who will be seated upon a lions skin. She will ask for his help. The pursuing demons will also reach his abode and demand that the rishi tell them where she is. The rishi says that since the devi has sought his protection he is duty bound to assist her. The demons are enraged by this and draw their swords. The rishi addresses them I am a Brahmin and will therefore not take up arms against you, but I will Call upon a Khattri (Khattri/Kshattrias were the Hindu warrior caste) who will be known as Dusht Daman (destroyer of evil) who will destroy you and your kin". He then prays to almighty to fulfill his wish by sending God's most martially capable favorite son . Before even the prayer is completed an entity take's a leap from far beyond the chaundaha bhuwan (14 Loka) and lands on Earth in flashing movement. Like Thousands of lions had roared together, he Declares Himself.

The warrior asks permission to engage in battle with the dhents. When this is given the battle ensues. The battles last for many years and in the end all the dhents are destroyed by Dusht Daman. The warrior then returns to the rishi and says what are your orders now? The rishi tells the youth that he is to go to the mountains and perform intense penance and austerities. Dusht Daman sets off and reaches the lake of Hemkunt Sahib and spends many many years meditating on the name of the one true God. So much tapasia (meditation on Gods name) is done that the two – Dusht Daman and God – become one.

Stories about Hemkund have written sources in the Puranas (ancient volumes of Indian mythology) and the Hindu epics (the Mahabharata and the Ramayana). Long before Sikhs discovered Hemkunt, the lake was known to the people who lived in the nearby valleys as a place of pilgrimage. Its name was Lokpal, which means 'protector of the world' The name refers to Vishnu, who is the ‘sustainer’ in the Hindu trinity. On the other hand, the name Dusht Daman, 'destroyer of evil,' also common in the area now, is one of many names used to describe Guru Gobind Singh. Therefore, it is speculated that the term Dusht Daman (Slayer of the Demons) is, perhaps, a variation of the name Lokpal itself, (Protector of the World) thereby creating a link between the mythology of Lord Vishnu and the legend of Guru Gobind Singh. Legends and mythology about this spot abound in the area. The sanctity of Lokpal is attributable to tales of Lakshman, (brother of Lord Rama) Goddess Durga, the Pandavas and some rishis as well. Lakshman is said to have meditated or done penance there. In a popular story, Lakshman was brought to the shore of Lokpal after being mortally wounded in battle. Lakshman's wife wept and prayed that her husband be saved. Moved by her heart-rending prayer, the monkey god Hanuman brought a life-giving herb (available in the vicinity) called Sanjivani Buti to her. It was administered to Lakshman, and when he revived, God showered flowers from heaven. These fell to the earth and took root in the Valley of Flowers. There is another story related to Lakshman in this area in which Lakshman, during a previous incarnation as a many-headed serpent meditated under the water at Lokpal and lord Vishnu slept on his back. In a variation of the same theme, the snake was called Shesh Nag, the seat of the god Shiva, and its tail was wrapped around the base of the mountain. In a third legend, it is said that during Sat Yug, the ‘age of truth’ (the first of four ages according to Hindu mythology), fierce demons called ‘Dhents’ (dainths?) were terrorizing mortals and gods. The goddess Durga was engaged in battle with the demons Bel and Subel and their army when she had to flee and take refuge in the mountains. There, she approached a great rishi who was meditating, seated on a lion skin. When Durga asked for his help, he told her to hide near him. The demons came in search of her and demanded that he hand her over to them. The rishi refused, saying that since she, the great goddess , the mother of all, had come to him for protection, it was his sacred duty to give it. The demons were infuriated. They were about to attack the rishi when he said, "My disciples and I, we are brahmans, and brahmans are not to fight for religion. Therefore, to destroy you I will create a khattri". Then he rose and shook the lion skin he had been sitting on. From the dust produced by this action there emerged a shakti (power) in the form of a strong khattri (warrior) youth clad in lion skins and carrying a sword. The warrior addressed the rishi, and said, "Respected father and guide, what are your orders for me?". The rishi commanded the youth to slay the demons and a battle ensued. When the youth had destroyed the demons and their whole army, the goddess appeared before him and gave him a sword with the blessing that he would henceforth be known as Dusht Daman, the 'destroyer of evil'. And, since he came from the skin (khal) of a lion, he would also earn renown as Khalsa. The goddess departed after telling the youth that he would be given a mission to fight like a lion (singh) in a later incarnation as a human being and for that he would create the Khalsa (also meaning ‘The Pure’ from the Persian word ‘khales’). Dusht Daman returned and laid his sword before the rishi and asked, "Father, what are your further orders?" The rishi instructed him to go to Hemkunt and perform intense penance until called upon by God. As the story continues, Dusht Daman worshipped and performed austere penance (some say, standing on one leg) and realized his oneness with God. Then during Kal Yug, the 'age of darkness' (the fourth and final age) he is summoned from Hemkunt by God and given a mission to be reborn as the son of the ninth Sikh Guru and his wife. This final part of the story is recounted in Bachitar Natak, which roughly translated means ‘Amazing’ ‘Beatific’ or ‘Unique’ Drama - an autobiography attributed to Guru Gobind Singh himself and included in the Dasam Granth. In poetic language, the author alludes to the place from which the Guru was called by God:

(Dasam Guru Granth Sahib Ji 1952:54-55) Hemkund Parvat Hai Jahan Sapat Shring sobhit Hai Tahan. Sapat Shring Tahan Nam Kahava. Pandu Raj Jahan Yog Kamaya. Tahan Hum Adhik Tapasya Sadhi. Mahan Kal Kalika Aradhi. Ehi Bidhi Karat Tapaya Bhaya. Dwai Te Ek Rup Hwai Gayo.

“At that place where Hemkunt Mountain is adorned by seven peaks, the place named Sapatsring where King Pandu did yoga. There I did intense meditation and austerities and contemplated God. In this way I meditated until, from duality, two forms (God and myself) became one. My father and mother also contemplated the Formless One through several kinds of yoga and austere discipline. They served the Formless One and God was pleased with them. So God gave a command to me, and then I took birth in Kal Yug. I did not desire to come, as I was absorbed in devotion at God's feet. Somehow God made me understand His purpose, and saying thus sent me into this world.” The rishi in the above story is known variously as Samundh Rishi, Rishi Medhasa, Rishi Bishala, or simply Asan Rishi, which refers to his posture of meditation on the lion skin . In one version, the rishi was a disciple of the goddess. When the goddess granted him a boon, he himself became Dusht Daman. In another version, the rishi did not shake the lion skin, but instead offered a prayer for God's intercession. A bright light appeared which manifested itself into the form of the shakti. As a continuation of the legend shakti and the rishi were reborn in Kal Yug, the former as Guru Gobind Singh, and the latter as his earthly father Guru Tegh Bahadur ji. Further, his earthly mother Mata Gujri ji, is said to be the reincarnation of the goddess who sought the rishi's help. In still another version, it was not a goddess but a king who fled to the mountains. The rishi turned the king into a lion skin which he then sat on so the demons could not find him. Later it was the king who was reincarnated as Mata Gujri ji - Guru Gobind Singh's mother. In still another version of the tale, it was God himself who came into the body of the rishi (later reincarnated as Guru Tegh Bahadur ji) and meditated for the protection of other rishis meditating or doing penance at Hemkunt. Later, all of them became great heroes when they were born in human bodies. One of them was King Pandu, the father of the five Pandava brothers whose story is told in the Mahabharata. In chapter 119 of the first volume of the great epic, King Pandu crossed over a mountain known as Hem Kut during his time of penance in the Hundred-Peak Mountains. There he did penance at a place named for seven peaks. This is the episode mentioned in Bachitar Natak. (Interestingly, there is another myth related to the Pandavas in the area, that they visited the Lakshman temple on their way to their heavenly abode and the place from where they departed their earthly form is commemorated by the Gods as the Valley of Flowers.) Although the local people have no tradition that the place described in Bachitar Natak and the Mahabharata is the same as Lokpal, an ancient mandir in the nearby village of Pandukeshwar commemorates King Pandu's passage through the region. Secondly, the story of Dusht Daman’s battle is recorded in the Brahma Purana and some of the characters and events also resemble those in the Markandeya Purana, referred to in the Dasam Granth. References to Lokpal and Sapatsring also appear in the Skanda Purana. Lokpal was also reputed to be an ancient place of pilgrimage for the Tibetan people. For almost three hundred years, the local Garhwali people have followed a tradition of visiting the temple on the shore of the lake on three annual festivals held during the summer season: Rakshabandhan, Janam Ashtami, and Durga Ashtami (locally known as Nanda Ashtami) The sacred journey was made primarily by women, both Garhwali villagers from the valley below Lokpal and villagers of Bhotia (Indo-Tibetan) ancestry from neighbouring valleys. Out of respect for the purity of the water and the surrounding landscape, they made the steep ascent barefoot, clad only in white cotton dhoti (an unstitched garment). The women left their clothes and shoes behind at a halting place set in a glade of fir trees. This halting place became the site of what is today Gobind Dham or Ghangaria, named after the ghagara (petticoats) which the pilgrims would leave there. The women would spend the night singing songs of the goddess, and at dawn they would set out to climb the slope to the lake. When they reached Lokpal, they would make offerings of coins, coconuts, Brahma Kamal flowers, and parshad (a sacrament made from ghi, flour, and sugar). They would bathe in the cold water, and pray to Lakshman for the blessing of a son, a better future, the health of their menfolk, or a cure for sickness. Related Articles


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