Guru Jambheshwar

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please discuss this issue on the talk page or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since December 2006.

Guru Jambheshwar (b. 1451 in a remote Rajasthani village Pipasar) Jambhoji was the founder and guru of the Bishnoi sect or community of Hinduism. Jambheshar, also known as Jambhoji, belonged to the Panawar (Parmar) Royal Rajput Clan. His father was Thakur Lohat Ji Panwar and his mother was Hansa Devi. He was the only child of his parents. For the first 7 years, Jambhoji was a silent, introvert child. He spent 27 years as a cowboy like Lord Krishna^[1]

At the age of 34, Jambhoji founded Bishnoi religion at Samrathal Dhora on eighth day of black fortnight of the month of Kartika (according to the Indian Lunar Calendar) in 1485 A.D.^[2]

[edit] Teachings

His teachings were in poetic form known as Shabadwani. Although he preached for following 51 years, travelling across India, only 120 Shabads, or poetic verses, are available at present. It is claimed that these 120 shabads are a source of great wisdom and are sufficent for an individual to understand and follow his path.^[3]

Bishnoism revolves around 29 commandments or Bisno, from "Bees" (Twenty) and "No" (Nine). Out of these 29 commandments, eight aim to preserve biodiversity and encourage good animal husbandry. Seven Commandments provide directions for healthy social behaviour. Ten commandments are directed towards personal hygiene and maintaining basic good health. The other four rules are guidelines for worshipping daily.^[4]

The Bishnois are a community of nature worshippers in the state of Rajasthan, India. They also have a sizeable presence in the neighbouring states of Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab and Delhi. ^[5] The Bishnoi community observes religious gatherings known as Melas twice a year at Mukam, since the 16th century C.E.^[6]

[edit] Honors

Jambhoji is considered a visionary, who had forseen the consequences of man's actions destroying nature for economic development. He saw the need for environmental protection and weaved his principals into religious commandments so that people can follow such principles easily.

There is an institution of higher education in India that is apparently named for Guru Jambheshwar, the Guru Jambheshwar Univeristy. ^[7]

[edit] References

1. ^ Incidentally, both Krishna and Jambhoji had an identical birth day. This paragraph quotes the Bishnoi page on Jambhajee: [1]
2. ^ See note 1.
3. ^^{[citation needed]}
4. ^^{[citation needed]}
5. ^ [Bishoi entry in another online encyclopedia: http://encycl.opentopia.com/term/Bishnois]
6. ^^{[citation needed]}
7. ^ [Guru Jambheshwar University reference page about admissions: http://dget.nic.in/cirtes/csc/courses/firstdegree/guru_jambheshwar.htm]

• List of Rajputs
• Bishnois

[edit] External links

• organization of Bishnois
• An introduction to Guru Jambheshwar
• Temple of Jambhoji

This article about a Hindu person or people is a stub. See the WikiProject Hinduism for article coordination. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.