Part 5.8 - Poojya Jhulelal Janam Saakhi E Biyo Bhado Amar Vani

The book has been published from Ajmer, Rajasthan in the year 2007. During and after the partition of India the Sindhis who were residing in Sindh province of undivided India migrated in large numbers to partitioned India. They were settled in many states as directed by the Government of India. Many colonies in various cities were established to accommodate them. There were many parts of India where such arrangements were made and some of them were Gujarat, Mumbai (both a part of Bombay state during 1947), Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh etc. Even before the migration, the Sindhi community was found in many large cities of India. As such, a large population of Sindhi community in Rajasthan would be benefited by this religious book giving a good deal of information about the Ishtadeva Lord Jhulelal.

The book is divided into two parts.

Part 1: Poojya (Pooj) Jhulelal Janam Saakhi
Part 2: Amar Vani

It has two hundred and eighteen pages and its Chief editor is Vaidya Devaki Bachani who is an Ayurvedic doctor as mentioned at the beginning of the book, talks about her literary qualities as well. The book is written in Devanagari script and Sindhi language with a couple of articles in Hindi. It is a rich collection of poetry about Lord Jhulelal. This publication is certainly praiseworthy for such a large collection of poetry on Lord Jhulelal.

Part 1: Poojya (Pooj) Jhulelal Janam Saakhi

The first part is of one hundred and twenty-two pages and the entire matter is in prose form except for only one page which is ‘Lalu Devashtakam’^[1] and it is in the form of poetry. The rest of all the pages are in prose form. It has thirty-one small chapters and each chapter has a heading about its contents. The chapter number two titled ‘Jala Pooja Evam Upasana’ gives a detailed description about Jal Pooja, its importance, the greatness of Sindhu river and quotes by renowned writers and scholars like Swatantryaveer Savarkar, Sahityacharya Pandit Sitaram Chaturvedi and a quote from Maṇḍal 10, Sukta 75 from Ṛgveda about Sindhu river which is translated as ‘Oh Sindhu! In the beginning, Lord Varuṇa made a way for you to flow’.

The chapter further describes many characteristics of Sindhu river and the people who made their homes on the banks of Sindhu and about the Sanskruti (culture) and Sabhyata (civilization) which flourished and came to be known as

Sindhu or Indus valley civilisation for which quotes from India’s well-known archeologist Dr. M. R. Rao have been included in this chapter. Along with his quotes, there are some more quotes found in this chapter by some scholars which include Dr. Erkamoula (Finland), Prof. Frankfurt (France), Western scholar Pokak, Prof. Vaiselor (Russia) and Prof. Hasmukh Sankalia (India), Historian Gangaram Samrat (India), Prof. Bogart and Levin (both from Russia), Historian Dwarkaprasad Sharma (India) and a Sindhi writer Tajas Betas (Pakistan).

The author has quoted Mahatma Gandhi’s opinion as well and the chapter is concluded by the quote from a well-known Archeologist Vishnu Shridhar Wakankar, all about the greatness of the Indus valley civilisation and these are quite relevant to the subject.

All the subsequent chapters are in Devanagari script and Sindhi language and the topics covered are mainly about the glorious history of Sindh, Sindhu river, Sindhi people and their methods of worship, Sindhi language, Uderolal (Jhulelal) Avatar, Thakur Pugar Rai, place of worship and pilgrimage etc. The first part concludes with two writings in Hindi, one about ‘Cheti Chand’ the Sindhi New Year and another a message from Swami Advaitanand Sagar.

Part 2: Amar Vani

The second part starts on page number one hundred and twenty-three till page number two hundred and twenty. The special feature of part two is that the entire part is in poetry form except a page or two which also would be a part of the chapter to explain some details. This appears to be the largest collection of literary sources in the form of poetry in the opinion of the researcher. Many prayers to be recited at different times such as at the time of having food while offering Prasad to God, daily prayers and rituals are found in the second part.

Part two can be described as a huge collection of the poetic form of worship and some are mentioned as follows:

• Jhulelal Chalisa
• Shri Amarlal Japu (Japa)^[2]
• Bhog
• Arti Jhulelal (Varunadeva) Ki
• Arti Poojya Amarlal Sahib Ki
• Arti Poojya Lal Sahib Ki
• Akhe Sahib Ka Mantra
• Jyoti Jagane Ka Mantra
• Sandhya Ka Pooja Path
• Rat Ko Sone Samay Ki Pooja Path

There are fifty-two chapters in the second part and most of the chapters consist of poetic literary sources in the Sindhi language in Devanagari script.

The script being Devanagari, it is easy to read the contents, at the same time to understand the meaning of contents, the knowledge of Sindhi language is necessary. The efforts taken on the writer can be understood by a large number of poetic forms which are included in this part.

Some poetic forms not found elsewhere and some not very easily available these days are also found in this section of the book. Some of which are mentioned below.

• Dhuni
• Dulah Shah Jha Doha.
• Madaha Shri Uderolal Sahib Ji
• Chandu
• Bani
• Dohido
• Choubolo

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Ashtakam is generally a prayer in poetic form comprising eight stanzas composed in praise of a deity.

[2]:

Repeated chanting of the name of a deity or a Mantra generally with the help of a rosary