“O Dear Lord, You, Yourself know everything”— Bhagat Trilochan.
Bhagat Trilochan, a medieval Indian saint, was a firm believer in the supremacy of the Almighty and His justice. A person forever immersed in the remembrance of God was rightly named as Trilochan, meaning, three-eyed, that is, a saint of the present, past and future.
Trilochan was always engaged in bhakti, his mind immersed in devotion and love. Like most of the Bhakti saints, he also composed hymns reflecting on the this-worldly and the other-worldly life. Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Sikh Guru, included four shabads in the sacred granth of the Sikhs, the Guru Granth Sahib.
These hymns, written by Bhagat Trilochan, provide a window to a spiritual way of life and condemn unnecessary moh (attachment) and lobh (greed). He writes, “The mind is totally attached to maya; the mortal has forgotten his fear of old age and death. Gazing upon his family, he blossoms forth like the lotus flower; a deceitful person watches and… When the powerful messenger of death comes, no one can stand against his awesome power.”
Trilochan was born in the village Barsi, near Sholapur, Maharashtra. Trilochan was a contemporary and a close friend of Bhagat Namdev. Bhagat Trilochan noticed that Namdev was always occupied with one work or the other. Trilochan, unable to understand this combination of spiritual with mundane worldly life, asked Bhagat Namdev to explain when did he find time to remember the Lord if he was engaged in other things?
Namdev replied that although his hands were engaged in worldly occupations, his mind was ever fixed on the Supreme Being. For a householder, this was the best way to remember God and realise the Ultimate Truth. Sikhism is a religion of the householders and does not believe in sanyasa or renunciation.
Bhagat Trilochan not only condemned superstitions, useless rituals but also criticised fake sadhus. He argues that though outwardly, they wear the dress of a sanyasi but they have not cleansed the filth from within.
Kulbir Kaur teaches sociology at Shyama Prasad Mukherji College, Delhi University.
