Guru Jambheshwar

Founder of Bishnoi Vaishnava tradition

Lohat Ji Panwar (father)
Hansa Devi (mother)

Guru Jambheshwar, also known as Guru Jambhoji, (1451–1536) was the founder of the Bishnoi Panth, a Hindu subsect of Vaishnavism.^[1]

Biography

Jambheshwar was born in a Jat family of Panwar Gotra in a remote village Pipasar,Nagaur in 1451,his mother was of Khileri Jat gotra.^[2] He was the only child of Lohat Panwar and Hansa Devi. For the first seven years of his life, Guru Jambeshwar was considered silent and introverted. He spent 27 years of his life as a cow herder.^[3]

Founding Bishnoi Panth

Aged 34, Guru Jambheshwar founded the Bishnoi sub-sect of Vaishnavism^[4] at Samrathal Dhora. His teachings were in the poetic form known as Shabadwani.^[5]^{[page needed]} He preached for the next 51 years, travelling across the country, and produced 120 Shabads, or verses, of Shabadwani.^{[citation needed]} The sect was founded after the big draught in Rajasthan in 1485.^[6] He had laid down 29 principles to be followed by the sect. Killing animals and felling trees were banned. The Khejri tree (Prosopis cineraria), is also considered to be sacred by the Bishnois.

Bishnoi panth revolves around 29 rules. Of these, eight prescribe to preserve biodiversity and encourage good animal husbandry, seven provide directions for healthy social behaviour, and ten are directed towards personal hygiene and maintaining basic good health. The other four commandments provide guidelines for worshipping Vishnu^[7] daily.

Legacy and commemoration

The Bishnoi have various temples, of which they consider the most holy to be "Mukti Dham mukam "in the village of Mukam in Nokha tehsil, Bikaner district, Rajasthan. It is there where the most sacred Bishnoi temple is built over samadhi of Guru Jambeshwar.^[8]^[9] Guru Jambeshwar University of Science and Technology at Hisar in the state of Haryana is named after him.

References

^ Read Jambhsagar Page 1
^ Guru Jambheshwar VividhAayaam. B.R. Publishing Corporation. 18 August 1996. ISBN 9788170189015.
^ Jambhsagar Page 9-13
^ Worshippers of Vishnu fall under the vaishnava sect of hinduism
^ Jain, Pankaj (2011). Dharma and Ecology of Hindu Communities: Sustenance and Sustainability. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-40940-591-7.
^ Jambhsagar Page 24-26
^ 6th Rule of Bishnois tells about worshipping Vishnu
^ Jain, Pankaj (2011). Dharma and Ecology of Hindu Communities: Sustenance and Sustainability. Routledge. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-40940-591-7.
^ "Major Attractions". Archived from the original on 6 August 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2014.