The word 'Udasi' (also spelt 'udhasi'/udhasin'/'udhaseen'/'oodhasi'/'udaseen')
literally means 'unattached' or 'a person not entangled
in worldly affairs'.
Nihang Baba Uday Singh comments upon the Udhasis:
‘Udhasi Panth is from the time of Guru Nanak it was
started by Baba Siri Chand Ji. It is a ancient
Panth. In it also the [Adi] Guru Granth was preached. They set
up Akharas [religious gatherings] and alongside
Adi Granth they gave knowledge of Ayurved [Traditional
Indian medicine]. They moved like an army through the villages
and towns. They visited the Kumbh [ie. the
Kumbh mela, a hindu religious festival occuring every 12 years]
at Hardwar on elephants and horses. This I do know about Udhasis
the old ones use to preach Guru Granth with Ayurved. These
Udhasis are an old Panth of Guru Nanak. They are exempt
from the Khalsa initiation. From the beginning they did not
get initiated into the Khalsa they adopted Udhasi way of life
[non-attachment]. Baba Sri Chand had adopted Udasi life too.
If they [Baba Sri Chand’s Udhasis] had been initiated
into the Sikh fold they would have been successors to the Gurus.
However, he [Baba Sri Chand] kept his Panth separate.’
(Baba Uday Singh, transcript of a recording, 01-03-2001)
Baba Sri Chand Ji Maharaj
A contemporary painting depicting the great yoga master Baba Sri
Chand
Udasis are the oldest order of Sikhs descended from
Akali Guru Nanak’s eldest son Baba
Siri Chand. He was born in 1494 in the village of Talwandi
Tehsil, Lahore. Some writers, however, have given his birth at Sultan
Pur Lodi.
The path which Baba Sri Chand chose to follow was
not exactly the same as his great father. Many mainstream Sikh scholars
state that Baba Sri Chand went against his father's wishes and was
deemed an outcast/apostate. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Udhasi Gobind Das, Chief Mahant at
Kankhal, Hardwar points out there was no conflict between father
and son over this:
‘What throne of a kingdom did Baba Sri Chand occupy
you tell me? Or, did Guru Nanak have such a throne so as he
had to have a successor? Were they kings of some state? Guru
Nanak was no king of some kingdom. He occupied the throne of
a God’s devotee of devotion. Thus Guru Maharaj Baba Sri
Chand Ji made his throne of devotion to God separate. In which
there is none attachment and renunciation of every type, as
is also found in Guru Nanak as well. Father and son appreciated
each other's way of life was different, so they each preached
their ways separately. The difference that was that Baba Sri
Chand became preacher of Udhasis because one was a house holder
[Guru Nanak] and one unattached [Baba Sri Chand].’
(Baba Gobind Das, transcript of a recording, 16-02-2001)
Mahant Udhasi Gobind Das
A photograph of Mahant Udhasi Gobind Das who is based as Kankhal,
Hardwar
