Comparing the Janamsakhis

The Janamsakhis tell the life of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, but they differ. This table sets them side by side, episode by episode. A blank cell means the source's treatment was not confirmed from what has been read.

Episode	Bhai Gurdas	Puratan	B-40	Miharban	Bala	Gyan Ratnavali
Date of birth	No clear date. One line has been read as Vaisakhi and a Kabitt as Kartik, and McLeod rejects both readings.	Third of the light half of Vaisakh, 1526 Bk.	Third of Vaisakh, Samvat 1526, on a moonlit night.	Third of the light half of Vaisakh, 1526 Bk. Manuscripts differ on the birthplace, Chahal or Talwandi.	The full moon of Kattak, reckoned as 20 October 1469.	Third of the light half of Vaisakh.
The older accounts agree on Vaisakh, and only the Bala line has Kartik, the month in which the Gurpurab is kept. McLeod judges Vaisakh probable but not fully proven, and Purewal argues for a third day, 27 March 1469.[McLeod][(tr.)][Src][EoS][Web]
The pandit and the mullah		A pandit at seven, who is taught by his pupil after one day. Turki lessons at nine end in silence.	Has the instruction by the pandit, with a brief reference to the sacred thread at nine.
The accounts present a child who out-teaches his teachers. McLeod accepts that schooling probably happened, but reads these scenes as settings written to carry verses. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism repeats the tradition of an acrostic poem.[McLeod][(tr.)][EoS]
The field and the shade	Omits both stories, and Rai Bular does not appear in the Var 11 lists of followers.	Trampled wheat is found whole, and a tree's shadow stays still over the sleeping boy. Rai Bular witnesses both.	Has the restored crop and the stationary shadow as separate sakhis.	Names the village landlord as Rai Bhoa, not Rai Bular.	A cobra spreads its hood over the boy's face in place of the shadow.
These are wonder stories from the Puratan and B-40 stream, with a Bala variant. McLeod warns that Rai Bular appears only in stories of this kind and rejects them as history. The status here describes the stories and does not rule on the wonders.[McLeod][(tr.)][Src][EoS][EoS]
The true bargain		Omits it.	Omits the feeding of the ascetics, though it has a discourse on true merchandise.	Omits it.	Twenty rupees given for trade are spent on food for hungry ascetics.	Omits it.
This well-loved story rests on the Bala line alone. McLeod argues that older compilers would hardly have left out so attractive a tale if they had known it, and so treats it as late, though nothing in it is impossible.[McLeod][(tr.)][EoS]
Marriage		At twelve, to a daughter of Mula, of the Chona family. No place or bride's name is given.	Has a sakhi on the betrothal and marriage.	At about sixteen, in 1485 by its reckoning, at Batala. It calls the bride Ghumi.	After the move to Sultanpur.	At fourteen.
All agree on the marriage and on the bride's family, and they differ on age and timing. McLeod concludes that a wedding at Batala before the move is likely, with the year in doubt. Local tradition recorded in the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism gives 24 September 1487.[McLeod][(tr.)][EoS][EoS]
Service at Sultanpur	Var 11 lists Daulat Khan Lodi among the followers of Guru Ji.	Jai Ram brings Guru Ji to Daulat Khan, who gives clerical work. The word modi is not used.	Has a sakhi set at Sultanpur.	Arrives at thirty-five and works in the commissariat. Leaves two years later, about 1506.	Arrives at eighteen and leaves at twenty-seven, about 1496, as Harbans Singh reports it.
The sources agree on the post and disagree widely on the years. McLeod accepts the work at Sultanpur as established and the link with Daulat Khan as probable, and the Dabistan-i-Mazahib, quoted by him, gives independent support.[McLeod][(tr.)][Src][Singh][EoS]
Disappearance in the river	Guru Ji receives the gift at the divine gate before setting out. No river is named.	Messengers carry Guru Ji to the divine court, where a cup of nectar is given. Guru Ji returns on the third day.	Has a sakhi on the immersion in the river.
Bhai Gurdas has a call without a river, and the Janamsakhis supply the river. McLeod sets aside the literal encounter and rates a real, decisive religious experience as highly probable. Encyclopaedia entries differ on two or three days.[McLeod][(tr.)][Src][EoS][EoS]
No Hindu, no Muslim, and the qazi		After a day of silence Guru Ji speaks the saying. The qazi objects, and Guru Ji laughs at the prayer because the qazi's mind is on a new filly.	Preserves the saying and a discourse with the qazi.
McLeod accepts that the saying can fit Guru Ji's views, while placing the qazi scene within a later theme of triumph over Muslim opponents. The prayer scene is told differently in the local tradition recorded at Sultanpur.[McLeod][McLeod][(tr.)][EoS][EoS]
Sajjan	Does not mention him.	Sheikh Sajjan keeps a temple and a mosque, and murders his guests. A hymn turns him, and one manuscript adds the first dharamsala.	No Sajjan. It has a separate tale of a robber named Bhola.	Sets the story in south India.	Places him near Tulamba as a Vaishnava who steals clothes.	Sets the story at Hastinapur.
The accounts disagree on who, where and what, and that is McLeod's main argument. He suggests the word sajan, friend, in a Raag Suhi hymn may have generated the tale, and classes it as improbable but not impossible. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism notes a mound and memorial bearing the name near Tulamba.[McLeod][(tr.)][EoS][Src]
Bhai Lalo and Malik Bhago	The Var 11 lists of early Sikhs in pauris 13 and 14 do not name Lalo.	Lalo is absent.		Lalo is absent.	Guru Ji stays with Lalo and refuses Bhago's feast. Lalo's bread gives milk and Bhago's food gives blood.
The story comes from the Bala line. McLeod dismisses it as a miracle tale and suggests the name grew from a refrain meaning O beloved in a Tilang hymn. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism and Harbans Singh read the same refrain as addressed to a real disciple at Saidpur.[McLeod][Src][EoS][EoS][Singh][Src]
Watering the fields at Haridwar	A general tour of pilgrimage places, with no such story.		A water-throwing scene at an unnamed pilgrimage place, which later tradition took to be Haridwar.	At Haridwar. Guru Ji throws water towards fields near Lahore.	Absent from the early manuscripts and present in modern versions.
The setting at Haridwar is firm only in Miharban. McLeod notes a similar story in Buddhist tradition and rejects the incident, while adding that this does not mean Guru Ji never went there. Kapur, the editor of Kirpal Singh's study, objects that this leaves the visit itself uncertain.[McLeod][(tr.)][Src][Singh][EoS]
Kauda and the cauldron		Guru Ji enters the cauldron willingly, on an island in the ocean. The monster is not named.	An unnamed monster in the wilderness plans to boil Guru Ji. Guru Ji's finger cools the oil.	An interpolated version puts Bhai Mardana in the cauldron.	An expanded version, the only one to give the name Kauda.
The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism finds the legend in all four major Janamsakhis, with different details and settings, and places Kauda somewhere in central India. McLeod argues that the story grew from a composition by Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji and cannot show that any such meeting took place.[McLeod][McLeod][(tr.)][EoS]
The land ruled by women	Omits it.	Set in Kauru or Kavaru under a queen, Nur Shah. Enchantresses turn Bhai Mardana into a lamb.	Set beside the ocean.	Omits it.	Set in Kauru or Kavaru.	Set in the south.
Sikh biographers usually read Kauru as Kamrup in Assam, which is McLeod's own gloss on the Puratan name too. He rejects a visit on this evidence, since no women ruled there at the time and the land of women was an old legend, but does not call a visit impossible.[McLeod][(tr.)][EoS]
Raja Shivnabh of Sri Lanka	Omits it.	The merchant Mansukh prepares the king, and Guru Ji reaches him in Singhaladip. The Pran Sangli is composed there.	Tells a version without naming the island.	No Shivnabh. Guru Ji crosses to a land of darkness beyond Adam's Bridge, which McLeod takes to be Ceylon.
McLeod rejects the visit because no ruler of that name is known in Sri Lanka and the older sources give no support. Kirpal Singh and Trilochan Singh defend it, Harbans Singh cites a reading of an Anuradhapura inscription, and the question remains open.[McLeod][(tr.)][EoS][Singh][Singh][Singh]
Mount Sumeru and the Siddhs	Guru Ji climbs Sumeru and meets Gorakh and the eighty-four Siddhs. A bowl sent for water finds only jewels.	Reached on the northern journey after Kashmir, in discourse with Shiva, Gorakhnath and others.	Has a sakhi of discourses with the Siddhs on the mountain.	Opens the second journey, followed by Gorakh-hatari.
The story is widely held and early, so McLeod calls the tradition strong, but he rejects it because the mountain belongs to myth and the Siddhs to other ages. He leaves a Himalayan journey undecided. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism also counts Sumeru among legends of mythical places.[McLeod][(tr.)][Src][EoS][EoS]
Mecca and the Kaaba	Guru Ji, in blue, is kicked and dragged by a qazi named Jivan, and all Mecca seems to turn.	Qazi Rukan-din turns Guru Ji's feet, and the Kaaba moves with them.	A moving mihrab, with a descendant of Bahauddin as the questioner.	Keeps the exchange about the feet, drops the miracle, and sets it on the road.	Early versions set the scene in Medina.
McLeod counts this among the few incidents in Bhai Gurdas and every major Janamsakhi, yet classes the visit as highly improbable because of the ban on non-Muslims. Ganda Singh held the visit not improbable, and Kirpal Singh thought McLeod too hasty.[McLeod][(tr.)][Src][EoS][Grewal][Singh]
Baghdad	Guru Ji camps outside the city with Bhai Mardana, gives a call and meets Pir Dastgir, whose son is shown many worlds.	Does not name Baghdad.	A discourse with Sheikh Sharaf, who is dressed as a woman. It bears no resemblance to Bhai Gurdas's story.	Does not name Baghdad.
The two accounts share only the place, so McLeod treats the visit as no more than possible. The inscription at Baghdad is disputed: McLeod reports Menage's late dating, while Harbans Singh, Trilochan Singh and the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism defend its link with Guru Ji.[McLeod][(tr.)][Src][EoS][Singh][Singh]
Babur at Saidpur	Var 1 says nothing of it.	The town falls after refusing food to faqirs. As a prisoner, Guru Ji's load floats and a hand-mill turns. Babur kisses Guru Ji's feet and frees the captives.	Has both the sack of Saidpur and a discourse with Babur.	Has the fall of the town for refusing food, but not the meeting with Babur.
The hymns attest Guru Ji's anguish at the invasions, and McLeod holds presence at Saidpur a probability. He calls the meeting most unlikely, and argues the hymns point mainly to 1524 and 1526. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism notes Babur's silence and will not rule the meeting out.[McLeod][(tr.)][Src][Src][EoS][EoS][EoS]
Founding Kartarpur	Guru Ji returns to Kartarpur, sets aside the traveller's clothes and lives as a householder.	A hostile official is struck blind on the road, comes as a follower and gives land. One manuscript places this after the first journey.	Has a sakhi of a proud official humbled, leading to the founding.	At the village of Pokho, an official suffers a fall, blindness and pain, then donates land, and Guru Ji names the village Kartarpur.		Places the founding after the northern journey.
Bhai Gurdas confirms the settlement, and the Janamsakhis add the wonders and differ on timing. McLeod sets aside the miracles, keeps the gift of land and places the settlement after the main travels. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism dates the end of the travels to about 1521.[McLeod][(tr.)][Src][EoS][EoS]
The debate at Achal	A full account of the Shivratri fair, the hidden pot and Bangar Nath's challenge, with the true Name as the only miracle.	The Siddhs of Sumeru send Guru Ji to the fair at Achal, and are amazed to find Guru Ji already there.	Has a discourse with the Siddhs at Achal.	Describes crowds rushing to see Guru Ji at Achal.	Sets the meeting with Bangar Nath in a mountain retreat.
This is among the firmest episodes. McLeod accepts it as well founded because the sources record it, Achal is close to Kartarpur, and Guru Ji's works show contact with the Naths. The contest of powers belongs to the telling.[McLeod][(tr.)][Src][EoS][EoS]
Multan and the cup of milk	After Achal, the pirs send a full bowl of milk and Guru Ji floats a jasmine flower on it.		Names Multan and has a discourse with Shah Rukandi, whom McLeod connects with that city.	A discourse with a descendant of Pir Bahauddin at Multan, on the second journey.
McLeod accepts that Guru Ji probably went to Multan, but sets the milk story aside because a similar tale is told of Abd al-Qadir Jilani and in Parsi tradition. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism retells it from Bhai Gurdas.[McLeod][(tr.)][Src][EoS]
The choice of Bhai Lehna	Guru Ji sets the canopy over Bhai Lehna in Guru Ji's own lifetime, because the sons would not obey.	A Durga devotee at Khadur overhears a hymn. Later he alone will eat the corpse on the pyre, and five coins mark his installation.	With the Adi Sakhis, makes him a pilgrim leader from Harike who stops at Kartarpur.	Also makes him a pilgrim leader from Harike who stops at Kartarpur.
The succession itself is firm, since Bhai Gurdas and the Var of Balvand and Satta both state it, and McLeod accepts it beyond doubt. He rejects the corpse test as a wonder tale. The Janamsakhis disagree on how Bhai Lehna first came to Guru Ji.[McLeod][Src][Src][EoS]
Date of passing		Asu sudi 10, 1595 Bk, in September 1538.		Its account of the passing is largely lost with the missing volumes.	Later manuscripts give Asu vadi 10, 1596 Bk.	Asu sudi 10, 1596 Bk, converted by Karam Singh to 22 September 1539.
McLeod prefers Asu vadi 10, 1596 Bk, or 7 September 1539, resting chiefly on a list in the Kartarpur manuscript that he knew through Bhai Jodh Singh's copy, and he allows that this is not conclusive. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism follows the same date.[McLeod][EoS][EoS][Web]
The flowers and the sheet	No dispute over the body. Guru Ji names a successor and passes away.	Hindus and Muslims lay flowers on either side. Under the sheet the body is gone and all the flowers are fresh.	Muslims and Hindus argue, and a chaudhari says he has just met Guru Ji on the road. The winding-sheet proves empty. Flowers are not mentioned in the passage read.	Its account of the passing is largely lost.
McLeod calls the disappearance legend and notes similar stories of Kabir and others, and this site does not rule on the wonder. Surat Singh, writing by 1647, heard a different form at the site itself, with two bodies, one burned and one buried.[McLeod][McLeod][(tr.)][Src][(translator)][EoS]

Cite this page

"Comparing the Janamsakhis". Sikh History: lives of the Gurus. https://sikh-history.co.uk/janamsakhis/