Guru Jambeshwar: Difference between revisions

'''Guru Jambeshwar''', also known as '''Guru Jambaji''', (1451-1536) was the founder of the [[Bishnoi]] Religion known as Bishnoism. He taught that God is a divine power that is everywhere. He also taught to protect plants and animals as they are important in order to peacefully co-exist with nature.

| type = Bishnoi

| affiliation = [[Bishnoi]]

| cult_center = Mukam, Samrathal, Jambholav Dham, Pipasar, Lalasar, Janglu, Naurangi nagar (Rotoo), Lodipur, Lohawat,Jambha,Manewara

| parents = Chaudhary Lohat ji and Hansa

| ethnic_group = [[Bishnoi]]

Jambeshwar ji was born in a Hindu Jat Farmer family of the Panwar clan in the village of Pipasar, Nagaur district in 1451.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-0cqAAAAYAAJ|title= Jambhoji: Messiah of the Thar Desert | page= xiii|isbn= 9788190111003 |last1= Chandla |first1= M. S. |year= 1998 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|title="budhadal.com"|url=http://budhadal.com/|access-date=2021-05-31|website=budhadal.com}}</ref> He was under the influence of Jain and Vaishnava Monks when he realised that both were not leading to the truth of the one true god.

Aged 34, Guru Jambeshwar founded the [[Bishnoi]] religion based on the teachings of Jains and Vaishnavas. His teachings were in the poetic form known as Shabadwani.<ref>{{cite book |title=Dharma and Ecology of Hindu Communities: Sustenance and Sustainability |first=Pankaj |last=Jain |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-40940-591-7 |publisher=Routledge |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VYcGDAAAQBAJ}}</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2017}} He preached for the next 51 years, travelling across the country, and produced 120 Shabads, or verses, of Shabadwani.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}} The sect was founded after wars between Muslim invaders, Jain Monks and local Hindus. He had laid down 29 principles to be followed by the sect. Killing animals and felling trees were banned. The [[Prosopis cineraria|Khejri]] tree (''Prosopis cineraria''), is also considered to be sacred by the Bishnois.

Bishnoism 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 God daily.

The Bishnoi have various temples, of which they consider the most holy to be "Mukam Mukti Dham" in the village of [[Mukam, Rajasthan|Mukam]] in [[Nokha, Bikaner|Nokha]] [[tehsil]], [[Bikaner district]], Rajasthan. It is there where the most sacred Vishnoi temple is built over [[Samadhi (shrine)|samadhi]] of Guru Jambeshwar.<ref>{{cite book |title=Dharma and Ecology of Hindu Communities: Sustenance and Sustainability |first=Pankaj |last=Jain |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-40940-591-7 |publisher=Routledge |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VYcGDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA53 |page=53}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rajasthan.gov.in/StateProfile/RajasthanTourism/Pages/Major-Attractions.aspx |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2014-07-27 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140806050818/http://www.rajasthan.gov.in/StateProfile/RajasthanTourism/Pages/Major-Attractions.aspx |archivedate=6 August 2014 |df=dmy }}</ref> [[Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology|Guru Jambeshwar University of Science and Technology]] at [[Hisar city|Hisar]] in the state of [[Haryana]] is named after him.