The Fascinating Cases of Mata Bhag Kaur & Mata Gulab Kaur
The Pipeline from Grief to Ecstasy
The remarkable stories of two women saints from Sikh history - Mata Bhag Kaur Ji and Mata Gulab Kaur Ji - offer profound insights into how the sensitivities and deep emotions of femininity can be powerful mechanisms of spiritual transformation. These case studies illustrate inspiring examples of godly women in Sikh history who, when faced with grief and suffering, have tapped into their feminine nature to channel pain into spiritual victory.
During the famous Battle of Muktsar, Mata Bhag Kaur Ji had endured great loss: losing her brothers as well as her husband to the bloodshed, she’d emerged as the lone survivor of the battle. After this event, she chose not to go back to her home and instead traveled with Guru Gobind Singh Ji to Talwandi Sabo.
Staying in the Guru’s presence, she swiftly attained such elevated spiritual heights that she became carefree, wandering clotheless in her ecstatic state - until Guru Sahib, with loving grace, bestowed upon her a Dastar, Kachhera, and a shawl to cover her body. This moment is captured in Sri Gurpratap Suraj Granth:
ਮਿਲੀ ਮੁਕਤਿਸਰ ਭਾਗੋ ਮਾਈ । ਵਧੀ ਪ੍ਰੀਤਿ ਗੁਰ ਮਹਿਂ ਅਧਿਕਾਈ । ਰਹਿਬੇ ਲਗੀ ਦਿਗੰਬਰ ਸੋਈ । ਲਾਜ ਕਾਨ ਲੋਕਨ ਕੀ ਖੋਈ ।36।
"At Muktsar, Mata Bhago met [the Guru]. Her love for the Guru grew boundless. She began to live unclothed, losing all shame of people’s opinions [….]ਗਰਵੀ ਸਾਂਗ ਹਾਥ ਮਹਿਂ ਧਰੈ । ਸਦਾ ਅਨੰਦ ਏਕ ਰਸ ਥਿਰੈ । ਕੇਤਿਕ ਮਾਸ ਨਗਨ ਜਬਿ ਰਹੀ । ਇਕ ਦਿਨ ਦੇਖਿ ਨਿਕਟ ਗੁਰ ਕਹੀ ।38।
"With a pot and spear in hand, she stayed in constant bliss, fixed in the One Essence. For months she remained naked, until one day the Guru saw her and spoke: [….]ਰਹਨਿ ਦਿਗੰਬਰ ਤੁਝ ਬਨਿ ਆਈ । ਇਕ ਰਸ ਬ੍ਰਿੱਤਿ ਭਈ ਲਿਵਲਾਈ । ਤਨ ਹੰਤਾ ਸਭਿ ਰਿਦੇ ਬਿਨਾਸ਼ੀ । ਪਾਯੋ ਪਰਮ ਰੂਪ ਅਬਿਨਾਸੀ ।40।
"You’ve come to live unclothed, your mind absorbed in the One Essence. All bodily ego vanished from your heart, and you gained the supreme, eternal form. [….]ਤਊ ਸੰਗ ਤੂੰ ਰਹਤਿ ਹਮਾਰੇ । ਪਹਿਰਿ ਕਾਛੁ ਲਘੁ ਸਿਰ ਦਸਤਾਰੇ । ਊਪਰ ਚੀਰ ਚਾਦਰਾ ਲੀਜੈ । ਦੇਹ ਅਛਾਦਹੁ ਸਮਾ ਬਿਤੀਜੈ ।41।
"Still, you stay with us. Wear this kachhera and a turban on your head. Take this shawl to cover your body and pass your time [in this manner].”
Interestingly, a similar incident unfolded about two hundred years later, when Mata Gulab Kaur Ji - a little-known saint of the early 20th century - began roaming clotheless in the town of Haripur, Punjab (now in Pakistan), clad only in a Dastar, Kachhera, and shawl. (Records confirm that earlier she’d worn Bana, just as Mata Bhag Kaur Ji had.) What’s even more striking is that - like Mata Bhag Kaur Ji - her husband had passed away, after which she rapidly ascended to a state of profound spiritual prowess. Bhai Sahib Randhir Singh Ji penned a vivid account of her extraordinary avastha:
“Her mind was always fixed on God, and she spent her days in a deep meditative mood. She seemed to have shed all body consciousness. Immersed in the divine Name, Mother Gulab Kaur moved with a radiant charm glowing on her face. Countless tales speak of her saintliness and spiritual powers, too many to recount here. Wherever she went, her meditative silence and spiritual beauty drew people in. Streets, villages, and even forests blossomed with life and reverence in her presence.”
From his account, we gain a glimpse into her state of mind after losing her husband, details absent in Mata Bhag Kaur Ji’s story. It’s written that after his death, she endured unbearable grief. She had cherished her husband more than life itself, and his passing shattered her. Yet, it was this agonizing grief that drove her to channel her pain into bairaag for the eternal Husband, Vaheguru. She became a true “Sati,” burning her false self (ego) and immersing herself in love for the True Lord.
Essentially, Mata Gulab Kaur Ji’s grief had been the catalyst for her inner awakening and her eventual ascent to the highest pinnacles of spirituality. It’s not unreasonable to believe that Mata Bhag Kaur Ji - having also lost her husband, and even her brothers - could have gone through a similar experience, her blissful awakening borne first out of the ashes of great tragedy.
It seems that in the cases of both these Mahaan Bibian, their heightened feminine emotions - namely bairaag, the desire to be united with one’s Beloved - allowed them to intensify their focus on attaining the true Husband, Akal Purakh. Professor Harinder Singh Mehboob eloquently articulates the importance of these feminine emotions in Sikh spirituality:
In the Guru Granth Sahib, several dimensions of the woman-consciousness are experienced in the spiritual longing of humans. Guru Nanak–Truth did not incorporate it as a mere illustration or thought, rather it is a significant part of the whole experience…. In the feelings of coming together and pangs of separation, several representative forms of life converge like a great carnival.
Professor Puran Singh adds a beautiful flourish to this articulation:
“The whole Guru Grantha is the voice of a wedded woman or a maiden pining in love for the Beautiful. Her nobleness in Guru Grantha is infinite, her freedom unmatched. Both man and woman as sexes fade in her voice. She becomes the supreme reality, a freed soul. Only in that freed soul is the subordination of one to another truly erased, and all disputes silenced.”
Mata Gulab Kaur Ji and Mata Bhag Kaur Ji, tapping into the depths of emotions woven into their nature, accessed the exact feelings meant to be engaged when delving into Gurbani. They harnessed this very bairaag to unite with their true Husband, Vaheguru.
It is also interesting that once they attained their Husband-Vaheguru, this Prapti seemed to reveal itself in the visible shedding of societal bondages. Their true feminine nature revealed itself not in public shows of feminity, but in attaining the true inner state of the wedded Soul Bride, as per Gurbani:
ਨਾਨਕਸਾਧਨਮੇਲਿਲਈਪਿਰਿਆਪੇਸਾਚੈਸਾਹਿਸਵਾਰੀ ॥੧॥
Nanak says, the Lord Himself unites that Soul-Bride with Him; she is adorned by the True King.
Their inspiring stories can help us all understand how grief, pain, and suffering can be channeled to elevate our souls beyond the illusionary attachment to our worldly state.