Beeba Nihal Kaur Ji
Beeba Nihal Kaur Ji took birth in the village of Sewewala in 1922. Her mother
(Mata Nand Kaur Ji) and father (Baba Jeon Singh Ji) possessed great saintly
qualities. Beeba Nihal Kaur Ji’s nature from birth was rare – she remained in
utmost spiritual bliss, which was regularly witnessed by village folk when she
entered Samadhi (a state of nirvana).
When Beeba Ji was two years old, she was taken by her Mother for the darshan
(blessed vision) of the great saint of the century, Sant Attar Singh Ji of Mastuana
Sahib, during his historic visit to Jaito (at the protest of
Gangsar Jaito Morcha in 1924). When Beeba Ji was in
the holy presence of Sant Ji, Sant Attar Singh Ji asked
what the child’s name was. Mata Nand Kaur Ji replied
informally, “Nihal” (blessed). Foreseeing Beeba Ji’s
spiritual greatness, Sant Attar Singh Ji declared to the
gathered sangat,
“100 years from now, the whole
world will be saying,
“NIHAL, NIHAL, NIHAL!”
The sangat regularly witnessed
miracles, even in Beeba Ji’s
infancy. Locals often observed
Beeba Ji, aged 4-5 years
old, inhale a deep breath
before entering a state
of Samadhi. Sitting
legs crossed and hands
locked, eyes and mouth tightly shut, Beeba Ji’s
body would become completely
still. During this intense
meditation, her mouth would
remain closed but the sangat
would hear Gurbani recitation
resonating from Beeba Ji’s
body, even from hundreds of
metres away. Throughout the
history of bhagti and meditation,
no other example of such a state
had been observed before.
As she grew older, it was evident that Beeba Ji had a special and deep love for Mata
Sahib Kaur Ji (the Mother of the Khalsa). From a young age, Beeba Ji became
devoted to Mata Ji and started to demonstrate special respect towards Mata Ji.
There were many miraculous feats that occurred during Beeba Ji’s childhood. At
the age of 11 years old, there was
talk amongst the locals of visiting
Takhat Sri Hazoor Sahib, Nanded
which was over 1000 miles away.
(This is another of the five forts of
the Sikh nation and the asthan
where Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji left
his physical body, after declaring Sri
Guru Granth Sahib Ji as the eternal Guru of the Sikhs.) At this point, Beeba Ji turned
to those near her and stated, “Bhog has just been done of Karah Prashad Degh at
Sri Hazoor Sahib. Here, take some.” She opened her hands. The fresh Prashad (an
offering of food to Guru Sahib) from Sri Hazoor Sahib had materialised in her palms,
which she distributed to the awe-struck sangat. This was another example of how
spiritually connected Beeba Ji was to the Gurus and their asthans.
When Beeba Nihal Kaur Ji was 14
years old, she joined the sangat of
another great saint, Sant Jawala
Singh Ji of Harkhowal Sahib. Even at
this young age, Beeba Ji would recite 5
Sukhmani Sahib Paaths (each usually
taking over an hour to complete)
whilst preparing and serving Sant Ji’s
parshada (meals).
As time went on, Beeba Ji started to
bring the parchar (messages) of Mata
Sahib Kaur Ji to the masses. Beeba Ji
remained a firm follower of Mata Ji
throughout her life, and shared a lot
of knowledge about Mata Ji’s history
with her close ones.
In 1943, when Beeba Ji was 21 years old, she and two other women went to
seek darshan of Sant Baba Nand Singh Ji of Nanaksar-Kalera. This was a time
when Sant Ji would normally refrain from talking to women alone. When Beeba
Ji and her companions stepped downstairs into Sant Ji’s Bhora Sahib (isolated
meditation room), she saw large amounts of fruit, nuts and delicacies that had
been given as bheta (offerings) to Sant Baba Nand Singh Ji by his huge gathering
of devotees. Sant Ji was much older than Beeba Ji and used to speak very quickly.
Recognising Beeba Ji’s spiritual wisdom despite her young age, Sant Ji motioned
towards the piles of donated goods, stating, “All of these gifts are not equivalent
to your darshani bheta, but this is equivalent to my thought of giving you a
darshani bheta”. Beeba Ji humbly bowed down to Sant Ji’s holy feet and humbly
requested Sant Ji to not utter these words (as Sant Ji themselves were of a very
high spiritual state).
Beeba Nihal Kaur Ji, along with Beeba Punjab Kaur Ji’s Jatha also from Sewewala
Sahib, continued visiting Sant Jawala Singh Ji for many years at various locations.
During one such visit in 1946, the Maharaja of Patiala, Yadwinder Singh had
come to seek Sant Ji’s blessings in Chail. At this time, Beeba Nihal Kaur Ji was
23 years old and routinely immersed in reciting Gurbani and preparing Sant Ji’s
langar. On his visit, Yadwinder Singh found out that a lady in Sant Jawala Singh
Ji’s sangat meditated in a very unique way. He also learnt that she shared his
own family ancestry, known as ‘Baba Phool ke/Bahiya’. The Maharaja asked
Sant Jawala Singh Ji about this lady and Sant Ji advised him to go and seek
darshan of her and her meditative state. In the late evening, Maharaja Yadwinder
Singh himself witnessed Beeba Ji in samadhi. He was awestruck. The following
morning, he returned and proclaimed that as “you are from the Bahiya ancestry,
I wish to donate 500 acres of land to you.” The Maharaja had all the paperwork
ready to hand over, but Beeba Ji being the epitome of humility and grace, politely
declined his offer with the kind words “My brother, what are we going to do
with that much land, what little land we have provides plenty for us. Please
donate this elsewhere to a worthy cause”. The Maharaja, along with the rest
of the sangat, was left speechless and
overwhelmed by Beeba Ji’s detachment
and humility.
Sant Jawala Singh Ji’s main residence
was at Harkhowal, Hoshiarpur where he
would meditate in a mud and straw hut.
Both saints’ spiritual connection grew
over time. Sant Ji knew of Beeba Ji’s
spiritual greatness. When she visited in
1950, he encouraged her to reveal her
power, even just a little, with the words
“thoda bahuta ujagar hovo”. Beeba Ji
replied “Sat bachan Ji… we will reveal
some now, but the rest will manifest
later in time”. This was due to Beeba Ji’s deep understanding and respect
for Sant Attar Singh Ji’s prophecy
that 100 years from now, everyone
will declare Nihal, Nihal, Nihal.