The Navami of Shukla Paksha in Bhadrapada month is celebrated as Chand Navami. This festival is dedicated to Chand Ji, the creator of the Udasin Sampradaya.

In India, various religious perspectives keep on emerging from time to time. They can evolve from a single person or group of people. Everyone made their own special contribution to the religious ideology and their indelible mark can be seen in some form or the other even today.

Amongst all those who have contributed to religious ideologies, Shri Chandra Ji’s name comes up right at the top. Whatever social welfare work Shri Chandra ji did through his thoughts and actions, all of them are still established as an ideal in society.

Who was Baba Chand Ji?

Chand Ji’s era started from 1494 and lasted till 1643. He was born to Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji. Shri Chandra Ji followed the footsteps of his father. He represented an undying spirit for social welfare through his actions.

He started his spiritual journey at an early age. At the time when other children were busy playing, Shri Chandra Ji decided to meditate and attain Samadhi. He liked solitude and preferred spending in the forest where he used to work on his consciousness and knowledge. He toured the country at a young age. He visited different places and met different saints and shared his knowledge with them.

He amazed everyone with his speech, words and religious consciousness. He put in a lot of effort to solve the problems of the needy. He became famous due to his works. There was a lot of enthusiasm among people to meet him. Not only Indian kings but also Mughal Kings were eager to meet him.

Stories related to Baba Shri Chandra

Many stories about the importance of Shri Chand ji can be found in Indian culture. According to one such story, once a landlord in Kashmir spotted Shri Chandra Ji peacefully sitting in sunlight and enjoying the moment. This disappointed the landlord. He felt that Baba was completely absorbed in himself and incapable of protecting others.

Shri Chand Ji understood what he wanted to say and immediately took out a burning stick from the Kund and planted it at the same place. In no time, the stick grew into a big Chinar tree. Seeing this magic, the landlord apologises to Shri Chandra Ji. It is believed that since that day, the tree is called Chand Chinar.

Another Story -

It is said that a king used to rule the Chamba district near the Ravi river. Without his permission, no sailor was allowed to bring any saint from one river bank to another. Once Shri Chandra Ji visits that place and requests a sailor to help him cross the river. The sailor denies his request because of the King’s orders.He asks Chandraji to get permission from the King. Chandraji does not bother to visit the King for permission. He uses a big rock to cross the river.

The mesmerised sailor narrates the whole incident to his King. The King then visits Shri Chandra Ji and becomes his disciple. Shri Chandra Ji asks the King to renounce his ego. Chandra ji teaches him religion and improves his knowledge. The King is even blessed with a son, thanks to Chandra ji’s blessings. It is said that the piece of rock used by the Baba is still placed in Chamba.

Creator of the Udasin(udasi) Sampraday

Shri Chand Ji played an important role in the establishment of an Udasin Sampraday. The Udasin Sampraday is also an important sect of the Sikhs and saints. Many of his works have been adopted by Sikhs. He always preached humanity. His preachings were primarily based on non violence. There was always a sense of innocence in his words. He asked everyone to follow love and benevolence.

Some of his thoughts are also considered to be inspired from Jain religion. Many people couldn’t agree with his thoughts as he was considered inactive due to his non-violent tendency. But some people agreed to this as his thoughts helped in enlightening their lives.

Baba Shri Chand Ji mainly preached that both happiness and sadness should be weighed equally. One should not get attached to them. One will face problems by getting emotionally attached to everything. Shri Chandra Ji took Samadhi after making Baba Gurditta Ji his successor. Baba Gurditta was the son of the sixth Guru of Sikhs, Shri Har Govind Ji.

Studies of Udasi Sampraday

Several ideologies are found on the Udasin Sampraday. These ideologies have been distributed at different places. They mainly have four branches. People who are a part of this community follow Sanatan Dharma. They give importance to the five elements(water, fire, earth, wind, and sky) of life and worship them.

One of their branches belongs to Phool Sahib, Bahadurpur. The Second branch belongs to Baba Hasan, Anandpur near Charankol. The Third branch is in Puri, it belongs to Almast Sahib in Nainital. The Fourth branch is of Govind Sahib, Shikarpur. All these branches or ideologies are different from one another. They are independent of each other.

Baba Sri Chand Ji Jayanti