300 SKETCH OF THE 



Jogi Das, who commanding a body of troops in the service of the Raja of 

 Dholpur, was left as slain on the field of battle, but restored to life by a 

 stranger in the guise of a mendicant, who carried him to a mountain, 

 taught him the tenets of the faith, and having bestowed upon him the 

 power of working miracles, sent him to disseminate his doctrines. These 

 circumstances are rather obscurely alluded to in the original authorities 

 consulted on the present occasion, but they agree with the above in 

 considering Birbhan an inhabitant of Urijhasir, near Narnoul, in the 

 province of Delhi, as the founder of the sect, at the date above mentioned. 

 Birbhan received his knowledge from the Sat Guru, the pure teacher, also 

 called TJdaka Das, the servant of the one God, and particularly described as 

 the Mdlek ka Hakeni, the order of the Creator, the personified word of God. 



The doctrines taught by the super-human instructor of Birbhan were 

 communicated in Sabdas and Sdkhis, detached Hindi stanzas like those 

 of Kaeir. They are collected into manuals, and read at the religious 

 meetings of the Sddhs : their substance is collected into a tract entitled 

 Adi Upades, first precepts, in which the whole code is arranged under 

 the following twelve Hukems, or Commandments. 



1. Acknowledge but one God who made and can destroy you, to whom there is 

 none superior, and to whom alone therefore is worship due, not to earth, nor stone, nor 

 metal, nor wood, nor trees, nor any created thing. There is but one Lord, and the word 

 of the Lord. He who meditates on falsehoods, practices falsehood, and commits sin, and 

 he who commits sin falls into Hell. 



2. Be modest and humble, set not your affections on the world, adhere faithfully to 

 your creed, and avoid intercourse with all not of the same faith, eat not of a stranger's bread. 



3. Never lie nor speak ill at any time to, or of any thing, of earth or water, of trees or 

 animals. Let the tongue be employed in the praise of God. Never steal, nor wealth, nor 



