Service before self
Seva or service to others occupies a central place in Sikhism. It helps the person to get rid of haumai or ego and to consider all human beings as equal. Seva, humility and self- realisation are all interconnected in the Sikh way of life as says the Guru, “All living beings are God’s own creatures and none can obtain any reward without rendering service”.
Seva of the poor and needy is regarded as the greatest virtue of an ideal Sikh. But it should be done without any expectation. “He who serves without reward, he alone attains God”. One such person, or a saintly personality, was Bhagat Puran Singh who is known for his selfless service to the disabled and crippled persons, especially the lepers.
Bhagat Puran Singh was born in 1904 in Rajeval village in Ludhiana district of the Punjab. Though born in a Hindu family, he found his true calling and solace in the Sikh way of life. Highly inspired by the notion of seva, he decided to dedicate his life to humanitarian activities. He took a vow of celibacy and immersed himself in seva at Gurdwara Dera Sahib.
This gurdwara is sacred to the fifth Sikh guru, Guru Arjan Dev who had established a lepers’ home. And Bhagat Puran Singh who was just 19 years of age, embarked on a journey of selfless seva. In 1934, he found an abandoned spastic child in front of gurdwara Dera Sahib and Bhagat Puran Singh, not only took care of the child but also always carried him on his back as there was no one else to look after the child. He named the abandoned child “Piara” meaning beloved. After Partition in 1947 Bhagat Puran Singh came to Amritsar along with Piara and another sick man. He lived in a refugee camp and started a social service camp. He established “Pingalvara” in Amritsar which means a house or asylum for the disabled, handicapped and crippled people.
Bhagat Puran Singh devoted his life to his patients. He would buy food and medicines for the sick people and also feed them with his own hands. He did not mind doing any task for his patients. He washed their dirty and soiled clothes, cleaned up the patients and tended them with love and care.
Pingalvara, still committed to Bhagat Puran Singh’s noble cause of seva, provides shelter to people suffering from all kinds of diseases. Presently there are 1,752 destitute people, including mental patients, cancer patients, old and destitute, deserted women and abandoned children here. All the people are admitted without any consideration of religion or caste.
Pingalvara is also spreading awareness about environment with its zero budget natural farms and tree plantations. It is also running five schools where free education is provided. It has its own printing press which helps to raise funds. Pingalvara is a unique institution started by Bhagat Puran Singh and because of such persons only humanity is alive.