The echo of Dadu Dayal’s own compositions, the Dadu vani, in his conversation with Akbar, can be heard loud and clear. Many verses in Jan Gopal’s text are found verbatim in the Dadu vani. But this is not the case with words spoken by Dadu to Man Singh. Here the characteristic softness of Dadu’s speech is replaced by sharp candor. This intriguing difference makes this episode a momentous one in the Dadu Janma Lila.
The year of Dadu’s meeting with Man Singh is not indicated, but can be easily inferred from his response when Man Singh asks about how long Dadu has been staying in Amer? Dadu replies: “For fourteen years.” Dadu had come to Amer in 1576, which means the meeting took place in about 1590. This would be soon after Man Singh took charge of Amer and had received complaints about Dadu’s heretical ideas and practices.
The complaints and the social identity of those who complained are like what is found in other sant hagiographies. As in the case of the complaints against Kabir in Anantadas’s Kabir parchai, Dadu is accused of being an evil influence on both Hindus and Muslims through his wayward behaviour. But in Dadu’s case, the complaints also include the crucial case of Dadu’s “strange”, even “criminal” behaviour as a householder. His daughters remained unwed even after having passed, by several years, the customary age for marriage. Dadu’s refusal to marry his daughters at an early age is said to have been rejected by the populace, who claimed that the king ultimately must take on the burden of this sin. When Man Singh took charge of Amer, “everyone met him at his residence with great respect; only Swamiji [Dadu] stayed at home.”
The complainants did not miss this opportunity for underlining Dadu’s arrogant and offensive indifference to the king’s own authority:
Dadu in his arrogance does not care even for your authority, O king, and engages in unspeakable impropriety; he proclaims equality among the Hindus and Muslims, the Brahmins, and the Baniyas. He rejects varnashrama and declares the Vedas to be false. His followers leave deceased women in jungle. In fact, no religion is safe anymore since both Hindus and Muslims are going astray. He has kept his children unwed, which is a great crime according to the Vedas. A girl is called kanya until the age of seven, and until twelve a beti. A girl remaining unmarried until sixteen years of age goes against dharma and keeping a girl unmarried until the age of twenty is simply unpardonable. Ultimately, the burden of all such sins comes to the king. Please, o king, talk to him.
The king could obviously not ignore this public discontent. He decided to go and see Dadu. The king initiated the conversation by mentioning that he “had not forgotten having met Dadu in Ramgarh several years earlier” and politely added, “But you have never come to inquire about me here.”
“I did inquire about the essentials,” was Dadu’s answer. Not very pleased with the indifferent, philosophical tone of Dadu’s answer, the king started asking Dadu about various ‘deviations’ that had been reported to him. Dadu again answered philosophically. He began his remarks with a couplet from Kabir. Throughout this discussion, Dadu continued to quote Kabir’s words to explain the ideas, values, and practices of the nirgunpanthis. The king is reluctant to ask about Dadu’s daughters being still unwed. Dadu guessed the king’s reluctance and spoke out: “One should not impose marriage on young persons who will get the blame. Parents have little intelligence and make terrible mistakes. Again a famous verse from Kabir is recited for the king’s benefit: “The relationship of man and woman is hell if blessed only by lust, says Kabir. It is a path to Ram if you can meditate without carnal passion.” (नर नारी सब नरक है, जब लग देह सकाम/ कहै कबीर ते राम का जे सुमिरै निहकाम.)
Dadu continues in this vein with respect to the matter of his own daughters having remained unwed. In his remarks, he confronts the evil of child marriage and its terrible consequences. In this, Dadu is too candid for the king’s comfort:
Listen, king, when the daughters of brahmins and baniyas are forced into widowhood at the age of seven and go astray, who should be blamed? Having no regard for God and honor, they are forced to go for abortions, who takes the sin? True honor flows only from constant contemplation on the Brahman; do this yourself and encourage others to do the same. Believe me, no blemish will come to you.
Jan Gopal tells us that Dadu’s disciples and admirers were jubilant and thought that king Man Singh was pleased too. But was he? Man Singh’s very next comment reflects his unease about the kind of disciples Dadu had: “It doesn’t seem to matter to you what kind of person becomes your disciple.” Dadu’s response is also characteristic, “I do not make disciples, people come on their own, immersed [in God].”
Jan Gopal documents Man Singh’s dilemma quite clearly. The king did not want to punish Dadu. Nonetheless, he feared the possible wrath of the Brahmins if he did not punish him. It is at this point that the king asked Dadu for how long Dadu had been in Amer. Dadu got the hint: “For fourteen years” he replied tersely, and immediately got up to leave. Man Singh was embarrassed and tried to placate Dadu: “I did not suggest that you should get up, I only asked a simple question. It was a great offense, please forgive me. I know that you are the Inner Controller (अंतरजांमी).” Dadu indeed knew the king’s mind and his dilemma. Despite the king’s request to stay, Dadu decided to leave Amer. He showed mercy on the king by staying in Amer for a few days, but then Dadu left Amer forever.
Harassing a Sant must bring destruction to the king and his city according to the standard template of hagiographies in any religious tradition. Jan Gopal follows this model but finds a way to explain away the fact that nothing untoward happened to Amer and its king in the wake of Dadu’s departure. Something bad certainly might have happened, “Swamiji however showed great compassion and Hari liberated all beings [from the fear of destruction].”
As already mentioned, Dadu’s forthright stand against child marriage adopted in this episode of Jan Gopal’s Dadu Janma Lila is nowhere echoed in Dadu’s own works. His blunt, almost combative tone is also quite uncharacteristic. Probably, here it is Jan Gopal himself speaking through the persona of Dadu. It is noteworthy that there is no attempt here to take recourse to any scripture or ancient law book to criticize the custom of child marriage. Kabir also is not cited on this point. He could not have been. He has not said anything in this regard.
Jan Gopal’s argument is entirely based on real social experience and is directed at vivek, human wisdom. Jan Gopal clearly emerges as a man with distinctly rational sensibility. His rationality is also reflected in his realistic description of Dadu’s pragmatic decision to move away from the hostile environment.
