BHAGAT MĀL, sub-titled Sākhī Bhāī Gurdās Jī kī Vār Yārvīṅ Sikhāṅ dī Bhagatmālā, is an anonymous manuscript (Kirpāl Siṅgh, A Catalogue of Punjabi and Urdu Manuscripts, attributes it to one Kirpā Rām, though in the work itself no reference to this name exists) held in the Khālsā College, Amritsar, under MS. No. 2300, bound with several other works all of which are written in the same hand. The manuscript comprises 83 folios and is undated. The opening page of the full volume, however, carries the date 1896 Bk/AD 1839 which may be the year of its transcription. Bhagat Māl is a parallel work to the more famous Bhagatmālā by Bhāī Maī Siṅgh and is, like the latter, meant to be an elaboration of Bhāī Gurdās's eleventh Vār, listing the more prominent of the Sikhs of Gurū Nānak's time. All the 30 stanzas of the Vār are reproduced each with explanation under the heading tisdā vīchār (explanation of that). First 12 stanzas contain no names : they are devoted to elaborating the theory of Sikhism and the characteristics of an ideal Sikh and his mode of living. From the 13th stanza onward (f. 260), the names of various Sikhs are given. Under "explanation, " a question is put forward by a Sikh pertaining to the principles and practices of the Sikh faith such as sevā, selfless, voluntary service, charity, control of mind, remembrance of God, home life, lust, and anger. Occasionally, some questions relate to philosophical issues as well, for instance, whether God is transcendent or immanent. At places incidents from the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata as well as hymns from the Gurū Granth Sāhib are quoted to illustrate a point. Some contemporary events from Sikh history such as the construction of the temple and the tank at Amritsar and the compilation of the Ādi Granth are also referred to. At folio 325, Bhāī Nand Lāl is quoted as saying that the Gurū bestowed all honour on the Khālsā adding that Sahajdhārīs were also accepted along with Keśādhārīs.

Sarmukh Siṅgh Amole