Page:The Sikh Religion, its gurus, sacred writings and authors Vol 6.djvu/132

120 SAIN

was a disciple of Ramanand and consequently lived in the end of the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth century of the Christian era. He was a barber at the court of Raja Ram, king of Rewa, then called Bandhavgarh. The tendency of the age was towards devotion and religious composition, and Sain found leisure in the midst of his duties to study the hymns of Ramanand, shape his life on the principles inculcated in them, and successfully imitate their spirit and devotional fervour. The accomplishments and duties of an Indian court barber at the time of Sain were and are still of a miscellaneous character. He is something of a surgeon and ordinarily a marriage or match-maker, he oils the king s body, shampoos his limbs, pares his nails, shaves his face and head, if he be a Hindu, and clips his moustache, if he be a Musalman; amuses him with gossip and tales ; often plays the rebeck and sings his own compositions, which deftly combine flattery of his master with social satire or pleasantry. God is said by the Hindu chronicler to have cherished Sain as a cow her calf. He frequented the society of holy men and was very happy in their company. He performed for them all menial offices, for he believed that serving saints was equivalent to serving God Himself. The Bhagat Mal contains a legend which at once