KAUDA

KAUDA was, according to Janam Sakhi accounts, the head of a clan of cannibals somewhere in Central India. The cannibals belonged to a sect of the yogis called Kapalikas who went about naked, smeared their bodies with the ashes of a corpse and ate and drank from human skulls. Once as Guru Nanak was passing through that country, his faithful companion Mardana separating from him fell into the hands of Kauda the cannibal. He would have met the fate of many of his luckless victims in his ever boiling oil cauldron, but for Guru Nanak`s timely appearance. The cauldron, says the Bald Janam Sdkhi, cooled as Guru Nanak arrived and the fire underneath it died out.

Kauda fell at the Guru`s feet and begged to be shriven for his sinful ways.The legend of Kauda appears in all the four major Janam Sakhis, though the accounts differ in detail as well as in locale. The name Kauda occurs only in the Bala version. In the folklore of the Gond tribe of Central India, Koda or Kodi is the name of a demon who made the ancestor of the Gonds, Lingo, his prisoner. Lingo escaped with the help of the demon`s daughters whom he later married. The Gonds are his descendants by them.

References :

1. Santokh Singh, Bhai, Sri Gur Pratdp Suraj Grnnt/i. AmriLsar, 1927-33
2. Kolili, Surindar Singh, ed., Jnnnmsfikhl Bhm Bnlti. Chandigarh, 1975
3. Vir Singh, Bhai, cd., Puratanjnnnm Snkhi. Amritsar, 1982