ANANDGHANA, SVAMI, an Udasi sadhii known for the commentaries he wrote on some of the Sikh scriptural texts. Not much biographical detail is available about him, but references in his own works indicate that he was a disciple of Baba Ram Dayal, an Udasi ascetic; also, that he was born into the family of Guru Nanak, tenth in descent from him. Since his first tika, a commentary on the Japu, was completed in 1852 Bk/AD 1795, it may be presumed that he was born around the middle of the eighteenth century. He spent the early years of his life at Dera Baba Nanak where he was born.
NIHAL SINGH, SANT, also known as Pandit Nihal Singh, a Sanskrit scholar well versed in Vedanta as well as in gurbdm, lived in Sikh times in the village of Thoha Khalsa, in district Rawalpindi, now in Pakistan. Pandit Nihal Singh is famous for his Sanskrit commentary on Japu, {hefapugudhdrthadipakd (Lamp which illuminates the deep and hidden meaning of the Japu) patterned on Sarikar`s Bhasya on Veddntasutra. According to the colophon appended to the manuscript, work on Gudhdrthadipakd was undertaken at the instance of an Udasi saint, Bava Buddh Sarup.
