Career
According to the Bhai Bala Janam Sakhi"son He travelled with Guru Nanak and Bhai Mardana on all their great journeys around the world including China, Mecca, and around India. He supposedly died in Khadur Sahib, in his late 70s in 1544.
There is currently ongoing debate surrounding the existence of Bhai Bala.
The reasons for this are:
Bhai Gurdas, who has listed all Guru Nanak"s prominent disciples (in his 11th Var), does not mention the name of Bhai Bala (this may be an oversight, for he does not mention Rai Bular either). However Bhai Mani Singh"s Bhagat Ratanwali, which contains essentially the same list as that by Bhai Gurdas, but with more detail, also does not mention Bhai Bala.
There are a number of other anomalies, which Doctor Kirpal Singh has explicated in his Punjabi work 'Janamsakhi Tradition."
Professor Surjit Hans also notes that the only role of Bhai Bala was to denigrate the name of Nanak and that Guru Nanak prophesizes about a greater bhagat (Hundal) to come:
The first clue to grasping the true character of the Bala Janamsakhi is the fact that the persons related most closely to Guru Nanak are presented in uncomplimentary light. Guru Nanak’s wife regrets marrying him, she is hot-tempered and full of anger.
His mother-in-law is quarrelsome and hardhearted.
The Guru’s constant companion, Mardana, is pleased with counterfeit coins and cast off clothes. He is all the time hungry. Also in the Bhai Bala Janamsakhi are several language inconsistencies.
