I

i
'* .....
SAT 5RI AKAL
No. 5
GURU NANAK
THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD
( 1469-1518 .0. )
By
SARDAR SI-IER SINGH, M.SC.
Kc':,; hmil.
bb'
The Bengal Sikh Missionary Associati-m
'T WI'I'ison Road,
GRAT(.S
;
"
,
k

i
FOREWORD.
In the following few page" I hWe ju.t
a n outline of the outstanding leatures 01 my Master.
I, begin with personal experience as that is the Rock
On which all .pirituality re.ts. and _s,tand;n!: on which
One may stand firm even as a lighth'ouse in a troublous
sea. But for this l'icket, I would not have the least
thought to say anything on behalf of the Master for what
I have not experienced is at best but hearsay evidence to
which little value is attached in the open court of
pu!:'li c opinion.
I have tried 6rst to explain the truism that my Master
is essentially Guru. What that signi6cant word means
and connotes is to me of such importance that I have
taken this 6rst i .e. before discussing His Personality.
,
The essential part 01 the paper i. the po.rlion deal-
ing with the prophet' s career as a patriot. This part
01 the Guru's life i. so little known or understood that
, it was highly e.sential to remove the misu'!iJerstanding
wlthout further delay. But the Guru's Personality i.
c03mic, and hence Hi. message i. lor the ";hole
tHumanity at large. Hence, He is more th,:,n a 'poet,
patri.ot. or even a prophet-He i. the World-Saviour.
I will discuss the history and the teaching. of my
Master in a separate bro'chure, but "ihis paper is
outline of Guru Nanak's contrihl1tion to the advance-
melnt of nations and Jndian culture.
DODA, KASiIMIR. TIlE AUTHOR.
I O-Ill-35.
CONTENTS.
I. llRSS1.\!1 l.IUkU NANAK.
.
11. Tlu: GGk t: & THE NAM.
I' a!:e.
' 1
7
Ill. GGRD :-lANAK AS Pmn', I'U' RIOT & P"Ol'lIllT. 15
,
(i) The historical persp"cti l' c the Hindu Perillu. 17
(ii) The Muslim immediately precooing
Nanak. 21
(iii) Guru Nana k Mirror of the lIJ.edielal
India. 2;
(i,") The Babarwani hrlllns of the tben billoo
(eU Inn ia. 29
(v) Guru Nanak as patriot. 36
(vi ) Guru Nanak as poet.
(vi;) Guru Naoak as propbet.
IV, CONCI,USION.
MY MESSIAH GURU NANAK.
If 1 were asked as to why I love my
answer is simple and unamhiguous : I do so hecause
He loved me and owned me before any other saviour,
It may he that His Face was hidden bchiml the
cnrtain, yet I felt His Hand as tangibly and as really
as I felt the first IO",:ing touch of my mathe,' soon after
:I was born. Guru Nanak is thus a real living Perso ..
nality, more real to me than my 0\\"1 lIesh and blood,
\Vhen 1 come within His loving embrace, I feel more
snug aud cosy than when I am surrounded by my
best anu costliest belongings, He is dearer to me
than the breath of mine own nostrils, And now
when I look back a nd review my insipid, colourless
life of yore, I feel as if r was not awake, but asleep
like Kumbhkaran of old, or like that Lazarus who
was dead and buried and remained rotting in the
grave until he was resuscitated by the 1.105oiah,
)leooiah is Guru ",anak and r will try to analyse in
the following lines some of the reasons as to why He
appealed to me more than any other saviour.
To be:Jin with, my first aoquaintance with my
)Jaster was through the ever open and ever-inviting
avenue of His humility, While other saviours call
themselve., as pet SODS of the Father, or those commis-
sioned with some special purpose, my Master did
nothing of the kinu, He gave himself no airs, He did
no't ta.1k big, but said in un1pistakahle words and
accents that He' was "'," meek or Lowly as innocent
( 2 )
and humble as tbe little lily whkh comes out of tbe
earth. and e,-e11 in the beyday of its glory remains
oriented towards tbe earth. The cun'. wbieh
I find iu the lily was unmistakably there \,-hen I saw
tht: hent neck of m)' This was my til'St
(lC<luaintance with Him, hut the cOIlviction gained
ground as I read H wri and I found in CYfry
refrain the selfsame rc itcrntion murching with
cn:: r-mol1nting yelocity soon Ltc(luired in my mind the
force of cOll\ ictitlll, \Vhen this conviction dawned on
me. I felt ,'e,-y homely with m)' I felt as if
1 could sit in the same square. :l1ll1 rtlb shoulders with
Him. Imag-ine my impertinellcc-a sinner sitting
side hy side with and touching the hem of the
.Master's garment .Hut this was possible and practi-
cahle as my "laste,- a rrogated n() nirs to Himself. He
was so artlessly sillll)lc and humble that 1 felt no
compunction whell I sat with Him in one and
the same boat. COlloc'ious 0 f that homely ntmosphere
I alreally felt myself one with !lilli, although this was
my unwarranted presumption for which I regretted
soon after. yet I f"lt at the time that if this be my
Master who is so .imple, I woold be one
of His crew, alld of 1I0ne other. I, tberefore, decided
to sink or swim with Him. Tbat was, therefore,
my first introduction witb the Master,
Althol1!-(h 1 attach the greatest importance to
bumility which is the passport to heaven, yet what
appealed to me more, time mlnmcecl, was aqotber
fe:lt ltre which stauch; in the relation to humility
( 3 )
as the daughter to her mother, namely sweet-
simplicity, which is the second reason why I was
<.Im\\,11 up to Nallak_ His words are sweet lil,e the
honey and simple like the spotlessly pure sunlight,
and HS you read them, you feel as if your whoJe soul
waverS like a wind-swept leaf. I huyc rend many a
Bibk" yet the I\'onl uf the (,nrn me as
exceptional for it. is 1JUI"f.. ' I1Cl.!tar, distilled and
redistilled until it is the ,'cry 'juillte,"cllcc_ It is this
crystalline purity iuset ill honey which is to me the
truest picture of His worels giyc a curious
as when a cDill tested rings true gold.
There is sweet aroma and ill every word
used, and us you sing or I.:hant them, the hiduen yoke
of Nanak rises reverberant ill your soul/s ntmosphere
like a fouatain of rich diHille<l perfumes.
\Vhen I read the of my )'lastl'r, my sunken
heart gains energy and be,gins t() heat \\pith vigour,
the pent up emotions dart out, the dism'll atmosphere
Changes at once iato the hopeful morn, an<.l my sunken
e.ves gleam once more hright as a blazing star.
Indeed, His hymns open on t to me a ae\\" hea yen and
a new earth, and so long as I r",nain rapt ia them
I do not feel myself resident of this carth, but care-
free like the bird morning' song. Guru
Nanak's Word is so SWCet anti mellifluous that
even if the dead boaes heard it, they will spriag hack
into life even as they were So g-alvanised hy the lute
of " the Orllheus. To the sinner'" mind tberetiJrc,
" .'
the \Vard not only a healiug ballll, IJUt
( t )
veritahly the ma nna from the hea\' ens which
tran.fi).:urcs what it t Ol1ches ami fills it to the hrim.
Even' wortl th'lt "tlls from the :\Iasters lips is like
an ang'ei'H word that He usCS is as white
anu pure as the rose \vhich is worn on the
wedding day. This transparent p,:,rity engulfed in
nectar is then thc ""col1l1 feature of my :\laster. You
may attra,-tell first hv His humility, hut it is His
, ,
sarclmrinc Worll whidt ",iii sink in you and cemeut
the relation 1'11'mcl' ior all time,
1 have sweet.simplicity as daughter of
humility, but IKl th of them are descended from a
common anccstor which is nothing less than NAM,
the Music:t l Current of life which i3 the hasis of all
love, life ami rhythm. This :\Iusic is the primal force
from \\'hich a1l1ilc springs and to which it reverts
after pcriollieal rhythms, All poetry that is true is
an emanation of this Force and dunces in tune with
this :\.lusic, The divine poetry is, therefore, a
spontancou, etIl1sio11 of this primal current, an echo
of the eternal symphony which rings true as much
in the music of the sttlrS us in the soul of man. No
poetry can l>e said be inspired which doe not stir
these hidden chords of human life. The greatest and
the surest reason \\'hy the poetry of Nanak moves u.
to diviue elevlltion lies in the hidden secret mentioned
above, viz, t he symphony of the Guru's Word is a
direct echo ()f the Didne Sympbony which is the basis
of Life. The things tha t move the heart must come
, .
from high, otherwise we have only notes, bodies
( 5 )
without soul, mere words. When we chant the
Guru's Word, the human spirit which is banished
from the Divine Home, rotums to the Fatherland,
e:nriche<.1 anu conSUIDtnated. That is l'cason why the
Sikh Bi1.>le is written wholly in podry, and why

the hymns ,,-hen ghoe u:; unearthly satisfac-
tion.
This Divine SymphollY relleeted in the Guru's
hymns sung in accompaniment with instrumental
music has alwHYs exercised the inllucl1ce on me
as a tremendous magnet has un a small magnetic
needle. 'fhis music kCCI'" of Sikh souls
gathered in a congregation spell bouhd, and 1 haye
seen Httle babies as much enchautc(l hy the sweet
melody as the bearded elders neacilli( the graye.
Shabad Kirtan is, therefore, the wry essence of the
Sikh religion. I have ahva)'s cOllsidered this <:lS the
most important part of the Sikh Hcligion 110t only
because it soothes the mimI because it is the
. .
truest food of the soul. Soul that is cut otY from this
supply soon languishes, withers and dies. The
instruction that is sung out to me rather than read
out or is a thousand titvcs more instructive,
as it sinks in my sub.consciou5 mimI, spreads, flowers
out ancI fructifies, and stands in good stead when
it is most needed i.e., in my unguarded moments fot
the Htbconscious mind is thell active as at any
other time. On the other band, instruction unaccom-
panied with music is very often as futile llS seed
buried in a desert soil. Music -is verily the 1110isture
( 6 )
of the seedsoil but for which it must eyer remain
sterile e\'en as the mummy-wheat.
Hut it is no ordinary music which is glorified in
the Sikh religion. The music which stirs the diyine
chords must be itself heavenly, and as I have stated
abO\'e:it must he nothing k-,;s than the Divine :.\.lusic
which is at the heart of Nature, and which is the
supreme cause of ,rcation, and of which inspired
poetry alone is tbe truest echo. The magic of Guru
:'<anak'8 magnetism and of His Word, therefore, lies
in this deep.centred Divine mystery which is the
heritage 01 mh'anced souls. This is such a cherished
a nd inalienahle possession of the Sikh Religion that
only those who know crm realise its supreme signi.
lieance. Without this Diyine hlusic, the Sikh Religion
would he hody without soul, a carcass, or at hest a
caricatmc of ,cligion. Most of the synthetic religiilns
whi,h we find in \' ogue toclay suffer from this defect;
they 11'1\'. body hut no soul, the eerie soul which delies
analysis and synthesis heing the DiYine
menti()I\cd aUo\e. 1 attach the very highest signi.
fic"nce to this side of the :;ikh Religion for herein
lies tbe key to the, lIlystery of the Ki"l"dom of
HCHyeu.
1 humility is the physiognomy of the Sikh
l{cligioll, and its nature, this Diyine
fe .. :uml ity and symphony is its very heart aml
Thc>e are then the three si lken chords which knittell
me lirst with Xanak.
THE GURU AND THE NAM.
Guru )/anak is 1Iot only my :\.Iessiah, lIe is my
-Guru or the Master. Therein, [ think. lies the
most outstanding feature of this seer. He does not
promise to me vicarious sUlfcring or redemptiOll, He
takes me up as a child in His arms, and after fondling
me aud patting me for some time, imparts to me
real and serious irtstructiUll. In other word:;, Guru
Nanak expects " ' ery one of His Sikhs to be really
a disciple and to learn to stand on his owu lel;s.
Thus by graduated course of training the disciple is
brought up tu a le"el ",h,re he can see eye to eye
with his .\Jaster, uot by hear.a)" alone but as a
result of personal experience.
Search the Sikh Bihle from one end to the other,
and you will hard:, lind the Guru. addressed as
A vtars. There are certain cross references, by one
Guru to the other, bllt rarely is the GuruFather
addressed as an avtar : lIe is called the Gurdev,
the Enlightening.Light, for that is the truest des
cription of a .\laster. The avtar theory has heell
in the Imliau liehl for lllillellill1l1s. It hus its uses
, .
aml its ad,ocatcs. But I for one cannot see the
force of tbe argll111ellt th:<t God Himself should des-
cend frum the stars and be cll\vombed. to tight out
evil and anarl.!hy. This argument if it were true
\vould rule out illll11anCnCe of the Being,
and would consign the eUl"th to the hegemony of
the :-:)pirit,'which is surely not an Indian eOllccp
( 8 )
tiol1. Not only is thi. conceptiou contrary to cheri-
shed asmmptions of the Inclian philosophy and
tradition, but it is so re\"oltiog that this world would
not he worth living-, if it were entirely ghocn over
to the Devil to he interfered occasionally hy an avtar.
' isits of the One would hardly be
able to set right the equilibrium, and as soon as
the a\-tar made his exit, tbe deyii would rule supreme
again. These .... isits of.a vtars, few and far
as they proyerhially are, could not stem the tide of
devilry, and if avtar theory were literally true, the
world woul,l be a pandemonium for all time. A few
or even a few dozens may come in to relieve
the ahysmal darkness, but what can few stars do
to efface that hmodiug darkness which would then
be our lot during the moonless miduight? One
swallow docs not make summer oor could a fe,,
avtars turn this hell of Godforsaken earth into a
livable abode, not to speak of it as an heaven. In
deed, there are tremendous difficulties in the way
if a,'tar theory were it e,er seriously considered. To
me all glory and grandeur lies ill the opposite direc-
tion, viz. that man should rise up from the,dust and
progress heaven. wards by howe,"er slow stages,
rather than that God Himself should come from tbe
"ea yens and take us up on His wings. The former
process would turn men into if not gods, aod
the latter would ever keep us tongue-tied, maimed,
and in the leading strings of the higher spirits. -r
would rather stand on my own legs. toodle ove': and
( 9 )
fall headlong than be poised all the time on the
pinion. of an outside power. No, my Guru tells me
that I am not destined to be e,rr a spiritual cripple.
It is up to me to use my own legs, to expand, grow
in stature and touch the very heavens. The avtar

theory that muzzles me, for all time, does not there-
fore appeal to me. This is not to say that I do not
believe in the guid'}nce of leaders ann seers. I believe
in them and try to follow in their footstep', but my
respect and regard for these seers increases immensely
when I consider them not as Goo-descended, but
what they intrinsically arc : transfigured men .....
men who battled hard with the stern realities of
the world aod won! That is one reason why in
the Sil,h Bible, the Gitaphrase regarding the adyent
of an aytar is reversed thus :-
flay jug }tlg Mag."t "J>aia"
"In e,cry age a bhagat par excell!luce is born"
The emphasis is on the word bhagat and not
on avtar which is as much as to say that a God.
Mao i, born rather than ManGod! This is the
very key, to the whole of t h ~ Sikh philosophy, anu
startling though it may seem, yet as far as 1 under
stand the S,kh Religion, thi, is so true tha t any
distorting of the text to wrench out opposite mean'
ings would be little short of mockery, if 110t blasphemy.
In short. 1 mnst repeat with all the emphasis thal
I-eao command that my hlastcr is primarily a Guru,
n Teacher
,
a Mnn ... . He is no avtar!
10 )
To a\!Cept this is also to accept the democratic
constitution of the Sikh society. A Sikh is first and
loremost a disciple. He sits in the same relation
to his Spiritual :\Iaster as a college student sits in
the presence of his professor. Every college student
is potentially a professor-so also every Sikh may
after the fulnes. of time become one with his :\laster
and step into His shne'S. This, I say, not in way
to support any form of popery. but in order to
bring out the underlying C\ig'nity of mankinrl. The
essence of democracy lies in this; that after due
rlualification e\'ery citizen may step into and sit
ill the clictatorial chair, provided always that he
;s littcd to the supreme task. This is also the sum
and suhstance of the Sikh philosophy that our (;uru
;s primarily our Teacher. will please Him
morc than tl) see His O\\'n pupils hecome, like Him,
hlazin.", tMehes of Li:,:ht, as refulgent as the torch
held hy the :\1"5tcl' Himself. While the avtar theory
woukl tie us O,'cr to the rattle and the feeding hottle,
the :-;ikh conception opens out to us immense pQ!;si.
bilitit."S, undreamt of before.
Conceding this philosophy :\1aster. teaches
me that the temptation which Lord Jesus s"ffered
in the wilderness is a universal phenomenon-i.e.,
";\,e ha \'e cal' h to pass through the self-same procc.s
in all \\'alks ui Iile. The "ery first hymn iu the
JirRt R;ig deal. \\'i til tempations and I cannot do
better than :.:i,"e here a litero.l translation of the ,,-orch
of the taking each temptation separately ;-
( 11 )
( I)
The first tomptation is directed to our sellses, and
therefore, first in the order of priority :-
,f Tltougk a mansioll of ptn,.!s 'if/cre ,"aised instead of mud,
Though it """'f all with Jcwels outtld,
, were with Htusk, ala", stlllda/-'UJood plas/chd,
SUi1lg which Ih, moulh of Ihe btllO/d,r ,unlcred,
.Blwa,-e lest sating Ilust thou mig-illest bt'collle bli?ld,
Alld His edllying tlO loug'ct abide in tllille miJ/d /"
This temptation comes to us all cyen as it came
to the Christian in the Valley of the Shado\\' of
Death, and our Loru warns us to beware
lest the senses oyerpowered the Spirit aut! beclouded
the mirror of God i,e, the Nam, When the Christ
was tempted by the Deyil, he "'lid, "What "hall it
profit a man, if he gain the whole 'world, and Jose
his OWIl The Guru tens us likewise to li.eep
the :\lirror of God, the Name, c,'er before our eyes
for the kingdoms of the wo.rld and the glory thereof
are ' consumed even as tinder' anu but'lor His Xamc
there is naught that will continue for aye.
The eonciudjng part of the ahoyc t(::ll1ptation is
heightenL"'<J by reference to the houris or
,damsels (mohinis)
1 hough tl,(! ('(wIlt 'Wt1'e witl:. ditt1JlolldJ ami rubits
t' 1/1 b( -1/ i :; It t tl
l
'
TIJongh 0111' bedst(adJ 11.'('1"1' 'Zpilllpt'ar/s l1Iltt rtf./;it S
/ Ul "is/ted,
11ttwgll many nil C/lchmltitlg dmllsd .. 'ilh
Oil her fnct,
( 12 )
Lint tl,,'s bedaBdin!: sctm still/llrtl,er grace,
Dew" .... lest S"'-IIIJ tMs tl,oll migltttst become b/b,d.
lll,d His edify;,'g Nallll. "0 longer abide in tltine
mind
This temptation is than even that which
the Deyil offered to the Chri.t, for in those tempta
tions there is no referenL.., to the wily Eyc who is
often the helpmate of the I?cyil. Whateyer the
gradty of the situation, let us e"cr keep the :>.Hrror
of God in our hanet, for Th;Lt will al way" keep us
on the right track.
(ii)
The second temptation described below does not
OCcur in the Bihle, hut is particularly apt to the
Indian conditions for many a yogi, and siddha, .
haye hanltered "fter mirnculou" powers, and the in
fatuation of these powers has a lways stood in their
side.trucking their quest. Particular reference-
is. therefore. drawn to this temptation :-
HI hough I beco1lle a 1Jtngnciml endowed witlz 11IanJ'
a miraculous PtJUlff .
Tholl<l[h I cou{r( te111pt lite goddess of Wla/th 01lt
. of It" bower
Though I co"ld (I' "'.Y 1vil! b,'come visible or iltvisiblt,
Sai1l!: wlticlt Iht. bel,olders <htlllled allhm1,
B.-ware lest wield",!: these powers t!tIJf' mightest
become blind,
Alld His edifyillg Na1lle no 10Tlgtr abide ill tM".
m,'nd r"
( 13 )
This power to wurk miracles certainly
:a stronger appeal to our imagination thun the temp-
tation directed to our but the Guru asks us to
beware of these powers just as much as of those
attractions which Cal)tivate the liesh.
(iii)
The third and the lust appeal is still more potent
as it tukes us oUj: of our individual spheres and puts
us head and shoulders others ' v here we can
lord it o\'er others. This is the temptation to which
kings, emperors and dicta turs are Hable ill the East as
.also in the West. Th. Guru cautions us as follows :-
,. TI,ough I wel'e suddL'l/Iy to become" ,uli"l{ sovereign,
ThbUgll. assembling I could (ucllld a throlle,
TIIOUgl1. butrt!Sud b)' IJtTwe1', jllst and Utljust,
Yet ai, is "aue'" eve" as ill Ihe bala"c. the dUSI,
iJeUla,-e ltst wielding Ilust powerS thou migliLb"t
become blind,
,nllcl His edi/yilll{ Naill. "0 101/ge" abi". ilt lhim
mind."
There art thC11 th" lusts: the lu.t of the eye,
<he lnst of pow.r and possession, the lust of pride
which wAylay \1S "" we advance ill IiI<:. But if we held
the vi" the :;upl'cme Ol1e .,'er before our face
the temptations \\"i11lo,," their venom. W. could then
progress unhanucu and unsillgoo iu the ftery ordeal.
What is this weird of the :;upreme Oue?
The :-lam i. the of God lor it concentrates the
diviue rays in u:; thereby gc,lvullising us into new
life, and us up for ,,11 emergencies. The :\am
( 14 )
is that current of consecration which like a golden
thread runs through the warp and woof of life, It
is the hread of Life which sustained the Christ in the
wilderness, The potelll'), of this Hidden Word is.
de:;,:riheu thus by our Guru :-
I: Tlte' It> divilU: 1J./lttm 5 this Wort! "ol/eta/ttl,
}-f(1
1
this is tlf(' COl/IIIIOU f.SSCJlCr. (1f all books 1'ruea/cd,
1'hu is lho." jfumlailt h!'tld flcav;':Illy /(l[kl,
JFhid, 1:t t()tClIt c'1I0Uglt 10 'ransjigllr': tlue i1l10 bring
bright."
This is the universal panacea tor al\ ills of
mankind. The l; uru steels his disciple with this
armour which has the \yomlerful of
n knecht (sen'ant) into a veritahle knight. The
life's highway is by many a temptation and
pitfall which are as numerous as the sand grains
along the sea-shore, hut if the Guru's Sikh is armed
with this invulnerable armour, he may rush headlong
into the very, thick of battle, and return unharmed.
But for the )lame, the earth where we Ih' o in is not
earth but a dark dungeon, it is surrounded and
bedarkened by circles of hills fashioned out of
bituminous supersti tio'l and coal of abysmal i!;norance;.
the tramp of humanity is ceaseless but confused and
cbaotic, its cramped ener).,';es and thwarted efforts
lea d to perpetual struggles, volcanic upheadngs and
confused rnmblings presaging better epochs. but all
this is in vain until the snll of Nam dawns on us
turnin\! dark clouds illto petals of gold, and ,men
into {)f that hidden-Still our
( Hi )
Guru Nan!lk is the surest lZuide, apostle. and
discoverer:
GURU NANAK AS POET, PATRIOT
AND PROPHET.
If Guru Nannk is primarily n \Vorl,l Teachel' mul

11es8iab, IIe is also a poet, patriot and prophet" II iu
olle. He came with a mi,sioll, and has left
His lastill:,! impr'1" 011 humanity. Althou:;h His
prophetic qualities are .. \.Hy yet His
patriotic fervour is sometimes eclipsell Ity his pl'llphetic
glory. A patriot is essentially II prmluct of the times,
but while he i. its product, he is also its mouider a nd
mahr. A patriot. therefore, may be likened to Janus
\yho has t.\\"o to the past
and the tuture.
111 the following sketch. ! \\'ill rc"iew briefly first
the Hindu period, and then the .\!"IU1I1Imedall period
immediately proceeding :\anal<, a nel then try to
how Guru Xanak paved the way for l'ew synthesis
and nation.huilding. His patriotism is so well
defined allll genuine that 1 sometimes think that
i>',triotism is the more fundamental notc in Him than
e,'cn poetr.y. But whether the noet is prior in him
or the patl'iot is immaterial as a true prophet is one
who knits these and many other notes in one which
het.'omiog indistinguishable their ongl D,
are one in their unified symphony. Hence, the most
towering feature about Gunt ",anak is His prophctic
lltitul",e. Yet it \\-111 help us illlrpensl'$ly i f \ye uueler.
stot.1tl Him Iho .. t' as n patrint, fot" it is thi:-; Jessm: which
( 16 )
India needs most when she is setting her house in
order amI trying: to build the same afresh. The
synthesis wroul(ht hy Guru Nanak is true for nil
time, anc! hence to some of the details may
he helpfulln eyoldng out our present day constitu-
tion. \Ve lnust begin at the very beginning in order
to appreciate the general outlines of the Indian
Ilistory, for without this perspective it will be
impossihle to realise tbe specific l"Ontrihution of the
Sikh Gurus.
I wil\ tirst take up tile broad outlines of the Hindu
period in which idealism looms large. While this is
the source of Indin's spiritual glory which remains
undimmed till today, yet it was also the perennial
source of her political and economic troubles and
distress. It was this indifference to the lVork.a-day
world which brought the Muslim invaders from the
north, whn coming like locust-storms sucked the
vitality of the Indian soil. The Mohammedan
invaders have mentioned themselves in their
narratives that they were not very iimd of India,
but it was its wealth and its open doors which
tempted them. Gur1'l. Nanak was born at a yery
critical tillle. IIe had seen the slaughter of Sayyadpur
(Eminaba'l) with his OWI1 eyes. He had seen how
C\'en the d.stinies "f Mohammadan rule .. had ebbed
anu decayed, and how the Pathan rule v;us o\rer_
thrown by the .\J.ugllals. The Guru had met Babar
and hud from his persecution. Henc;, his
evidence anLl diagnosis of the times ' cannot but he
( 17 )
most valuable to an impartial historian. We will
discuss these outstanding items separately in the
Hindu and the Mughal period and then try to under-
stand the message of the Guru as a patriot who lived,
worked aod suffered as one of the India's truest sons.
The Historical Perspective-The Hindu Period
Guru Nannk tbe founder of the Sikh Relil(ion is at
once a supreme poet: patriot. and prophet. Hc sings of
the and of the present. but it is to the future
tbn t all seeing eyes arc chiefly directed. He is true
mirror of medi"'al Indi,,-. of its merits and demerits,
of its woes and agonies, of it. and Its
whirlwinds. No account of Nanak c(ln be true which
does not take into account the historical pel'!'pectiYe
in which His all-engrossing picture is set. Hence, we
must go back to the very beginninl( and see first the
why and wherefore of the advent of Nanak bcfore
apprai.in!i\' His message to Innia in particular, ancl to
the w()rld at large.
The history of India is primarily a history of
io\'asions, conflicts aod of subsequent a5similations.
IndC<.'<l, In,dia may well be called a big melting-pot
of Civilisations, in which ideas and cultures melt like
crude ()res, producing uncanny amalgams and syntheses
such as are known only in the East. We know
little of the Indian history hefore Buddha and his
timeR, hut when thc curtain lifts, we find Indian
na-tion already fully panoplied emerging on the stage
much' as Minerva came out Of the imagination of
( 11) )
jupiter. We find that tbe Indian soddy is dh' ided
into four main castes, of whom the Brahmans are
,upreme as they were considered twice-born, and it
",as tbeir special pri\'ilege to chant tbe hymns of
Vedas and to perform other sacrifical works which
the w'arriur-l."Ooquerors performed either to celebrate
their victories or to propitiate the gods of whom
' Iuite a number a re mentioned in the Rigveda, tbe
oldest buok of the Aryas. FrOID the point of "iew of
of history and religion, the Vedas and the Upanishads
are eel tainly the most man'cllous books in that they
reyeal that many milleninms before Christ, India
reached a of culture w;,ieh is still a wonuer
ior the West. These sacred books will always be
considered the bedrock of Indian civilizutian for they
re"ea l a mighty grip of the mysteries of life, a nll of
t he high-k,' e1s of philosophy and of mysticism such as
a re peculiar to the introspective India. Tbe baked
day tablets of Mesopotamia, and the mummy wrapp
ings and papyri of Egypt are like little toys compared
wi th these ancient monuments of Indian Civilization.
Although the Vedas a nd the Upanishads are
':')llsiderc:<i one histo,rically, yet tbeir car':inl study
will soon reveal that they embody ditIerent schools
"r thought anll worship. The stage of Vedic
;s verily a in which different gods are figbting
;or "ictory and supremacy, a mi it cannot be said with
eOl'tainty as to who had attained the hegemony.
Ved-Vyas (IS the com.,i1er is well described l

t llerefore, contented bimself with bringing the bymns
( 19 )
under one hig compass rather than pointing out the
fundamental unity of Vedic Religion. Under tbat
-seeming unity of Vedic Religion, there is thus seetbing
ferment of dis-harmony and discord wbich, as we will
soon find, developed into different scbools of Puranic
thought, such as still pre vail in parts of Ind:", and
wbich stir up dissensions with the least proyocation.
Apart from the conflicting scbools of philosopby
wbich sets the IndIan pbilosophers at sixes and sevens
-so often, we find in the Upanish. ds themselves class
struggle i.e. between the Brabmans and the
Kasbtriyas. The Kashtriyas bad begun to assert
that Brahm-vidya i.e. knowledge of God i. by no
meaus an exclusive mOlloply of the Brahlrulns; the
Brihad Upanishad for instance, asserts that it is
monoply of the Kashtriyas or Warrior-kings such as
Janak alld others of hallowed memory. Tbis was
a very important scbism in Indian tbougbt. for it
,Iemonstrates that already before Buddha and the
Cbrist, democracy had asserted itself in India, ill that
tbe 6t \Vicc. born' was consiuered to he one, ,,ho "'US
literally regenerated in Spirit, no matter wbat his
caste. This was verily turning the tables on tbe
.Brahmans \vho considered t'eligion to be a
monoply.
The Upanishads are important in yet anotber
way. The Hindus are accused, rightly or wrongly,
of baving written no bistory worth the name. The
are considered to be comparatively
better histofians. But there is a rca son for this, as
I. 20 )
indeed for any other national trait. And the main
reason, why the Hindus did not write minute details
of the earthly career of any king or leader was that
they considered this to be a futile waste of time, the
time so gained being devoted to things of much
g r e a t ~ r moment, that is in learning heavenly
mysteries about life a nd death. If you read some of
the bigger (:panishmls liS the Chhandogya and the
Brihad, etc. you will find long hsts of genealogies,
sometimes running into fifty or more, which
will give you t.'Orrect names and descriptions not of
the kings, hut of those mystic seers who probed into
these myste"i .. , ami handed them o\'er to their
di.cil)les at the time of their death. These earefully
l'Ompiled lists show that the Hindu seers could
COIIII)il. history if they wished to do so, but they had
purposely a,"oided to do so. For the same r.son,
we lind thnt practically nil the details of the lives
of Hhagatas such as Kabir and Nllnak are carefully
nnd jealou31y guarded and li:cpt, but of their COQ-
temp<>rary kings who Ih' ed with so much flourish and
trumpet, very little is known.
Whatever he the reasoll why so little i'!. known of
the past ami the matcrial hist<>ry of India, the fact
remains that uf it .... spirituul history. no link is
missiug. So careful is Indi , is preserying' the r,pri tual
fossils, that Iudia may well be called the )'ll1".eum
of Religions. Por instance, what cvulcl be more
surprising than the ract that Iudia which is the home
of Brahm-vidya (divme know\e.lge), also trctisllres
( 21 )
and cherishes the memory oC Charvakis who were
atheists, and avowed enemies of religion. But this
spirit of toleration is an expression of the selfsame
dictum which is stated in difterent words before that
India is a grave-yard of religions, each havipg its
day, ebbing, flowing, and then passing away, lea,-ing
but a ripple. mark on the alluvial flats of the Indian
mind. This is partiCL1larly true of Bulldhism which
owed its birth to India, and yet is knowl1 today only
by its absence, or hy historical researches which
b r i n ~ into further relief its decline and death within
the fourwalls of India. Although Buddha and Asoka
are now Corgotten figures of the past, yet tht philo-
sophy of non-violence, of "Ahimsa" still li,'es, The
Buddha and his Philosophy paved the way ior the
iun,sion of Alexander, and when Asoka died, India
was submerged in complete darkness ancl confusion,
for no less thah ;,00 years. In this period kites from
the Afghan highlands pouched on Indiau sparrows,
for that was the condition to which India was
recluc-ed by the Buddha's philophy. This is, brieHy,
the Hindu India. in all its glury as 1llso in its weak-
llt"SS7 whica made it a prey to Muslim invasion.
Historical Perspective-The Muslim Period,
Whell India hud lost tbat virility wbich the Aryan '
conquerors infused in to it, then came another stream
of iuyaders who were destined to le:l\#e a lasting
hnpn .. -ss 011 the ci\'ilization qf India
J
namely the
Mohammedans: Already in 7I 2, they bacl knocked
( 22 )
at the gateway of India in Sind, and hefore the tenth
century they were stendily pouring into the Punjab.
In A. D. 1001 Sultan ),Iahmud of Ghazni turned his.
attention to India. and from 1009 onwards, he
im'"ded India no less than se\'t'ntcen times, penetrat-
ing to us far down as Soruuath on the Indian coast.
where he destroyed one of the most important images..
Mahmud manitestly came to loot and doing
hoth with terrible efficiency, and " ,hen he died his
only regret was that he could not curry his booty
to the other side of the grave, for he could utilise bnt
little of it in his life time, and that at the expense
of ineltrring the odium of Firdausi. !\lahmud's
onslaughts and Slaughters passed into a byword SO
that Omar Khayyam cannot find a marc apposite
word for dispelliug dark doubts of soul than this
inveterate warrior, who gloa ted in blood and
pluuder:
"Th. 1IIiglitJ' MtlI",,,,d, th. ",etorious Lo,'d
Thtlt till the tnisbclieving black Horde
Of Fm,'s and Sonows tlltlt infest tlte Soul
Scatle/'s tlnd slays with his ",chated Swo,'d,"
Moslem historians are enthusiastic about this
"Image-breaker" but the tongue stutters to give
expression to the inhumanities perpetrated on defence.
less India by these trans, border invaders who "like
a pack of hungry sharpcla wed wolves, ren upou the
flock of fox-like i'l6dels, and dyed their swords
weapons in the blood of these till
of blood ran down the valley," Mahmud and his
continued to revel in carnage, It were the
Mug-hals who decided to mClke Inelia their home, awl
to live in it as the Iudians do.
Babar, the first Moghul Emperor of India, IUt.
left us his autohiography which gi"es us an
into bis mind, Contrar." to all expectations, h;' c,dl.
India 'the Land of Regrets" , and he expound. hi,
point of view thus : "Hindustan is [t country
thn t h,," few pl", .. ures to recommend it. The peop' t
are not hands()me. They have nO idea of the charm.
offriendly society. They ha,-e no genius, no
tual comprehension, no kindness or no
iugenuity or mechanical invention in planning or
executing their handicrafts, no skill or knowledge in
in design or architecture, They haw no good horses,
no god flesh, no grapes or musk-melons, no good
frui ts, 110 ice or cold water, no good food or bread
in their bazars, no ba.ths or colleges. or candles or
torches ne\'er a. candlestick". If des!,ite all these
bandicaps, Babar Im-ed to remain ill India, it wa;
only hecauses like the :-'.lahmud of old the lo\'e of
lucre was far too tnntali7.ing for him to ld him
return to'tbe sun.scorched plains of Samarkand. It
is the ricbes of India th:tt has always attracted the
rohlle\"-chiefs and will ever continue to do so,
for al though the famous Peacock Throne i. no lon,!cr
in India, ytt the ra\y material frOllt \vhich it ',":1.S
made is still here, and unless the teerning- million, o(
r;'dia learn to defend no pr>wer in hem-en
or in earth can e,-cr san them. The idol of Sollluat h
( 24. )
was invoked fruitlessly again and again in the time
of Mahmud, but it remained tongue-tied, and other
idols today are no better_
But before we return to Nanak, let us learn from
Babar himself way he was able to succeed in India.
Babar tells us in hi. autobiography that in A. D. 1519
when he attacked tile frontier fort of Bajaur, he
captured it chiefly because its defenders were new to
fire-arms_ "The people of Bajaur" ",,:"'-oi:" ne\'er
seen matchlocks, and at first were not in the ' least
afraid of them but, hearing the reports of the shots,
stood opposite the guns, mocking and playing
unseemly au tics_ But when Ustad Ali Kuii brought
Ii\'e men with matchlocks the defenders of the <)rt
became so frightened that not a man vcntud to
show his head for fear of matchlocks." It is dear,
therefore. that "ictory lay with those who knew how
to hanule fire arms. In other \yords. io the: struggle
{or existence, the brain triumphs instead of nWllbers.
is n prevailing Inisuulierstauding tllat there
is something intriu:iic and go:)d in the hluslilll fnith
which helped it to rctain hold of India. Thi5 is
not true. 1'he Puthans \vho were by
:\lugh"ls were tbelllseln'S .\lohamllledans ami the
reason why this change becallic imperative was that
,OOIl after their CllIKlul'St they bad degenerated. Tbus
Ala-ud-Diu Khilji wll/:ed wars not to break idols,
but only to possess l{ajput damsels in which direc-
tion he wus s,,,lly disappointed. Similarly, Kai
Kubad was 80 much changed that he 10"ed to dCluce
( 25 )
like a. dancing girl. Even the Mughals deteriorated
rapidly in their morals and although Babar was
ready to sacrifice himself for the sake of his son
Hamayun, yet Auraogzeb who was shortly to come
00 the stage, had no compunction in imprisoning
his father ami killing his brothers, and last
Moghul was so much addicted to wine and deh.1.u-
chery East. India Company found no diffi-
iT, displt",lug him. It will thus be clear that
the Islam that was thUB imported into Iodia waS
not of the milk-white brand which :\lohamlllad in-
augurated in Arab. Wheu Guru "anak came to the
'stage, India had slIuk deepdown into the abyss of
degradation, into which l.>oth tlic c'Ollquerors and
the conquerrcd hall fallen alike. It was the Punjab
which sufferell the most in these repeated oJlslan!!:'ts
as it lay like " doormnt at the feet of the inv,\'.Ii:lg
ho,des, aud it ",as uuw the tum of Punjab to
to the occasion, to tu the can of mother
India.
3. Guru Nanak as Mirror of the Medieval
India.
Guru )io"lUlk was a true SOil ef I ndia in t he tnlL'St
sense of tbat the term. He waH a labourer, a fannel".
a sho}>kl"e}ler, a sern tnt of a preacher,
Il patriot, poet, antI prophet, all ill one. lIe lab.lured
iu the Ijelt! nud s\\'eated \\'ith his lIJates, lest hi"
may think that he was 110t of this carth,
hut Glne ulI.<ar thly; he di,1 this to shu\\' that his
problems were the same as those of au on1iuar.\
( 26 )
mortal, bnt the difference, if any, lay in application.
and perse,'erance. He served the Goverument tn
show that he could be an honest and faithful member
of administration, i.e., so long as it did not interfere
with his mornls and mi .. ion. He could handle the
weighing scale with as mueh impartiality as he
could handle the destinies of Hindus and :l.loham-
mcdnns ,yho \vere destined to his protection.
Great Inen love to have Snlan
the handsome lilies 100'e lhe dirtiest soil, The humb-
ler thc beginning, the more virile the humanity that
springs therein. A Jesus is born as a carpenter, a
K&bir as a ,veaver, a as a cobbler, and
Ka nak also loved to be the village Accountant's son
for is not a Patwari the smallest and yet the most
important village functionary. He knew how the Pat-
waries often suck blood out of the Zamindars like
so many leeches, and he knew how the Zamindars
A'roaned under the eyer-increasing hurden of taxation
of an alien Government. Guru Nanak knew all this
fir.t hand, and when at the tender age of seven he
began to sing poetry. he sang first of the hundred
ami one little aih""nt. to which the scciety was
prone: the of sacred thread and its lost signifieance
or cookin
h
squares and their touch-me-not evil, of
8udaq (impurity so called) which c1in!!s to men at
the time ofhirth and death, of caste which strangled
the vitals of the society, of tiraths (places of pilgri-
mage) which had bec,orne thcn as now dens of evil.
of IIraddhs i. e, offerings to the de,id which had.
( 27 )
takeD the place of charity to the living, of perl'erted
dress, pen'erted talk, perverted programmes of life
which had become too wooden, too leaden, too iron
for the Spirit to manifest itsel(
Guru NaDak was SpiritBorn and came to shed
New Life on eartb. He found society dead, s';.nken
aud fossilized. It was for him to take it by hand,
lead it up step by ,step, enfranchise it, endow it with
freedom: witb ' enlightenment and with glory. A
great task, an IIerculean labour .. yet it harl to he
done. Inch by incb he strug'gled against it, by hi.
word, deed, aDd action, by his life aud dea th, by hi.
ceaseless travels and by hi. Word, and by preparin.<:
and choosing proper successors, And]o in less
than two centuries, tbe Punjab is galvanized, ;s yjyi
tied, is rejuyenat. d into ne", life which Gnru Nanak
alone could bring to pass. Guru Nanak waved the
magic wand, and the miracle of new life ,,'as
wrought Nanak is a faithful mirror. not only of
the social and religious India, but what is of greater
importance of the then Political India.
While other devotees were content with siugin/!
hymus of '['Iraise to the Supreme One, Nan" k went
further and diagnosed the ailment of India, the
o.;ickman of the East. The hymns that he sung em
bn . all aspects of Life, and not the least important
are th'se Vars in which conflict is pictured between
evil m l good, bct\\'cen 'the ills to which Iudia ha(1
sunk,aul virtue wbich is its c!,re. Olle of the most
importn,t of ~ u c h vars is Asadi-Var which we
\ 28 )
chant e, ery morning, before daydawD, and which
is a hird's eye view, as it were, of tbe sunken con.
dition of the then India, It tells us how to grapple
with the evil of untouchability, to discard customs
un,understood, of forms tnat h'l\'e lost their true
signiticance, About the sacred thread, he tells us :
"::-'0 more the cotton, thread, but the cotton of com-
the thread of contentment the knot of
, ,
cODtincnce, and the twist of truth," 'Nanak broke
through the crust of supor-ficiality of customs and
of forms and iet the people have direct pecp into
the Heality within, "Religion" says He "Iioth not
ill words, in wandering' to tomhs or places of crcma
tioll. or sitting in clltrereut postures of contemplatioD,
ill wandering to places of pilgrimage or
ceremonies; it is Life which looks on ul1 men as
equals, which trcats them as such, which sees Him
the ),laker here, th.:rt: and c\Tcrywberc." E(lt1:Liity
br.:twl!cn the high and the low, between man and
man, between man ami woman, b:!tweeu the n:icr
and the rulctl-thi:; is the great message of Guru
::-'anak which he instiller! into the hearts of !lis
fellow :.nen j this was echoed and rt-..;;:hocrl hy
his until it was assimilated, and tt)l.by
the ,';ikhs are one \\"hatt:\'er their colonor the caste.
Guru sowed the seed of spiritual dcmocracy
w(! reap seed today. The process of g't'1"1l1iuation and
grQwth is still in prog-res5 and will t'Ol1tinue 50 to
fl,r His is for the world at large.
;\5 a true mirror of medieyal India, we find in
( 29 )
him the following hymns which are surcharged with
rare pathos and describe what has been well described
as "Babarwani" i. e. Babar'. carrying of Fire and
Sword in the conquered India.
4. Babarwani or bloodred India i:q the
time of Babar.
The hymns that describe the lurid condition of
India at tbe time' of im'asit)n of Bahar arc sOllle of
choicest gems of J'Oetry that arc found in the Guru
Granth &,hib and tbeir bistorical value is unquestioned.
Tbey may be considered as leaYes from India's
autobiography written by herself or dictated to ber
truest sons which they did in their very life blood
(Khnn ke sohile gawee Nanak).
(i ) The Mash'" "elales tile jdl."itlg Ilto'ltt />/ud;"g
tale 10 Brother Lalo about india alld its desttilJ' ulIder
the lIfughtZls.
"As the word of the Master come.th to me, so I
reyeal it unto thee, 0 Lalo !
With his fiendish forces. Baba. presses 011 from
Kabul and demands forced gilt.. from people, 0 Lalo!
Deccncy.Y and righteousness hnye taken wings and
vanished, flaschood stalks abroad, 0 Lalo !
The qazis li nd the Brahman's bave now been
supplantecl 1>0' the Deyil who reads tbe marriage
sen-ices, 0 La 10 !
E"en the :.\luslim conquered ladies arc suffering,
. -- - .-------
wns first ,tisciple of Gllrll XnnaK :mllived in Eminabad.
( 30 )
amI they read the Holy Books to call upon the
:iupreme One, 0 Lalo !
The high. caste Hindu ladies, as also the luw
also groan under the yoke of tyranny, 0 Lalo !
Dirges of murder gush out from the sore hearts
Sanal<, alltl bloo<l is heing shed in place of salfroll
<) Lalo !
In this of l.'Orpses, Eminahad: I sing elegies
)f woe o.m1 s()und n')te3 of warning, 0 , Lala ;
He that made the universe seeth it all. although
: Ie doeth it sitting apart;
He is His (Iecisions are just and exemplary;
Bodies will be cut like shreds of cloth, and :'.Iother
India will remember my prophecy: viz.
Having come in '78 (1578 8am1.l!lt A. D. 1.321),
witl clear out first in '97 (V397 S"mbat A. D.
i.e. Hamayltll was then ousted by Sher Shah) . .... ,
there after sha1l he born my disciple another hra ve
\Ian (Guru Govind Singh !) ;
:-Ianak tells the truth, utters it publicly for the
)ceasion demands it." (Tilang Rag)
In this the Guru tells how Babar carried nre and
:"j '.v0nl intJ the B:lliuabad village whi','.I;l he entered
.l ad massacred. :-10 distinction was made between
the Hindus ami Mohammedau girls .. although the
latter were of his own faith. This illdiserilllinate
' ;"ughter made the heart of "anak bleed, and he
foretold how Hamayun will he first vanquished by
Sher Shah, which will be a temporary eclipse of the
Xlughal rule in India, the permament eclipse heing
( :11 )
IJrought about by another :>Un of Man, namely Guru
Gohind Singh wbo will be spiritual desendaut of the
Guru bimself (Maradkachela), ~ o mucb alxlut
Bubar's sweeping inmsion and now about its deaden-
.jng effect :-
(ii) TI.. Master is j>il/dud and ,ails Ih. Supreme
(Jue ifi,"self to .ceormt !
The Ruler helps Khurasau aud hastens to spread
.nnother. to India terror in ludia,
The Creator takes no blame on Himself; Deatb
,Jisguised as Mogh"1 came and swept o\'er the plains
"f India;
There was much beating. wringing of bauels.
'laushing of teeth; 0 Lord did that not pinch
Thce?
o Lord! Thou art oommon to all !
If a powerful party iJeatetb auother powerful
party, tben tbere is certainly no OCI!asion for grief
"f complaint; But if a ravening ~ i o n falleth
upon defenceless hard. then the Master of the
Herd must needs show his mettle!" (Rag Asa)
This is nu idle i.relOi:1d, but it sh'>ws what way
the wind PIe\V in the mind of ~ a n a k , lie saw the
'Ikpth to wbicb lndia had sunk, and he would invoke
no one else but the Supreme One Himself to set right
the Supreme Equilibrium!
(iii) 1 Ite M(1sl .. ' 1IOW ,'e/ales in dclail Ihe lale "I
Indian miser}' (l.1zd the ,t'asons thercof.
"The tresses that adorned the hearls of Inlb n
Jadies, tresses'vennillion-parte.J, are now shorn wi th
( 32 )
shea rs, and dust dar1,eneth the necks whose
looks enthralled loyers ;
Ladies who lounged on sofas in palace. know not
wherc to sit;
Inscrutable are Thine Ways, 0 Lord, no one
Thy strange forms and changes :
()n the day when these maidens wcre married, they
looked yery lovely in the train of their bridegrooms,
They were howe in pa1amluins, carved
with hory ;
Scents were sprinkled on them, nnd ineffable light
emanated from their RilYery garments ;
A hundred thousand rupees were pre5ented to them
as the first present on their entry into the new home,
and an equally big sum when they stood to take
the ne\\' duty that devolved on them;
Cocoanuts and raisins were among the fruits that
were sen'ed on their table, and they lent charm to
the heds they reclined on ;
Now they are prisoners with cords round their
neel" w hich the pearl necklaces ;
"'ealth and beauty which kept them infatuated,
ha ye now become thei r enemies;
Thc nlyrmidons of the Mughals disgrace them, and
carry them ill plunder; such are Thy ways 0 Lord
Wh" exalteth and runisheth as He listoth
Why al\ this trouble and tribulation if only one
were prepared for the future?
/JlIt the Prine" of lm?i" lost ' heir lu"d., II! tl! ... 1>1Iysui't
of IM,.'1 a11d lxct"te1llt1lt,
( 33 )
Deyastation and desolation follow in the walte
of Babar And babies have no mothers to feed them;
:>!either Mussalmans are allowed to pray nor
Hindus allowed to worship,
Nor are the Hin<lu ladies allowecl to ,ll'aw cQoking
squares, paint their bead \vith vermillion, or take
a bath
Men who had Ram arc not allowe<l the
choice of even professing faith in Khuda ;
Those who had fled from the field return to their
lodgings and enquire about the dear ones tbey bad
left bebind ;
Tbey find them not, and congregate only to lament
and cry 0 Nanalt, wbat is man? He alone is all,
and His will is Supreme! (Rag Asa)"
This hymn shows how both tbe rulers and tbe
ruled were suult into luxury; they had untold wealth
which was a curtain between them and the
One , This is why miseries followed,
(iv) T"e Master recites Ji""lly the tal. of ludi,,,,
1Ilisery fllui its real caust .- Imiitl1t impotence.
and jail" i" magic !
"WherC"are the prancing steeds in tbe stables aod
iu the touruaments, and where the sounus of horos
aud bugle?
Where are the costly belts and red liveries ?
Wbere are the lo:.kiog glasses and enchanting
faces?
O. Lord, this is Thy handw,?rk, Thou myest do and
undo anytbing in the twinkling of an eye; all
( 34. )
hoarded wealth may be distributed among all
brethren should'st Thou so will ;
Where arc the gates, mansions and palaces and
where the stately inus ?
Where are the beds of roses and charming damsels
seeing which one could not sleep!
Where are the betel leaves and the selJers therof,
and damsels with lips parted like rubies? They have
all '<Lnished.
It is this wealth whic1, kept them deeply infatuated,
atld whick has brought aballt tluir '"fIin.
Without sins it accumulateth not and at the time
of death it parts our company;
Wben the Lord takes a way virtt1es, misery follows
of itself ;
Countless Pirs eudcavoured to stop Mir Babar's-
(by incantation) when they heard of his triumphant
march;
Private mansions and public buildings were set
ablaze, and children cried when they were flayed
alive;
Yet "0 Mughal became blind oy tltc incantations ar
the Pirs, a"d the magic of Indian., prevailed ."at;
It, the contest oetwe", tke Mughals and tlte Pfltltans,
there was fierce had to hand fight with swords; the
. MligltaIs also used matchlock guns, and the latter
brought unwieldy elephants;
Bllt tlte Indians had forfeited tlte Lard's sJl1"patjy
t1UIing to 1M,. j"'totence. and tlte, . :kad to expiate. tlzij,..
sins by dying as tltey did ;
( 35 )
The Hindu, Turk, Bhatti, and Thakur wives .-eiled
from head to foot, are either carried off or find resc in
the burial ground;
How can they pass their nights in peace who arc
lovelorn?
The LDrd doth al\ this according to. law: why
bewail in vain? sorrow and joy come accDrding as
we obey the Law Dr we do not : why to disobey and
yet cry?
The Lord is pleased when His Law is oheyed, or
else one reapeth what one soweth, (Rag Asa)",
This the last hymn is clear as daylight that f"en
the Mohammedan Pirs had lost all vitality and
having lost all in tIU:IUSe1\,CS, n.:sortecl bJ
the outworn device of magic, This shows the bathos
to which the pre-Mughal rulers, whether Hindu or
Mohammedan, had sunk, and the obvious result was
that when Babar came to India, he found little Or no
resistance, so that his EmperDrship was tnsured, with
the single exception of l{ana Sangha of Mewar, who.
was a hard nut even fDr Babar to crack. Oi Raila
Sangha, it is said that "He exhibited at his death
bnt the ft:2lgment of a warriol;; one eye ",as lost in
the broil with his hrother an arm in actiDn with the
Lodi king of Delhi, and he was a cripple owing to a
limb being broken with a cannon-ball, in another,
while he counted eighty wounds from the sword or
the lance on various prrts of his body" (Tod). When
Blibat was pitched against this warrior, a more
desperate peril than had fallen to his lot before, he
for5wo rc his f.l\' ll untc dce of drunkenness, breaking
his amI pouring his liquor away. lIe
kept his \ow anu \yon!
5. GURU NANAK AS PATRIOT,
TI,lC5C Babarwani hymns, giYCIl aooyc, are yery
important, They show, on the one hand, that the
heart of was bleeding tor his :-'lothcr-India
,vhich he sa'Y l yi n::r prostrntc at the feet of iovaders,
an!lon the other, they show J.,!riln of
the Guru fiJI' curing' :\lothcr-county of all its ailments.
1 have read careful1y many a n patriotic song, but
1 have n:) t come HCl'OSS a more impassioned utterance
tha n that which Comes nut of the hea,' t of
, vhen de!"criiJing the condition of hi5 country and its
mal-treatment What can be more patriotic than
Guru )!anak calling e\'en the Snpreme One Himself
to the bar and the charge of taking sides?
Says he? "Thou befriendest indeed Khurasan, why not
India r" Khurasan khasmana kia, Hindustan
draia), This is more than a jeremiad, more than
a lament; it is the clarion ca ll of the patriot whose
heart writhes in auguish on seeing the sunken
condition of his coun' .ry, Guru hence first
and foremost a patriot, amI the whole Sikh history
is but Guru Nanak's dream actualised! In the face
of this t o say that it was Xauak who blessed the
the :-.Iugha ls, including Babar, is a sheer tnn' esty
of facts, ancl the ,' ery beight of absurdity, Guru
Nanak would baye been the last man to force foreign
domination 011 India, and his prophetie utterances
( 37 )
are a clear proof against this superstition, if indeed
any such proof is at all considered necessary. Yet,
it is an irony of fate that the Guru who sings the
death-dirge of rule in his Dabrwani hymns
is today considered to be the blesser of ).Iughal of
rule in India! Mis-reading of history could :!lot be
pushed to a more preposterons limit than this!
Secondly, these hymns of Guru Nanak show that
this seer \vho. ,\PBS born in medieval India was
certainly not like the seers of the Vedic times who
considered this world au illusion, and life an empty
mirage. Nor was he like other devotees who Ih'ec1
contemporaneously and were found in other parts of
India. Guru Nanak was first and foremost a realist,
and this work a-day world was to him as important
as the ideal world of which this is an image. It is,
therefore, that unlike other saints, contemporary or
ancient, the Guru indulges at great length on the
political condition of India, This was necessary, if
Guru Nanak came not merely to condemn the
existing order but to cure it of its malady. Hence, it
was that when the question of his succession arose, at
his death Led, the Guru rejected. his sons in fayour of
Aogad \vho was like Nanak, as much a man of this
world, as of the world beyoad. The whole Sikh
history is hence a carefully laid and carefully executed
design of Guru Nanak, in which the tlay-to.day
conditions of the then hulia, receh'ed effecth'e treat-
Gurll Angatl wns the Sikh r.uru.
( 38 )
ment. Looking forward, we can now say that it was
Nanak who undermined the foundations of the
:\Iugbal rule, and thereby paved the way for Indian
Swaraj! If only the latter-day India could follow
in the footsteps of the :\laster, India would not have
lost what it wrenched from the hands of the Mughals
after such a bitter struggle.
Here it must also be mentioned that the Guru
stressed rigbtly that tbe salvation of India lies
not in dcyotion to illusory sciences such aB magic or
astrology, but in tbe cultivation of self-confidence
and knowledge which are the hackoone of a nation.
Tbe Guru also had his cye on the matchlocks of Bahar,
which Hahar himself stat"", were the key to his
success. In other words, what is wanted and was
empbasised by the :\laster is scientific equipment side
by side with se1f-sacritke. It is this lesson which
Nanak ruhbed home in us when he condemned the
Saidpur maSS<lcre, the prototype of Jallianwala bag
tragedy.
From the abo"e it should not be concluded that
the Guru waS particularly against this or that
clique. Ou tbe other hanel, hc was friendly . , . ~ Babar,
and 50 were Guru Xanalts successors to the succes
sors of Bahar. liut thc Guru told him that if the
Suprcme Oue had gi\'en him the might to rule, he
should rule with mercy; it is good to hnyc giant's
streui{th, hut it is tyrannous to use it like a tyrant.
On the other hand, he lirmly told the princes and
rulers of India tbat debauchery and luxury always
( 39 )
lead to degeneration even as the Pathan rule had
decayed before the advent of the Mughals, hence, in
public as in private life, puri ty of morals is the yery
essence of life, and this sbould be the watchword
of Renascent India.
6. Guru Nanak as Poet.
If Guru Nanak is fundamentally a patriot, He
is constitutionally a poet. It is as a poet tbat
,.
he warbles out his sweet message, even his elegies
and impassioned outbursts are full of the milk of
humrLU kindness. He may well be called the
gale of the East. His message is sublime yet simple,
seraphic yet homely, thrilling yet houeyed. A true
poet is first and foremost a child of Xature,
hence there is 110 chord of Nature's lyre which does
not strike resp')Qsive echo iu the hcart of Nanak.
His songs are truely Indian, they are dycd with the
sunny purple of the Indian duydftwII, his message
has thc mellow swcctnes; of Indian his poetry
is surchnt'gcd \vith electric simmering so chnracteris ..
tic of the Indian cloud. We Cecl in his ycrscs the very
ontbrnst of the monsoon, we feel the sonorolls echoes
of thc Ir.cJUntains Cull of thc. wild music of the hill
torrents;, fecI the quiet of the somhre woods coyer-
iog the rugged 510p':5 of the Hhllabyns, w'e feel in-
clined tr) cry with the Koel, wccp with the Chatrik,
and burst into laughter like the moukeybird lastly
we also fecI inclined to dallce with the peacock \\"hen
on the advcnt of the monsoon. it spreads its fan-tail
and danccs out dclirious strains of the. exuberant joy.
( 40 )
The following hymn describes the feelings started in
the poet's mind by the pattering (.Rhun-jhun) of this
monsoon rain :-
W ADHANS M.I ,
Nanak's Reveries in the lIlonth of Rain (Sawan)!
peacocks have begun their dance 0 tSister! it
is the Month of Rain, It raineth Rhun-jhun : It
raineth Joy;
o Sister! great indeed is the ' of thine eyes,
if thou couldst conq uer the AII-Cor.q uel'or !
o Beloved! [ would fain be a sacrifice myself to,
Thee, if Thou woudst come, yea, but for one glimpse of
Thine honeyed-Name;
They say I am proud I I am proud because Thou
art mine;
2. Without Thee what am I ?-dust, dust
ashes!
Vacant is my House, my Bed, (or the Lord hath
not come i
Let me break my crimson Iacquered ivory bangles
against the crimson-coloured bed; in vain these jewelled
arms, in vain this crimson-coloured bed when the Lord
cometh not! . '
Of what avail these 'tinsels if the Beloved hath turned
His back on me I
I wish I had never had the crimsonlacquared bangles,
nor purchased them in the open market, these distressing
symbols of servitude I
- ---
Onomaetspoeie WOlt t for pattering of rain.
t By.'Sikh' is luea.nt t\ brother Ot Xature..
( 41 )
Fie those bedecked arms and bejewelled fingers which
close not On the S,veetheart, "h! burn them with fuel!
3, All of my playmates have gone to their sweet
bearts, but where shall I go? Oh me, the unfortunate one!
And yet, 0 Mother, are there not some who call me
beautiful, but He looks not at me ; He likes me not!
Burnt then all my beauty; I h"'e bad my hair dress-
ed, the tresses were parled in the middle, and plainted
dOlYn on either side, the parting being filled with ver-
million;
All this decoration and finery, but He looked n ~ t
at me i
I pine and dwindle, because the Sweet One liketh
me not!
4. Ah! my misery; my soul cdeth out from its
very depths,
I weep, and with me weep' the whole world!
Tbe birds of the forest weep for me! The rivers and
rocks weep fur me !
But weepeth not my own rebellious self, "'hich i, at
the bottom of all my misery!
S. In a Dream once He came to me, He came and
went away I
My eres were bedimmed with tears, but it was only
a dream!
Alas! my Belm'ed ! Thou art where r dare neitber
gCS nor send a message i no mcsiiagc comes from Thee,
no message can reach Thee !
I ~ thi3 Vacant \Vaking
,
th\!n, worth aught? Oh!
Sleep come steal Q\Oer me,
( 4.2 )
Put me to rest, perchance I may see Him again in
Dream ;
6, If anyone came to me with the news of my
Beloved,
Ah ! if the impossible were to come to pass: Do
you kilow what I would give him?
I would take off mine head with my own h'md, and
lay it before Him as the door ' mat;
Yea, 1 would love to serve Him with the headless
trunk-if only I could meet Him!
Why keep back this tottering body, this mind, if to
keep them were to estrange the Beloved ?"
This month of monsoon therefore stirs up the deepest
depths in the susceptible mind of Nanak. But one
touch of Nature is able to awaken in him thoughts too
deep for words or utterance! Nature is to Nanak the
Lord's own DwelJing wherein He lives, sports, and sings.
At every nook and corner He is and confronts us with
a new smile and takes us unawares and this lIo.peep
continues from aye to aye, At every turn of the season,
the Supreme One accosts 1l'5 with a new uniform! The
following psalm describing the round of Indian months
js unmarvcll ed in its r.ealistic glory. It sel\Oes well as
a fillip for alVakening the hidden glory of the soul.
Mark the realistic faithful de5Criptions and the idealistic
'glory \I"hich is echoed and re-cchoed b)' the responsive
soul. V/t: begin again with Sawan.
Guru i'ln.unl.:'s R01md of l uditw "fontlu-tlte Bm'(lllltlnlz!
I . It is tho Month ?f Rain, be happy, 0 my soul, for
it is Sawan, the season of dark clouds and' dripping rain ;
( ,J,3 )
I love my Sweetheart with all my heart and soul,
but oh the Dear Olle hath gone abroad ;
The Sweet One returneth not despite my protracted
waiting;
I die under the pang of separation;
() lightning, thou terrifieth me with thine barbed
darts !
I am alone on my bed, this aloofness sorely dis-
tresseth me ;
o mother, my bed is full of pillS and needle" and
the pain is as gaIli Ilg as death ;
Without my Beloved, say how can I sleep? I cheri,h
no food, holV can I? The raiment weigh. heavily
on me;
o Nanak ! this pang suhsideth only when the lleloved
'One is back OllCC more in the arms of her Sweetheart !
2. The month of of Bhadon leadeth me astray, for
in the bloom of my youth I forgot Him; I repented at
last, at long last,
The lakes and meadolVs are full of rainwater for it
is the rainy season, the season or joy,
It raineth even at night, and in tne dark night the
frogs croak, and the peacocks c,"\o, bllt h'Jw can the
young bride revel without the Bridcgl"O:JOl ?
The brain-fever bird shrieks for hel' mate ;
out h.i:;sing- and biting j lakes
are full to the hrim; without the I1elaved how may I
obtain comfort?
o . Nanak ! go to the and rolJowing His
advice, wend whither the Lord abideth !
( 4.:1. )
3. It is now the month of Assuj, 0 Beloved, com'"
back! I pine and faint for Thee!
Is it not my-own.self which stands in between, divid
ing me from the Universal Self? 0 Lord, reveal Thy-.
self if Thou wilt.
The ignorance intervened, hence the saparation !
The reeds and the big grasses (Sa.coharum munja
and sponta.neum) are in full blOC'm; the summer heat
hath dwindled and winter is just approaching; so much
time hath passed and the Beloved hath not yet come;
my mind is unea,), !
On all sides the trees are green and verdant, and the
fruit trees are eloquent with the message; the slower the
mellower I
o N anak, I hope for the very best, [ do :hope to.
meet the sweet-heart, for the Master hath come, 0, the
mediator I
4. Katik brings to me the hopeful message that all
is ordained by His Grace; the lamp which is lighted by
the Divine Flame burneth for ever; this lamp is fed by
de\"otioll.
The more this lamp I fed, the nearer n .. came; Ah!
the ineffable delight of coming Union !
Tis, not ordinary death, sin-born, which bringeth this
union to pass, this New Life, which is born out of death
of the ego!
At long last they have gotten the Name as also the
Supreme One's Dwelling those who had abiding faith-in
,.
Him! 0 Lord, open iIIine Doors, fling them wide open
( 4.5 )
of else one second would be like unto six weary months
to me ; Ah! I am on the very tiptoe of expectation I
5. The month of Maghar is auspicious to those who
are blended with Him, by assimilating His attributes ;
The faithful bride winneth tile Lord by the omament.
of virtues: I love the Spouse Who is stablished fn eter-
nity. My Sweet beart I Immovable He, all-wi!>e He.
all-seeing, all-arranger, yea, this is my . Supreme One!

Hut for Him all -else is in flux!
By meditation and wisdom alone is this union vouch-
safed ; It cometh to pass shoold He ordain. Then 10 I
He i; pleasing to me and J am pleasing unto Him!
I have heard the ineffable Melody of his Unstruck
Music hearing which sin and sorrow dropped away,
o N anak that bride is dear unto the Lord who loveth
Bnd serveth Him with all her heart and soul I
6. In Poh it freezeth, the forest and the grass are dry
'liS cinder; tbeir moisture is no more;
Why cometh Thou not? My body and my mind
melt and flow to my tongue to taste Thee, yea to lick
Thee I
o Lord! How great Is my folly! Thou wert in my
mind, in ~ e r y atom of my hQdy. Thou pen'lldest the
whole creation, and yet I knew Thee not-by mr folly ...
t now know Thee, I recognise Thee hy thine unending
Music, by Thy Presence I Thou art in the egg-born
creation, in the placenta-tied life, in the sweat-born infra-
'World, as also in the crust-breaking vegetable Ufe, yea,
Thew art here, there and everywhere!
o Lord Mertiful do reveal unto m,e Thine Self, also
( 46 )
vouchsafe unto me understanding to see Thee everywhere
o Sporti ve Lord ! Thou playeth the Bo-peep eternally,
come and envelop me by Thine blissful Presence ; may
I hold Thee ever and ever by the silke!1 cords of mine
love ! ~ "
Tl'.C:iC are a few specimens of the Guru's Love fO!
Nature,- Nature which is to him a foot stool of God_
These psalms show how even the reeds and the
grasses, the serpents and the mosquitoc!'>, the snow ann
the silvery rill;, the forest fires and the monsoon rains
aile ami all, awaken in Him reveries far too deep for
words or tears,
GURU NANAK AS PROPHET.
And now I come to the crowning part of my essay i,e'-
as to what I mean by the Guru being a world-saviour and
the prophet. I wiII not labour the point at any lengt'h
for thi s appears to me to be self-evident. Moreover, the
fewer words t h ~ better as the finer of the prolounder the
problem the more it eludes words and description.
Nevertheless, one thing is clear as regards any pro
phet and it is this. This world of ours is liable 10
death, disease and decay. All that is }"our.g and green
passes away giving rise to wrinkles, outworn bark, and
stinking wrench. Indeed, the world we live in is more
a phanta,smagoria than a solid reality. Is this then the
final reaItiy ?
The prophets tells us that this is not the case, that
behind this changing world there is another, golden,. un-
changed, unalloyed. This hidden wvrld i; then the
( 47 )
Kingdom of Hea,-cn, and it is the special pri,-ilege of a
prophet to lead us into that fair)- world_ I wi!1 mention
the fo\lowing h)'ma of the fifth Guru as a trlle mirror of
the change which comes over a mortal on entry i:lto this
enchanted Land :-
"0 Lord, t!te1'C is joy, ('/ F'J' lIte ';ler)1
F.fJr that Being, I have i.JC;-il.y (sti"d,
I ,'csled, yen, I IttSlcd
TIt.: }[edvr:lIl.y Juice
A /I IrtllslI.l"tS, :"t.'a II,,' T1'l'asu,.cs llh .. .
CaI.'u into 111)' dwelling, () L on/ dt';.'inc,
E ::r.r),lIu'lIg, 0 Lord, ,
Sf Thine tramslIIlItillg lobtniJlL'd.
T",111Smub: d frawmmf;' ,l tu .. nit mell ;
o [,01''', uow all an: 1Il)' fri,:mis fmd brc:r1,r,'!!
Dij]zt;u!t, how difficult tIlt: tlrCiia of the ,:v(),..'d?
ret by thint! grace tIle flag (If'i,ltc/oIJ'. I wl/tfr/,d.
TIlt! /uJ,'lc)'cd Ncctar do . m/,(l1In:d illto me li,h' ,.' shower,
, Guru's p'nce and (I/It'ol/quilit" the
111), ta/IN'node is at Inst mille nlld /'111 'Zvitll/a,'fllls
A lld those r'Vkked Five arc at !fmc last IlL',l .'
This experience which fell to the lot 01 the firth Guru
promised by Nanak to one . nd all of Hi, disciples.
he Kingdom of Hea.ven so much talked about but the
,ey to this Kingdom jo:; with our Gurll, ami it is no
.her than the Nam_ That is the open sesame but
r which all humanity must wander and tra,-ail. Guru
Inak is the worlel-saviour Co,- He holds in the h-)lIoIV of
.is Hand this prime possession_ What is religion if it i.
evoid 01 this Singular pos,essions ?-it ;s bodr without
( ,J.S )
soul, a dead carcass! Guru ~ a n a k prescribes this as the
sovereign remedy, and knowing itc; potency, as I do, ]
have no he.-;itation in saying that Guru Nanak is verily
the World-Saviour par excellence.
CONCLUSION
Guru Nanak is sweet, simple and sublime. He accept'\
sinners of all kind<, because He is primarily a Teacher
wh03e favvurite tac;k it is to makp us stand on our own
leg:;. lie is sweet because He is saturated with the milk
of humanity. He is simple and sublime because
He has the profoundest of all possessions which is the
primal Nam from which all that is springs, and to whiet
all returns! That is the mainstay of Religion, and ther<
in lies the very essence of Guru Nanak's teachings an
;>hilosophy.
I have tried to show how thi< Saviour combined i.
Him the poet, the patriot, and the prophet. Yet there i
one quality which remains to be stated and which I ha.
reserved till the very last. It is His Common Personal;"
-He is the common Saviour of the Hindus and tb
;\'Iohammedans, ofthe East and the West. In His auglt
Personality, I see the Saviour. of the East and the Wet
meeting and merging ';heir personalities, for "does He It
have the lamhlike qualities of Jesus, the enthusiasm r
. Mohammad, the God-given glory of Rama and Krism
He is the locus of all divine qualities. And inasmuch e
is their complete synthesis, hence He is simple I The Silo
light is pure white as it is grand synthesis of all '/ariot;
colours so also Guru N:anak is divinely simple as He :
profoundly corr.plex !
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ThO';e wh" '.vould like tv dbtribute these and .,
- I' ' d hi '. n. ;v tracts 111 t letr own name all at t er o\1'U e''' li-
: will be ;harged nominally Rupee Five only per Hl:nJ ::
the actual cost of printing. _
: I. Guru Nanak M';sion. 2. Cross and the Cr :
: 3, Japjee Sahih, 4. Sikh Gurus and untouchabi :
5. Guru Nanak's Life in Bengali, Guru Ka Sik .
" . b' .-
cunJa , etc -. _
_ Ladha Singh Bec1i ' ._
p - reSZaent
: Bengal Sikh A .. ociati!;
: !P. Harrison Road, tnLCUTTA:I:
......... , C' ............. 't .. .