Publications
Guru Nanak – A Prophet with a Difference
INTRODUCTION
The advent of Guru Nanak is one of the most important landmarks in history of mankind and development of religious thought. The study of his life and teachings is fascinating, and has always attracted the attention and interest of scholars. As the Guru had become a legend in his own lifetime, some contemporary or near-contemporary written accounts of some episodes related to his life are available. The quincentenary of his birth was celebrated in 1969 on a global scale, in which, apart from the Sikh organizations, the governments of Punjab, India, and most of the countries of the world participated. The celebrations included a large number of seminars on the Guru and his writings, organized at different places in India and abroad. This gave impetus to the interest in the Guru’s life and teachings. In fact, Guru Nanak has emerged as a great thinker, a spiritual sage and a prophet, and a number of eminent scholars have come out with books which throw fresh light on his life and philosophy.
The available literature, however, does not adequately address either the intellectual doubts or the cultural cravings of the modern youth who are rapidly moving away from religion on a mass scale. The mythology, the accounts of miracles and the stress on meaningless rituals in traditional religions repel them. The promises of paradise/heaven after death do not lure them, nor do the threats of hell frighten them. Devoid of cultural moorings based on a truly humanist and morally sound value system, they are going astray and feeling lost. They do not find a role model in religious literature. In desperation, they fall victims to drugs and other vices, which are ruining their lives. They deserve our sympathy, not scorn. They need understanding and help. If we can present Guru Nanak’s philosophy in a proper way in the language they understand, and in their own idiom, they will see hope, and surely find what they have been looking for. The features that distinguish Guru Nanak and his system from other prophets, and from other religions, need to be highlighted. This book is an effort in this direction
Misrepresentation of the Guru and His Religion
There are gross errors and serious misrepresentations of the Guru and his religion in the major encyclopaedias and other world books. For example, Guru Nanak has been shown as a disciple of Kabir. There is no historical evidence that Guru and Kabir ever met. As they were not contemporaries, the question of teacher-disciple relationship does not arise. Although Kabir is held in high esteem as a saint by the Sikhs, and selections from his bani have been included by Guru Arjun Dev in the Adi Granth, there are, however, minor variations in his beliefs from those of Guru Nanak’s. For example, Kabir believed in ahimsa as a creed, while Guru Nanak exhorts his followers to resist evil and fight injustice as a part of the ‘game of love’, he preached.
Some authors have confused the Guru’s philosophy with Vaishnavism and Nathism, and call the Guru’s followers as a sect of Hinduism. Guru Nanak’s mention of gods and goddesses has been shown as his acceptance of these deities, although he has repeatedly asserted that they are not worthy of devotion.
Further, Guru Nanak’s system is sometimes presented as a syncretism of elements borrowed from Islam and Hinduism, and the alleged ‘pacifism of Guru Nanak’ and the ‘militancy of Guru Gobind Singh’ as a contradiction in the unity of thought of the ten Gurus. Such views are erroneous, and are obviously based on a very superficial and/or biased study of Sikhism.
Guru Nanak is the only Prophet whose original writings are available. In his numerous compositions, he has explained his religious philosophy and worldview unambiguously, leaving little scope for misinterpretation. The obvious handicap of some scholars, particularly from the West, was that they had no knowledge of the Punjabi language and the Gurmukhi script in which these were written. In a few cases, their views also appear to be visibly influenced by their own chauvinism and bias in favour of their own faith, which makes it difficult for them to see merit in another faith.
To deal with this kind of disinformation, it is necessary to clearly state the Guru’s teachings/ideology and to narrate the story of his life as a practical demonstration of his teachings. Dr Noel Q King, Professor of Religion, University of California, Santa Cruz (USA), has stressed this need as follows:
“Sikhism is a world religion: not only has it followers in the Punjab, all over India, in the United Kingdom, United States, East Africa and Oceania, and elsewhere, it spans the great divide between the so-called western religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) and the eastern (Hinduism and Buddhism) and Chinese classical ideologies (Confucianism and Taoism). It also has many features which go back to the primordial pre-Aryan religion of India. It has all these things, a personal God of love who is One and active in the cosmos, the idea of karma, of moksha, it teaches an idea of balance and of reciprocal wholeness not unlike but not totally like yin-yang, yet in every case it presents these ideas on its own terms, in a way which makes it different from other religions. Again, it has a Book, but Sikhs are not just a people of a book, nor in the Book just an enliteration of the divine word: the Guruship is invested in the word enshrined in Guru Granth Sahib and in the Khalsa past, present and future. This means that, if properly understood and fairly presented in context and in full, Sikh Scripture and tradition have nothing to fear from any true criticism properly used. It has never lacked critical acumen of its own. In fact, we can say the first Guru was also the first relentless Sikh critic of all empty word-forms, of all religiosity, empty worship and blind acceptance of tradition. It has a living — native born and organic tradition of criticism. As for the newer types of criticism I mentioned above, a decade ago I found Sikh scholars at Chandigarh, Amritsar and Patiala deeply conversant with the latest in structuralism, semiotics, narratology and the newest literary criticism. Sikhism has nothing to fear, she has always welcomed scholars from wherever they come, but obviously this does not mean she should sit around and be overtaken by the outside world and by misunderstandings. She has to make sure the truth is established and be prepared to argue it out. She has to have everyone of her own people and well-wishers well-informed. The ignorant are not enemies, but Sikhs must not miss a single chance to tell others the truth about their religion.”1
Bertrand Russell, of the 20th century, the distinguished philosopher and historian, Nobel Laureate in Literature, and an advocate for social reform, endorses this view in his own way:
This is the man who destroyed Christianity (same applies to Islam and Judaism) and exposed its absurdities; but even this great man got stuck when it came to Sikhism! In fact he gave up and said “that if some lucky men survive the onslaught of the third world war of atomic and hydrogen bombs, then the Sikh religion will be the only means of guiding them.” Russell was asked that he was talking about the third world war, but isn’t this religion capable of guiding mankind before the third world war?
In reply, Russell said, “Yes, it has the capability, but the Sikhs have not brought out in the broad daylight, the splendid doctrines of this religion which has come into existence for the benefit of the entire mankind. This is their greatest sin and the Sikhs cannot be freed of it.”
In preparing this volume, the wrong notions about Guru Nanak and his religion like the ones pointed out above, have been kept in mind. The account of his life is based on authentic information, and his teachings, which distinguish Sikhism from other world faiths, have been highlighted and supported with his own bani.
References
1 Noel Q King, Advanced Studies in Sikhism, Institute of Sikh Studies, Chandigarh, p. 11
2 www.sikhiwiki.org.