 |  |
|  Recent News |
|
|
| |
|
 You can add SikhNet news to your website or read it in your RSS news reader. |
|
Celebrate Guru Gobind Singh Ji's Prakash Utsav by Accepting His Philosophy
12/28/2006
Dr. Jaswant Singh Sachdev, MD Phoenix, Arizona
 During the first week of January 2007, the Khalsa Panth, the world over will celebrate with a great fan fare, the Prakash Utsav or birthday of Sahib-E- Kamaal Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the tenth Nanak. He graced this earth only for a short span of two scores and two years, yet the price he paid through the sacrifice of his father and four sons as well as the pains he endured personally, transformed the entire nation of India permanently. By nurturing his Khalsa Panth with all what he had, Sarbans Daani Guru Ji made sure that his Sikhs will stay uniquely distinct, pure and morally supreme, above and beyond all. On finding out that his young children had willingly offered their lives for the commitment to their faith, he roared, ‘What does it matter if my four had to die? There will be crores and crores of my Khalsa Sikhs in future much closer to me than my own children’.
Guru Gobind Singh Ji left nothing to chance in his just and fair struggle to uphold the moral principles of Sikh faith. He truly emphasized full freedom for the people of diverse religions so that they could practice their faiths without fear and coercion. In establishing ‘Guru Granth and Guru Panth’ as the two pillars of Tisar Panth, a third religion, distinct from others (1), he brought forth a religio-cultural revolution among the disenfranchised masses of India. Such an innovation was not only aimed at providing his followers with a cultural distinctiveness but it also imbued a strong sense of self-esteem and purpose, committed to opposing tyranny and despotism. He felt that the appearance too of every Sikh would have to be emblematic of the Khalsa (2) so that ‘the Fauj (army) of Akaal Purukh’ of this Tisar Panth established under the ordained Will of God could always act as a beacon for generations to come.
But Alas! Some among the modern young naïve Sikhs have started to believe, albeit erroneously, that so long they otherwise keep their commitments to the concepts of their own liking, it really shouldn’t matter whether hair is kept unshorn or not? After having shunned Sikh identities, they justify their actions under a self-perpetuated pseudo belief that being Sikhs of Guru Nanak Dev Ji’, they need not follow the dictum of Guru Gobind Singh Ji in relation to the Sikh identity. Here it is conveniently forgotten that the creation of Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s, was indeed a continuation of process that Guru Nanak had initiated. A perusal of Sikh history and scriptures will clarify this point further. Guru Nanak Dev Ji from the very inception of the Sikh faith had put an injunction against cutting hair. Referring to Giani Gian Singh’s Gian Ratnaavali, Principal Ganga Singh writes in ‘Puran Munukh’ that prior to his worldwide sojourns, Guru Nanak asked his companion, Mardaana to maintain three essentials; one being ‘Sirrh Kesh Rakhnai’ (3) meaning ‘You must maintain uncut hair’.
Recently in the November 2006 issue of the Sikh Review, Dr. M. S. Rahi recapitulates ‘Internal evidence from Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is sufficient to prove that Guru Nanak regularly wore a turban-the symbol of civil dignity (4). In support of turban as an essential component of completeness of mankind, he refers to this line on page 1084 of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, ‘Saabat Soorat Dastaar Siraa’ meaning ‘Let the complete body be the turban on thy head’. (5) The importance of turban is also evident in 32nd Vaar of Bhai Gurdaas where he describes the situation when a person walking back home, bareheaded, without a turban. The house-ladies start crying as if some one in the family had just died. (6) The tenth master finally put this requirement of uncut hair covered with turban into firm footing by turning it into the most important article of Sikh faith instead of leaving it to a matter of personal convenience or liking.
The question then arises why now the modern Sikh youth refuses to stand tall in carrying the flag of uniqueness of Sikh identity high? And why the young Sikh men have started to look the other way around? In part, such behaviors tend to receive a subtle boost from the duality shown by the so-called protectors of Sikh faith, the leaders, both political and religious. In subtly letting their children and children of their children shun the Sikh identities with no remorse, these leaders simply add fuel to the fire that is already engulfing the golden dictums of the Sikh faith. The leaders of the day find no political mileage at all in enforcing the Sikh Maryaada among their children.
The Outlook and Times of India (7) recently reported that the rural Sikh youth of Punjab, a state where the Sikh faith initially evolved and flourished, is very rapidly divorcing its Sikh identity by saying good bye to the full uncut hair and turban. Painful as it may sound, the facts reported in these articles bring home the truth that we the Sikhs, in total contrast to who we are, have started cutting the same branch of tree on which we happen to be sitting. Instead of maintaining our unique identities, as ordained by the architect of this unique concept of Saint soldier-hood, the young Sikhs in the villages are running ahead of one another in hordes to become part of what Puran Singh called ‘Barber-made-civilization’(8). The village barbers seem to be having hey days with almost eighty percent of the Sikh boys in rural Punjab now supporting crew cuts and discarding their turbans (9) by their own sweet will and thus demolishing the very pillar of Guru Panth.
Does it mean, that if the present trend were to continue, the days may not be far off when villages in Punjab won’t have a single turbaned male-a recognizable Sikh-left to show?’ reluctantly asks Chander Suta Dogra in the September 15, 2006 edition of Outlook. (10) A dismayed and rather helpless Sikh religious hierarchy has no escape but to painfully agree. Unfortunately the surviving lot might simply consist of only two kinds of Sikhs; one taking care of the Gurdwaras and control over their Golaks (safes). And the other, the so-called Sikh leaders of Punjab whose only objectives now-a-days seem to be pulling one another’s beards while throwing away turbans in front of TV’s camera just to claim their turfs, be it political or religious.
Priya Yadav, in the Oct 30th edition of ‘Times of India’ (11) brings home the same painful reality of the modern-day rural Sikh youth among whom the turban is disappearing fast. 90% of the Sikh families in Punjab have at least couple of members of the house hold without turbans. She further mentions that the young people of Punjab do not consider Pagri (Turban) an attractive option. They think it is tedious to tie and is out of tune with time. (12) What an irony in defying their Guru-father who ordained them the other way around? Was it not tedious for a father to let go off his young sons to the battle-field so that the entire nation could live a liberated life, free from the clutches of foreign invaders and religiously intolerant rulers?
And what about the people of the majority faith of India, some of whom try to enjoy a sarcastic laugh upon the conforming Sikhs? Was it not the same Guru, who at the age of nine supported his father in offering his head for the protection of a faith that wasn’t even his own, to help prevent the holocaust of the entire population of Kashmir? The followers of the majority faith seem to have conveniently forgotten the tradition of long hair and turbans, and their deep psychological bearings, as was practiced by their forefathers and religious men.
The tree of Khalsa Panth, planted by the Tenth master, under a command from Akal Purukh and nurtured with the sacrifices of his family, was meant to be kept alive unto eternity complete with uncut hair and a beautiful turban. ‘A turban to a Singh was always to be considered no less than a crown to a King’ by his followers. But ignoring the titles of a Sardar, the King and a Sardarni, the queen, conferred upon his Sikhs by this King of Kings, his followers started taking an easy route or ‘Bipran ki reet’ (tradition of the others}. Paying no heed to Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s pre-ordained consequences, we made ourselves susceptible to his dictum ‘Main no karoon innkee parteet’ (I will care no more for such fallen individuals). Without a unique identity that often induces hesitation in the steps towards other despicable acts, the moral grounds become shaky, making it easier for the Sikh youth, like the rest of the crowd, to fall prey to intoxicants and illicit drugs. By divorcing the turbans, they fail to stand tall and instead turn themselves into Zombies filled with intoxicants, opium, hashish or alcohol, merely ending up living half-dead without any remorse.
Guru Gobind Singh Ji succeeded in teaching the sparrow to hunt the hawk and one man to fight a legion. If history is any witness, he truly brought a sea-change by liberating the psyche of the Indian people, enslaved by a centuries old caste system. Sahib-E- Kamaal turned degenerated weaklings into a wall of solid rock ready to withstand injustice anywhere, any time. This metamorphosis helped rejuvenate the downtrodden Indian Society that had turned timid and chronically subdued as a consequence of continuous torture perpetrated by the intolerant rulers who were no more than religious bigots. His life carries an extraordinary significance not only for the Sikhs but for other countrymen who owe their faith’s very survival to the personal and family sacrifices of this indescribable man of God. Yet neither his followers nor his countrymen seem to have any inkling about the message that Guru Ji imparted. Being a Sikh and an Indian, I often wonder as to how come my people have turned so casual in ignoring his fundamental philosophy?
Let us now look at the other aspect of Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s Philosophy. The democratic principles that Guru Gobind Singh Ji espoused were abundantly obvious in the unique process of the creation of Khalsa. Transforming himself into a Chela or disciple, he bowed in front of the Punj Piaras that he had just created and humbly sought the gift of the heavenly Amrit from them. This indeed was a unique and unheard act in the panels of the world history. It had never happened before, and if the past bears any relation to the future, it never will, in future. He was perhaps one of the rarest examples in the history of world religions, where a spiritual head refused to be recognized as God by his followers. Putting a serious injunction against those who ever wished to know him as such, he commanded ‘He who calls me God, will for sure burn in the fires of hell, for I am only a servant of God; yea doubt not the veracity of this statement’ (13) .
S. Kapur Singh, a distinguished Sikh Philosopher had stated that the concept of Democracy envisioned by Guru Gobind Singh Ji included an aristocracy dedicated and consciously trained – but not the one by right of birth or status and rather the one which is grounded in virtue, in talent and in self-imposed codes of sacrifice to humanity. (14). Guru Ji didn’t rely upon the status or class in the formation of supreme Punj. Their status enhanced only after submitting to a self-imposed code of sacrifice in order to join the ‘Order of the Khalsa’. But now we, the followers of Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind have started to twist fundamental concepts in a way that suits us instead of upholding the golden guidelines as were established, both in action and in spirit. Until we rectify, we won’t be worthy of a true celebration of Prakash Utsav (Birthday) of this most deserving man, the Sahib-E- Kamaal, that ever walked on the face of this earth.
Ref: 1, 2 Patwant Singh in ‘The Sikhs’
3. Principal Ganga Singh in ‘Puran Manukh’ page 96
4, 5, 6 M. S. Rahi in The Sikh Review November 2006
7, 9, 10. Chander Suta Dogra in Outlook September 15, 2006
8, Puran Singh in Guru Gobind Singh: Reflctions and Offerings, The Guru Gobind Singh Foundation 1966
11, 12 Priya Yadav in Times of India Oct 30, 2006
13. Dr. Gopal Singh in the translation of Bachitter Naatak of Guru Gobind Singh
14. Kapur Singh in The Baisakhi of Guru Gobind Singh: An exposition of Sikhism. Hind Publishers
 Dr. Jaswant Singh can be reaced at [email protected]
Note: Comments do not represent the views of SikhNet. Comments containing
profanity, provocation or slandar will be removed by the moderators.
|
Add SikhNet news to your website
