‘Baba Nanak Shah Faqueer Hindu ka Guru, Mussulmaan ka Peer’

In simple words, Guru Nanak Dev Ji delivered a message reaffirming that there is but one God, yet there were many paths to attain it and none is better  or worse than the other. He did not hesitate in telling the rich that their offerings were filled with blood

The heading of this essay is a couplet that was fairly popular in undivided Punjab of pre-partition  days. It aptly describes the universality of the message of Guru Nanak Dev Ji’, the founder of the Sikh faith. He came to the worldscene as a symbol of alliance or fraternity between two dominant religions of 15th century India at a time when they happened to be on a collusion course of hatred and intolerance. The religious hierarchies of that period were resentful of the philosophical equation between mankind and within various faiths and denigrated such a fundamental concept. The entire emphasis was being misdirected towards empty rituals. In those dark days, Guru Nanak’s message of seeking God through universal secularism started to have an inviting appeal.

His philosophy based on mutual respect for one another, truly acted like a bridge between the two. “Guru Nanak thus belonged to the category of those great men who were not the monopoly of any particular sect, creed or religion rather common to the entire human race” (1) History is witness to the fact that whenever religious intolerance and persecution starts raising its ugly head anywhere on this earth, the true  ‘Men of God’ appear on the worldstage  to thwart or undo the damage. Such men are often propelled by their inner strength to stand up to this nuisance. They try to put their lives on lines and accept the challenges in order to counter-act nefarious activities being perpetuated against mankind by those intoxicated by power and richness. They do so irrespective of who they were and where they lived. Guru Nanak, reverentially known as Baba Nanak, whose birth day falls on the 5th of November this year was one such ‘Man of God’. Guru Nanak was clearly and  courageously able to point out the impurities that had crept in the inspired origins of these faiths over  time while reminding people about the Sovereignty of God and truthful living. His concept of honest hard work and sharing the fruits of one’s honest labor through service to the humanity, while cultivating a constant remembrance of God, is all too well-known. “Irrespective of the gender and status at birth and without undergoing complex rituals propagated by the so-called high priests, liberation or Mukti was possible for anyone so long a morally pious life is lived”, thus preached Baba Nanak.

Through his philosophy of catering to the downtrodden people, chronically sidelined by religious hierarchies of their respective faiths, Baba Nanak was able to provide an alternative (2) In 1849, Joseph Davey Cunningham of the East India company wrote in ‘A History of the Sikhs’, “It was reserved for Nanak to perceive the true principles of reform, and to lay those broad foundations which enabled his successor Gobind to fire the minds of his countrymen with a new nationality, and give a practical effect to the doctrine that the lowest is equal with the highest, in race as in creed, in political rights as in religious hopes” (3) Such a novel concept of Sikh faith that Guru Nanak put forth was further cemented by consecutive spiritual lights-the nine succeeding Sikhs Gurus. Their enlightenment still continues through Sabd-Guru contained in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, the eternal Guru of the Sikhs. Baba Nanak had a philosophy and message that was truly Inter-faith in nature.

It transcended well beyond the closed boundaries of the prevalent faiths of India at a time when the situation was morally despicable, to say the least. He went around the world telling ‘if they wanted to find and love God, they should first learn to love each other’ (4). By announcing openly that ‘There is no Hindu, and there is no Mussulmaan’, Guru Nanak was letting the world know that in the eyes of Divine being, all are equal. What matters in the higher court are one’s actions —— good, not so good and the bad? The ‘Men of God’, visiting this earth earlier than Baba Nanak, did raise their voices against religious practices of the time that had been polluted with power and corrupted with open discrimination between different faiths, castes, gender and economical status. However, it was left for Guru Nanak Dev Ji to carry this Divine message further across the warring factions. When every living- being considered his or her faith to be superior to the other, it took unusual moral strength and extraordinary steadfastness of Guru Nanak to announce a totally novel philosophy, loud and clear. This was like making the river run upstream against all the odds and barrier.

In doing so, he traveled within and beyond the boundaries of India and engaged different religious hierarchies of the time into open dialogue. He emphasized his message through simple practical examples, much akin to a physics teacher who performs scientific experiments in presence of its pupils to highlight or prove a point. The prevalent social engineering of the time had created an environment in India where caste system was supreme in day to day life and nothing could stand in its way. In his book, ‘The Sikhs’ Patwant Singh, an eminent Sikh historian and contemporary writer refers to an Indian Government report about this matter “ The real triumph of caste system lies in conditioning of the consciousness of the lower castes in accepting their inferior status in the ritual hierarchy as a part of the natural order of things” (5). Both Hindus and Muslims wanted his body to be put to rest in accordance with their own religious traditions, for they all accepted him as their religious guide and liked his interfaith Philosophy. In fact this last incidence of Guru Nanak’s life was looked upon by Akbar, the emperor of India as the highest achievement of religious tolerance and goodwill who wanted to seek its spirit work as an operative principle in the religious life of the Indians.”(7) In simple words, Guru Nanak Dev Ji delivered a message reaffirming that there is but one God, yet there were many paths to attain it and none is better or worse than other. What Baba Nanak preached many centuries ago, still holds as the fundamental interfaith truth for all the faiths, all the times.

He did not hesitate in telling the rich people that their religious celebrations and offerings are filled with blood if the money used for their noble deeds is gotten by ill-means. As always, all over the world, each and every Gurdwara or a Sikh religious place will celebrate the Prakash Utsav or birthday of Guru Nanak Dev ji with great reverence where Sikh religious services and elaborate Kirtan Durbars will take place. Many Raagis will sing Guru Nanak’s Baani taken from almost close to 1000 hymns spoken by him and contained in Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Several Discourses on Guru Nanak’s teaching will be held. His fundamental philosophy in relation to the twin principles of justice (Nian) and Grace (Nadar) through which the Divine being governs its creation will be highlighted. (8). Lungar or free kitchen, a hall mark of Sikh faith will be arranged all over. Each and every Sikhs will feel proud in attending, serving others or taking part in any shape or form one is capable of.