There is no Hindu and there is no Musalman. The first words that Guru Nanak uttered on his reappearance after three days of the enigmatic disappearance while taking an ablutionary dip in the river, constitute the crux of the message that he was divinely ordained to deliver to this “darkling plain, where ignorant armies clash by night”. Guru Nanak illuminated this darkling planet with the resplendent light of Sat Nam (True Name) and dismissed many a rite and ritual as hollow and irrelevant in the context of mankind’s relationship with God.
Though reform is fundamental to the mission of every prophet yet Guru Nanak’s message was not limited to effecting reforms in the prevailing socio-politico-cultural fabric of the times as some Hindu historians have tried to make it out. In their anxiety to project Sikhs as another branch of Hinduism, they have been making systematic assaults to prune Guru Nanak’s mission to such a dimension and scope as to conform to their arbitrary definitions.
Guru Nanak, however, transcended these mundane areas of human activity and ushered in new vistas of spiritual awareness and empirical reality. In fact, he gave to the world a completely new faith that was fashioned in accordance with the divine instruction, in propounding his faith, Guru Nanak was not attempting to develop a fusion of the monistic Islamic thought with the Hindu Pantheon of gods and goddesses. He had no such design. The common strands that permeate the major religions of the world merely point to their common ancestry i.e., the Kingdom of God and can in no way be construed to prove that a particular religion is a derivation or an extension of the older religions. Guru Nanak was an inspired bard who poured out in lyrical strains the celestial song. This does not mean Guru Nanak was oblivious of the contemporary reality. In spite of the ecstatic communion with the Lord and its ostensibly escapist complexion, there is in him a distinct and resounding note of sternness towards oppression and cruelty, the agony that India suffered at the hands of the invading hordes of Babur was rendered by him in accents of intense power and protest. The character that Guru Gobind Singh gave to the Sikh faith was not a departure from the teachings of Guru Nanak but followed as a logical sequence of the impulses on which the ‘emerging faith had been nurtured by Guru Nanak himself.
As we celebrate Guru Nanak’s birthday and seek the Guru’s blessings, we should pause for a while to reflect over the true essence of his message. We should not let our perceptions beclouded by the platitudinous theories that are being marketed to mislead both the Sikhs and the non-Sikhs; Let us recognize that there is no contradiction between asserting the distinctive identity of the Sikhism and living in perfect harmony with other tolerant faiths.
Guru Nanak advised the Muslim to be a true Muslim and the Hindu to be a true Hindu, in following their respective faiths both will serve God and those who serve God are not swept by passions that breed hatred, revenge, intolerance, injustice and oppression. Through God’s service comes humility and it is through humility that one can hope to receive His grace. Let us rededicate ourselves to the Guru’s Word and strive to make this world a better place than we found it. This is the noblest offering that we can make at the altar of the Guru.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 6, 1987
